Philosophical Perspectives on Modern Qur'ānic Exegesis


Book Description

This book explores the possibility of a hermeneutics of the Qur'an. It starts from the presupposition that the Qur'an can be studied as a philosophical book. Thus the analysis is theoretical more than historical. Many philosophers commented the Qur'an and many supported their theories by resorting to the Qur'an. Thinkers like Fakhr al-Din al-Razi connected traditional theology and philosophy in their Qur'anic commentary. Others like Nasr Abu Zayd used philosophy to deconstruct the Qur'an paving the way for a modern humanistic hermeneutics. This book tries to go a step further: it aims to offer a path within the Qur'an that - through philosophy - leads to a fresh understanding of fundamental tenets of Islamic thought, most importantly tawhid - God's oneness - and to a fresh reading of the Qur'anic text. This book applies the phenomenological and ontological hermeneutics of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger to the study of the Qur'an going far beyond Annemarie Schimmel's phenomenological approach that is neither philosophical nor properly phenomenological (in Husserl's sense).




The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies


Book Description

The Qur'an is the foundational sacred text of the Islamic faith. Traditionally revered as the literal word of God, its pronouncements and discussions form the bedrock of Islamic beliefs and teachings. Notwithstanding its religious pre-eminence and the fact that it is the sacred text for over one billion of the world's Muslims, the Qur'an is also considered to be the matchless masterpiece of the Arabic language. Its historical impact as a text can be discerned in all aspects of the heritage of the Arabic literary tradition. Over recent decades, academic engagement with the Qur'an has produced an impressive array of scholarship, ranging from detailed studies of the text's unique language, style and structure, to meticulous surveys of its contents, concepts and historical contexts. The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies is an essential reference and starting point for those with an academic interest in the Qur'an. It offers not only detailed reviews of influential subjects in the field, but also a critical overview of developments in the research discourse. It explores the tradition of Qur'anic exegesis and hermeneutics, making it a comprehensive academic resource for the study of the Qur'an. No single volume devoted to such a broad academic survey of the state of the field currently exists.




Studying the Qur'ān in the Muslim Academy


Book Description

Studying the Qur'an in the Muslim Academy examines what it is like to study and teach the Qur'an at academic institutions in the Muslim world, and how politics affect scholarly interpretations of the text. Guided by the author's own journey as a student, university lecturer, and researcher in Iran, Malaysia, and New Zealand, this book provides vivid accounts of the complex academic politics he encountered. Majid Daneshgar describes the selective translation and editing of Edward Said's classic work Orientalism into various Islamic languages, and the way Said's work is weaponized to question the credibility of contemporary Western-produced scholarship in Islamic studies. Daneshgar also examines networks of journals, research centers, and universities in both Sunni and Shia contexts, and looks at examples of Quranic interpretation there. Ultimately, he offers a constructive program for enriching Islamic studies by fusing the best of Western theories with the best philological practices developed in Muslim academic contexts, aimed at encouraging respectful but critical engagement with the Qur'an.




Critical Hermeneutics


Book Description

The Turkish market of Qur’anic translations and studies is exceedingly oversaturated. Critics find some of these lacking in proper hermeneutical judgment, impelling them to reflect on the conditions of judicious Qur’anic exegesis. These reflections have remained relatively unexplored in English academic literature. In Critical Hermeneutics, Çelik explores and compares the hermeneutical philosophies of three Turkish intellectuals, namely Alpyağıl, Cündioğlu, and Öztürk. By exploring their philosophical views on subjectivity and objectivity in the context of interpreting the Qur’an, Çelik draws major implications for reading the Qur’an in new and different ways.




Islamic Ethics and the Trusteeship Paradigm: Taha Abderrahmane’s Philosophy in Comparative Perspectives


Book Description

Islamic Ethics and the Trusteeship Paradigm explores the emerging ethical theory of the trusteeship paradigm as developed by the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abderrahmane (b. 1944). The volume, with contributions in English and Arabic, examines the development of this modern Islamic theory of ethics and how it permeates various disciplines: philosophy, theology, legal theory, Sufism, moral theory, sociology and anthropology, communication, environment and biomedical ethics. The trusteeship paradigm aims to make ethics the compass of human thinking and action in order to overcome the predicaments humanity faces and realize a more just and balanced world. This makes of it one of the principal and profound ethical theories in Islamic scholarship that engages both classical and modern thought. Contributors: Mutaz al-Khatib, Mostafa Amakdouf, Mohamed Amine Brahimi, Assia Chekireb, Abdelmounim Choqairi, Issam Eido, Hicham El Makki, Amin El-Yousfi, Adil Et-Tahiri, Ramon Harvey, Mohammed Hashas, Eva Kepplinger, Mohamed Ourya, Harald Viersen. يدرس كتاب الأخلاق الإسلامية ونسق الائتمانية الفلسفة الأخلاقية للفيلسوف المغربي طه عبد الرحمن (و. 4491م)، والتي بدأ الاشتغال عليها منذ أواخر سبعينيات القرن الماضي. يضم الكتاب مساهمات باللغتين العربية والإنجليزية تعالج تطور النظرية وتطبيقاتها وحدودها في المجالات الآتية: الفلسفة وتاريخ الأفكار، وفلسفة الدين وعلم اللاهوت، والتشريع والفقه، والتصوف، والأخلاق، والسوسيولوجيا والأنثروبولوجيا، وعلم التواصل والبيئة، والأخلاق الطبية. يحاول نسق الائتمانية جعل الأخلاق روح الفعل والقول الإنساني بدلاً من الاكتفاء بالعقل المجرد الذي يُفقد الوجود الإنساني جوهره الأخلاقي. وبهذا يُعتبر نسق الائتمانية واحدا من أهم المدارس الفكرية التي تساهم في فتح أفق فكري إنساني أرحب انطلاقًا من الأخلاقية الإسلامية وروحها العقلانية النقدية. المساهمون: مصطفى أمقدوف، محمد أوريا، محمد أمين البراهمي، محمد حصحاص، معتز الخطيب، عبد المنعم الشقيري، آسيا شكيرب، عادل الطاهري، عصام عيدو، هارالد فيرسن، إيفا كابلينغر، هشام المكي، رامون هارفي، أمين اليوسفي.




Qurʾānic Studies


Book Description

Over the last twenty years, the rise of Qur'anic studies has been one of the most remarkable developments within the wider framework of Islamic scholarship. This evolution can be viewed from three angles: exponential growth in the accessibility of relevant primary; the use of contemporary methods for developing new analytical agendas; a renewed appreciation of diverse hermeneutical orientations. A veritable gold-rush of publications, theses, colloquia and study projects devoted to the Qur'an in the past two decades illustrates these developments. This scholarly community subsists primarily in European countries and the United States, but its effects are not limited there. The reception and dissemination of this work in Muslim-majority countries is constant and bodes as a promising opportunity to establish a real dialogue between scholars and lived community. The present book contains expert contributions emerging from this nexus, with scholars from North African, Middle Eastern and Western backgrounds who share a common ambition: to advance academic study of the Qurʾan by promoting cooperation across global boundaries.




Philosophical Hermeneutics and Islamic Thought


Book Description

This book investigates the methodological issues raised by the encounter between Islamic thought and contemporary philosophical hermeneutics. It features essays that examine why and how current Muslim thinkers refer to Continental philosophy. The contributors put the universality of the hermeneutic order to the test with three different approaches. The first looks at exegetical aspects. It addresses contemporary thinkers from the Islamicate world who have engaged critically or not with main representatives or key concepts of philosophical hermeneutics. The second presents an interpretative analysis. The essays here present attempts at using philosophical hermeneutics in order to develop new interpretations of canonical or traditional ensembles of texts such as the Qur’an and the Hadith as well as legal, spiritual, and philosophical corpuses from the Islamicate world. The third looks at different political and critical issues. The clear and sound reference to religion of Islamic thought makes its entanglement with philosophical hermeneutics a burning challenge for all parties involved. Is it true, as some contend, that philosophical hermeneutics can help interpret Islamic thought anew? This book reveals how the two philosophies are likely to expand each other’s horizons and influence each other’s conceptual frameworks. It features revised papers from an International Conference.




Heidegger, Ontology, and the Destiny of Islam


Book Description

Heidegger, Ontology, and the Destiny of Islam: Thoughts and Reflections on the Nature of Islam in the World critiques Islam as a phenomenon set into motion from its beginning. It is a reflective work that addresses difficult questions about Islam through familiar historical concerns and grapples with the issues that arise in that process. Notably, it attests to making no substantive claims about Muslims and instead keeps to the course of analysis of the phenomenon that is Islam, which is taken as an assessable entity rather than a categorical construct. Understood largely in light of a history of observable realities, the ontological analysis of Islam reveals the general acquaintance with it to be imperfect. This suggests the reality of Islam is based on a primal truth that is only partially seen. The analysis then confronts two problems: firstly, that Islam is not what its historical “story,” as it were, proclaims and, secondly, that Islam is therefore not what is traditionally made out of the surviving historical narratives. It is not a question of “what” Islam is, but more critically, “how” Islam appears in the world.




The Qur'an and Its Exegesis


Book Description

This work brings together a collection of commentaries, translated from the original Arabic, on some of the key passages of the Qu'ran. Presenting the views of classical and modern commentators, it focuses on topics such as God, Muhammad, revelation, and Muslim beliefs and duties




The Quran and the Secular Mind


Book Description

This book is concerned with the rationality and plausibility of the Muslim faith and the Qur'an, and in particular how they can be interrogated and understood through Western analytical philosophy. It also explores how Islam can successfully engage with the challenges posed by secular thinking. The Quran and the Secular Mind will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic philosophy, philosophy of religion, Middle East studies, and political Islam.