Reversing the gaze? or decolonizing the study of the Qurʾan

Abstract

Taking as the starting point, Majid Daneshgar’s Studying the Qurʾan in the Muslim Academy, I argue that the political and intellectual contexts for the study of Islam and indeed the Qur’an cannot be ignored whether the study is conducted in the “Western” or the “Muslim” academy. The construction of the categories of religion and scripture arise out of practices of colonialist knowledge; positionality of the author cannot be eliminated from the interrogative gaze. Beginning with that critique, I suggest some possible ways in which we can decolonize the study of the Muslim scripture and its experience for Muslims.