Online research in philosophy

Journeys of Ghazali and Averroes to their diverse conceptions of the role of reason -- From the chimera of philosophy to the evidence of "the just balance" -- The decisive criterion of the distinction between islam and hypocrisy (zandaqa) -- Averroes, philospher-reader of the precious book -- Reorganization of the world according to Aristotle in the light of Qurʼanic revelation by Averroes -- Ghazali and Averroes in Muslim society.

We discuss the special place of the Qur'an in the Muslim discourse in general and on science in particular. The Qur'an has an unparalleled influence on the Muslim mind, and understanding the Islamic treatise on science and religion must start from this realization. We explore the concept of science in the Islamic culture and to what extent it can be related to the Qur'an. Reviewing various Islamic discourses on science, we show how a simplistic understanding of the plan to adopt modern science within an Islamic revival program has been corrupted in the form of the theory of "scientific miraculousness of the Qur'an." We assess and dismiss this theory but use it to show how a serious misunderstanding of the nature of modern science and a narrow view of the Qur'an has led to that embarrassingly popular yet misguided theory. We conclude by promoting a multiplicity of readings of the Qur'an and show that this allows for an enlightenment of one's interpretation of Qur'anic verses, using various tools at one's disposal, including scientific knowledge. We uphold Averroes's principle of "no possible conflict," which can be used to persuade the Muslim public of a given idea not by proving that it can be found in the Qur'an but rather by showing that at least some readings of it are fully consistent with the given scientific theory.

The comprehensiveness of Islamic law has been questioned seriously in the modern period by Muslim reformists like Rashīd Riḍā. Such reformists have used as evidence Qur'anic verses and Prophetic reports that seem to state clearly that the strictures of Islamic law are few and limited and that Muslims should not extend them to all areas of life. How could the Shariah have developed as a holistic and exhaustive body of law in light of such evidence? Looking back at earlier Muslim scholars from the ninth to the eighteenth centuries, however, we see that these Qur'anic verses and Prophetic edicts were never understood in this way. They were either diffused with various hermeneutic strategies or understood as applying to debates unrelated to the comprehensiveness or minimalism of the Shariah.

First, I argue for historical contextualization of the Qur’an as a given historical collection of discourses propagated by Muhammad as divine inspiration. Secondly, I argue for a distinction between the Qur’an and Islam, since the latter is the outcome of human efforts to construct their lives in accordance with what they understood to be the teachings of the Qur’an. The last point is to show how the role of Muhammad in his interaction with the communities of his time in Hijaz shaped the Qur’an. So, the article is organized as (1) introduction; (2) the Qur’an and lslam; (3) the Qur’an and history: open hermeneutics; (4) Muhammad and the Qur’an; (5) the divine—human communication; (6) Muhammad: the first recipient; (7) Muhammad in the Qur’an; and (8) the community of believers and the need for legal regulations; followed by (9) conclusion.

This book analyzes for the first time in English the ethical theory that underpins Qur’anic legislation by providing a classification of specific verses in which Islam’s holy book discusses moral issues. The principal purpose of this book is to demonstrate the ways in which the Qur’an theoretically and practically provides the moral code to which Muslims around the world adhere. The author divides his analysis into a survey of Qur’anic attitudes towards the basic ethical issues of obligation and responsibility, issues of moral psychology such as motivation and intention, as well as matters of social ethics such as the function of law in society. He then explores the meanings of individual morality, morality within the family and civil society, and the relationship of morality to the idea of the state.

This essay suggests that the traditional interpretive scholarship on the Qur'an is losing its relevance in the lives of many Muslims and that a new Qur'anic hermeneutic is replacing the traditional interpretive scholarship on the Qur'an. The new discourse on the Qur'an and its meaning has great potential and may help to reduce the size of the abyss between the Islamic world and the West that now exists. After describing the traditional interpretive scholarship on the Qur'an, including the differences in approach among Sunni and Shi'a interpreters, the essay considers the approach of recent scholars of Islam who favor the use of a modern, "post-Enlightenment" hermeneutic in interpreting the Qur'an. The essay argues that this new approach can be of much greater relevance and importance to contemporary Muslims. It concludes that modern universities, in the West as well as in the East, have a tremendous opportunity to assist in making this new hermeneutical approach accessible to scholars and other interested persons for the benefit of the Islamic world and all of humankind.

v. 1. Methodological issues and themes in the Koran -- v. 2. The nature of monotheism in Koranic thought -- v. 3. Circular causation model in the Koran -- v. 4. Monotheism applied to social issues in the Koran -- v. 5. The Koranic principle of complementarities applied to social and scientific themes.