Contemporary Approaches to the Qurʾān and Its Interpretation in Iran This book sets out how contemporary Iranian scholars have approached the Qurʾān during recent decades. It particularly aims to explore the contributions of scholars in the post-1979 Revolution era, outlining their primary interpretative methods and foundational theories regarding the reading of the Qurʾān. Examining issues such as the status of women, democracy, freedom of religion and human rights, this book analyses the theoretical contributions of several Iranian scholars, some of them new to the English-speaking academy. The hermeneutical approaches of figures such as Abdolkarim Soroush, Muhammad Mojtahed Shabestari, Mohsen Kadivar, Hasan Yousefi-Eshkevari, Abolqasem Fanaie and Mostafa Malekian are presented and then analysed to demonstrate how a contextualist approach to the Qurʾān has been formed, in part, in response to the influence of Western orientalism. The effect of this approach to the Qurʾān is then shown to have wide-ranging effects on Iranian society. This study reveals key areas of Qurʾānic thought that have been largely overlooked by scholars outside Iran. It will, therefore, be of great use to students and scholars of religious, Islamic and Qurʾānic studies, as well as those studying the culture of Iran and the Middle East more generally. Ali Akbar is a researcher at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia, where he received his PhD in Islamic Studies. Abdullah Saeed is the Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the Advisor to the Studies in Interreligious Relations in Plural Societies Programme (SRP), RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World Series editor: Carool Kersten, King’s College London, UK Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World promotes new directions in scholarship in the study of Islamic thinking. Muslim scholars of today chal- lenge deeply ingrained dichotomies and binaries. New ideas have stimulated an upcoming generation of progressive Muslim thinkers and scholars of Islam to radically rethink the ways in which immediate and emergent issues affecting the contemporary Islamic world are to be assessed. This series aims to take the field beyond the usual historical-philological and social science- driven approaches, and to insert the study of Islam and the Muslim world into far wider multi-disciplinary inquiries on religion and religiosity in an increasingly interconnected world. The Symbolic Scenarios of Islamism A Study in Islamic Political Thought Andrea Mura A Muslim Response to Evil Said Nursi on the Theodicy Tubanur Yesilhark Ozkan A Muslim Reformist in Communist Yugoslavia The Life and Thought of Husein Ðozo Sejad Mekić Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World Trends, Themes, and Issues Carool Kersten Contemporary Approaches to the Qurʾan and Its Interpretation in Iran Ali Akbar and Abdullah Saeed For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ religion/series/ACONTISLAM Contemporary Approaches to the Qurʾān and Its Interpretation in Iran Ali Akbar and Abdullah Saeed First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Ali Akbar and Abdullah Saeed The right of Ali Akbar and Abdullah Saeed to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 9780367272036 (hbk) ISBN: 9780367272067 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Notes on transliteration and other conventions Arabic and Persian words except names of people are transliterated accord- ing to the following table: ذ dh ص ṣ ط ṭ ث th غ gh خ kh ح ḥ ء ʾ ع ʿ ق q ا ā Long vowel ي ī Long vowel و ū Long vowel Names of people are not transliterated but ʾ and ʿ are often used to distin- guish between the hamza and ʿayn respectively. The year of death of early Muslim scholars is given both in Common Era (CE) and Islamic calendar (AH), but that of modern Muslim scholars is only given in the Common Era. In quotations, words that are included in square brackets [] are ours. Contents PART I Introduction and reception of Western scholars’ approaches to the Qurʾān in Iran 1 Introduction 3 1 Reception of Western scholars’ approaches to the Qurʾān in Iran: orientalism refuted 11 PART II Approaches of contextualist Iranian scholars towards interpretation of the Qurʾān 49 2 Abdolkarim Soroush 57 3 Muhammad Mojtahed Shabestari 75 4 Hasan Yousefi-Eshkevari 89 5 Mohsen Kadivar 102 6 Abolqasem Fanaei 112 7 Mostafa Malekian 119 PART III Contextualist approaches in practice 129 8 Gender issues 131 9 Pluralism and freedom of religion 144 10 Human rights, democracy and methods