"Liberal"

After writing my previous blog, it seems that I need to be careful with terminology. A friend of mine pointed out the ambiguity and potentially unintended consequences of using the term "liberal" when referring to either myself or "liberal" scholars. The fact is that he is right - this term does have many connotations associated with it.

So here is my chance to define what I mean when I use the term liberal:

A liberal for me in the religious context - what one may term a "religious liberal" is someone who is:

1. Religious i.e. within the fold of the religion and still belieiving in the core parts of the religion and its practices i.e. believes in one God, the Qur`an, Prophethood, prays, fasts...etc.

2. BUT is willing to look at some of these practices/beliefs again, understanding the implications of our current context and desire for rationality, not just taking from what "our fathers" (/parents!) have passed down to us;

This means the "religious liberal" has an open mind, and is willing to challenge (only willing - does not have to actually challenge) long-held views and theories.


The main problem I see with this, however, is that although there have been centuries of work building on the previous methodologies in usul al-fiqh...etc., comparatively little work has been done to create a holistic and consistent jurisprudential framework, rooted in liberal principles. Therefore, although the "traditional" (I really normally don't like labels but it's the only way to make my point!) methodology has a relatively consistent view on most things, based on its principles, the liberal methodology does not have a comparable body of work.

This is the reason why I am very interested that Saanei seems to have discussed these views using a more "liberal" methodology, as this would imply that such work is being done, although I am not yet sure if this is consistently applied everywhere!

Anyway, next post will be back to the book and will discuss one hadith. It will be useful for two reasons:
1. We will see how hadith study happens
2. We will see how HE uses "liberal" principles in his study, which (as far as I'm aware) are different to the traditional view.