““Taking Inspiration Directly from Qur’an”: from the Return to the Qur’an to the Islam of the Qur’an”
M. Suat Mertoglu
Abstract Of Title
"Receiving lnspiration Directly from the Qur'an":
From 'Returning to the Qur'an' to the 'Qur'anic Islam' ,
The discourse of "Qur'anic Islam" is an extreme form of
some of the demands posed by the (intellectual) movel
ment of "returning to the Qur'an." It has been bom Ol.Jtla'f
the efforts by some Muslim intellectuals to overcome the
obstacle created by "the tradition" in the face of the constraints
iroposed by modern social conditions, ofwhich these
intellectuals sought a way out by constructing a "modern"
canception of Islam. They assume that the reason for the
'backwardness' and disintegration of the Muslim World was
due to Muslims' ignorance of the Qur'an, and thus propose
to "retum" to the Qur'an by rejecting (partially or entirely)
other sources of Islaınic worldview and particularly the intellectual
tradition that Muslims have produced throughout
the history of Islam.
Assuming that meaning is intrinsic in the text, the discourse
of Qur' anic Islam focuses only on the Qur' anic text, thereby
completely ignoring the prophetic Sunna, which has in fact
a crucial function in te rm of understanding the Qur' an and
applying it to real-life cases. Other weaknesses of this discourse
include the fact that it lacks a sound methodology
and any scientific principles, and that it remains superficial
in its judgments. Finally, unlike its main objective of deereasing
conflicts and disagreements among Muslims, it has
increased them instead.
A consequence of the above-mentioned lack of methodology,
which is produced by the discourse of Qur'anic Islam
that represents the extreme form of the mavement of "rehırning to the Qur'an," is the reading of the Qur'an freely
(without regard to any principles), which in turn results in
the fact that certain Qur'anic verses have been turned into
slogans and thatarather individualistic and subjective/relativized
canception of religion has emerged. This implies,
moreover, a chaotic sitilation where Islam is reduced to aset
of theoretical principles devoid of any practical application,
which furthers divisions among Muslims hurting the idea
of a unifi.ed zımmah. Finally, with all these features, the discourse
of Qur'anic Islam implies, though not directly aims
at, a partietilar understanding of religion that begs the question
of whether or not it in fact serves the secularization
of religion.
Information Of Title
Lnaguage: Turkish - Type: Research - Number of pages: 69-113 - Date: 2010 - Country: TR