Blogs

Muhammad Iqbal The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam

By General on 11/1/2009 10:15 AM

Muhammad Iqbal is regarded as one of the great thinkers of the Islamic Awakening. His major philosophical work has now been published in German. The book is a timeless intellectual challenge of the first rank, says Ludwig Amman Allama Dr Sir Muhammad Iqbal - posthumously revered in Pakistan as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (The Thinker of Pakistan) or Shair-i-Mashriq (The Poet of the East). The great Indo-Muslim poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), was a man ahead of his time. Regarded as one of the great thinkers of the Islamic Awakening, a movement which pointed the way towards a regeneration of Islamic culture, he was born in Sialkot in what was then India and today belongs to Pakistan. Now, at last, his major philosophical work, "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam" has been published in German. It surprises and delights. Inspiration from Western philosophy The volume consists of seven lectures...

Mohamed Talbi "Religious Dogmas Terrorize the Spirit"

By General on 11/1/2009 10:12 AM

The Tunisian intellectual Mohamed Talbi is regarded as one of the most critical leading thinkers in the Arab world. In his most recently published book, he denounces traditional Islamic religious scholars and argues for a contemporary reading of the Koran. Rachid Boutayeb introduces Mohamed Talbi

Mohamed Talbi argues for an "enlightened, open-minded Islam" (photo: Beat Stauffer) Mohamed Talbi was one of the founders of the Tunisia University and a follower of Habis Bourguibas, the father of the republic and the only Arab ruler who succeeded in stemming the influence of Islamic conservatism in his country in order to establish a secular regime. Today, Talbi is first and foremost a critical intellectual who never tires of denouncing the police state of Ben Ali. In an open letter, Talbi, who in contrast to many other critics of the regime has not gone into exile, referred to Tunisia as a "gulag for the spirit." In...

"Islamic Feminism Is a Universal Discourse"

By General on 9/8/2009 10:01 AM

Margot Badran is an expert in Islam and feminism. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, she talks about the influence of patriarchy on Islam and on how Islamic feminist ideas draw on the Quran and how they find their way into religious teachings According to Margot Badran, Islamic feminism is neither "Western" nor "Eastern" but a universal discourse grounded in the Quran How do Islamic feminists deal with aspects of the fiqh tradition that seem to be maligned against women's rights? Margot Badran: Women scholars (whether they embrace Islamic feminism or prefer ijtihad – independent readings of the sacred text and other religious sources) recognise the overwhelmingly misogynist nature of traditional fiqh. A fresh interpretation of the Quran is a foundational step in the reconsideration of fiqh, of building a new jurisprudence. Some scholars like Aziza al Hibri engage more directly with jurisprudence....

The Koran's Spirit of Gender Equality

By General on 9/8/2009 9:59 AM

Lily Zakiyah Munir, Head of the "Center for Pesantren and Democracy Studies", Indonesia, argues that it is not the Koran, but social convention of patriarchal cultures that women in Islamic countries are deprived of equal social status Lily Zakiyah Munir In several conferences on women, the recommendations for promoting gender equality and women's rights almost always mention religion, particularly Islam, as a source of discrimination and oppression against women, as if Islam as a religion hindered the promotion of women's rights. Now, if one defines Islam as the sum of attitudes and behavioral acts of the major part of Muslims in Muslim societies (which are – like many other societies worldwide – patriarchal societies), then it is correct to say Islam does discriminate against women, trying to hamper their rights and liberties. This view is not correct if Islam is understood as a set of moral teachings and rituals...

"Islam? Perfectly compatible with Women Rights"

By General on 9/8/2009 9:55 AM

Martha Nussbaum interviewed by Elisabetta Ambrosi “Do you know what our first president George Washington said, writing to the Quakers about why he was not going to require them to perform military service? ‘The conscientious scruples of all men should be treated with the greatest delicacy and tenderness’. Well, I wish I saw more of this delicacy and tenderness in Europe today”. According to the famous political philosopher Martha Craven Nussbaum, “it’s just appalling that nations want to ban wearing of traditional Islamic dress”. Religion, and in particular Islam, says Nussbaum, is compatible not only with democracy but also with women rights (see the Indian case). What’s really wrong are Western stereotypes about Muslims and the so (badly) called “Islamic world”. In your reflections on human capacities, you underline the importance of a correct and harmonic physical and psychical development and of the possibility for the...

