Nasr Abu Zayd

UIN held a colloquium this afternoon with Nasr Abu Zayd as the main speaker. Zayd is an Egyptian who was a literature professor at the U. of Cairo before he was forced to leave the country. Zayd is at the forefront of a movement that applies hermeneutical tools for reading the Quran. This approach, which sees the Quran as a work of literature as well as holy text, has been condemned by Egyptian Muslim clerics and Zayd was declared apostate. A curious twist to this tale lies in the judgment that a Muslim woman cannot remain married to an apostate, so Zayd's wife was declared divorced from Zayd even though she refused. Remaining in Egypt was dangerous so he is now living in Holland.

Zayd's presentation was largely a summary of a recent book of his on the reformation of Islamic thought. For the most part, this reformation lies in applying historical critical methods to the Quran and the development of Islam. Some Christians may recognize this as something that has been happening in Christianity for over 100 years.

This historical critical method involves asking questions, for example, about the relationship of the Arabic language used at the time of the Prophet to the revelation of the Quran, the development of Islam as it spread beyond Arabia, and the nature of reading the Quran today. Zayd gave a fascinating overview of many of these issues but, more importantly, pointed out how such a hermeneutical method may lead to a resurgence of Islam. Zayd emphasized that Islam today has been reduced to Sharia, which represents a small part of the Quran, and what was needed was a desire to pursue other ways of being Muslim. These included the development of mysticism/spirituality as well as theology and philosophy.

What I found most interesting, however, was that Zayd tied the reformation of Islam to the necessity of respecting individual freedoms and rights. Individualism is often cited by Islamic scholars as one of the defining faults of the West and particularly democracy. Zayd emphasized that respecting human rights and the development of democracy was necessary for addressing problems of oppression as well as poverty and injustice. Unfortunately, he did not make clear why individualism was necessary for the reformation of Islam. What is the connection between a hermeneutical reading of Islam and democracy? Zayd did not make clear what this connection might be and so the relationship between a method of reading the Quran and Islamic politics remained unclear to me. Luther's insistence on the individual believer reading Scripture and being directly responsible to God transformed the politics of Christianity and Europe as a whole because it established the sacred as a realm distinct from the profane. It is not clear to me how a historical critical approach to the Quran and Islam produces a positive alternative politics that could establish the sort of reformation Zayd is looking for.

While the politics of Zayd's approach is not clear to me, it was clear why some Muslims might feel threatened. I was curious how the audience would react to his presentation. In fact, the questions were largely positive and I didn't sense any real opposition. Curiously, though, the audience was made up almost entirely of students, with only a few junior faculty. I am not sure what to make of the fact that apart from Zayd, I was probably the oldest person there.

I found the presentation to be fascinating, largely because it opened a window on a part of Islam I have not yet encountered directly. What I have experienced so far is an Islam that is heavily dependent on maintaining and repeating traditional understandings of being a faithful Muslim. Zayd's approach is a distinctly modern method that applies a scientific analysis to the tradition in the hope of opening up previously repressed possibilities. I have no idea how influential this hermeneutical approach is, nor do I have any sense of how effective it could be in bringing about a reformation in Islam.

Phil