Humanism and Muslim Culture: Historical Heritage and Contemporary Challenges (Reflections on (In)Humanity)

The papers of this volume move from the abstract scheme of an intercultural humanism of the future to concrete cultural expressions of humanism within the Muslim culture of different times up to the present. They concentrate on three issues. The first is related to contemporary attempts to develop a humanist and historical hermeneutics of the Qur’an and of Islamic history. The second discusses the humanist heritage and the humanitarian trends of Muslim religious and literary culture. The third highlights the discussion on Humanism and Islam as a topic within European identity politics, covering the role of this discussion for the history of Islamic Studies in Europe and America, and the contemporary polemics around Islam in the Netherlands. Taken together, the contributions of the volume attempt to provide the groundwork for an assessment of the roots and prospects of an intercultural humanism with respect to the Muslim world. Title Page 3 Copyright 4 Table of Contents 7 Body 9 Stefan Reichmuth//Aladdin Sarhan: 1. Foreword 9 Stefan Reichmuth//Aladdin Sarhan: 2. Humanism and Muslim Culture: Historical Heritage and Contemporary Challenges 11 1. Universal concept of humanity 13 2. Centrality of the human being: Anthropocentrism 14 3. Human dignity as a basic value of cultural orientation 15 4. Equality of all human beings in respect to their essential dignity 15 5. Fundamental reference to responsibility and otherness in human existence 16 6. Individuality and social responsibility 16 7. Humanity and Transcendence 17 The present book 18 Part I: A humanist hermeneutics of Islam? 20 Part II: Debates on humanist elements in Islamic culture 21 Part III: Humanism and Islam in European identity politics: German and Dutch cases 22 Bibliography 24 Part I: A humanist hermeneutics of Islam? 25 : 3. The Concept of Man in the Qur'an. Non-Muslim Perspectives 27 Introduction 27 Part I: The social background of the Qur'anic text 30 Part II: Humanistic Hermeneutics of the Qur'an 35 Bibliography 38 : 4. Rethinking the Qur'an: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutics 39 1. The Qur'an as `Discourse' 41 2. The Qur’an versus the Muṣḥaf: the spoken and the silent 43 3. The `Text' Reconstructed and Manipulated 44 4. Polyphonic not Monophonic; Who Speaks and Who Listens? 47 5. Dialogue 50 6. Negotiation 53 7. From Negotiation to Disputation 55 Conclusion 59 Bibliography 60 : 5. The Vicissitudes of Ethics in Islamic Thought 61 The two sources of ethics 63 1) From the tensions between reason and belief to an ultraliberal pragmatism versus Islamic fundamentalism 65 2) From the ethics of to the expansion of Islamic fundamentalism: which specific lessons? 73 3) Where do the Values Go? Commanding the Right and Prohibiting the Wrong (al-amr bi-l-ma‘rūf wa-l-nahy ‘ani-l-munkar) 78 Instead of a Conclusion: Postulates and Systems of Truth 82 Bibliography 84 Part II: Debates on humanist elements in Islamic culture 87 Renate Würsch: 6. Humanism and Mysticism – Inspirations from Islam 89 Bibliography 99 Hinrich Biesterfeldt: 7. The Perfect Man – a Humanist? 101 1. The Perfect Man in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s thought and al-Jīlī’s system 102 2. Various personifications of the Perfect Man in Islamic religious thought 105 3. The Perfect Man – a Humanist? 108 Bibliography 112 Stefan Reichmuth: 8. Humanism in Islam between Mysticism and Literature 115 Bibliography 125 Michael Kreutz: 9. Understanding the Other: on Reason and Individualism 127 Heritage in an Age of Criticism 129 From to 132 A Plea for Human Reason 136 From Reason to Faith 139 Bibliography 142 Part III: Humanism and Islam in European identity politics: German and Dutch cases 145 Birgit Schäbler: 10. Humanism, Orientalism, Modernity: A Critique 147 From Humanism to Neo-Humanism 148 Writing Islam out of Modernity 150 Global Modernity 156 Bibliography 159 Michael Kemper: 11. The Cracks in Civilizations: The Dutch Public Discourse on Humanism and Islam 163 , Fitna (2008) 165 , Islam for Pigs (2008) 170 Kader Abdolah, The Koran‍/The Messenger (2008) 173 Conclusion 176 Bibliography 177 About the Contributors 179 "The papers collected in this volume move from the abstract scheme of an intercultural humanism of the future to the concrete cultural express ions of different times up to the present. They concentrate mainly on three issues. The first is related to contemporary attempts to develop a humanist and historical hermeneutics of the Qur{u2019}an and of Islamic history. The second concerns the discussion about the humanist heritage and the humanitarian trends of Muslim religious and literary culture, and their significance for the history of Islamic Studies in Europe and merica. The third presents a case study on contemporary challenges to the European humanist position towards Islam posed by political communalism in Europe. In all of them, different concepts of humanism and their application are discussed. Taken together, they are appropriate to provide some ground for further productive discussions on the future of an intercultural humanism with respect to the Muslim world."--P. [4] of cover. Humanism and Muslim culture : historical heritage and contemporary challenges / Stefan Reichmuth, Jorn Rusen, Aladdin Sarhan The concept of man in the Qur'an : non-Muslim perspectives / Stefan Wild Rethinking the Qur'an : towards a humanistic hermeneutics / Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd The vicissitudes of ethics in Islamic thought / Mohammed Arkoun Humanism and mysticism : inspirations from Islam / Renate Wursch The perfect man : a humanist? / Hinrich Biesterfeldt Humanism in Islam between mysticism and literature / Stefan Reichmuth Understanding the other : Taha Husayn on reason and individualism / Michael Kreutz Humanism, Orientalism, modernity : a critique / Birgit Schabler The cracks in civilization : the Dutch public discourse on humanism and Islam / Michael Kemper.