Abstract

Muslim extremists and exclusivists regard the religious other – Jews, Christians, polytheists, and disbelievers – as enemies, and unworthy of association with. They often back their extremist and exclusivist ideas with their own interpretation of the Quran and prophetic narrations or Hadith, especially through contested doctrines such as al-Wala wa al-Bara`. This seminar explores Quranic verses and selected narrations from the Hadith that deal with categories of faith or non-faith, including references to “the People of the Book”, polytheists, and disbelievers, and the spirit of Islam in its approach towards these different groups based on sound interpretation of primary Islamic resources. The seminar also hopes to uncover misconceptions and misuse of terminologies related to such categories to incite hatred and violence, even toward fellow Muslims. The seminar will question the interpretation of these textual resources, in the context of the place and time of revelation or narration, as well as in contemporary and plural societies.

About the Speaker

Prof Abdullah Saeed is currently the Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Director of the National Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies and the Convenor of Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also Advisor to the Studies in Interreligious Relations in Plural Societies Programme & Peter Lim (Visiting) Professor of Peace Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.  He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).  At RSIS, Abdullah Saeed teaches Islam, Diversity and the Religious Other. Among his recent published books are: Contemporary Approaches to the Qurʾan and its Interpretation in Iran (co-authored with Ali Akbar, 2019); Islam and Human Rights (2018); Reading the Qur’an in the Twenty-First Century (2014); Islamic Political Thought and Governance (edited, 2011); and The Qur’an: An Introduction (2008).