Table Of ContentUnity and Diversity
in Contemporary
Muslim Thought
Unity and Diversity
in Contemporary
Muslim Thought
Edited by
Abbas Poya and Farid Suleiman
Unity and Diversity in Contemporary Muslim Thought
Edited by Abbas Poya and Farid Suleiman
This book first published 2017
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2017 by Abbas Poya, Farid Suleiman and contributors
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-4316-4
ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-4316-4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
Abbas Poya and Farid Suleiman
Section 1: Pathways in Sunni Theology
Chapter One ............................................................................................... 12
The Turkish Qur(cid:1934)(cid:407)nic Exegete Süleyman Ate(cid:250) and His Contemporary
Commentary of the Qur(cid:1934)(cid:407)n
Abdullah Takim (Frankfurt)
Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 47
Faith, Policy and Theology: The Theological Stance of the Syrian Scholar
Mu(cid:2468)ammad Sa(cid:1935)(cid:431)d Rama(cid:2444)(cid:407)n al-B(cid:460)(cid:2540)(cid:431) (1929-2013)
Abbas Poya (Erlangen)
Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 63
A Call to Unity: Y(cid:460)suf al-Qara(cid:2444)(cid:407)w(cid:431)’s Middle Way Approach
to the Interpretation of the Divine Attributes
Farid Suleiman (Erlangen)
Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 85
Between Unity and Diversity: R(cid:407)shid al-Ghannouchi’s Concept
of Pluralism
Benjamin Jokisch (Berlin)
Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 98
The Theory of Im(cid:407)ma according to Sa(cid:1935)(cid:431)d (cid:2467)aww(cid:407)
Samir Suleiman (Hebron)
Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 121
(cid:2529). Ma(cid:2468)ma(cid:2530)(cid:2530)(cid:407)n(cid:431): The Philosophy of Jurisprudence in Islam.
The Evolution of Laws
Rana Alsoufi (Erlangen)
vi Table of Contents
Section 2: Concepts and Methods in Shiite Theology
Chapter Seven .......................................................................................... 134
The Twelver Shia: Theological Characteristics
Reza Hajatpour (Erlangen)
Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 150
Authority and Rituals in the Shia Ismaili Tradition: An Interpretative
Analysis
Yahya Baiza (London)
Chapter Nine ............................................................................................ 174
Prophetic Philosophy and the Renewal of Islamic Intellectuality
in the Thought of Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino (Tübingen)
Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 208
How the Prophet Saw the World: On the Qur(cid:1934)(cid:407)nic Exegesis
of Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari
Abbas Poya (Erlangen)
Contributors ............................................................................................. 228
Index ........................................................................................................ 231
INTRODUCTION
ABBAS POYA AND FARID SULEIMAN
Not only Islamic theology, but theology in general, is widely understood
as a field of knowledge that occupies itself with religious questions whose
validity transcends time and place. A closer inspection, however, reveals
that the emergence and development of (Islamic) theology is not only
inextricably linked with disciplines like philosophy, mysticism, jurisprudence
and natural sciences, but must also be examined against the historical
backdrop of social, economic and political conditions. Thus, it is not
surprising that Islamic history has witnessed a vast range of divergent
theological understandings up until the present time. There are diverse
theological understandings within different Islamic historical contexts,
religious schools, philosophical threads and epistemological developments.
In the summer term of 2014, an international lecture series held at the
Department of Islamic-Religious Studies of the Friedrich-Alexander-
Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg gave a glimpse into these developments
and verities. One major question raised by the lecture series was that of the
limits and boundaries of (Islamic) theology and how they have constantly
been re-defined. To ensure relevance for today’s world, the scope of the
lectures was limited by two criteria: First, each contribution had to focus
on the thought of a contemporary Muslim theologian, whose creative
period came after the year of 1950. Second, besides a purely theological
examination, the contribution also had to consider the interdependence
between theological debates and the larger context in which they took
place. The volume here largely follows this conceptual framework and has
brought together articles by European and Middle Eastern scholars. While
some of the contributions are based on the series of lectures others have
been added to the volume at a later stage.
