Intended Meaning
Here, qadar does not mean merely a mental conception or a description issued by a human being, but the existence of things and events outside human consciousness. Qadar should therefore not be conflated with qadaʾ: the text presents them as distinct in its examples.
What Is Attributed to Shahrur
Shahrur explicitly defines qadar as: «Qadar: the objective existence of things and events outside human consciousness».
In the same context, he says: «Death is qadar, and killing is qadaʾ», and further illustrates the distinction with another example: «The existence of the possibility of striking with the hand is qadar, while carrying out the act of striking is qadaʾ».
Atlas Explanation
The definition distinguishes between the existence of a thing, or its objective possibility, and human awareness of it. The examples of death and killing, and of the possibility of striking and the act of striking, also preclude reading qadar and qadaʾ as synonymous terms in this passage.
Conclusion
Within this specific context, qadar refers to the domain of objective reality, whereas qadaʾ appears in Shahrur’s examples as the occurrence of a human act. This is a synthetic conclusion drawn from the definition and examples, not an additional definition quoted verbatim.
Open Question and Limits
This passage alone does not settle every detail of Shahrur’s position on determinism and choice, or on the overall relationship between qadar and qadaʾ. What this page establishes is limited to the explicit definition and the distinction stated in the context.
For the broader context in the book: Muhammad Shahrur, the Book and the Qur’an. For a map of the book’s structure: the Book and the Qur’an and the Mother of the Book. The previously listed connection remains: Disbelief and polytheism are contextual concepts, not tools of authority.
the Book and the Qur’an · Disbelief and polytheism are contextual concepts, not tools of authority