This volume examines the writings of ten Muslim intellectuals, working throughout the Muslim world and the West, who employ contemporary critical methods to understand the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²ÔMuslims believe that the Holy ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More. Their work points to the emergence of a new trend in Muslim interpretation, characterised by direct engagement with the Word of God while embracing intellectual modernity in an increasingly globalised context. The volume situates and evaluates their thought, and assesses responses to it among Muslim and non-Muslim audiences. The ten chapters highlight the diverse arenas in which such intellectuals draw on the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic text, through their fresh readings of its verses.
Notes on Contributors
1. Introduction
Suha Taji-Farouki
2. Fazlur Rahman: a framework for interpreting the ethico-legal content of the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô
Abdullah Saeed
3. Nurcholish Madjid and the interpretation of the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô: religious pluralism and tolerance
Anthony H. Johns and Abdullah Saeed
4. Amina Wadud’s hermeneutics of the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô: women rereading sacred texts
Asma Barlas
5. Mohammed Arkoun: towards a radical rethinking of Islamic thought
Ursula Günther
6. From revelation to interpretation: Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and the literary study of the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô
Navid Kermani
7. Post-revolutionary Islamic modernity in Iran: the inter-subjective hermeneutics of Mohamad Mojtahed Shabestari
Farzin Vahdat
8. Mohamed Talbi on understanding the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô
Ronald L. Nettler
9. Hüseyin Atay’s approach to understanding the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô
Osman TaÅŸtan
10. ‘The form is permanent, but the content moves’: The ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic text and its interpretation(s) in Mohamed Shahrour’s al-Kitab wal-²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô
Andreas Christmann
11. Modern intellectuals, Islam, and the ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô: the example of Sadiq Nayhum
Suha Taji-Farouki
Index
Lay persons and scholars alike will benefit from the tone and the content of this timely volume.
– Bruce B. Lawrence, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Suha Taji-Farouki is Lecturer in Modern Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and Research Associate, Department of Academic Research and Publications, The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Her publications include A Fundamental Quest: Hizb al-Tahrir and the Search for the Islamic Caliphate (1996); Muslim–Jewish Encounters: Intellectual Traditions and Modern Politics (co-edited, 1998); and Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century (co-edited, 2004).