The Concept of Islamic Tradition in Fazlur Rahman’s Thought

When one considers the thought of the late Fazlur Rahman, it can be seenthat his main endeavors are confined to “a true understanding of the Qur’an andthe Sunnah” - in other words, a “recourse to the Qur’an and the Sunnah in orderto get from there an understanding of and a guidance for solving our newproblems.”l This point cannot be ignored by contemporary Muslims strivingto overcome their social, political, legal, and religiomoral problems. However,it is not a simple and easy task to return to the Qur’an in order to have a trueunderstanding of it, for there are many obstacles which ensue from history ortraditional Islam itself.I will therefore elucidate and discuss what Rahman means by the conceptof tradition and, more specifically, the Islamic tradition or, as he sometimesprefers to call it, the Muslim tradition. We cannot appreciate his views on hisQur‘anic methodology and on contemporary issues unless we sufficiently acquaintourselves with what he means by Islamic tradition and the problems hund withinIslamic civilization, by which he means the influence that Islamic tradition thathad on Islamic civilization and its ultimate consequences on that civilization’soutcome.When we confront the Islamic heritage as a whole, it is important to elicitand bring into the open what “Islamic” and ”un-Islamic” meant at that particularpoint in the past, for this would appear to be crucial for a better understandingof the problem at hand. Once we identify those un-Islamic elements and theneliminate them from our way to development and modernization, we can confineour attention to solving our current problems in light of the Qur‘an and the Sunnah.We cannot find adequate answers to our current problems if we are incarceratedin a tradition which is, according to Rahman, contrary to the Qur’an’s dynamicand ongoing spirit. On the other hand, there is the naive view which claims that ...