Combining the fields of Quranic Studies and Postcolonial Studies, this project examines the manner in which the legacy of colonialism continues to influence the analysis of the Quran in the Euro-American academy. It then proposes the means for constructing a transmodern approach to Quranic Studies, which builds upon methodologies in contemporary Quranic Studies and classical Quranic Studies but does not require that scholars ascribe to the paradigms upon which either is constructed.
While Muslim lands are no longer directly colonized, intellectual colonialism continues to prevail in the privileging of Eurocentric systems of knowledge production to the detriment and even exclusion of other modes of analysis. This intellectual hegemony results in multifaceted epistemological reductionism that denies efficacy to the analytical tools developed by Muslim scholars in the classical and modern periods. The presumed intellectual superiority of Euro-American analytical modes has become a constitutive and persistent feature of Euro-American Quranic Studies, influencing all aspects of the field. Its persistence prevents some scholars from encountering, let alone employing, the analytical tools developed by classical and contemporary Muslim scholars and presents obstacles to a broader discourse in the international community of Quranic Studies scholars. Acknowledging the obstacles to which this form of intellectual colonialism has given rise in Quranic Studies is essential for developing more inclusive approaches in which multiple modes of analysis are incorporated and scholars from variegated intellectual backgrounds can engage in more effective dialogue.
This project makes contributions towards developing new approaches to Quranic analysis in three stages: 1) analyzing and deconstructing current approaches to Quranic Studies; 2) proposing a transmodern and transnational approach to Quranic Studies; 3) applying the method in analysis of the Quranic text. Each of these stages will produce one article for publication in a peer-review academic journal or academic book chapter.