What is meant
Muhammad Shahrur holds that the Qur’an establishes historical laws that make pluralistic society capable of development and flourishing and, in contrast, the authoritarian society carries within itself the causes of its own destruction
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: historical
- Movement of the argument: It makes pluralism a law of development and authoritarianism a law of destruction.
- Key terms: pluralistic society, development, authoritarian society, destruction, laws.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It links social development to a pluralistic law, and places authoritarianism on the opposite side as a cause of destruction, thereby turning historical laws into a criterion for reading the rise and fall of societies.
Links that help with reading
Reliance
- Supporting text: “The Qur’an makes historical laws foundational: the pluralistic society evolves, and the authoritarian society carries the seeds of its own destruction.”
Place of reliance in the book
- Book: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought.
- Location: in the first section of the book, within the treatment of the law of history in the Qur’an
- Type of reliance: direct witness.
- Marker that helps verification: every pluralistic society carries the seeds of its development
- Reading note: the passage explicitly states that every pluralistic society carries the seeds of its development, and this matches the atom directly.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: the wording above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted textually.
Its function in the book
Its function here is argumentative; it supports a larger conclusion in the chapter or prepares for it.
Editorial note
It should be placed near the atom of the singular society so that the structure is complete.