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UNIVERSITEIT VOOR HUMANISTIEK -- Sectie Levensbeschouwing, Onderzoeksleer, Ethiek en Practica (LOEP)
UNIVERSITY FOR HUMANISTICS
 Prof. dr Nasr Abu Zayd
Ibn Rushd leerstoel Humanisme en Islam
Ibn Rushd Chair of Humanism and Islam
naz@uvh.nl
Telefoon/Telephone +31 (0)30 2390 159
At the University for Humanistics Professor Abu Zayd studies modern Islamic thought by critically approaching classical and contemporary Islamic discourse in the field of theology, philosophy, law, politics and humanism. The aim of his research is to suggest a theory of hermeneutics that might enable Muslims to build a bridge between their own tradition and the modern world of freedom, equality, human rights, democracy and globalisation. He also participates in a research project on Jewish and Islamic Hermeneutics as Cultural Critique, in the Working Group on Islam and Modernity at the Institute of Advanced Studies of Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin). Professor Abu Zayd supervises MA and Ph.D students in the field of Islamic Studies at the University of Leiden as well.
Nasr Hamed Abu Zayd is former Professor of Arabic literature at Cairo University. In 1995 a Cairo appeals court ordered Abu Zaid divorced from his wife on the ground of his alleged apostasy. With his wife he has been living in The Netherlands since.
Selectie van publicaties / Selection of publications:
Rethinking the Qur'an: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutics, Utrecht (Humanistics University Press) 2004. BV Uitgeverij SWP, Amsterdam, SWP Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Spricht Gott nur Arabisch? (Does God speak only Arabic?), in Michael Thumann (ed.), Der Islam und der Westen, Berliner Taschenbuch Verlag, Berlin 2003, pp. 117-26.
Thus spoke Ibn Arabi (in Arabic), The Egyptian National Book Organization, Cairo 2003.
"The Dilemma of the Literary Approach to the Quran", ALIF, Issue 22, the American University, Cairo 2003.
"How the West blunders on about Islam", Middle East Times, October 27 2002.
"Heaven, which way?" Al-Ahram Weekly, issue 603, 2002.
"The Qur'an: God and Man in Communication", inaugural lecture for the Cleveringa Chair at Leiden University (November 27th, 2000); http:/www.let.leidenuniv.nl/forum/01_1/onderzoek/2.htm
Entries in the Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an: Arrogance, Vol. I, pp. 158-161; Everyday Life: Qur'an In, Vol. II, pp. 80-97; Illness and Health, Vol. II, pp. 501-502; Intention, Vol. II, pp. 549-551; Oppression, forthcoming.
Nasr Abu Zayd, Rethinking the Qur'an: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutics, Utrecht (Humanistics University Press) 2004, ISBN 90 6665 605 0 -- � 9,50 in your bookstore.
Voor volledige lijst publicaties, kunt u zoeken in METIS (klik hier).
Lopende onderzoeksprojecten / Current research projects:
A few years ago, I started to realize that the tension surrounding many issues in the Qur'an cannot be solved by dealing with the Qur’ān as only a text. The Qur’ān maintains that, as a text authored by God, it has no contradictions (Q 4:82). Yet the phenomenon of contradiction does exist; it was realized by the theologians who tried painfully to solve it by adhering to the duality of clarity-ambiguity. It was also realized by the jurists who tried to solve it by adhering to the doctrine of abrogation. In modern Qur’ānic studies in the Muslim world, the phenomenon is also realized and the solution proposed is to distinguish between two dimensions in the Qur’ānic worldview, the “universal” and the “historical.” In all these efforts, the phenomenon is realized but not fully solved. My assessment is that the concept of textuality with its underlying assumption of author is the cause of this paradoxical entrapping between historicity and divinity, or between the chronological order and the muṣḥaf order.
Realizing the fact that the Qur’ān was originally a series of discourses, each of which has certain historical context and certain degree of independence, I suggested a redefinition of the Qur’ān as discourse(s). These discourses reflecting polyphony rather than monophony and reflect not only different situations but also different addressees. A humanistic hermeneutics, I suggest, is to consider in every discourse-unit: 1- who the speaker is and who the addressees are; 2- the mode of discourse under investigation, whether argumentative, persuasive, polemic, proscriptive, prescriptive, descriptive, inclusive or exclusive etc. Thus I do not deal with the sūra (chapter) or with the `āya (verse) as independent units; the unit is the identified discourse according to the norms suggested.
For now, I propose dividing the Qur’ān’s worlds –not exactly worldview- into five interdependent domains, each of which reflects one level that has been taken away and disconnected from the other levels in one of the Islamic disciplines, namely fiqh, theology, philosophy and mysticism. These worlds could be summarized as follows:
1. Cosmology, the Qur'ānic worldview of the cosmos, the universe, nature, creation and recreation, the creator, death and resurrection are presented.
2. The divine-human relationship. Here closeness and distinction are both emphasized in different modes of dicourse. Despite this emphasized closeness, mediation between the divine and the human is presented in poetic language describing the angels filling the space between heaven and earth bringing down God’s amr or command. The fact that God always sends guidance to humans via the mediation of angels is a token of His care for them. Humans in return are expected to be grateful.
3. Ethical and moral dimension. Here the Qur’ān maintains a certain tension between the possibility of human perfection and the reality of human moral deficiency. The complex divine image of God as merciful and mighty could be understood as a parallel or reflection of human nature.
4. Society. Here the Qur'ān deals with specific societal practical issues like marriage, divorce, and inheritance. On this level we find legal ruling interwoven with ethics.
5. Punishment (ḥudūd). This level exists in the Qur'ān but it does not belong to the worldview of the Qur'ān. It does not even belong to the category of "rules" (level 4). Cutting off the hands of the thief, flogging an adulterer and those who falsely accuse others of adultery (qadhf), - not to mention stoning, rajm, (which is not a rule in the muṣḥaf but is claimed have been abrogated in its textual form only, nusikha lafẓan la ḥukman) are not genuine Qur'ānic rulings. These forms of punishment existed before the Qur'ān, and the Qur'ān borrowed them in order to protect society against crimes. These levels – and there may be more -- are all intrinsically interwoven in the Qur'an and the Qur’ānic worldview could not be reconstructed without them.
Universiteit voor Humanistiek
Postbus 797
3500 AT Utrecht
The Netherlands
Fax + 31 (0)30 234 0738
Bezoekadres: Kromme Nieuwegracht 29, Utrecht
(c) Universiteit voor Humanistiek
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