Bashy Quraishy

on: Reformist Islam after Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, by Angela Schader

I have tried to make head or tail of what Angela Schader has written in her rather confusing article.

Alone the title of the article is misleading when one reads the whole text of the article and what various speakers in the German conference. I had the pleasure to meet Professor and Koranic scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd at a conference in Germany a few years back and had a lovely discussion with him about his idea of a interpreting some statements and regulations formulated in the Koran within their historical context and filter out those ethical and moral principles which are outdated and has no relevance to the present time.

One of the most beautiful remarks he made which did touch me most was that "Most Muslims do not understand Quranic language and finer nuances and thus interpret some verses literally. There is thus a need to interpret the text in a careful ay so that Quran is understood as clearly as possible."

He also talked about looking at the whole issue of Islam, Quran and the west with critical eyes. I do not recall that he liked calling himself an Islam reformer or innovator. These titles were pinned on him by western media who wanted to project him as a reformer. He did not see problems with Islam but with Muslim religious elite and such Islam scholars who declared him divorced from his wife against his will in 1995 as a result of his very cautious attempts to stimulate reform in Egypt.

I am not an Islamic scholar but a student of my religion as every person with an Islamic background should have. I take exception to the fact that Western intellectuals and politicians are hell-bent on treating Islam as an out-of-touch with reality religion and are proposing to change it to fit with western norms. I know that questions that are constantly being asked and addressed in Europe are not for the benefit of Muslim masses or those who look at Islam as their salvation but due to the political expediency.

Islam does not need reformation, instead its followers have to understand it in its true spirit and purpose; to fill the spiritual void among its followers. By the way, Islam and the Quran is not asking non-Muslims to obey its commands but if Muslims want to live their lives according to their own needs, why is the west so occupied to deny them this pleasure. After all, Muslims do not attack Christianity or Bible.

Kind regards, Bashy Quraishy