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D. Abdullah Saeed’s Development of Methods of Quranic Interpretation

 Abdullah Saeed has an educational background in Arabic language and literature and Middle Eastern studies. His study in Saudi Arabia and his academic career in Melbourne show that he is competent in assessing the Western and Eastern worlds objectively. Saeed is very concerned with the contemporary Islamic world, in particular in relation to how Islamic teachings can be applied anywhere at any time, as well as in the real context of living as a Muslim (minority) in a Western country, a notion he refers to as Progressive Islam, in which the subjects are progressive Muslims. Progressive Islam is an attempt to reactivate the progressive dimension of Islam which has undergone in a fairly long period of torpor in which thedynamism of Islam in everyday life was suppressed by the dominance ofthe text. This textual domination is referred to by Mohammad Abid al-Jabiry as the dominance of rational type of Bayani epistemology in Islamicthought.34 Methods of thinking used by progressive Muslims are calledprogressive-ijtihadi. Before describing how the framework and Islamicreligious mindset of Progressive-ijtihadi is patterned, it is important tofirst discuss the progressive trend of thought in Islam that exists today.

 To Saeed, there are six groups of Muslim thinkers nowadays, whose patterns of religious thought and epistemology differ: (1) the Legalisttraditionalist, emphasizing laws interpreted and developed by muslim scholars of the pre-Modern period; (2) the Theological Puritans, focusing on ethical dimensions and Islamic doctrines; (3) the Political Islamist, having the tendency towards the political aspect of founding an Islamic state; (4) the Islamist Extremists, having the tendency to fight every individual and group assumed as their enemy, Muslims as well as non-Muslims; (5) the Secular Muslims, having an opinion that religion is a private matter; and (6) the Progressive Ijtihadists, the modern thinkers on religion attempting to reinterpret religious teachings to meet the needs of modern society. The category of progressive muslims, are positioned in the latter.

The characteristics of the Progressive Ijtihadist Muslim thought as explained by Saeed in his Islamic Thought are as follows: (1) they adopt the view that some areas of the traditional Islamic law need the change and substantially reform in order to correspond to the needs of Muslim society in this time; (2) they tend to support the importance of new fresh ijtihad and methodology in their ijtihads to anticipate contemporary problems; (3) some of them also try to combine traditional Islamic scholarship with modern Western education; (4) they believe that social change inthe intellectual, moral, legal, economic or technological domains, mustbe reflected in Islamic law; (5) they are not involved in dogmatism ormadhhab of law and avoid certain theology in their approaches; and (6)they emphasize their thoughts on social justice, gender equity, humanrights and harmonious relationships between Muslim and non-Muslims.

 At a glance, it seems that patterns of contemporary epistemology in Islamic science, in the eyes of Saeed, differ from patterns of traditional epistemology in Islamic science. The use of scientific method and traditional epistemology scholarship is visible where naṣṣ of al-Qur’an becomes the central departure point, but its interpretational method has been dialogued, combined and integrated with the new usage of epistemology, entangling contemporary social sciences and humanities and critical philosophy.

Abdullah Saeed’s opinion above can be compared with that of Jasser Auda as follows:

The second impact of the proposed condition of a ‘competent worldview’ is ‘opening’ the system of Islamic law to advances in natural and social sciences. Judgements about some status quo or ‘reality’ can no longer be claimed without proper research that is based on sound and competent’ physical or social sciences methodology. We have seen how issues related to legal capacity, such as ‘the sign of death,’ ‘maximum period of pregnancy,’ ‘age of differentiation,’ or ‘age of puberty,’ were traditionally judged based on ‘asking people.’ Since ‘methods of scientific investigation’ are part of one’s worldview, .... I would say that ‘asking people’ cannot be claimed today without some statistical proof!! This takes us to the realm of science (natural and social), and defines a mechanism of interaction between Islamic Law and other branches of knowledge.37

Abdullah Saeed does not mention the use of methods and approaches explicitly-Jasser Auda was firmer in his approach-but the inclusion and use of the term ‘modern western education’ is one indication of the important step in introducing lovers of Islamic studies and the new ‘ulūm al-dīn in the direction of the contemporary. This does not just mean education in western countries, but emphasizes experience and scientific development in the region. Also, concern for the issues and problems of contemporary humanity evident in what Saeed called social justice, especially gender equity, human rights and harmonious relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Issues pertinent to the contemporary humanities in the context of a particular place or space cannot be pondered, understood, or concluded well, if the Islamic scientific epistemology continues to use ‘ulūm al-dīn methods and approaches.

