Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
Critique of Religious Discourse
Islamists and the religious establishment share assumptions: they identify their interpretation with the text itself and claim to speak in God’s name; the book became central in the case against him.
Introduction
Critique of Religious Discourse appeared in Cairo in 1992. Abu Zayd analyses the shared assumptions of the Islamist movement and the official religious establishment: the identification of their interpretation with religion itself, the explanation of all phenomena by a single cause, reliance on the authority of the predecessors, the claim to certainty and the neglect of history. He argues that this discourse serves political interests. The book became central in the case that led to his being declared an apostate in 1995.
Connections
Builds on
- The Concept of the Text1990 · Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
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