Hermeneutics According to Abdul-Majeed Al-Sharafi

Abstract

Hermeneutics, as presented by Abdul-Majeed Al-Sharafi, represents a scientific approach and intellectual perspective for addressing issues within Islamic thought. This approach is based on the idea that previous interpretations of Islamic religious texts, inherited from previous generations of Muslims, are essentially human readings of the original religious texts and therefore are not sacrosanct or binding. They are subject to specific historical and cultural contexts, and their cultural outcomes have changed as Muslims read the religious texts in light of these contexts.

Al-Sharafi argues that contemporary generations are obliged to offer new interpretations that are more in harmony with the current realities of life, while remaining faithful to the constants of Islam, represented by the spirit of Islamic teachings and the foundational discourse of the Quran, which serves as the primary text shared by all Muslims historically and geographically. It is a fixed, standard, and sacred reference point from which Muslims derive their understanding in dealing with other limited, changing, and non-sacred human attempts at interpretation.