Theologies and Ethics of Justice New Directions for Islamic Thought in the 21st Century

Abstract

The Summer Institute for Scholars 2017, held at the IIIT headquarters in
Herndon, VA, from July 26-29, brought together a group of scholars to address
“Theologies and Ethics of Justice: New Directions for Islamic Thought
in the 21st Century.” To present as many of their ideas as possible, the wideranging
and thought-provoking comments of the chairs and discussants are
not recounted
The event began with welcoming remarks by Ermin Sinanović (program
director and director of research, IIIT), Abubaker al-Shingieti (executive director,
IIIT) and Hisham Altalib (president, IIIT). The participating scholars,
students, and special guests were introduced and viewed a film on IIIT.
The special panel on “Justice in Islamic Thought” was addressed by
Ramon Harvey (Ebrahim College, London) and Jonathan A.C. Brown
(Georgetown University; via Skype). Ramon Harvey’s paper, “The Qur’an
and the Just Society: An Enquiry into Scriptural Theology, Ethics, and
Hermeneutics,” introduced the theoretical framework of his forthcoming
book, The Qur’an and the Just Society. He presented the basic underlying
enquiry: the search for the meaning of societal justice within the Qur’anic
worldview. His argument proceeded in three steps: (1) justice in the Qur’an
must be situated within the broader “moral narrative” about the spiritual
journey of souls and societies and from which an implicit moral theology
can be detected; (2) that it is possible to build on such Qur’anic indications
to articulate a theological and ethical system that models it; and (3) that such
a system gives a meaningful epistemological foundation for a hermeneutics
to discover the Qur’an’s basic principles of justice when contextualized
within the initial Muslim community led by Prophet Muhammad ...