Contemporary Perspectives on Revelation and Qur’ānic Hermeneutics

Dr. Ali Akbar is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia where he received his PhD in Islamic Studies. He is an expert in the fields of Islamic Studies with a focus on contemporary Islamic thought and Middle Eastern politics as well as Iranian politics with a focus on Iran’s foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond. He is co-author of Iran’s Soft Power in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) as well as lead author of Contemporary Approaches to the Qur’an and Its Interpretation in Iran (Routledge, 2020) and sole author of Contemporary Perspectives on Revelation and Qur’anic Hermeneutics (Edinburgh University Press, 2020). In addition to these books, Dr. Akbar has published extensively in top-tier journals including Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, British Journal of Middle East Studies, Iranian Studies, Mediterranean Politics, Third Word Quarterly and Political Theology.

(...) Contemporary Perspectives on Revelation provides a comprehensive study of the surveyed scholars’ theory of revelation and its influence on their hermeneutic approaches.

• 1. Introduction Some background studies The study The content 2. Traditional Understanding of Revelation Revelation in the Qurʾān Two terms for revelation in the Qurʾān: wahòy and tanzīl Revelation in the traditional accounts: Internal and direct, or external and mediated?Revelation and its link to the personality of the ProphetThe Prophet’s feelings/experiences at the moment of revelationGod’s Words, revelation and the Qurʾān Challenges to traditional theories of revelation Conclusion3. Fazlur Rahman: Revelation Historicized Rahman’s account of revelation The sources of Rahman’s theory of revelation The connection between revelation and Qurʾānic hermeneuticsRahman’s hermeneutics in practice Conclusion4. Abdolkarim Soroush: the Prophet’s Revelatory Experiences Soroush’s theory of revelationThe sources of Soroush’s ideas about revelation Soroush’s hermeneutics The implications of Soroush’s hermeneuticsConclusion 5. Muhammad Mujtahed Shabestari: How the Prophet saw the world The need for reconsideration of traditional account of revelation The sources of Shabestari’s theory of revelation Shabestari’s hermeneuticsShabestari’s hermeneutics in practice Conclusion 6. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd: Revelation as a Linguistic Manifestation of the Communicative Interaction between God and the Prophet Abu Zayd’s account of revelation The sources of Abu Zayd’s ideas about revelation Abu Zayd’s hermeneutics The implications of Abu Zayd’s hermeneutics Conclusion 7. ConclusionAccounts of revelationThe roots of each scholar’s account of revelationHermeneutic approaches: theoretical level Hermeneutic approaches functioning in practice Final remarks