Inter alia, this volume seeks to contribute to discourses on the self and
the other in Islamic thought. Islamic theology like any other form of
theology, cannot avoid defining an image of the self, drawing thereby a
line that separates it from the other. In that it follows a symbolic order
within specific historical contexts. This defining of what can be counted as
Islamic always entails a moment of exclusion and, at the same time, also a
2 Introduction
space where transition and shifting of meanings can ensue. We regard this
space for the negotiation of discourses and meanings as a dynamic and
open process of enabling for the future development of new reconfigurations
within encompassing understandings of (theological Islamic) belonging. In
traditional theological debates, the negative question about who does not
belong to Islam was considered to be crucial. Muslim theologians of all
shades tried to (re-)formulate the framework of acceptable belief. Labels
such as kufr (unbelief), irtid(cid:407)d (apostasy), zandaqa (heresy), fisq (iniquity)
and (cid:1714)al(cid:407)l (aberrance) have been and are still being used to delegitimise
beliefs that supposedly fall outside this framework. The literary genre of
heresiography evolved around a Prophetic tradition which states that the
‘Muslim community’ will be divided into seventy-three sects, of which
only one will be saved. This tradition has been narrated in many different
versions,1 including one that condemns only one sect to hell and promises
to the remaining seventy-two the reward of paradise.2 One of the
narrations that is commonly cited is to be found in the (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th-collection al-
Mu(cid:1205)jam al-kab(cid:431)r of Ab(cid:460) l-Q(cid:407)sim al-(cid:2539)abar(cid:407)n(cid:431) (d. 360/971) and will be
quoted in Arabic and then translated into English in the following:
Iftaraqat al-Yah(cid:460)d (cid:1935)al(cid:407) i(cid:2468)d(cid:407) wa-sab(cid:1935)(cid:431)na firqa, wa-ftaraqat al-Na(cid:2530)(cid:407)r(cid:407) (cid:1935)al(cid:407)
thnatayni wa-sab(cid:1935)(cid:431)na firqa, wa-l-ladh(cid:431) nafs(cid:431) bi-yadihi, la-taftariqanna
ummat(cid:431) (cid:1935)al(cid:407) thal(cid:407)tha wa-sab(cid:1935)(cid:431)na firqa w(cid:407)(cid:2468)ida f(cid:431)-l-janna wa-thnat(cid:407)ni wa-
sab(cid:1935)(cid:460)na f(cid:431)-l-n(cid:407)r. Q(cid:431)l: Y(cid:407) ras(cid:460)l All(cid:407)h, wa-man hiya? Q(cid:407)l: Al-Jam(cid:407)(cid:1935)a.3
“The Jews have divided into seventy-one sects, the Christians have divided
into seventy-two sects, I swear by Whom Who carries my soul in His hand,
my community will divide into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in
Paradise and seventy-two in Hell.” It was said: “O Messenger of God, who
are they?” He said: Al-Jam(cid:407)(cid:1205)a4.”
1 See Josef van Ess, Der Eine und das Andere, 2 vols. (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010),
1:7–64.
2 In that version, the Qadariyya are identified as the group that is doomed to hell.
However, Muslim scholars considered it to be a fabricated narration. See e.g. Ab(cid:460)
(cid:1935)Abd All(cid:407)h al-Jawraq(cid:407)n(cid:431), al-Ab(cid:407)(cid:1810)(cid:431)l wa-l-man(cid:407)kir wa-l-(cid:1800)i(cid:1738)(cid:407)(cid:1738) wa-l-mash(cid:407)h(cid:431)r, ed.
(cid:1935)Abd al-Ra(cid:2468)m(cid:407)n al-Faryaw(cid:407)(cid:1934)(cid:431) (Riyadh: D(cid:407)r al-(cid:2529)umay(cid:1935)(cid:431), 2002), 1:459–60, (cid:2467)ad(cid:431)th
number 277 and the author’s subsequent comment.
3 Ab(cid:460) l-Q(cid:407)sim al-(cid:2539)abar(cid:407)n(cid:431), al-Mu(cid:1205)jam al-kab(cid:431)r, ed. (cid:2467)amd(cid:431) (cid:1935)Abd al-Maj(cid:431)d (Riyadh:
D(cid:407)r al-(cid:2529)umay(cid:1935)(cid:431), 1994), 18:70, (cid:2467)ad(cid:431)th number 129.
