Qurʾan, Morality and Critical Reason

Muhammad Shahrur was born in Damascus in 1938. A Professor of Civil Engineering (Emeritus) at the University of Damascus, he has written since 1990 five major books in Arabic on the Qur’an and Islam in the modern world that have attracted widespread interest in the Middle East and elsewhere. Andreas Christmann, Dr. Phil (1999) in Islamic Studies, University of Leipzig, is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam at the University of Manchester (UK). He has published extensively on religious thought and practices in contemporary Syria and Egypt.

Readers of The Qur’an, Morality and Critical Reason: The Essential Muhammad Shahrurwill immediately discern Muhammad Shahrur’s elaborate and intriguing effort to recast Qur’anic interpretation in the light of modern critical reasoning….Shahrur’s view is not simply bold. It is deeply humane. It bespeaks a vision of Islam that retains a universal ambition, yet willingly disposes of all notions of hierarchy among the world’s religious communities in their adherence to the truth of God’s revelation.We must be grateful for the efforts made by Andreas Christmann, whose collaboration with Muhammad Shahrur resulted in this magnificent volume. His translations reflect an admirable command of theology, philosophy and the Arabic language. Clifford Chanin, Project Syndicate