Abdullah Saeed, in the Epilogue of his book (Chapter 12), explains his critical views on the study of ‘ulūm al-dīn and Sharia Sciences (old), which consist of the hadith, usul al-fiqh and tafsir, and the problems that occur if you remain satisfied with using the methods and ways of working of the old paradigm.38 Then, in terms of interpretation (Qur’anic exegesis), he proposes an alternative method to understand the scriptural texts in accordance with the demands of development and the level of education and literacy today. It seems clear that Abdullah Saeed continues to further develop methods of interpretation of the Qur’an, which are more nuanced and hermeneutical than those of the past.39

The social issues and social approaches commonly studied in the social sciences and contemporary humanities and examined in a critical-transformative contemporary philosophy, need to be redefined and reformulated in the study of Islamic sciences, especially the science of kalam and science sharia, fiqh, tafsir, hadith science to bring about major transformation in Islamic religious education in the Islamic world in general, and Indonesia in particular. Contemporary humanities issues, which have shaped a new religious mindset, cannot be sidelined in courses at the university level, whether undergradute, masters or doctorate, for these students are the future leaders in the multicultural, multireligious era. Reconstruction and development of the paradigm of the scientific epistemology of Islamic education should also be reflected in the curriculum and activities, and the syllabus and literature used by lecturers and students.

 

E. Concluding Remarks

An interconnected integrated paradigm of scientific knowledge (takāmul al-‘ulūm; izdiwāj al-ma‘ārif) is necessary for the study of religion and especially the study of ‘ulūm al-dīn in the present, let alone in the future. If not, then the implications and consequences will be much more complicated both in the social order, in culture, and in the spheres of local, regional, national and global politics. Linearity of religious knowledge will only result in learners having a myopic view of life despite the reality of an increasingly religious society, one which is not simple as before, but rather is incredibly complex, as complex as life itself.

 What if this conversation was related to debate in the level of higher education in universities in the country? I will end this paper by quoting the statement of Umar Kayam, a snippet from his inaugural speech at Gadjah Mada University:

 My hope is also now you also begin to realize that modern science can no longer stand alone. Modern science, social sciences or humanities or sciences whatever, will not be able to go forward when he was squaring himself. Maybe you will immediately say aloud to us the fact that the course faculty on campus are still fragmented. Forgive! Your teachers, including those that now stand before you, are the product of a compartmentalized curriculum. And our teachers are also the result of the product, as well compartmentalized. So the great-grandparent boxes, boxes birth grandparent, grandparent boxes boxes childbearing, and child birth box grandchildren box. Box, box, box, box, box. Precisely because you are in this situation and condition and boldly speak out I would like to advise from the lectern so that you begin to free ourselves from the prison to release the boxes of the sciences. Begin to greet your comrades who are compartmentalized near you. Have you spoken to those who study political science and sociology and history of Indonesian literature or any literature? Have talked to many students of English literature or Indonesian literature, sociology and anthropology, and psychology…? Many years ago, C.P. Snow so warned us of the dangers of narrow categorisations in the Two Cultures. In fact, he proposed that the social sciences and humanities engage in dialogue and communication with the natural sciences.40

How, then, does this relate to the religious sciences? It is much more complex for in religion there is the idea of the sacred, the holy, and of qaṭ‘iy (that which cannot be changed), the latter associated with human understanding and subjective interpretation of God (fideisticsubjectivism). Mutual dialogue between religion and science, of course,will be much more difficult, but with the advent of new thinkers, whobring new insights and attempts to explore it, such difficulties may beovercome. The description above may bring hope in paving the waytowards more productive discussions in the days to come.