Introduction

This book is about the interpretation of one particular type of Qurʾānic texts: the texts that are considered ethico-legal in nature and are represented in the Qurʾān’s beliefs, rulings, laws, commandments, prohibitions and instructions. ¹ Examples of such ethico-legal content include belief in God, prophets and life after death; regulations related to marriage, divorce and inheritance; what is permitted and prohibited; commandments relating to fasting, spending, jihad and ḥudūd; prohibitions related to theft, dealing with non-Muslims; instructions relating to etiquette, inter-faith relations and governance. The book is not intended as a manual providing a step-by-step guide to interpreting such texts, even though it contains useful ideas for their interpretation. Rather, it is an argument for releasing the ethico-legal verses from the legalistic-literalistic approach ² that has been the hallmark of their interpretation from the post-formative period of Islamic law ³ to the modern period in both exegesis (tafsīr) and law (fiqh). The book is, first and foremost, a justification for using a different approach to the interpretation of the ethico-legal texts. I will refer to this approach as ‘Contextualist’. ⁴ The thrust of my argument, therefore, is towards a more flexible approach to interpretation of these texts by taking into consideration both the socio-historical context of the Qurʾān at the time of revelation in the first/seventh century and the contemporary concerns and needs of Muslims today. My main interest is how the meaning of the Qurʾān can be related to the life of the Muslim, in a sense its application to day-to-day practicalities in different times, circumstances and places, particularly as it relates to the concerns and needs of the modern period.