The Crisis of Muslim Religious Discourse:
The Necessary Shift from Plato to Kant

By Lahouari Addi

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: September 25, 2023

Showing that Muslim societies are facing a crisis that is more cultural than religious, this book focuses on cultural representations through which social life is experienced in the Muslim world. It brings a new theoretical framework to address the secularization process that is underway and the contradictions it entails.

This volume will arouse a new debate on secularization and the relations between religion, culture and philosophy. The crisis Muslim societies are undergoing pertains to the culture and not to the Qur’an to the extent that people do not have access to the sacred in itself but only for oneself, meaning a cultural interpretation of the sacred. The Qur’an in itself is not an obstacle to secularization and modernization since any sacred text is experienced through culture. If we consider the European experience where secularization has first emerged, we see that culture has been transformed from medieval metaphysics to modern philosophy upholding a civic culture.

Discussing secularization through cultural representation, this book launches new ideas that fill an important gap in the literature on secularization. It is a key resource for any readers interested in religious studies, philosophy and the anthropology of religion.

Table of Contents

1. Plato and Plotinus in Medieval Abrahamic Theology
2. Islam and the Platonic Dualism
3. From Sufism to Islamism
4. Muhammad Abduh or the Failure of the Epistemic Transition
5. A Positivism Without Human Agency
6. Transcendence, History and Ethics: Contemporary Stakes
7. Shari’a, Fiqh and Muslim Law
8. Europe, Islam and Secularization

About the Author

Lahouari Addi is Professor Emeritus at Sciences Po, University of Lyon, and a member of the research center Triangle CNRS. Former member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2002-2003). Professor Addi’s current research focuses on Muslim Law in the light of Moral Philosophy. Author of Radical Arab Nationalism and Political Islam (2017).

More information on: Routledge

Author: Resul Ay

Published in: The Muslim World, Vol. 113, Issue 3, pp. 211-227

Publication Date: August 7, 2023

Publisher: Macdonald Center and Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

The Islamic diversity that developed parallel to the Islamization of Anatolia from roughly the 12th century onwards and was called dervish religiosity, is often defined by its inattentive and indifferent attitude toward Shari‘a, although some of its other features are mentioned more or less. However, in this dervish-based religiosity, it draws attention that both the perception of Shari‘a and some other religiosity practices are more related to the tawhid beliefs in pantheistic sense. This paper aims to analyze how both dervish religiosity and folk religiosity, which developed largely under its influence, are shaped through some mystical thoughts and spiritual experiences such as ‘identification with God’, ‘immanence of God in man’ and ‘the human divinity’. The folk piety, which appears to be shaped within the framework of faith in saints, including high respect and various types of veneration that neglect the norms of Islamic worship, will be seen in relation to the pantheistic thoughts, as reflected in the understanding of seeing man as the qibla.

Source: Wiley

Exploring the Mind of God: An Introduction to Shiʿite Legal Epistemology

By Hashim Bata

Book Series: Studies in Islamic Law and Society, Vol. 53

Publisher: Brill

Publication Date: May 25, 2023

ISBN: 978-90-04-53681-4

This book introduces readers to the legal epistemology that is advocated within Twelver Shiʿite uṣūl al-fiqh (legal theory). It critically surveys the epistemological underpinnings upheld by post-19th century Uṣūlī clerics that impel them to mainly deduce and interpret Sharia using scripture and literalist hermeneutical methods. An evaluation of these underpinnings uncovers the important juxtaposition that exists between the seminarian discourses of uṣūl al-fiqh and philosophy. The book hypothesises that uṣūl al-fiqh has both space and historical precedence to accept alternative epistemological theories that may enable orthodox Shiʿite clerics to display greater dynamism in deducing and interpreting Sharia.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Islamic Legal Theory
• Chapter 2: The Non-Authoritativeness of Conjecture
• Chapter 3: The Authoritativeness of Certainty
• Chapter 4: The Authoritativeness of Substantiated Conjecture
• Chapter 5: Implications of Legal Epistemology on Ijtihād
• Bibliography
• Index

About The Author

Hashim Bata, Ph.D. (2012), University of Warwick, is Lecturer in Islamic Legal Studies at Al-Mahdi Institute and Associate Lecturer at University of Birmingham. He has published several articles in the fields Uṣūl al-fiqh and Fiqh.

