The "others" in the Qur'an

a hermeneutical approach

Nasr Abu Zayd

pp. 97-109

in: Seyla Benhabib, Volker Kaul (eds), Toward new democratic imaginaries, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

First, I argue for historical contextualization of the Qur"an as a given historical collections of discourses propagated by Muhammad as divine inspiration. Secondly, I argue for a distinction between the Qur"an and Islam, since the latter is the outcome of human efforts to construct their lives in accordance with what they understood to be the teachings of the Qur"an. The last point is to show how the role of Muhammad in his interaction with the communities of his time in Hijaz shaped the Qur"an. So, the article is organized as (1) introduction; (2) the Qur"an and lslam; (3) the Qur"an and history: open hermeneutics; (4) Muhammad and the Qur"an; (5) the divine–human communication; (6) Muhammad: the first recipient; (7) Muhammad in the Qur"an; and (8) the community of believers and the need for legal regulations; followed by (9) conclusion.