THE HERMENEUTICS OF INTER-FAITH RELATIONS: RETRIEVING MODERATION AND PLURALISM AS UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES IN QUR'ANIC EXEGESES

This article discusses the exegeses of two Qur'anic verses: Qur'an 2:143, which describes righteous Muslims as constituting a “middle/moderate community” (umma wasat) and Qur'an 5:66, which similarly describes righteous Jews and Christians as constituting a “balanced/moderate communit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Afsaruddin, Asma (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2009
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2009, Volume: 37, Issue: 2, Pages: 331-354
Further subjects:B Pluralism
B Islam
B Moderation
B Qur'an
B Hermeneutics
B inter-faith relations
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Summary:This article discusses the exegeses of two Qur'anic verses: Qur'an 2:143, which describes righteous Muslims as constituting a “middle/moderate community” (umma wasat) and Qur'an 5:66, which similarly describes righteous Jews and Christians as constituting a “balanced/moderate community” (umma muqtasida). Taken together, these verses clearly suggest that it is subscription to some common standard of righteousness and ethical conduct that determines the salvific nature of a religious community and not the denominational label it chooses to wear. Such a perspective offers the possibility of formulating universal principles of ethical and moral conduct, which may contribute to the formation of a genuinely pluralist global society today. Through a close study of Qur'anic exegeses of these verses from the late first/seventh century to modern times, I retrieve some of the most prevalent Muslim understandings of “moderation” through time and dwell on their contemporary implications.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9795.2009.00389.x