Speaking in God's Name

This is heavy going but completely fascinating. The author is an orthodox and convinced Muslim "I believe in the authenticity of the Qu’ran as God’s uncorrupted and immutable word" (page 6) who takes issue with the way in which "judgement" about the interpretation of the Qu’ran are dished out by conservative interpreters especially in Saudi Arabia. For example if a worker on an oil rig writes into ask if he can have a photograph of his wife and child by his bed, they will say no on grounds of avoiding images, when another interpreter might choose another and overriding principle from the Qu’ran to say yes.

What is fascinating in this study is the parallels between this debate and current debates about the authority of the bible in Christianity. He is wrestling with the issue of how the inherent authority of a sacred text is respected and allowed to speak for itself, out of its "authorial intent" - rather than being so interpreted as to reflect the authoritarianism of the interpreter, "conservative" or "liberal", which may then override the intention of the holy book itself.

The book is fascinating for its insight into contemporary Islam but also for the light which it sheds sideways on universal debates which affect adherence of other faiths as much as Muslims.