Welcome to a higher seminar where Erik Sundblad, PhD student in Middle Eastern languages and cultures, will present his PhD project.
Title: Hermeneutical conservatism and exegetical revisionism in the writings of Aḥmad Subḥī Manṣūr
Abstract: The hermeneutical considerations and implications within the Qurʾānist tendency in modern Islamic thought is a field that remains largely unexplored. In my forthcoming dissertation I will discuss these issues through the prism of the Qurʾān-alone movement in Egypt, with special attention devoted to the contemporary thinker Aḥmad Subḥī Manṣūr.
In my presentation I will argue that Aḥmad Subḥī Manṣūr has constructed a theoretical framework for the interpretation of Scripture that remains largely conservative in its conceptualization and epistemology. However, certain axiomatic claims combined with a Qurʾānist reductionism of what can be considered to constitute Scripture nonetheless allows for a revisionist form of exegesis. An exegesis that is mainly utilized in the service of a liberal interpretation of the Qurʾān.
Please indicate your attendance by sending a note to the chair Jaqueline Berndt: jberndt@su.se
Erik Sundblad is a PhD candidate in Middle Eastern languages and cultures at Stockholm University.
