Thesis Summary
Shahrur links human history to human freedom, not to determinism, and affirms that God’s knowledge does not entail compulsion. He also sees the Qur’anic narratives as recording the development of messengership and distinguishing between naba’ and khabar in light of this understanding.
Foundational Atoms
- Human history is not subject to determinism
- History resists programming
- God’s knowledge does not entail compulsion
- The Qur’anic narratives record the development of the messages
- The narratives distinguish between naba’ and khabar
Place of Support Within the Book
This axis appears in the middle and then the final section of the book, where discussion of freedom, God’s knowledge, the development of messengership, and the distinction between the concepts of naba’ and khabar come together. It also appears in the critique of turning history into a field that can be programmed or rigidly predicted.
Limits of the Reading
The meaning here is philosophical and doctrinal, but it remains grounded in Shahrur’s own reading of history and the text, not in an independent historical account.