Quranic studies | Koranic research
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Islamic law in Afghanistan
Sharia – nightmare or ticket to salvation?
The Taliban, Islamic State, al-Qaida – for most Muslims their understanding of sharia is a nightmare. But what is sharia law really? Answers by Mathias Rohe
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Amina Wadud's "Qur'an and Woman" revisited
"Inequality between men and women is contrary to Islam"
Penned by pioneering American female imam and champion of gender equality within Islam, Amina Wadud, "Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective" (1999) had a huge impact on academic thought across the Muslim and non-Muslim world. Now it has finally been translated into French – reason enough to re-examine her groundbreaking premise. By Malika Hamidi
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Interview with the Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir
What we Muslims need is a critical appraisal of Islamic law
Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir rejects the charge of "offending Islam". In interview with Ismail Assam, he maintains that he has been wilfully misconstrued. At the same time, he stresses that he was talking in a "historical" manner about Islam, calling for it to move on from the era of fatwas and to look critically at Muslim religious heritage
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Ankara School pioneer and reformist Islamic theologian
The resignation of Turkish Koran exegete Mustafa Ozturk
Professor of theology and Qantara interview partner Mustafa Ozturk has resigned from an Istanbul university after immense pressure from certain segments of the Islamic community, having advocated a version of Islam they deemed "blasphemous". Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul
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Book review: Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics"
How the printing press saved Islamic classics from near extinction
Ahmed El Shamsy's "Rediscovering the Islamic Classics" examines how a handful of reformist editors and intellectuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries harnessed printing press technology to save a rich body of classical Islamic texts from the brink of extinction. By Muhammed Nafih Wafy
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Rationality in Islamic theology
Muslims – believers caught between reason and revelation
How readers approach the Koran and Islam's prophetic tradition determines their understanding of these sources. Textual interpretation depends on your perspective: rational and liberal – or dogmatic. A new collection of essays on rationality in Islamic theology focuses on the sheer scope to be found in early Islam. By Musa Bagrac
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President Sisi, the Grand Imam and Al-Azhar
Egypt’s eternal conundrum – reforming religious thought
How long can Al-Azhar University mount guard over orthodox Islamic learning, fending off Sisi’s attempt to assert control while also curtailing the influence of oil-rich Gulf states? By Muhammed Nafih Wafy
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Review of Leor Halevi's "Modern Things on Trial"
Bottom-up fatwas – Rashid Rida and laissez-faire Salafism
Leor Halevi’s latest work examines how Muhammad Rashid Rida with his pro-capitalist and open-market fatwas promoted a version of "laissez-faire Salafism" at the turn of the 20th century. Muhammed Nafih Wafy read the book
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Interview with pioneering Islamic thinker Fehmi Jadaane
What is the essence of Islam, and does it need reforming?
Renowned Jordanian Islamic scholar Fehmi Jadaane vehemently objects to the transformation of Islam into an ideology. The religion ends up mired in a political swamp, he says, its message nothing more than an instrument of governance. Interview by Alia Al-Rabeo
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Goethe anniversary
Orient and Occident
Two hundred years of the "West-Eastern Divan": "North and West and South shatter, thrones burst and empires tremble" – why Islam is part of German literature. By Heinrich Detering
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"Godʹs Revelation in the Word of Men"
A Koran for the 21st century
With the first in a series of 17 planned commentaries on the Koran, editor Mouhanad Khorchide from the University of Munster builds a bridge between traditional readings of the Koran and modern scholarly interpretation. Musa Bagrac read the book
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Interview with Turkish Islamic scholar Professor Mustafa Ozturk
"Religious groups need to be transparent"
Mustafa Ozturk, a professor specialising in "tafsir" – Koranic exegesis – at Istanbulʹs Marmara University was recently accused of blasphemy. Convinced that various Islamic groups seeking to influence Turkish politics are responsible, Ozturk is actively considering self-imposed exile. Interview by Ayse Karabat