Articles

Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi‘a Perspective

Although there are a lot of verses in the Qur’an endorsing the notions of freedom, tolerance, diversity, and pluralism, all of these verses were abrogated by the Sword Verse, according to some major classical Sunni scholars. In Shi’a Islam, however, none of these verses were abrogated; the Qur’anic arguments on freedom and diversity are always valid since they are an essential part of faith; they cannot be abrogated. The political teachings of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Abi Ṭalib are very supportive of diversity and pluralism in the modern sense.
HMouK
2021/03/22
Articles

Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam

‘Freedom of religion’ is a strong principle in Islam. The Qur’an neither mentions nor prescribes any temporal punishment for apostasy. No one during the time of the Prophet was killed solely for apostasy. Abolishing all types of temporal punishments for apostasy: Acknowledgement of the alteration of the subject and context; the invalidity of akhbār al-haād in matters of critical importance such as the life of a human being; the invalidity of hadiths that run counter to Qur’anic dictates; and the abrogation of the punishments for apostasy because of ‘impairing’ Islam.
HMouK
2021/03/21
Books

Shedding Light on the Covert Assembly of Experts

The book starts with shedding light on the the regulations of Assembly of Experts. The approval of the regulations relevant to Article 111 of the constitution (the right to supervise, impeach and depose the Leader) remains the greatest achievement of the Assembly to date. Both of Leaders of the I.R.I. refrained from any kind of cooperation with the ‘Panel of Investigation’. The most prominent advocator of actual religious authority as a binding requirement for qualifying a Leader was S. Ali Khamenei. He disqualified the leadership of himself 3 years earlier!
HMouK
2020/10/28
Books

Human Rights and Reformist Islam

Human Rights and Reformist Islam translates the influential collection Haqq al-nas, and critiques traditional Islamic approaches to the question of compatibility between human rights and Islam, and argues instead for their reconciliation from the perspective of a reformist Islam. The book focuses on six controversial case studies: religious discrimination; gender discrimination; slavery; freedom of religion; punishment of apostasy; and arbitrary or harsh punishments. Critically compares Kadivar’s approach to Islam and human rights with those of five leading contemporary scholars: Mahmoud Taha, Abdullahi an-Na’im, Ann Mayer, Mohammad Shabestari and Abdulaziz Sachedina.
HMouK
2020/08/05
Books

Blasphemy and Apostasy in Islam

Take a front-row seat to the debate on blasphemy and apostasy in Islam: a. Presents a back-and-forth debate between two Shi’a jurists (one conservative, one reformist) that locates the exact points of controversy surrounding apostasy and blasphemy; b. Engages with the broader subjects of religious freedom and human rights, addressing both secular and religious interests; c. Articulates the secular–religious divide and proposes a pluralistic solution, making a case that apostasy and blasphemy are non-existent in the Qu’ran; d. Packed with translations of primary sources, including fatwas and interviews.
HMouK
2020/08/03