Tempo - No. 15/VIII/December 11-17, 2007 Religion
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd: Living in the past is idealistic A FRONT of religious scholars at Al-Azhar University, Egypt, have branded this well-known Islamic thinker as an apostate. The government was asked to intervene: Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd was ordered to repent or-if he refused-face the death penalty. An appeals court also ordered that he be divorced from his wife, Dr Ebtehal Yunis. Cairo University, where he has taught since 1972, was also pressured to dismiss this professor of Arabic literature and hermeneutics, because of concerns that he would poison the students' minds with his deviant thinking. Abu Zayd went into exile in Holland in 1995. In July 2002, the Roosevelt Institute awarded him the Medal for Freedom of Worship, in recognition of his thinking, which was considered courageous and liberated, as well as for his appreciation towards the traditions of Christian philosophy, modernism, and European humanism. He was welcomed in Indonesia three weeks ago by being banned from appearing and speaking at the Islamic University of Malang, in East Java. What upset Abu Zayd most was that the ban was conveyed through a text message from an official of the Religious Affairs Department, upon his arrival in Indonesia. "This is really impolite. I am going to make an issue of it, because they have wasted my time," said Abu Zayd, a lecturer at the universities of Utrecht and Leiden. Abu Zayd is known for using the hermeneutic method, namely interpreting the Qur'an from a linguistic approach, which is usually used for interpreting the Bible by analyzing the condition of the composer. As a result, some people feel Abu Zayd has positioned Muhammad as an author, whereas the vast majority of the Muslim community considers the Qur'an to be divine revelation. Before flying back to Holland at the end of last month, the 64-year-old from Tantra met with Tempo reporters Yudono and M. Nafi for a 40-minute interview at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta. Excerpts: A number of Muslim leaders in Indonesia charge you as being an agent of orientalists and liberal thinkers. This accusation of being an agent of orientalists is very stupid and slanderous. But I feel everyone would be proud of being a liberal [thinker]. I always fight for freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, and all other freedoms. But there is a lot of opposition here towards the hermeneutic concept you developed. Are the hadith of the Prophet (recorded statements and actions of Muhammad) opposed to hermeneutics? Hermeneutics in Arabic is ta'wil. Ta'wil is a method which is very Islamic for the understanding of the Qur'an. Whether you are Sunni, Shia, or whatever, you need to interpret the Qur'an. Hermeneutics is a theory for interpreting the Qur'an. So, whoever declares hermeneutics haram (forbidden), they are mistaken, they do not understand hermeneutics. They do not know the history of the translating of the Qur'an. Isn't hermeneutics only relevant as an aid for translating the Bible? Tell such a person that ta'wil is used to translate the Qur'an, and hermeneutics is ta'wil. They are unable to differentiate between ta'wil and the Bible. I studied ta'wil, which has no connection to orientalism. Ta'wil does not borrow anything from the Bible. Ta'wil is a classic concept, while hermeneutics is a concept of modern philosophy. There is nothing wrong with intellectual Muslims taking something from modern philosophy. There are still many people who close their eyes and minds, and live as if they were still in the dark ages. Maybe this is because the Qur'an is revelation from Allah, which makes such an excessively daring ta'wil interpretation unnecessary. Should we ask God to interpret it for us? The Qur'an is a revelation from Allah for mankind, and God expects us to understand it. How can we understand it? That depends on the man's knowledge. It is not possible to ask God to come to me, or to have the Angel Gabriel teach me. Indeed the Qur'an is from God for man, and man must understand the Qur'an. Man can only understand the Qur'an based on their knowledge, but they try to increase their knowledge. You will not understand what God means if you do not have knowledge. The ahlussunnah (Sunni Muslim) group interprets the Qur'an in connection with the era of the Messenger (Muhammad), which means that they do not support innovation in the field of the interpretation of the religious texts. The concept of the ahlussunnah is an ideological concept which must be changed. There is no one person or group which claims the Sunnah (traditions of Prophet Muhammad) as their personal property. This is very important. Groups which claim to be exclusively ahlussunnah are usually the most conservative and radical. They want to shape public life like the time of the Prophet. This is utopian and cannot possibly take place. This is only a delusion of the sick. They limit religious interpretation in order to strengthen hegemony over power. What makes your interpretation of the Qur'an so important? Of course, God has a separate standard, and we cannot do everything. But God wants us to understand what He says, and He understands our capacity. That is why He speaks to us. If people do not understand what He means, they can interpret it based on their capacities as human beings. It has nothing to do with being conservative or fundamentalist. mediacare http://www.mediacare.biz [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
