The Book: The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought

47 pages

• The crisis of knowledge in the Arab mind
• The sayings of the Prophet and the Companions are not sacred texts
• The sayings of the Prophet and the Companions are historical documents
• Islam is broader than rituals
• Islam distinguishes between concepts
• Synonymy hinders the construction of knowledge
• Legislation and prohibition are attributes of God alone
• Legislation monopolizes divine prohibition
• Confusing concepts produces takfir
• The civil state protects rights
• The civil state is responsible for public rights
• The state is governed by law, not by religious coercion
• Religion is an individual relationship with God
• The Muhammadan message opens the door to ijtihad
• The Muhammadan message abolishes priesthood and heredity
• The Muhammadan message abolishes priesthood
• The Muhammadan message opened the door to ijtihad
• Al-Shafi’i: a jurisprudential turning point
• Political legitimacy comes from human pledge of allegiance
• The Sharia allows human ijtihad
• The Sharia opens a field for ijtihad
• The Arab mind suffers from three ailments
• Traditional jurisprudence is a historical construct
• Inherited jurisprudence is a historical human construct
• Inherited jurisprudence does not match the Qur’an
• Inherited jurisprudence is separate from the Qur’an
• Jurisprudence is a historical human understanding
• A new contemporary reading of the Qur’an
• The Qur’an is the supreme reference
• The Qur’an is read through a contemporary reading
• The contemporary reading requires modern sciences
• The village is a symbol of monism and coercion
• Analogy reduces the new to the original
• The monolithic society carries destruction
• The monolithic society carries its own annihilation
• The authoritarian society produces tyranny
• The pluralistic society evolves
• The city is a symbol of plurality and freedom
• The city is a pluralistic society
• Equality between men and women is a textual objective
• Equality between men and women
• Modern knowledge is necessary for understanding the Qur’an
• Knowledge advances through differentiation and classification
• Confusing concepts generates sectarianism
• The divine Essence transcends scientific proof
• The divine Essence is beyond science
• The center of Islam is the Word of God