Pendekatan Hermeneutika Negosiatif-Otoritatif Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority, and Women Pemikiran Khaled M Abou El Fadl

A similar Qur’anic text with Allah Almighty as its creator is often interpreted differently among Muslims. In the process of interpretation of religious texts, the three elements, i.e., reader, text, and author are interrelated. Separating the three of them can give rise to otriarianism in interpreting the meaning of the text, which is considered an act of arbitrariness so that it is not uncommon for someone to assume the most correct interpretation. To avoid this attitude, according to Khaled Abou El Fadl, a negotiating process should be built between the three so that each does not dominate in the process of determining the meaning of the text. This paper is intended to describe the best relationship between the reader, the text and the word of Allah in the theory of the negotiation of Khaled Abou El Fadl.

This article discusses ancient debates between Christian and polytheist writers over the allegorical interpretations of sacred texts. These disputes are set in the wider context of the “the battles of the books” in Late Antiquity. Many similarities and continuities are shown in the interpretative approaches to sacred texts, even though the Christian and polytheist writers themselves often tried to downplay these similarities and to construe differences instead. The article examines the use of allegorical interpretation as a defense of sacred texts, often against the polemic launched from opposing religious groups.

Hermeneutics discourse relates to the interpretation of texts. Hermeneutic interprets literal, social, and religious text. In the classic history, man actually had been in contact with the name of interpretation (hermeneutics) naturally. However, hermeneutics was formulated methodically and theoretically at the beginning of the 19th century. Hermeneutics was not seen as an understanding of free, non-definitive, but as a method of reading, understanding and interpretation in a wide area. Likewise texts are highlighted by a hermeneutic not only written texts, including the scriptures, but also social texts, such as socio-cultural phenomenon. This article will photograph developments in hermeneutics and the three typologies of contemporary hermeneutics, namely hermeneutical theory, philosophical hermeneutics, and critical hermeneutics. In the end of this paper, it is going to give a conclusion which depicts hermeneutics contribution in the method of interpretation of religious text that opens the meaning productively.

This study analyzes Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd’s critical approach to reforming the understanding of Islamic religious texts. In response to the challenges posed by modernity and globalization, Abu Zayd emphasizes the importance of rationality in interpreting religious teachings. His ideas emerge as a response to the stagnation of Islamic thought, which tends to be scripturalist and ahistorical. The study aims to examine Abu Zayd’s methodological contributions in offering a new paradigm of Qur’anic interpretation that is contextual and inclusive. This research employs a qualitative approach using historical-critical analysis and critical discourse analysis of Abu Zayd’s key works. Data were obtained through a review of primary and secondary literature discussing his interpretative thought and methodology. The results show that Abu Zayd’s contextual approach encourages a progressive and inclusive interpretation of religious texts. He stresses the importance of understanding texts within the historical, social, and cultural contexts in which they emerged. Thus, the interpretation of texts becomes dynamic and relevant to contemporary realities. The discussion highlights how Abu Zayd’s approach opens space for dialogue between text and context and supports the values of pluralism, tolerance, and individual rights in modern Muslim societies. His findings make a significant contribution to the development of critical Islamic studies and help bridge the gap between tradition and social transformation. This study recommends integrating the contextual approach into Qur’anic studies to promote a more open and humanistic Islamic discourse.

This study aims to critically analyze Ahmed An-Na’im’s thoughts in the renewal of Islamic law, which offers a new perspective on sharia as a dynamic interpretation of sacred texts. The urgency of this study lies in the need to understand the contextual approach to sharia in facing the challenges of modernity, especially in relation to Human Rights (HAM) and constitutionalism. This study uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach, which focuses on An-Na’im’s main works and relevant secondary literature. Data analysis was carried out through the content analysis method to identify patterns, themes, and implications of An-Na’im’s ideas. The results of the study show that An-Na’im defines sharia as an interpretation of texts that are equivalent to Islamic jurisprudence and law, not something sacred and static. His thoughts underline the relevance of sharia to the development of the times through the distinction between universal Makkiyah sharia and contextual Madaniyyah sharia. This idea is influenced by the nasakh theory of his teacher, Mahmoud Muhammad Thaha. However, An-Na’im’s approach has been criticized for being too focused on modern standards such as human rights, giving the impression that Islam needs to adapt to Western values. This study contributes to the discourse on Islamic legal reform by showing how An-Na’im’s approach opens up new interpretative space that remains relevant without ignoring the essence of justice in Islamic teachings

With a qualitative approach, this research raises Khaled Abou El Fadl's thoughts on contemporary Islamic law discourse by analyzing one of his main works, namely Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority, and Women. This paper will be focused on two important questions. First, how is the history of Khaled Abou El Fadl's life? Second, how is Khaled Abou El Fadl’s thought style in the tradition of contemporary jurisprudence? Based on those two questions, this research finally produces that; First, Abou El Fadl grew out of the dialectic of Islamic thought in the Middle East which has grown since the 1970s. His thought was actually a reaction to the rise of Salafi discourses, especially in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The idea of Abou El Fadl is seen as a moderate wing representation in Salafi thought. Second, Atas Nama Tuhan, Khaled Aboul El Fadl's work is an experiment of his criticism of Salafism ideology which argues that Islamic reformism is also responsible for creating a creed closed, intolerant, and superficial in understanding the sacred texts of Islam should be taken seriously. His thought provides a discourse on Islamic law by combining classical Islamic thought with modern hermeneuticdiscourse.

