The Movement of Meaning and the Mechanisms of Interpretation: A Reading of Abu al-Qasim Haj Hamad's Epistemological Methodology of the Qur'an

Abstract

When reading transcends the boundaries of comprehension and moves towards reconfiguration, Abu al-Qasim Haj Hamad emerges as a contemporary scholar and pioneer who engages in the deconstruction and reconstruction of meanings through a modern intellectual approach that goes beyond the contemporary philosophies imposed upon the Qur'anic text in an attempt to penetrate its depths. He establishes his own epistemological philosophy and a distinctive methodology for reading the Qur'an, including such concepts as the objective counterpart of the universe, the Islamization of knowledge, and transcending the doctrines of burdens and shackles. These concepts constitute new foundations and building blocks for understanding the Qur'anic text.

In this research paper, we place under critical scrutiny a number of issues that constitute the core of his intellectual project, as presented in his book The Second Islamic Universalism, in order to address the following research question: Are his efforts suitable for establishing a new epistemological methodology for understanding the Qur'an?