‘The activities of this world’ (I): al-tafriqa bayna’l-Islām wa’l- zandaqa

Debates have occurred throughout the history of Islam over which texts should be taken literally, and which should be understood metaphorically, allegorically, on several levels simultaneously or using some other formulation. In fact such debates are inevitable in a tradition placing such great emphasis on its scripture. Hence the hermeneutical issues explored in the present work underlie not only the specific topics discussed, but also shed light more generally on some of the methods by which Muslim scholars defend their views and criticise others.