Tradition, Reform, and Ideology: Contemporary Sunni Juridico-Theological Thought

This multidisciplinary project explores how the Sunni Islamic scholarly tradition—through the writings of the late Egyptian-Qatari jurist Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī and other modern luminaries—navigates the pressures of modern ideologies such as liberalism and nationalism while maintaining continuity with classical disciplines (fiqh, uṣūl al-fiqh, tafsīr, kalām). Its central claim is that modernity is not merely an external constraint on Islamic thought; it is increasingly internalized within the tradition through the adoption of modern conceptual vocabularies and argumentative strategies that scholars use to justify reforms, defend inherited norms, and rethink religious authority and its sources. The project is structured around three standalone, publishable journal articles that together form a coherent research arc. The first examines al-Qaraḍāwī’s “Islamist Sufism,” arguing that his approach to spirituality disrupts simplistic categories such as Salafism, Sufism, and Islamism and reveals deeper hermeneutical diversity. The second investigates modern re-readings of Qur’anic abrogation (naskh) in al-Qaraḍāwī’s fiqh al-jihād, tracing how contemporary international politics and norms shape scholarly attempts to reconcile classical doctrines with modern realities. The third compares Islamic and liberal conceptions of minority rights through John Rawls’ liberal proceduralism, proposing meaningful overlaps between liberal fairness and a “Sharia proceduralism,” without assuming Islam must approximate liberal norms. The methodology combines close reading of Arabic primary sources, conceptual-genealogical analysis, and engagement with political theology and Islamic law debates.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)