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Proquest Dissertations SAYYID AI-QIMNI AND HANS KUNG: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS POWER STRUCTURE AND RESISTANCE IN SUNNI ISLAM IN EGYPT AND CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts In Religious Studies University of Regina by Abdel Rahman Abd Alia Ahmed Regina, Saskatchewan March, 2009 Copyright 2009 A. A. Ahmed Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-55032-8 Our file Notre r&fe'rence ISBN: 978-0-494-55032-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lntemet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. B*B Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Abdel Rahman Abd Alia Ahmed, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Religious Studies, has presented a thesis titled Sayyid Ai-Qimni and Hans Kiing: A Comparative Study of Religious Power Structure and Resistance in Sunni Islam in Egypt and Catholic Christianity in Europe, in an oral examination held on November 12, 2008. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Ian Germani, Department of History Supervisor: Dr. Franz Volker Greifenhagen, Department of Religious Studies, Luther College Committee Member: Dr. Brian Hillis, Department of Religious Studies, Luther College Chair of Defense: Dr. Nilgun Onder, Department of Political Science Abstract This thesis compares the religious power structure and the resistance to it of Sunni Islam in Egypt with the religious power structure and the resistance to it of Catholic Christianity in Europe, using the conceptual framework of discourse analysis. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif University in Cairo, and its branch, the Islamic Research Centre (IRC), represent the religious power structure of the established religious authority in Egypt, whereas the Egyptian liberal thinker, Sayyid Mahmoud Al-Qimni, represents the resistance. The Roman Curia of the Vatican and its Holy office (the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]) represent the religious power structure of the established Catholic religious authority in Europe, while the Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, acts as the resistance. A religion typically includes a power structure - a certain establishment or group which claims to represent the official authority of that religion and to possess and safeguard traditional interpretations of its religious texts. Those interpretations are considered final and beyond correction or critique; to challenge them is to challenge the religious power structure itself, which is built upon and draws its authority from them. Nevertheless, thinkers arise who question or challenge those traditional interpretations and introduce new readings or interpretations; by doing so they run into serious troubles with the power structure. This thesis examines two cases to show that the religious authorities behave in the same manner when they are challenged by new interpretations. The first case concerns the new readings of early Islamic history presented by Sayyid Mahmoud al-Qimni. The second case concerns the new enquiry into papal authority presented by Hans Kung. These cases demonstrate that: 1- New readings of religious traditions reveal serious problems with the doctrines upon which the religious power structures are built. 2- Religious power structures behave in the same manner when they are challenged by new readings or interpretations; that is, they condemn and reject these new interpretations, not because they have proven them wrong or deleterious to the religious faith, but primarily in order to maintain their control. 11 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervisor, Dr. Franz Volker Greifenhagen for his steady and continuous academic support, encouragement, and patience. This thesis would not be possible without his guidance, assistance, and support. I would also like to thank Dr. Bryan Hillis for his constructive revisions and comments on the thesis. Dr. Bryan Hillis made an important contribution to the writing of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of other professors especially Dr. Peter Bisson, Dr. Leona Anderson, and Dr. Darlene Juschka. I would also like to thank all the professors and staff members who assisted me during my undergraduate studies, especially Professor Brenda Anderson and Dr. Arthur Krentz. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of Religious Studies and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Regina. in Dedication This thesis is dedicated, with love, to my sweet wife, Ruhana Ahmed And my beloved Children Rachel Joshua Rhema & Laila IV Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iii Dedication iv Table of Contents v Chapter One: Introduction and Method 1 Chapter Two: Religious Power Structure in Egypt and the Vatican 11 The Religious Power Structure in Egypt 11 Al-Azhar Al-Sharif University 13 The Islamic Research Academy (IRA) 14 The Islamists 15 Liberal Muslim Thinkers 17 The Case of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd 18 The Religious Power Structure of the Vatican 21 The Roman Catholic Church and the Papal State 21 The Challenge of the Reformation 22 The Holy Office and the CDF 23 Conclusion 23 Chapter Three: A Case Study of Resistance in Egypt 25 Al-Qimni's Re-evaluation of Early Islamic History 25 Al-Qimni's Al-Hizb Al-Hashmi 27 Pre-lslamic Origins 27 v The Prophet Muhammad 30 Al-Qimni's Hurub Dawlat Al-Rasul 33 The Establishment of the Islamic State 33 Muhammad and the Jewish tribes of Arabia 35 Repeated Attempts at Invading the Byzantine Empire 40 The Occupation of Makka 42 Al-Qimni's Rab Al-Zaman and Bin Ladin ... Shukran! 44 Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq 45 Caliph Uthman Ibn 'Affan 47 Abrogation 49 Confiscation of the book, Rab Al-Zaman and the Trial of al-Qimni— 50 Charges against the Book 51 The decision of the Court 53 Al-Qimni's Recants and Returns 54 Conclusion 55 Chapter Four: A Case Study of Resistance in Europe 60 Kung's Program of Reforming the Roman Catholic Church 61 Kiing's Early Writings 63 Hans Kung and Karl Barth 63 Kung's The Church (1967) 67 Kung and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 70 Kung's Infallible? An Inquiry (1970) 71 The Definition of Infallibility by Vatican I 72 vi Kung's understanding of the Infallibility of the Church 74 The Holy Office's reaction to Kung's Infallible? An Inquiry 76 Kung 's Writings of 1979 78 Conclusion 81 Chapter Five: Conclusion 86 Al-Qimni's Resistance and the "Establishment's" Reaction 86 Kung's Critique of the Roman Catholic Church 91 Similarities & Differences 93 Similarities 93 Differences 96 Contrast between al-Qimni's Critique and Kung's Critique 97 Bibliography 102 Vll Chapter One: Introduction and Method This thesis compares the religious power structure and the resistance to it of Sunni Islam in Egypt with the religious power structure and the resistance to it of Catholic Christianity in Europe. In this regard, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif University, and its branch the Islamic Research Centre (IRC), represent the religious power structure of the established religious authority in Egypt, whereas the Egyptian liberal thinker, Sayyid Al-Qimni, represents the resistance. The Roman Curia1 of the Vatican and its Holy office (the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]) represent the religious power structure of the established Catholic religious authority in Europe, while the Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, acts as the resistance. The method used in this thesis to compare these two instances, is discourse analysis. Margaret Wetberell, Stephanie Taylor, and Simeon J. Yates describe discourse analysis generally as "the study of talk and texts. It is a set of methods and theories for investigating language in use and language in social contexts" (Wetberell, Taylor, Yates 2001: i). According to Jean Carabine, discourse consists more specifically "of groups of related statements which cohere in some way to produce both meanings and effects in the real world, i.e., the idea of discourse as having force, as being productive" (Wetberell, Taylor, Yates : 268). Based on Michael Foucault's work, Carabine further describes 1 The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See.
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