Author(s): Enes Karić / Language(s): Bosnian
Issue: 18/2014
The Qur'anic Studies of the 19th and 20th centuries are marked, mainly, by ideological, “scientific” and sectarian interpretation of the Qur'an. Moreover, the Qur'an is interpreted as a constitution (dustūr), often also as “ideological compendium” which has to come up with ideologies not only to oppose Western ideologies of socialism, communism and nationalism, but also to be competitive on the contemporary social scene. Such a trend in the Qur'anic Studies is, speaking from the “psychological” perspective, to some extent understandable, because the Muslim world felt threatened by colonialism and neo-colonialism. The Qur'anic messages are often used as a kind of political and ideological platform for resistance against colonialism, but also as a spiritual source to derive “ideological learning” from, which, in turn, would be a means of “political mobilization” in the traditional Muslim countries, especially during the 20th century. Today, however, after the world has actually experienced all these ideologies, even ideology in itself, there is a need for Muslims to revive moral messages and ethical interpretations of the Qur'an, at the universities primarily, as well as within the field of the Qur'anic Studies. This essay will point out a dire need for initiating a revival of the ethical studies of the Qur'an, which would, in turn, revive the long neglected cultural studies of the Qur'an, as well as the aesthetic studies of It.
More...