Modern Science and the Hermeneutics of the “Scientific Interpretation" of the Qur’an

By General on 8/21/2009 5:55 AM

by Mustafa Abu Sway

Introduction: Allah (SWT) created humanity and, out of His mercy, He bestowed on humanity proper guidance throughout its history. The story of Adam (AS) in the Qur’an shows that he received instruction and revelation, before and after his time in the Garden. Humanity’s beginning was, therefore, an informed one. The instructions that Adam (AS) received were to equip him with the knowledge necessary to relate to his environment and to warn him against satanic temptations: “And He taught Adam the names of all things…” Qur’an, 2: 31 “Then We said: “O Adam! Verily this is an enemy to thee and thy wife: so let him not get you both out of the Garden, so that thou art landed in misery.” Qur’an, 20:117 Despite all warnings, Adam (AS) gave in to Satan’s evil whispering. Nevertheless, Allah SWT chose him for his grace: “He turned to him, and gave him guidance.” Qur’an, 20:122 When Adam (AS) was dismissed from the Garden along with his spouse, after Satan...

Science and Civilization in Islam by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

By General on 8/21/2009 5:50 AM

The Principles of Islam The history of science is often regarded today as the progressive accumulation of techniques and the refinement of quantitative methods in the study of Nature. Such a point of view considers the present conception of science to be the only valid one; it therefore judges the sciences of other civilizations in the light of modern science and evaluates them primarily with respect to their "development" with the passage of time. Our aim in this work, however, is not to examine the Islamic sciences from the point of view of modern science and of this "evolutionistic" conception of history; it is, on the contrary, to present certain aspects of the Islamic sciences as seen from the Islamic point of view. To the Muslim, history is a series of accidents that in no way affect the nontemporal principles of Islam. He is more interested in knowing and "realizing" these principles than in cultivating originality and change as intrinsic virtues. The symbol of Islamic civilization is not a flowing river,...

Reading the Religious Text - A New Approach by Mohammad Shahrour

By General on 8/21/2009 5:45 AM

In my book "Al’Kitab W’al Qu’ran" (The Book and the Qu’ran), published in 1990, I addressed fundamental questions, such as: What is the basis for authority? What is the basis for our relationship to one another, or to the state? To what extent our ideas have been shaped by reading, or a misreading, of fundamental religious texts, particularly the Qu’ran? If someone listened to programs about Islam on Arab televisions, he or she would see that the shaykhs preaching on TV say that Islam is good and Muslims are not good, as if Islam is something free in space. My understanding of meaning of Islam and of the situation of the Muslim world, starts with the definition of what Islam is. I differentiate between "Islam" and "Islamization". "Islam" as such is the holy Qu’ran. But "Islamization" is what people see in the phenomenon, which can be understood by sociology. There is no need for a new Islam, but there is a need for a new Islamization, because Islamization is bounded by history and geography, unlike Islam...

Quantum Revolution Is Not Over Yet-Mehdi Golshani

By General on 8/21/2009 5:41 AM

One can summarize the philosophical presuppositions of classical physics in the following way: There is a physical reality independent of us. This reality is understandable, and the aim of physics is to understand this reality as it is. This reality is decomposable into recognizable components and each component can be described in terms of some definite properties such as mass, electric charge, etc. Macro-objects consist of micro-objects, and one can describe the behavior of macro-objects in terms of the behavior of micro-objects. The time evolution of every system is such that every state of the object is causally determined by its earlier state. Our knowledge of the behavior of physical objects is obtained through observation and experimentation, and the effect of the observation process on the observed system is negligible and is, in any case, calculable. In short, classical physics believed in an objective reality independent of us, and in our ability to get a true picture of this reality....

Equality, Not Just before the Law

By General on 8/21/2009 5:19 AM

Women's Rights in the Islamic World Equality, Not Just before the Law In recent years, women's rights activists in Arab countries have been working hard to improve the lot of women, not only by calling for new laws to be passed, but also by ensuring that they are enforced too. Martina Sabra highlights a few typical examples from the Arab world. Arab women's rights groups are working hard to ensure that not only are laws improved, but that they are enforced too Widad Naggar (not her real name) does not know how old she is. "I guess I'm 46 or so," says the mother of four children from Helwan, one of Cairo's poor neighbourhoods. Widad's birth was not officially registered, so she cannot tell how old she is. Hundreds of thousands of other Egyptian women share her fate. For decades, Widad had neither birth certificate nor identity card. She was unable to vote and could not handle official formalities on her own. Her husband Magdi had to accompany her whenever something needed to be sorted out at school or with the authorities – because of her lack of papers. "I often felt very ashamed," she says....

Blogs by DRC researchers

DRC's own researchers discussing and posting on diverse subjects on the Qur'an, the world, human society, interpretation, Muslim world, history, science, philosophy etc.