Source: Brill

Funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area)

Under the “USES OF THE PAST” Program

Date: 1 September 2016 – 31 October 2018

Project Website: www.usppip.eu

Much modern Muslim thought, particularly around legal issues, is characterized by an emulation of past perfection, and a dissatisfaction with an imperfect present. Muslim communities and movements (be they radical and violent or liberal and progressive) usually frame their programs for change as attempts to preserve, revive and recapture the belief and practice of the past Muslim community. From terrorism which claims to be Islamic (most recently the emergence of Islamic State and the Charlie Hebdo attacks) to the European Sharī`a law debates, the need for a greater understanding of the pivotal role of historical precedent in the construction of contemporary Muslim thinking is clear. It is this need the Understanding Sharī`a Project aims to address.

The participants, all internationally recognized experts in the study of Islamic law, will create a research base and draw on an international networks of expertise. They will also engage in activities whereby this knowledge can be disseminated to a wider, non-academic audience (including both those within and outside of the Muslim community). Understanding the importance of the perceptions of the past, and the authority drawn from precedent for current Muslim thought and practice is too often misunderstood within the academic community (viewing it sometimes as ‘blind imitation’ of the past), but more crucially amongst policy makers and the general public. This project aims to make a contribution to raising the level of public debate around these issues by emphasizing the creative and future-orientation of modern Muslim understandings of the past.

This two year project addresses how Muslim legal scholars have used the idea of a perfect past to try and change the imperfect present.  Islamic legal thought has always stressed the importance of previous example – legal scholars often refer to the “example of the Prophet” or “established tradition or custom” to justify a rule. This project focuses on these uses of the past, and tries to show how they are changing and how the past is being used to support legal change and reform in contemporary Muslim discourse.

Funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) under their “Uses of The Past” program, the project team includes scholars in the Universities of Exeter, Leiden, Göttingen and Bergen and examines the uses of the past in the areas of violence, custom, gender and the state.

The project is a collaboration of four institutions: the Universities of Exeter, Leiden, Göttingen and Bergen, and in each institution an established academic (Gleave, Buskens, Schneider and Vikør) works with a postdoctoral researcher; they meet for both academic and public events every six months (with each institution hosting at least one event), involving both academics and practitioners. Project members at each institution will explore one theme of Islamic law in the modern period; Exeter will focus on violence, Leiden on custom, Göttingen on gender and Bergen on the state.  Particular attention will be paid to the uses of the past; the ways in which the Islamic legal tradition is invoked, contested and appealed to in modern argument, how it is presented and whether patterns are discernible in its deployment and whether these patterns shift over time.

Project Lead

• Prof. Robert Gleave, University of Exeter

Events

• Governance and Violence in Islamic Law Workshop | November 24, 2017
• Maslaha, Siyasa and Good Governance: Shari’a and Society Workshop | April 19-20, 2018
• Islamic Law and Sex/uality Workshop | June 22, 2017
• Customs, Culture, Shari’a and National Law | February 24-25, 2017
• Ocean of Law II: Islamic Legal Crossings in the Indian Ocean World | December 12-14, 2016
• Workshop on the Imamate traditions in South Arabia | November 22, 2016

Contacts

• Email: usppip@exeter.ac.uk
• Website: http://www.usppip.eu/

Respect Graduate School is committed to providing equal educational opportunities. It is an inclusive institution whose members treat each other with dignity and respect. It does not discriminate against persons on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.

Our institution is governed by a highly qualified Board of Trustees, who represent the cultural mosaic of our society in terms of gender, race, religion, and occupation.

Our Vision and Mission

The Vision of Respect Graduate School is to serve society by educating men and women for scholarship, especially in Islamic Studies, and for leadership in Muslim communities and for society in general, developing knowledge and putting it into practice with excellence in the nation and the world.