4 Al-Sh(cid:407)(cid:2540)ib(cid:431) (d. 790/1388) cites five different opinions in regard to what is intended
by the term al-Jam(cid:407)(cid:1205)a in this (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th. He himself defines it as the community that
adheres to its leader who acts in accordance with the Qur’an and the sunna (al-
Jam(cid:407)(cid:1205)a r(cid:407)ji(cid:1205)at il(cid:407) l-ijtim(cid:407)(cid:1205) (cid:1205)al(cid:407) l-im(cid:407)m al-muw(cid:407)fiq li-l-kit(cid:407)b wa-s-sunna). See Ab(cid:460)
Is(cid:2468)(cid:407)q al-Sh(cid:407)(cid:2540)ib(cid:431), al-I(cid:1205)ti(cid:1800)(cid:407)m, ed. Mu(cid:2468)ammad ibn (cid:1935)Abd al-Ra(cid:2468)m(cid:407)n al-Shuqayr, Sa(cid:1935)d
Unity and Diversity in Contemporary Muslim Thought 3
Scholars over the centuries have attempted—albeit with little success
—to write a history of the Islamic schism that accords with the predicted
number mentioned in the (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th. The vast quantity of heresiographical
literature that is structured around this tradition should however not
obscure the fact that its authenticity has been and still is disputed. For
example, Y(cid:460)suf al-Qara(cid:2444)(cid:407)w(cid:431) (b. 1926) bases his understanding on prior
acknowledged scholars like Ibn (cid:2467)azm (d. 456/1064), arguing against its
reliability from the standpoint of both its isn(cid:407)d (chain of transmitters) as
well its meaning.5 Another contemporary scholar, Mu(cid:2468)ammad ibn al-
(cid:2467)asan al-Shanq(cid:431)(cid:2540)(cid:431) (b. 1963), considers only the first part of the (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th that
talks about the inner divisions of the three monotheistic religions to be
acceptable. Rejecting the latter part allows al-Shanq(cid:431)(cid:2540)(cid:431) to suggest a
complete re-interpretation of the Prophet’s saying. The division into
seventy-three Muslim sub-groups, he argues, should be understood as a
prediction that the Muslim umma will outnumber the Jews and the
Christians. Therefore, the (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th is not—as has often been said—rebuking
but in fact praising the Muslim community.6
Regardless of the authenticity of the afore-mentioned (cid:1738)ad(cid:431)th, defining
and establishing ‘correct’ belief has been considered one of the main tasks
in theology. Great theologians of the past tried to formulate a universally
valid framework of proper beliefs.7 But history has proved that the dividing
line between orthodoxy and heresy has been permanently renegotiated and
adapted to fit the changing political, social and religious contexts.8
ibn (cid:1935)Abd All(cid:407)h Al al-(cid:2467)umayd, and Hish(cid:407)m ibn Ism(cid:407)(cid:1935)(cid:431)l al-(cid:2529)(cid:431)n(cid:431) (Riyadh: D(cid:407)r Ibn al-
Jawz(cid:431), 2008), 3:209–16, quote on 216.
5 Y(cid:460)suf al-Qara(cid:2444)(cid:407)w(cid:431), “(cid:2467)ad(cid:431)th iftir(cid:407)q al-umma il(cid:407) thal(cid:407)th wa-sab(cid:1935)(cid:431)na firqa,”
Personal Website of Y(cid:460)suf al-Qara(cid:2444)(cid:407)w(cid:431), accessed April 2015,
http://www.qaradawi.net/new/library2/282-2014-01-26-18-52-49/3339-.
6 Mu(cid:2468)ammad ibn al-(cid:2467)asan al-Shanq(cid:431)(cid:2540)(cid:431), “al-Shaykh al-Dadaw: (cid:2467)ad(cid:431)th al-iftir(cid:407)q il(cid:407)
thal(cid:407)th wa-sab(cid:1935)(cid:431)na firqa l(cid:407) yadullu al(cid:407) l-dhamm. Wa-gh(cid:407)yatuh(cid:460) kathrat h(cid:407)dhihi al-
umma,” Saudi Arabian daily newspaper (cid:1935)Uk(cid:407)(cid:2572), accessed April 2015,
http://www.okaz.com.sa/okaz/osf/20070802/Con20070802129518.htm.
7 For example, Ab(cid:460) (cid:2467)(cid:407)mid al-Ghaz(cid:407)l(cid:431) (d. 505/111) insisted in his Tah(cid:407)fut al-
fal(cid:407)sifa that believing in the eternity of the world constitutes kufr (heresy).
However, many later theologians, among them the famous mutakallim Fakhr al-
D(cid:431)n al-R(cid:407)z(cid:431) (d. 606/1210), who belonged to the same school of thought as his
predecessor al-Ghaz(cid:407)l(cid:431), have rejected this claim. Al-R(cid:407)z(cid:431) argued that the problem
of whether the world is eternal or not is insoluble on both theological and
philosophical grounds. See Muammer (cid:248)skendero(cid:247)lu, Fakhr al-D(cid:431)n al-R(cid:407)z(cid:431) and
Thomas Aquinas on the Question of the Eternity of the World (Leiden: Brill, 2002).
8 For example, the political conditions of the fifth/eleventh century heavily
influenced the Ash(cid:1935)arite concept of belief and disbelief. See Frank Griffel,
