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.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1;Title Page;3 2;Copyright;4 3;Table of Contents;7 4;Body;9 5;Stefan Reichmuth//Aladdin Sarhan: 1. Foreword;9 6;Stefan Reichmuth//Aladdin Sarhan: 2. Humanism and Muslim Culture: Historical Heritage and Contemporary Challenges;11 6.1;1. Universal concept of humanity;13 6.2;2. Centrality of the human being: Anthropocentrism;14 6.3;3. Human dignity as a basic value of cultural orientation;15 6.4;4. Equality of all human beings in respect to their essential dignity;15 6.5;5. Fundamental reference to responsibility and otherness in human existence;16 6.6;6. Individuality and social responsibility;16 6.7;7. Humanity and Transcendence;17 7;The present book;18 8;Part I: A humanist hermeneutics of Islam?;20 9;Part II: Debates on humanist elements in Islamic culture;21 10;Part III: Humanism and Islam in European identity politics: German and Dutch cases;22 11;Bibliography;24 12;Part I: A humanist hermeneutics of Islam?;25 13;: 3. The Concept of Man in the Qur'an. Non-Muslim Perspectives;27 13.1;Introduction;27 13.2;Part I: The social background of the Qur'anic text;30 13.3;Part II: Humanistic Hermeneutics of the Qur'an;35 13.4;Bibliography;38 14;: 4. Rethinking the Qur'an: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutics;39 14.1;1. The Qur'an as `Discourse';41 14.2;2. The Quran versus the Mu..af: the spoken and the silent;43 14.3;3. The `Text' Reconstructed and Manipulated;44 14.4;4. Polyphonic not Monophonic; Who Speaks and Who Listens?;47 14.5;5. Dialogue;50 14.6;6. Negotiation;53 14.7;7. From Negotiation to Disputation;55 14.8;Conclusion;59 14.9;Bibliography;60 15;: 5. The Vicissitudes of Ethics in Islamic Thought;61 15.1;The two sources of ethics;63 15.2;1) From the tensions between reason and belief to an ultraliberal pragmatism versus Islamic fundamentalism;65 15.3;2) From the ethics of to the expansion of Islamic fundamentalism: which specific lessons?;73 15.4;3) Where do the Values Go? Commanding the Right and Prohibiting the Wrong (al-amr bi-l-maruf wa-l-nahy ani-l-munkar);78 15.5;
Instead of a Conclusion: Postulates and Systems of Truth;82 15.6;Bibliography;84 16;Part II: Debates on humanist elements in Islamic culture;87 17;Renate Würsch: 6. Humanism and Mysticism Inspirations from Islam;89 17.1;Bibliography;99 18;Hinrich Biesterfeldt: 7. The Perfect Man a Humanist?;101 18.1;1. The Perfect Man in Ibn al-.Arabis thought and al-Jilis system;102 18.2;2. Various personifications of the Perfect Man in Islamic religious thought;105 18.3;3. The Perfect Man a Humanist?;108 18.4;Bibliography;112 19;Stefan Reichmuth: 8. Humanism in Islam between Mysticism and Literature;115 19.1;Bibliography;125 20;Michael Kreutz: 9. Understanding the Other: on Reason and Individualism;127 20.1;Heritage in an Age of Criticism;129 20.2;From to ;132 20.3;A Plea for Human Reason;136 20.4;From Reason to Faith;139 20.5;Bibliography;142 21;Part III: Humanism and Islam in European identity politics: German and Dutch cases;145 22;Birgit Schäbler: 10. Humanism, Orientalism, Modernity: A Critique;147 22.1;From Humanism to Neo-Humanism;148 22.2;Writing Islam out of Modernity;150 22.3;Global Modernity;156 22.4;Bibliography;159 23;Michael Kemper: 11. The Cracks in Civilizations: The Dutch Public Discourse on Humanism and Islam;163 23.1;, Fitna (2008);165 23.2;, Islam for Pigs (2008);170 23.3;Kader Abdolah, The Koran./The Messenger (2008);173 23.4;Conclusion;176 23.5;Bibliography;177 24;About the Contributors;179