Studying the Qur'an in the Muslim Academy (AAR Reflection and Theory in the Study of Religion Series)

Studying the Qur'an in the Muslim Academy examines what it is like to study and teach the Qur'an at academic institutions in the Muslim world, and how politics affect scholarly interpretations of the text. Guided by the author's own journey as a student, university lecturer, and researcher in Iran, Malaysia, and New Zealand, this book provides vivid accounts of the complex academic politics he encountered. Majid Daneshgar describes the selective translation and editing of Edward Said's classic work Orientalism into various Islamic languages, and the way Said's work is weaponized to question the credibility of contemporary Western-produced scholarship in Islamic studies. Daneshgar also examines networks of journals, research centers, and universities in both Sunni and Shia contexts, and looks at examples of Quranic interpretation there. Ultimately, he offers a constructive program for enriching Islamic studies by fusing the best of Western theories with the best philological practices developed in Muslim academic contexts, aimed at encouraging respectful but critical engagement with the Qur'an. Cover 1 Series 3 Studying the Qurʾān in the Muslim Academy 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures and Tables 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 26 Introduction 30 I. A Taboo-​Breaking Project 30 II. Study Organization 35 Part I 42 1. “Islamic Apologetics” and Islamic Studies 44 I. On “Islamic Apologetics” 44 II. Western Islamic Studies 54 III. Modern Trends in Qurʾanic Studies 56 IV. Studying Islam outside Its Core Lands 61 2. The Qurʾān in the Muslim Academy: What Should Be Censored? 63 I. Muslims’ Views of Western Islamic Studies 63 II. Western Works in the Muslim Academy: Rippin’s Qurʾanic Studies 68 III. Studying the Qurʾān in Muslim Universities and Seminaries 78 IV. Reading the Qurʾān with Other Materials 80 V. Self-​Sufficiency in Academic Production 87 VI. Muslims’ Reading of Muhammad’s Adopted Son, Zayd 94 Part II 98 3. The Sectarian Study of Islam: A Culture of Isolation and the Isolation of Cultures 100 I. From the Islamization of Biblical Literature to the Sectarianizing of the Muslim Academy 100 II. The Forgotten East 105 III. Reception and Marginalization of Minorities 114 IV. Forgetting the Language and Culture of Everywhere/​Always 122 4. Hatred of Inferiority and Confrontation with the West: Forgetting Some, Remembering Others 125 I. Forgetting Western Scholars of the Qurʾān: Origins 126 II. E. W. Said’s Orientalism 127 III. Muslim Study of the Qurʾān in Light of Orientalism 141 IV. Misunderstanding of Europeans in Orientalism 144 V. Remembering Scientists 153 5. Final Remarks 160 I. Conclusions 160 II. Islamic Apologetics Everywhere 163 Notes 172 Bibliography 196 Index 212 Studying the Qur'ān in the Muslim Academy examines what it is like to study and teach the Qur'ān at academic institutions in the Muslim world and how politics affect scholarly interpretations of the text. Guided by the author's own journey as a student, university lecturer, and researcher in Iran, Malaysia, and New Zealand, this book provides vivid accounts of the complex academic politics he encountered. Majid Daneshgar describes the selective translation and editing of Edward Said's classic work Orientalism into various Islamic languages, and the way Said's work is weaponized to question the credibility of contemporary Western-produced scholarship in Islamic studies. Daneshgar also examines networks of journals, research centers, and universities in both Sunni and Shi'i contexts, and looks at examples of Qur'anic interpretation there. Ultimately, he offers a constructive program for enriching Islamic studies by fusing the best of Western theories with the best philological practices developed in Muslim academic contexts, aimed at encouraging respectful but critical engagement with the Qur'ān. --Dust jacket Inside front flap This book sheds light on how the study of Islam in the Muslim lands become an exercise in politics and pious apologetics. It also displays the way modern critical historical approach to the Qurʾān is under threat across the world. The author shows the combination of traditional practices, sectarian rivalry, prejudice and outdated attitudes—reflexive censorship, mutual systemic exclusion by Sunni and Shi‘i traditions of each other’s points of view along with lack of interest in work done outside the Middle East and a fixation on a narrow and flawed interpretation of Orientalism, Edward W. Said’s classic study of imperialist cultural representation. It discusses the influence of oil-funded conservative inroads into religious studies programs in the West. It provides readers with a powerful case for understanding the sources and dynamics of “Islamic Apologetics” and the threat to critical historical methodologies particularly in the West as an essential first step toward protecting then strengthening modern scholarship, East and West.