What is it about?
First, the analysis of "why the role of reason in Sunni Islam became marginalized is made. Second, by using the principles of rationalistic Islamic theology, it is proposed to adopt the principle of complying with the international standards of human rights and justice as one of the main principles of producing Islamic norms or "usul al-fiqh" (epistemology and methodology of producing Islamic norms). These Islamic rationalistic principals, which can be found in centuries-long marginalized Maturidite theology, are, first, that human reason, unaided by scripture, can arrive at what is morally right and wrong; second, it is inconceivable that God could order things untruthful and miserly as being good nor anything which is known by the intellect to be wrong. By using these principles, foremost, pre-modern, patriarchal, obscurantistic Islamic norms can be critically approached and reinterpreted.
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Why is it important?
Traditional conservative Islamic scholarship is in deep crisis, it cannot produce the norms which can be compatible with the human rights standards. When judged by contemporary principles of human rights the level of protection of human rights under Sharia is seriously insufficient. All these are the results of the centuries-old confinement of a role for reason within strict limits. However, the rationalistic Islamic theology, Maturidism, can offer solutions to overcome this crisis.
Perspectives
It is argued that by employing Islamic rationalistic principles it is possible to construct Islamic legal and ethical system that is appropriate for the present historical context of Muslim societies which is marked by globalization and development of human rights. We argue that through employing the rationalistic principles of Maturidite kalam, first, the common achievements of humankind, namely the notions of fundamental human rights, democracy, gender equality, the right of individual choice, may be seen as not alien to Islam. Second, pre-modern, distinguished by obscurantism religious interpretations can be critically approached and reinterpreted.
Galym Zhussipbek
Suleyman Demirel University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Epistemological Reform and Embracement of Human Rights. What Can be Inferred from Islamic Rationalistic Maturidite Theology?, Open Theology, January 2019, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/opth-2019-0030.
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