What is meant
Shahrur sees human history as linked to human freedom, rather than as proceeding according to fixed deterministic laws akin to the laws of nature. Therefore, the course of history remains open to choice and change, not to prior compulsion.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: historical
- Movement of the argument: historical compulsion is rejected in favor of human choice.
- Key terms: human history, freedom, determinism.
- Degree of centrality: central.
The statement that the course of history does not proceed by mechanical coercion, but remains open to human will and the shifting of choices, which supports a non-deterministic conception of development.
Links that help with reading
- Muhammad Shahrur, The Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2
- History, Development, and Sunnas
- Freedom
- Human history and the messengers are open to freedom, not compulsion
Basis
- Supporting text: “Shahrur links the concept of human freedom to the rejection of historical determinism.”
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the formulation of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted verbatim.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares the way for it.
Related to
Editorial note
The atom links history to human responsibility, not to blind necessity.