of governance 155 viii Contents PART IV Concluding remarks 175 Bibliography 178 Index 188 Part I Introduction and reception of Western scholars’ approaches to the Qurʾān in Iran Introduction Introduction Introduction, Western scholars’ approaches This book is an attempt to present to English-speaking audiences an out- line of how particular contemporary Iranian scholars have approached the interpretation of the Qurʾān during the past few decades (1990s–2010s). It examines discussions among Iranian scholars about the Qurʾān and meth- ods of its interpretation in the post-Revolutionary era. The book begins with an exploration of how ideas about Qurʾānic stud- ies in the West have been received by Iranian religious scholars, especially from the conservative camps. Then it explores contextualist approaches to interpreting the Qurʾān developed by reformist Iranian scholars. The book shows how contextualisation, as a new discourse, has emerged among some reformist Iranian scholars in their approaches to the Qurʾān during the 1990s–2010s. Finally, the book demonstrates how contextualist inter- pretations of the Qurʾān in the works of reformist scholars have broader sociopolitical implications since they favour the mutability of the Qurʾān’s sociolegal rulings (aḥkām) today. Some of the questions that shape the major concerns of this study include the following: How have some conservative Iranian scholars responded to Qurʾānic studies undertaken in the West? To what extent are contextualist approaches to interpreting the Qurʾān highlighted in the works of reformist Iranian scholars, particularly during the past three decades? What are some of the implications of a contextualist reading of the Qurʾān? How have con- textualist Iranian scholars been able to interpret the Qurʾān in light of the new challenges posed by the modern world? To what extent have they been able to use their contextualist approaches to the Qurʾān to develop a project of reform – one that responds to the issues of human rights, religious plural- ism and gender equality? A brief overview of the major themes of contextualisation Although the notion of contextualisation is dealt with in greater detail in Part II of this book, here we outline some of the main features of a contextu- alist approach to the Qurʾān to give readers a sense of what contextualisation 4 Introduction, Western scholars’ approaches means. Contextualisation is an umbrella term that covers a number of approaches to interpreting the Qurʾān. Although we do not intend to claim that contextualist scholars form an entirely homogenous group, a contextu- alist approach, broadly speaking, looks at the Qurʾān in light of the histori- cal context of its revelation. A contextualist approach takes into account the broader social, cultural, political and economic milieu in which the Qurʾān was revealed. Contextualists often distinguish between universal and par- ticular verses. That is, they differentiate between Qurʾānic verses that only apply to specific conditions and those that apply to humans more generally. Another interpretative method highlighted in the work of some contextu- alist scholars is intra-textual reading, which implies that the Qurʾān should be treated holistically. Thus, instead of reading Qurʾānic verses – especially those dealing with sociolegal issues – in isolation, readers should seek to understand these verses through the prism of the rest of the text. In other words, Qurʾānic verses – especially those related to sociolegal matters – should be interpreted in light of the Qurʾān’s underlying principles and the Qurʾān’s overall movement towards advancing justice for humans.1 For contextualists, in the same way that the historical context of the Qurʾān influenced its content, the historical contexts and environments of its interpreters have played a key role in its interpretations. In this sense, contextualists often argue that it is important to draw a close connection between the context in which the Qurʾān was revealed – referred to by Abdullah Saeed as macro context 1 – and the context in which the Qurʾān is being interpreted today – referred to as macro context 2. To “translate” the Qurʾān from macro context 1 to macro context 2, an interpreter must be aware of both contexts.2 This view is often used by contextualists to argue in favour of the idea that the “meanings” of some Qurʾānic passages, espe- cially those connected to sociolegal matters, can be different for a contem- porary reader than they would have been for the original seventh-century audience of the text.