Intended Meaning
This meaning links the narratives to the free human being as an actor in history, not merely as a recipient of it It also rejects the idea of absolute determinism, and affirms that the course of human history is likewise shaped by human choice and action
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: historical
- Argument movement: It involves the free human being in making history and denies absolute determinism.
- Key terms: free human being, making history, determinism, choice.
- Degree of centrality: original.
The atom links freedom, action, and the course of history, and keeps history open to human agency rather than making it the result of a single final cause or a closed path.
Links to Help with Reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, The Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2
- History, Development, and Laws
- The Qur’anic narratives reveal historical laws and the human role in them
Basis
- Supporting text: “It links the narratives to the free human being and his role in making history, and denies absolute determinism about human history.”
Basis Location in the Book
- Book: The Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2.
- Location: in the first section of the book within the discussion of predestination
- Type of basis: direct witness.
- Verification marker: it was stripped of responsibility
- Reading note: the location is suitable because it rejects strict predestination and establishes human responsibility for action in history.
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Reading limits: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted textually.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is expository; it establishes a result on which what follows in the argument depends.
Related to
Editorial Note
A historical atom because it places human action within the structure of history.