The Qur'an, Morality and Critical Reason ─ The Essential Muhammad Shahrur

Christmann (contemporary Islam, U. of Manchester, Britain) has selected, translated, heavily annotated, and assembled texts from the five books on the Qur'an and Islam in the modern world that Sharur (emeritus civil engineering, U. of Damascus) has written over the past two decades. The books have been very influential throughout the Middle East and elsewhere among Arabic readers, he says, and the ideas they express should be be accessible to English readers as well. The topics are al-Islam and al-Iman, the sunna of the Prophet, revelation, the theory of limits, women and Islamic law, and political Islam. Shuhrur himself introduces the collection, and two interviews with him are included, along with a glossary of terms and concepts, and an editorial introduction to his life and writings. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Muhammad Shahrur was born in Damascus in 1938. A Professor of Civil Engineering (Emeritus) at the University of Damascus, he has written since 1990 five major books in Arabic on the Qur’an and Islam in the modern world that have attracted widespread interest in the Middle East and elsewhere. Andreas Christmann, Dr. Phil (1999) in Islamic Studies, University of Leipzig, is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam at the University of Manchester (UK). He has published extensively on religious thought and practices in contemporary Syria and Egypt.