Our mission is to be an institution where students and faculty engage in research, teaching, learning and service with an emphasis on Islamic Studies for the public good. In addition to offering students and faculty academically excellent and stimulating opportunities, RGS promotes engagement with, and service to, the local and wider communities, and provides essential and mutually beneficial connections with academic institutions and social agencies

Disclaimer

At Respect Graduate School (RGS), we believe that open discussion of ideas and perspectives in a respectful manner even in sensitive subjects is crucial for the development of knowledge, critical thinking, and stimulation of new opportunities. Therefore, as part of its academic mission, RGS provides a setting for the respectful exchange and examination of a variety of ideas. The views of speakers do not necessarily reflect those of the Respect Graduate School’s, faculty, students or administration.

Islam 101

What is Islam really about? What do Muslims believe and practice? What is Shari’a? What is Jihad? What are the roles of Women? What does Islam teach about other religions and their followers?

These are some of the intriguing questions that we would all like to learn about from competent professors. Respect Graduate School offers a nine-weeks lecture series specifically designed to engage non-Muslim audience to explore such questions in an academic setting. In this program, our professors and audience members will move beyond stereotypes to learn and discuss with candor and respect about the faith, aspirations, spirituality and problems of more than one billion Muslims worldwide.

Participants may be expected to engage in readings and discussions.

Program Schedule:

• Introduction (Co-Teach)
• Islamic Basics: Pillars and Teachings (Zuleyha Colak)
• Qur’ān’ and Hadith (Zuleyha Colak)
• Islamic Sharia (Giovanni Herran)
• Islamic Spirituality (Co-Teach)
• Major Islamic Groups: Sunni and Shi’a (Giovanni Herran)
• Women in Islam (Zuleyha Colak)
• Islam and Other Faiths: Violence, Fundamentalism, and Radicalization (Giovanni Herran)
• Conclusion: (Co-Teach)

Professors:

• Giovanni Herran, Respect Graduate School
• Zuleyha Colak, Columbia University

Past Events

• Colloquium with Katherine Bullock, PhD.
• Jum’ah Prayer and Halaqah with Sh. Mendes
• Christians & Muslims Talking Together: Christianity’s Principle & More
• Decoding the Matrix: Restructuring Muslim Thought for the Modern World
• Qur’anic Recitation or Soccer Practice?
• Jumah Prayer & Friday Halaqah with Ustadh Ubaydullah Evans
• Giovanni Herran Halaqah – The Modern & Post-Modern Self: Nafs and the Human Without Center
• Refractions Through the Secular: Islam, Human Rights and Universality

Contacts

Address: 2200 Industrial Dr, Bethlehem, PA 18017, USA

Phone: +1 610 419 1751

Email: info@respectgs.us

Website: http://www.respectgs.us/

Newt Gingrich ignited a firestorm on Thursday when he said the U.S. should test Muslims to see if they believe in Sharia law. The remarks came in the wake of the terror attack in Nice, France.

President Barack Obama on Friday issued a thinly veiled rebuke of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s call for the U.S. to test every person with a Muslim background to see if they believe in Sharia law and deport those who do.

“In the wake of last night’s attacks, we’ve heard more suggestions that all Muslims in America be targeted, tested for their beliefs, some deported or jailed,” Obama said in remarks from the White House. “And the very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything that we stand for as Americans.”

Obama’s implicit critique of Gingrich was a part of broader point he made Friday in response to the Nice attack, which he called “sickening.” …”And those impulses, when we do not speak out against them and build institutions to protect people from those impulses, they can take over. They can be unleashed, so all of us have responsibilities, not just a few.”… “It sounds like he may need to consult his copy of the pocket Constitution as well,” Earnest said at a White House press briefing, adding that “proposals like that, rhetoric like that, is un-American by its very definition.”

Gingrich’s original comments came on Thursday night during an interview on Fox News, hours after a truck rampaged through a Bastille Day celebration in Nice.

“Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be: Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported,” Gingrich said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia, glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door.”

Gingrich defended those comments Friday during an appearance on Facebook Live but acknowledged that “deportation is impossible” with American citizens.

Source: CNN