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Durham E-Theses Can One Speak of a Qur'©anicPolitical Theory - A Hermeneutical Study Employing Semantic and Thematic Approaches EL-SOUDANI, ASLAM How to cite: EL-SOUDANI, ASLAM (2014) Can One Speak of a Qur'©anicPolitical Theory - A Hermeneutical Study Employing Semantic and Thematic Approaches, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10675/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Can One Speak of a Qur‟ānic Political Theory? A Hermeneutical Study Employing Semantic and Thematic Approaches ASLAM EL-SOUDANI School of Government and International Affairs University of Durham Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Durham 2014 DECLARATION Copy Right © Aslam El-Soudani The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to Dr. Colin Turner for his encouragement and his constant understanding. I am also indebted to Dr. Mehmet Asutay for his constant critical questions, generous book lending and ‗unlimited‘ access to his time. Thank you for the wonderful Sunday gatherings that uplifted my spirit every time and reenergised me to carry on, you are in my heart forever. I know that many friends were supporting me in their prayers, deep felt thanks to them. Words cannot express my gratitude towards those who opened their homes and arms to help me in my last year of study. I am indebted without any way of repaying to Rukaya Sood, and her two angels, Sadaf, and Marzieh. Thank you to Tubarnur, Bilal, Dusmamat and Murat for always being there to help, to advice and to encourage me and for those unknown people that supported part of my fees. You have made my last year possible. Thank you. My final words are for my brother and friend, Mohammed Hadi Ailan, although separated by oceans, you have never failed to advise, prove read and to discuss ideas. Thank you for your time and your prayers. ii ABSTRACT In our time, it is not unusual for Islam to be portrayed as a political ideology. Constant references towards ―political Islam‖, ―Islamism‖ and ―Islamists‖ have become part of the intellectual language and are rarely challenged in terms of their foundational claims. This thesis investigates the fundamental premise that the Qur‘ān may contain a political theory. In doing so, a detailed investigation has been conducted in defining concepts of the ―political‖ from within the Muslim tradition by particularly locating these concepts within the Muslim intellectual tradition. The leading research question also seriously considers the hermeneutical issue about how scripture is read to yield a holistic understanding of the entirety of the message. The work of Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1994) has been employed as one of the major methodological tools in analysing the Qur‘ān. Alongside Izutsu‘s semantic analysis, the thematic approach has also been utilised to provide a more holistic understanding of the Qur‘ān. Within this framework, this research has proposed that the Qur‘ān indeed contains a hierarchy of concepts that is indicative of the Qur‘ān itself prioritising concepts. With this in mind, a cluster of concepts emerges which forms the main analyses. Accordingly, the idea of a caliphate theory that is equated with an ―Islamic state‖ has been postulated to be non-Qur‘ānically based. In fact, it is found that the very proposition is contradictory in terms, as the modern state itself is a European invention, both in structure and form. This study also explored the concept of sharīʿa, arguing that there are two fundamental natures of sharīʿa, the first is that it has mainly been a force of challenge and opposition to power; the second is the emphasis upon individual free choice. One comes to the conclusion that the Qur‘ān is intentionally silent towards any political structure or system, yet at another level the Qur‘ān reinforces, justice, rights, accountability and apposes injustices of all kind. In an attempt to provide a potential readings of the Qur‘ān to render answers to the research questions, the inferences generated from the research are put together with other Qur‘ānic concepts such as taqwā and iḥsān with the goal of understanding the role of the individual and the community in the wider Qur‘ānic Weltanschauung. The nature of the individual is dynamic; his or her core nature is in constant turmoil but desires perfection. With the desire of perfection comes the drive towards bettering oneself and one‘s surroundings. There is a tension or paradox between being an individual and belonging to the collective and between living in the mundane but believing in the sacred. This tension (or paradox) could be solved by means of a constant relationship between refining oneself (looking inward) and projecting outward with the taqwā that is developed. iii Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT -------------------------------------------------------------------- II ABSTRACT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III DEDICATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ XIII 1.1 INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1.2 IMPETUS OF STUDY ------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 1.3 BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW ------------------------------------------------------ 4 1.3.1 The Qur‘ān and Political Theory ----------------------------------------------------------------- 9 1.4 THE AIM AND NATURE OF THIS RESEARCH ------------------------------- 16 1.4.1 Problematising Definitions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 1.4.2 Research Question -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 1.5 METHODOLOGY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 1.5.1 Method and Focus of Research ----------------------------------------------------------------- 23 1.5.2 Distinction in History----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 1.5.2.1 Muslim and Islamic ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATIONS ------------------------------------------- 26 1.7 CONTRIBUTION AND ORIGINALITY ------------------------------------------- 27 1.8 CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH ------------------------ 28 1.9 OVERVIEW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY --------------------------------------------------------- 30 2.1 INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30 2.2 QUR‟ĀNIC HERMENEUTICS ------------------------------------------------------- 32 2.2.1 The Sciences of the Qur‘ān---------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 2.2.2 Tradition Oriented Exegesis -------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 2.2.2.1 Difficulties and Limitations --------------------------------------------------------------- 37 21.2.3 Theo-Philosophical Oriented Exegeses ----------------------------------------------------- 39 2.2.3.1 Difficulties and Limitations --------------------------------------------------------------- 40 2.2.4 Modern Exegesis ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 2.2.4.1 Difficulties and Limitations --------------------------------------------------------------- 43 2.3 TOWARDS AN IZUTSIAN SEMANTIC ANALYSIS --------------------------- 45 2.3.1 Izutsian Semantic Methodology ---------------------------------------------------------------- 46 2.3.1.1 Primary and Secondary Meanings ------------------------------------------------------- 48 2.3.1.2 Basic and Relational Meanings ----------------------------------------------------------- 48 2.3.1.3 Semantic Field ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49 2.3.1.4 Non-semantic Fields ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 50 2.3.2 The Complexity of Semantic Fields ---------------------------------------------------------- 50 2.3.3 Limitation of Izutsian Methodology ----------------------------------------------------------- 52 2.3.4 Departure From Izutsu --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53 2.4 TOWARDS A THEMATIC APPROACH ------------------------------------------ 54 vii Contents 2.4.1 Theme Based Exegesis --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54 2.4.1.1 Advantages of Thematic Approach