Drawing on a combination of pertinent disciplines history, sociology, psychology and anthropology the authors approach subjects every system of belief and non-belief, every tradition of exegesis, theology and jurisprudence to a critique aimed at liberating reason from the grip of dogmatic postulates.
By treating Islam as a religion as well as a time-honoured tradition of thought, Mohammed Arkouns work aims at overcoming the limitations of descriptive, narrative and chronological modes in history by recommending that the entire development of Islamic thought from Quranic to modern-day fundamentalist discourses be subjected to a critical analysis guided by these categories.
The expected outcome of such a strategy is an emancipated political reason working hand in hand with a creative imagination for a radical re-construction of mind and society in the contemporary Muslim world.
Introduction: Thinking the Unthinkable and the Unthought in Contemporary Islamic Thought
1. A Critical Introduction to Qurnic Studies
2. The Cognitive Status and Normative Functions of Revelation: The Example of the Quran
3. Belief and the Construction of the Subject in Islamic Contexts
4. Logocentrism and Religious Truth in Islamic Thought: The Example of al-I尪lm bi-manqib al-Islm
5. Authority and Power in Islamic Thought
6. The Concept of Person in Islamic Tradition
7. Aspects of Religious Imaginary: The Examples of the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto
8. The Rule of Law and Civil Society in Muslim Contexts: Beyond Dualist Thinking
Select Bibliography
Index
… no ordinary review could do justice to this extraordinary book …
Mahmood Ibrahim, Chair of Dept. of History, California State Polytechnic University
Mohammed Arkoun is Emeritus Professor at the Sorbonne, Paris, and Director of Arabica: Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies. He is the acclaimed author of several works on Islamic thought and Qurnic exegesis, including Islam, Europe and the West, and Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers.