In the course of the 20th century Muslim thinkers have become polarized between two extreme types: staunch defenders of tradition, who in their rejection of Western modernity assume a reactionary stance and try to recreate a society based on the earliest Muslim community of the 7th century; and, on the other side of spectrum, the advocates of a radical remolding of Muslim (Islamic) tradition.
In this volume, editor Dr. Suha Taji-Farouki brings together ten intellectuals of this latter tendency. Although their perspectives differ considerably, their ideas have a number of features in common. As the foundational text of Islam, they take the Qur'an as a source of ethical guidance rather than a specific code of law. They present their own projects as contributions to a renaissance of Islamic intellectual life. In their approaches these scholars often try to internalize contemporary intellectual trends and critical methods derived from Western philosophy and academia.
Among those treated in this book are giants like Fazlur Rahman and Mohammed Arkoun, as well as lesser known, but no less interesting, writers like the late Sadiq Nayhum from Libya and Iran's Mohamad Mojtahed Shabestari. Others include the Egyptian Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, whose text critical and literary approach of Qur'anic studies made him a virtual `outlaw' in his own country, forcing him to go into exile in the Netherlands in 1995. The Tunisian historian Mohamed Talbi and Indonesia's Nurcholish Madjid also deserve special mention.
The editor must be congratulated for including one woman: Amina Wadud. The latter is one of those rare female intellectuals daring to speak out on behalf of the underprivileged and marginalized. Apart from Morocco's Fatima Mernissi, few Muslim women have succeeded in establishing such a high public profile and - at the same time - giving rise to so much controversy. Amina Wadud is the black Muslim equivalent of Angela Davis. Apart from engaging in feminist rereadings of the Qur'an, she also positions herself explicitly as an African-American Muslim and finds herself often in a tense stand-off with (male) Muslims from the Middle East.
In his essay on the pioneer of the Neo-Modernism (also referred to as Islamic `Liberalism', `Contextualism', `Substantialism' or `Transformationism') Fazlur Rahman, Prof. Abdullah Saeed -- a Maldivian scholar currently working as a professor of Islamic Studies in Australia -- provides the setting for many of the other contributions. Fazlur Rahman's ideas have inspired the writings of innovating intellectuals operating in the wake of his groundbreaking scholarly work . Fazlur Rahman was a critic of the `dictation theory' and one of the first advocates of the notion that revelation was determined by the socio-historical context in which Muhammad lived. While its source lay in the transcendent, the actual utterances were informed by the psychological process the Prophet was subject to. Such a view was nothing short of revolutionary. Other liberating ideas introduced by Fazlur Rahman are the differentiation between the ideal and contingent as it impacts on law; the Qur'an's primary objective of social justice; and its status as an ethical guide rather than a legal code.
One of Indonesia's most important Muslim intellectuals, Nurcholish Madjid (affectionately known as `Cak Nur'), was a student of Fazlur Rahman at the University of Chicago. Much of his work written in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s is heavily influenced by his mentor's teachings. A key notion, for example, is the positing of `contextuality' as the primary hermeneutical principle. Insisting on the inherent contingency of the rulings of traditional Islamic jurisprudence or `fiqh', Nurcholish makes a case for accepting that many legal formulations are confined to a specific time and specific circumstances. A second hermeneutical axiom is that the circumstances of the interpreter himself will determine how texts (including the Qur'an) are understood. Building on these principles, Nurcholish formulated his political adage: "Islam, `yes', Islamic parties, `no'."
Coined in the jargon of postmodernist text criticism and other literary exegetical methods, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's thought makes a distinction between divine inspiration and prophetic speech that is reminiscent of Fazlur Rahman's. Much of Abu Zayd's work is also influenced by another pioneer of the literary study of the Qur'an: Amin al-Khuli, as well as Muhammad Khalafallah and - interestingly enough - Sayyid Qutb, who is also an important source of inspiration for many radical Muslim militants and `fundamentalists'.
Access to the work of the French-Algerian `chercheur-penseur' Mohammed Arkoun is also often hindered by his use of highly specific idiom and arcane terminology. Although his thought lacks an overarching systematization, his lifelong project has been the complete overhaul of Islamic studies. Arkoun proposes an `applied Islamology' in which the anthropological approach features prominently. Most of his writings have dealt with these methodological questions rather than the detailed engagement with the Qur'an text, although in studies like Lectures du Coran he has made very important contributions to the critical examination of the status of the Qur'an as text and shaper of a new cultural-religious discourse.
Apart from these explorers of methodological approaches, the essays on figures like Mohamed Talbi and Mohamad Shahrour show that contemporary Muslim thought also leaves room for a more personal engagement with scripture, highlighting how the text speaks to the believers.
This volume is a valuable contribution to a growing body of innovative studies of the religious and cultural heritage of the Muslim world. With publications like this one, the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, where the editor did much of her work as a research associate, puts itself on the map as an increasingly more important organization in the field of Islamic studies.
For anyone interested in progressive exegetical activity on the Qur'an, this book is a treasure. Both the novice and experienced student of Islamic Studies will find insight from cutting edge Muslim thought radiating from scholars like the late Fazlur Rahman and Mohammed Arkoun amongst others.
Worth the cost and the time spent reading it will be a fruitful investment.
