Intended Meaning
Human beings are not passive recipients of a closed historical course. The witness connects the narratives with the free human being and with “their role in making history,” rejecting the idea that human history is governed by absolute determinism.
This atom is connected to the reading of Muhammad Shahrur, The Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2, and to the broader trajectory in History, Development, and Laws.
What Is Attributed to Shahrur
The witness states that the narratives are connected with the free human being and with their contribution to making history, and that absolute determinism is denied with respect to human history. This is the limit of the direct attribution on this page.
Atlas Explanation
The Atlas understands this connection as introducing the human being into the interpretation of history as an active participant in it. In this atom alone, this does not mean denying all laws or conditions governing events; rather, it is limited to denying “absolute determinism,” as stated in the witness.
Synthetic Conclusion
This atom can serve as a basis for connecting the study of the narratives with the question of the human role in history, rather than treating the narratives as an account detached from questions of human action. It should be read within the book The Qur’anic narratives reveal historical laws and the human role in them.
Open Question and Limits of Reading
The available witness does not clarify how this role operates, does not specify the meaning of choice or action, and does not explain the relation of human action to historical laws. These matters therefore remain beyond what the present atom establishes.
The Qur’anic Narratives, Vol. 2 · The Qur’anic narratives reveal historical laws and the human role in them