What is meant
Destiny here is the existence of things as they are in reality, independent of human consciousness and perception of them It thus denotes objective existence outside the mind, not mental representation or human interpretation
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Movement of the argument: defining destiny as objective existence outside consciousness.
- Central terms: destiny, objective existence, outside consciousness.
- Degree of centrality: primary.
This establishes the concept of destiny as a reality independent of human perception, not a mental judgment or subjective interpretation, thereby linking it to the world as it is, not as it is imagined.
Links that help with reading
Basis
- Supporting text: “Destiny: the objective existence of things outside human consciousness.”
Place of support in the book
- Book: The Book and the Qur’an.
- Location: in the middle section of the book, within his definition of judgment, destiny, and freedom.
- Type of support: close evidence.
- Marker that helps verification: the objective existence of things
- Reading note: this passage is suitable as evidence because it defines destiny as the objective existence of things outside human consciousness.
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 reading: the wording above is an analytical summary and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted exactly.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Editorial note
This definition determines the scope of the term before any later interpretive use.