Hermeneutics, Scriptural Politics, and Human Rights Also by Bas De Gaay Fortman

Hermeneutics, Scriptural Politics, and Human Rights Also by Bas de Gaay Fortman

God and the Goods (1998)

Also by M. A. Mohamed Salih

Interpreting Islamic Political Parties (2009) African Parliaments between Government and Governance (2006) Hermeneutics, Scriptural Politics, and Human Rights Between Text and Context

Edited by Bas de Gaay Fortman, Kurt Martens, and M. A. Mohamed Salih hermeneutics, scriptural politics, and human rights Copyright © Bas de Gaay Fortman, Kurt Martens, and M. A. Mohamed Salih, 2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-62223-4

First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

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ISBN 978-1-349-38392-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10595-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230105959

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First edition: March 2010

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms vii Contributors ix Preface xiii Introduction 1 M. A. Mohamed Salih, Bas de Gaay Fortman, and Kurt Martens Part I Hermeneutics, Communities of Readers, and Context 1 Religious Identity, Differences, and Human Rights: The Crucial Role of Hermeneutics 21 M. A. Mohamed Salih and Bas de Gaay Fortman 2 Islamic Texts, Democracy, and the Rule of Law: Toward a Hermeneutics of Conciliation 37 Salman Haq 3 Interpretation in Canon Law: Faith or Reason? 53 Phillip J. Brown 4 Judicial Textualism: An Analysis of Textualism as Applied to the United States Constitution 69 Herman Philipse 5 Arbitrary Readings? Christianity and Islam as Capricious Hermeneutic Communities 81 Karel Steenbrink 6 Changing Hermeneutics in Reading and Understanding the Bible: The Case of the Gospel of Mark 99 Geert van Oyen Part II Hermeneutics, Religious Freedom, and Exclusion 7 The Qur’an and Religious Freedom: The Issue of Apostasy 125 Ali Mirmoosavi vi CONTENTS

8 Dignitatis Humanae: A Hermeneutic Perspective on Religious Freedom as Interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church 143 Kurt Martens 9 Strangers and Residents: The Hermeneutic Challenge of Non-Jewish Minorities in Israel 163 Deborah Weissman 10 Religious Texts as Models for Exclusion: Scriptural Interpretation and Ethnic Politics in Northern Nigeria 185 Niels Kastfelt 11 In the Name of Allah: Jihad from a Shi’a Hermeneutic Perspective 205 Seyed Sadegh Haghighat 12 Views on Women in Early Christianity: Incarnational Hermeneutics in Tertullian and Augustine 219 Willemien Otten 13 Women’s Rights and the Interpretation of Islamic Texts: The Practice of Female Genital Mutilation 237 Isatou Touray References 253 Index 271 Abbreviations and Acronyms

AICs African Institutes Churches BJP Bharata Janata Party FGM Female Genital Mutilation ICCI Inter-religious Coordinating Council in Israel ICCJ International Council of Christians and Jews ICCO Inter-Church Organisation for Development Co-operation IESCO Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization LCCN Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria MK Mark (Gospel according to) MUI Majelis Ulama Indonesia OIC Organization of the Islamic Conference OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation PBUH Peace be upon him SCC Supreme Constitutional Court (Egypt) SIS Sisters In Islam UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 19