The Piety of Learning Islamic Studies in Honor of Stefan Reichmuth (original) (raw)

Portrait of the Intellectual as a Young Man: Rashid Rida's Muhawarat al-muslih wa al-muqallid.

Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 2001

Rashid Rida’ s ideas and ideals of the intellectual are to be found pre-eminently in a work serialized in Al-Manar, in 1901, called Muhawarat al-muslih wa-al-muqallid (The Debates of the Reformer and the Traditionalist). This work contains much of Rida’ s thinking on religious reform. A very interesting aspect of the work is that it is a work of fiction. It is Rida’ s only experiment with fiction, and its aim is to furnish the reader with a portrait of the model Muslim intellectual. The Muhawarat can be taken as an example of a representation of a decidedly modernist Muslim intellectual whom the readers of Al-Manar are invited to identify with and take as a role model.

Rashīd Riḍā in Europe - A monomythic reading of his travel narrative

2013

The present article deals with the travel narrative of the famous Muslim reformist thinker Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā’s only visit to Europe in 1921. The text was published in seven parts under the title al-Riḥla al-ʾŪrubiyya (‘the European Journey’) between February and October 1922 in the journal al-Manār (‘the Lighthouse’) after Riḍā’s return. The following paper is an attempt to show how the pattern coined as the “hero’s journey” or the “monomyth” may apply to Riḍā’s seven-part account. Thus, shedding light on the numerous monomythical elements in Riḍā’s European Journey and showing their counterparts in the classical pattern of the hero’s journey will constitute the main part of this paper. A monomythic reading may not only explain the lack of a coherent chronological structure in this travelogue but can also offer a deeper understanding of both the function of the text in its initial context and the interaction between the author and his readership. Before embarking on such a monomythical reading, I will briefly introduce the European Journey and try to point to some reasons for why travels beyond the cultural boundaries, as an adventure to an unknown world, could be seen as closely linked to a certain conception of heroism.

PhD Thesis: Islamic reformism and Christianity : a critical reading of the works of Muhammad Rashid Rida and his associates (1898-1935)

2008

The present work is a critical study of the dynamics of Muslim understanding of Christianity during the late 19th and the early 20th century in the light of the polemical writings of the well-known Syro-Egyptian Muslim reformist Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865-1935) and his associates. It is observable that neither Muslim nor Western scholars paid due attention to his views on Christianity. No full-scale study of his perspectives on that subject has been undertaken so far. Although there are scattered and brief remarks in some individual studies on some of his works on Christianity, investigation is still needed by focusing on his polemics and answers to the social, political and theological aspects of missionary movements among Muslims of his age. The base of our analysis in the present study encompasses Rida’s voluminous publications embodied in his magnum opus, the journal al-Manar (The Lighthouse). The core of these writings on the Christian beliefs and scriptures consisted of polemic and apologetic issues, which had already existed in the pre-modern Islamic classification of Christianity. However, al-Manar polemicists have added to their investigations many modern aspects largely influenced by Western critical studies of the Bible. There is no documented public debate (munazarah) between Rida and his contemporary missionaries. But al-Manar developed certain sorts of arguments drawn from critical studies about biblical texts, church history, political confrontations in the period of colonialism, and evidence of what it perceived as the wrong picture portrayed by missionaries (and some Christian Arabs) of Islam.

Islamic Reformism and Christianity: a Critical Reading of the Works of Muhammad Rashid Rida and his Associates (1898- 1935)

2009

No previous full-scale study has been undertaken so far to study the polemical writings of the Muslim reformist Muḥammad Rashīd Riḍā (1865-1935) and his associates in his well-known journal al-Manār (The Lighthouse). The book focuses on the dynamics of Muslim understanding of Christianity during the late 19th and the early 20th century in the light of al-Manār’s sources of knowledge, and its answers to the social, political and theological aspects of missionary movements in the Muslim World of Riḍā’s age. The basis of the analysis encompasses the voluminous publications by Riḍā and other Manārists in his journal. Besides, it makes use of newly-discovered materials, including Riḍā’s private papers, and some other remaining personal archives of some of his associates.

Indentifying Maqasid al-Qur’an A Critical Analysis Of Rashid Rida's Views

This article examines MuÍammad RashÊd RiÌÉ's (1865RiÌÉ's ( -1935 views of MaqÉÎid al-Qur'Én. RiÌÉ's work on this subject is one of a few rear pieces that comprehensively deal with this emerging distinctive concept of understanding the Qur'Énic discourse. Thus, it is significant to view RiÌÉ's insight and contribution to this subject. This article presents a critical analysis of the ten main objectives of the Qur'Én that he dealt with in his book al-WaÍy al-MuÍammadÊ as well as TafsÊr al-ManÉr. This study mainly explores the methodological and logical strength of RiÌÉ's identification of objectives of the Qur'Én.

Freedom of Religion in Rashid Rida's Perspective

Proceedings of the International Conference on Qur'an and Hadith Studies (ICQHS 2017), 2018

Freedom of belief is the fundamental principle in Islam, but in the reality, it is often contravened and abrogated by war verses. Violence in the name of religion becomes its effect. This study discusses Rashid Rida's perspective on freedom of religion in his Tafsir Al Manar. This study is a library research, using analytic descriptive method with romantic hermeneutic approach. The result of the study showed that Rasyid Ridha clearly stated that the principle of religious freedom is the most fundamental Islamic principle and nothing can abrogate the principles. The principle is permanent and universal. Rasyid's attitude like rideness is no longer free from the influence of his father who is very opened with other faiths. With this principle, everyone has a right to believe anything they believe freely and express their religion based on their beliefs