A non-fundamentalist return to origin: The new Islamic reformers' methodology of (re)interpretation. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rezaei, Mohammad
• Is Part Of: Critical research on religion. Volume 8:Number 1(2020:Apr.)
• Page Start: 25
• Page End: 38
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Functional approach to interpretations -- Iran -- method of historical hermeneutic -- religious intellectualism -- the evolution of religious knowledge -- women problem; Religion -- Periodicals; Religion -- Research -- Periodicals; Religion and sociology -- Periodicals; Religion and politics -- Periodicals; 200.5
• DOI: 10.1177/2050303219900247
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-3032

Abstract

Focusing on some contemporary Islamic reformers' solutions, in particular, Abolkarim Soroush, Mohsen Kadivar, and Fazlur Rahman, to concrete issues in Muslim societies, this article examines two different methodological strategies of alternative readings of the Sunna: an archeological one and a genealogical one. In the archeological perspective, the holy text has been considered as a repository of answers to all sorts of questions. Through a pathological analysis, this view suggests solutions to correct distortions and looks for new windows seeking an original interpretation of the Qur'an. The genealogical view, on the other hand, puts aside this pathology and instead insists on the idea of the contingency of any interpretation. Regardless of accuracy and validity, according to the genealogical view, all interpretations have addressed temporal and contextual questions. What is important in this perspective is not returning to an original source for finding the exact message of Allah, or correcting previous interpretations, but recurrently referring to an open-ended text in order to explore the futures of the Qur'an.