This chapter explores the role of interpretation of religious sacred texts by Muslim clerics in justifying acts of atrocities against the other. It highlights the complex influential power that the interpretation of sacred texts has in the conflicts reported in various parts of Africa. Though it is not only the rigid interpretation of one particular sacred text that has generated religious-based conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, the chapter focuses on the complex role the interpretation of the Qur’anic text in Islam has played in instigating conflicts witnessed on the continent. It interests in examining if there is doctrinal evidence in Islam that supports violence against the other. Frequent sectarian violence between the jihadists and other religious groups in sub-Saharan Africa is certainly a major feature of apparently difficult conflicts on the continent. Without exploring the context of the revelation of verses, the jihadi groups have categorically employed similar Qur’anic texts as their inspiration and sources to commit violence against non-Muslims.

In it contains authoritative references in religious matters. Meanwhile, in Khaled's view, Islamic jurists are a source of legitimacy in interpreting religious texts. Khaled tried to criticize the construction of authoritarianism in Islamic law, especially regarding the criticism of the misogynistic fatwas issued by the Council for Scientific Research and Legal Opinion (CRLO) and The Society for Adherence to the Sunnah (SAS). In this article, this article analyzes and examines how Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl's ideas offer in matters of text and discourse of authority in Islamic studies, especially those related to the interpretation of religious texts, namely the Al-Quran and hadith. While the method used in this research is a qualitative method using a descriptive-analysis approach. From various facts and data obtained, then analyzed and narrated descriptively with reference to the focus of this study. Based on the research findings, it was found that religious texts should be able to be translated and read properly according to their context, especially the authority and authoritarianism inherent in Islamic studies.

This article is intended to illustrate that the hermeneutics of al-Ghazzl influenced Ibn Rushd in a certain degree. One can come across a number of contexts in the works of Ibn Rushd such as Taḥfut al-taḥfut, Faṣl al-maql and al-Kashf , in which he criticizes al-Ghazzl in relation to the interpretation of religious texts. However, one can notice that Ibn Rushd is deeply influenced by the views of al-Ghazzl on the matter of hermeneutics, especially concerning the definition of interpretation, the categorization of the ambiguous wordings in the religious texts as well as the classification of the groups of people authorized to fulfill the task of interpretation. In fact, Ibn Rushd's threefold graduation of people as the masses , the theologians , and the demonstrative people was masterminded and introduced by al-Ghazzl. In addition, it is from al-Ghazzl and from his interpretation of the 125 th verse of Srat al-Naḥl that Ibn Rushd borrowed the suggestion that as regards the interpretation of religious texts, each of these three groups should adopt one of the three methods described as rhetorical, dialectical, and demonstrative. Another important context where Ibn Rushd is clearly under the influence of al-Ghazzl is the issue how the lawful method of interpretation is to be applied to the religious texts. Regarding this issue, he took up al-Ghazzl's fivefold categorization of being as essential existence, sensual existence, imaginative existence, mental existence and analogical existence, suggesting to interpret the religious texts on the basis of this categorization.

This article focuses on exploring the contents of the book Ta'lim al-Sibyan Bighayat al-Bayan by Tuan Guru Haji Muhammad Shaleh Hambali Bengkel on the concept of educational planning. This article also aims to find a model for the concept of planning Islamic education, with the hope that it can be useful for management and management of Islamic education. This research is a study of the thoughts of figures using library theory or library research, using a historical approach, with data collection methods in accordance with the type of research, namely library research. The data analysis in this study uses the interpretation method (text interpretation), it can also be translated using the text of the book as a research field, in this case the book Ta'lim al Sibyan Bighayati al Bayan which specifically shows the concept of educational planning. From this research, it has been found that 1) the concept of teaching staff planning, curriculum planning and financial planning; The contemporary context that planning is integrated with national ideals, namely building intellectual intelligence and moral intelligence through a planned curriculum and realistic funding.

Arguing Over Texts: The Rhetoric of Interpretation

The war of ideas which happen today is more than just the battle of arguments, concepts, or ideas. Moreover, the terminology of a word is also be a battle of the idea. The war of terminology raised new terminologies derived from Western worldview, which is not in accordance with Islam. In the end, Western terminology related to Islam raised a lot of debate and discourse among scholars. As we know, the West has its own values and worldviews on life, which certainly have an impact on ideas, and ideologies. Surprisingly, lot of Muslim scholars used the western terminology in some of their ideas. One of them is Khaled Abou el-Fadl. In this article, the author tries to study the moderate and the puritan terminology created by Khaled Abou el-Fadl. He was a contemporary Islamic thinker from Kuwait. With both of the terms (moderate and puritan), he has dichotomized Muslims into two distinct groups. This paper will try to describe the problem of moderate and puritanical in Khaled Abou El Fadl’s thinking and its implication to the Islamic Ummah.

This article discusses the thoughts of K.H. Husein Muhammad on polygamy in Islam, focusing on the legal construction and argumentative foundations behind his critical stance toward the practice. In contrast to the majority of classical scholars who permit polygamy broadly, K.H. Husein views justice as an absolute requirement that is extremely difficult to fulfill in practice. This study aims to analyze the legal construction and fundamental reasoning of K.H. Husein Muhammad regarding polygamy in Islam. It employs a normative-contextual approach using library research and direct interviews as methods of data collection, with descriptive-qualitative analysis. The findings indicate that K.H. Husein Muhammad considers polygamy not as a normative teaching recommended in Islam, but rather as a rukhṣah (legal concession) for certain situations. In the context of modern society, he argues that polygamy tends to result in injustice—especially toward women—and contradicts the principles of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah and the legal maxim sad al-dharī‘ah. Therefore, he concludes that the permissibility of polygamy may shift to being discouraged (makrūh) or even prohibited (ḥarām) if it fails to uphold substantive justice. His thought reflects a form of progressive ijtihād that prioritizes contextual interpretation of religious texts and advocates for reform in Islamic family law that promotes social justice and gender equality.

Islam and the Challenge of Democratic Commitment

Understanding the importance of collecting qualitative data creatively.