ملخص الجهاز:
Modernizing Islam Abu Zayd's writings address a number of issues central to Islamic thought, from methods of Qur'anic interpretation to the authority of religious scholars and the appropriate role of religion in contemporary life.
Much of the calmer discussion focused on two intertwined arguments central to Abu Zayd's work, one concerning the historical status of the Qur'an and the other addressing the relation of reason ('aql) to religion (din).
A key point of departure for Abu Zayd's argument is the idea that the Qur'an, once it was revealed to Muhammad, entered history and became subject to historical and sociological laws or regularities (qawiin1n).
"10 The historical reality of which the Qur'an partakes in Abu Zayd's narrative is that defined by a realist sociology, a space of ideological contestation wherein autonomous subjects of interest (individuals, groups, classes) compete with each other for short-term political and economic goals.
11 Abu Zayd identifies his own work as an attempt to establish an "objective" (mawdii'i), "scientific" ('ilmi) framework for the analysis and interpretation (ta/sir) of religious texts, a goal that evaded those Islamic thinkers who preceded him, as they failed to address adequately the historical dimension of their project.
" If, as Abu Zayd suggests, the past is that which pulls people away from their real selves as reason-guided individuals acting in a present of pragmatic short-term goals, then his call for Muslims to continue to interrogate the Qur'an may best be understood as a tactical response to the social context of his writing and thus as accessorial to the argument itself.