The Illusion of Eternal Religious Law

Volume 3 of The Qur’anic Revelation A Reformed Understanding

Description:

This book is the third in a series that presents an attempt to understand the Qur’anic revelation—published concurrently with the first and second volumes. It continues on the work presented in the first two volumes of this series to propose a new interpretation of the Qur’anic revelation that is claimed to constitute a more accurate representation of the revelation.

The first three volumes of this series argue that the religion of Islam or rather the numerous interpretations of Islam are unacceptable representations of the Qur’anic revelation. The proposed interpretation of the Qur’anic revelation challenges the standpoints of Traditional Islam on three key issues: inclusiveness, the sources of religious knowledge, and the composition of any acceptable Qur’anic-based interpretation of religion. Each of the first three volumes of this series is dedicated to one of these topics, respectively.

In this book the stance of the proposed interpretation of the Qur’anic revelation on law is addressed. This position will prove to be of special significance particularly in the context of modernity—and the modern state. Furthermore, Islamic law and its relationship to the religion of Islam is explored. The proposed interpretation of the Qur’anic revelation does not see religion to be the source of law, but rather it sees religion to be a source of ethics. It sees that any acceptable interpretation of religion that is based on revealed scripture should have no law component. It rejects religious law altogether and calls for the implementation of secular law. In consequence, the proposed interpretation of the Qur’anic revelation would be redefining the role of religion and its domain of operation.

What Islam is the book talking about? Is it one Islam that around one-quarter of the world’s population follows? Are all of the commands in the Qur’an of eternal applicability? What is Islamic law (commonly referred to as Shari’a)? Why study Islamic law and why is it important to study it? Is there only one Islamic law? How does Islamic law relate to Islam? Why does this book call for comprehensive religious reform and not religious law reform? These questions and a multitude of others are addressed in this volume of the series.

This book is self-contained. It can be read as part of the series or independently. It does not require the reader to have previous knowledge in any of the topics discussed. The book discusses topics you do not find in your typical book about the Qur’an or Islam. It would interest those who want to learn about the Qur’an, its message, and Islamic law. Among this group would be those searching for a reformed understanding of the Qur’an and how it applies today; those interested to learn about Islamic law—what it is and what it is not; and those interested in monotheistic religions in general. This book will prove to be particularly useful to those seeking to understand the problems in the contemporary interpretations of Islam, and consequently how such problems reflect on the Muslim individual and societies in general.

Keywords: Islam, Islamic law, eternal law, revealed scriptures, interpretations of scripture, theology, the Qur’an (Quran, Koran, al-Qur’an, el Coran, القران الكريم), Sunna, Hadith, Shari’a, Fiqh, monotheism, inclusiveness, secularism, philosophy of law, philosophy of religion, religious reform, religious law reform, Arab spring, comparative religion, philology, semantics.