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introduction by muhammad shahrur 1INTRODUCTIONby Muhammad ShahrurSince the beginning of my attempt to reunderstand and reread theQur"an I have published five books in Arabic. This volume seeks toconvey my thoughts in one concise volume especially prepared foran English-speaking audience. The main intention of my work is togo beyond the epistemology of traditional Islamic scholarship. Whatis too often hailed as either inimitable or unsurpassable holds us infact back when we attempt to reach new insight. In order to achievegenuine renewal and lasting reform we cannot rely on the solutionsof bygone eras. As Einstein once said, “The world we have made asa result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problemsthat we cannot solve at the same level at which we have createdthem…We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking ifhumankind is to survive.” In order to solve the current problems ofthe Arab-Muslim world we are required to use the ideas and thoughtsof our most creative minds even if their proposals appear unusual orunfamiliar. But the familiar and the well-acquainted are often insufficientto solve the challenging problems of our ever-more-complexworld. We want this volume to be perceived as a relentless critiqueof all attempts to reform Islam by a return to seventh-century Arabiaand through an adoption of the archaic worldviews of our salafÊforefathers. Such reforms, we believe, are utterly fruitless and boundto fail because they possess an inherently atavistic nature that isincompatible with the modern episteme that demands plurality, tolerance,and progressive thinking.Allah’s Book teaches us to divide human history into two historicalepochs. The first epoch is the period of prophets and messengers,which ended with MuÈammad’s (ß) 1 mission. The second epoch1The transliterated Arabic letter (ß) stands for: ßall§ All§h #alayhi wa-sallam (Godbless him and grant him salvation!) by which Muhammad Shahrur [henceforth hewill be referred to as MS] adopts the standard eulogy applied when the name of theProphet MuÈammad is mentioned; (r) stands for: ra·iyya All§h #anhu (May God bepleased with him!), which MS occasionally employs as a eulogy for the prophets thatcame before MuÈammad.