Maajid Nawaz, Irshad Manji, and the call for a Muslim reformation

Die Welt des Islams, 2011

... 46 Second, the new approach offers to identify the source of, and the method to overcome, the principal challenge that contemporary Mus-lim ... efficacy of the conventional ijtihād (ijtihād-i muṣtaliḥ), or ijtihād dar furūʿ, as well as some of the bases of Islamic legal theory (uṣūl al ...

Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, 2003

2003

IIUM Law Journal

2019

According to a famous story, when Giordano Bruno (ca. 1548 –1600), an Italian monist philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet, who, following an Inquisition for heresy and the denial of several Catholic doctrines, was about to be burned at a stake in Rome, an old woman came near to the fire, mentioned the name of God and threw a stick inside. Bruno said there: “Oh holy asinity! holy ignorance! Holy foolishness and pious devotion!...” . This story brought the historic term of “holy ignorance”. When a person or a group get into such an ignorance, it leads to some unacceptable horrible mistakes, of which one can point to a kind of “violence” consecrated by its committers. In fact, there is a very close connection between such an ignorance and religious radicalism. Nowadays in four corners of the world, we observe some groups rising and violating human dignities and social orders by the name of religion. Such beliefs are only due to misconceptions about religion, especially when speaking of Islam versus the West. On the other side, the concept of “tolerance” (tasāhul/tasāmoḥ) here manifests itself with its particular terminology, meaning “a behavior that not only tolerates the opponents, but allows them to express their beliefs, speech, and practices”. Such behavior occurs in a society wherein different social groups and parties live together with different beliefs and customs. Hence, tolerance is a policy from the state for reducing contradictions and crises in society. Nevertheless, different ideas regarding the sound meaning of this term, which basically in Islam comes from the Qur’an and Hadith literature, led to contradict practices by different religious sects. The present paper, based on the analytical descriptive method and through Quranic notions, traditional and Islamic teachings and thinkers’ views, aims to discuss the extent and limits of tolerance in Islam, particularly concerning freedom, and how misconceptions about it brings about the tragic phenomenon of “holy ignorance”. It also criticizes both Muslim and Western opinions in this regard. Finally, it will show the connection between intolerance, holy ignorance, radicalism, and lack of sound understanding about religion.

The Muslim World, 1994

72 Samual P. Huntington. 'Religion and the Third Wave.' 7 3 ~ /Va/ivia/ hi/'n>.q No. 24.

Political Islam, Justice and Governance, 2018

Freedom and Justice in islamic tradition Although the question of freedom is not eminently crucial in Muslim jurisprudence during the classical period of Islam, justice certainly is. George Hourani offers one of the better glimpses into the substantial debate in classical Islam over the ethical value concepts of the good and the just: What is the nature of value concepts (an ontological question) and how can we know the forces of value concepts (an epistemological question)? As to the first question of ontology, Muslim scholars have often adopted scriptural interpretations in their responses. As to the question of epistemology, there are rationalism theory and traditionalism theory. Rationalism postulates that independent reason can know what is right. This sense of rationalism is also divisible into two segments: (1) what is right that can always be identified by independent reason and (2) what is right that can be known by reason alone and, in other cases, by revelation and derived sources and sometimes by "both in agreement." 1 The traditionalism theory accepts reason as a source of knowing what's right, but only when independent as to revelation and derived sources. The fluidity of these devices allows for other tools to be used to capture the ordering of basic values of life in the Quran. Hourani singles out al-'adl (justice) as the primary ethical concept of the Quran. Using Imam

Issues in Contemporary Islamic Thought, 2005

This collection of papers presents a reformist project calling upon Muslim intellectuals and scholars everywhere to ‎comprehend the vast breadth and depth of the crisis engulfing Muslim thought today and the necessity of solving ‎this crisis to enable the Ummah to experience a revival and fulfill its role among the nations of the world. The reader ‎will find a variety of articles dealing with this intellectual crises, these include a chapter on ijtihad’s role and history, ‎important since our intellectual problems cannot be solved without the scholars’ use of independent reasoning and ‎creativity. Another discusses imitation (taqlid) calling upon Muslim scholars and intellectuals to abandon imitation ‎and to stop favoring the past over the present when trying to solve modern problems. Another looks at human ‎rights.‎

The Journal of Law and Religion, 2000