Download Sarah Stroumsa: What is Islamic Theology?

Professor Sarah Stroumsa
Professor of Arabic Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Conference: Islamic Studies in Germany
Panel discussion: What is Islamic Theology?
Chair: Jörg Lau
Jörg Lau:
I would like to ask you, Professor Stroumsa, as an expert: What is Islamic Theology? And
what do you as a foreign academic think about the purpose of establishing “Islamic Studies“
at German universities?
Sarah Stroumsa:
I was asked two questions: what is Islamic theology, and how can we teach Islamic
theology in Germany today. The first is the one that appears in the title of this panel, the
second emerged during the discussion earlier today: People say that Jews always answer
questions with more questions, and this is what I intend to do here.
In presenting its recommendations, the Wisseschaftsrat addressed issues of paramount
importance: The place of Muslim communities in Europe and in the European society today,
and the integration of these Muslim communities in Germany, socially and intellectually.
Indeed, the integration of the European Muslim communities into a pluralistic society, within
an international context, is an urgent matter. Furthermore, as minister Schavan pointed out in
her opening remarks, it is also time to make room for a self-reflection of the Muslim
community within an academic context. These are urgent matters not just in Germany but
throughout Europe. In this respect, Germany can take a pioneering, leadership role, and
today's discussion is a token that Germany is indeed assuming this role. Precisely because of
the urgency of these issues, it is also important to take the necessary time, to reflect and
reconsider how best to tackle these problems. Although the first goal of the Committee's
recommendations is to act within the German context, in taking a pioneering role Germany
has a responsibility also for what goes outside of Germany.
Cognizant of the legal and social constraints which determined the committee work, as well as
of the structure of the academic system in Germany where theology is taught within the
university, my first set of questions is whether the solution that is being delineated here is the
only possible one , and if not -- is it the best solution. I ask this, being fully aware of the fact
that the committee must have seriously weighed the pros and cons of each solution, and with
Professor Sarah Stroumsa
Professor of Arabic Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
much respect for the time, expertise and thought that went into the Committee's work.
Nevertheless, I believe that the solution proposed here may have, in the long run, grave
academic consequences for German universities in general and for the academic study of
Islam in particular. For this reason, although the recommendations of the committee have
already been launched, I believe it is necessary to stop and reconsider.
As we know, the way we phrase the question, the Fragestellung, determines to a great extent
the answer we get. Putting the question "What is Islamic theology" as the title of a first panel
for this conference is not only a novelty but also, I submit, an oddity. If such a conference
were to be held outside Germany, I doubt very much that this is the way the question would
have been put. The purpose of this conference is to discuss and plan the best way to build a
framework for preparing, both morally and intellectually, teachers who will instruct young
Muslims in Germany about their own religion. The preparation of such teachers for young
Christians is done in the faculties of theology, focuses on theological questions, and is rightly
called: "theology". In Muslim tradition, however, this mission will most probably include
religious practices, religious law and piety, Koran and prophetic traditions. These topics will
not normally go under the heading of theology, and theology or kalÁm is not likely to figure
among the topics of primary teaching. As Professor Abdullah already pointed out, when one
discusses the topics that interest us here in a non-German context, they are called by many
other names rather than theology: They are often called, in a classical context, “Koranic
studies,” and, considering the central place of the Koran in Islam, if one aspect of Muslim
religiosity is to be chosen as a title for Muslim religious education, Koranic studies would
have been perhaps more representative than theology. In Arabic, however, these topics are
often referred to as ÝulÙm al-dÐn. “religious studies”, and this, rather than theology, is
probably the most appropriate term for this endeavour
When we place this endeavour under the title “theology”, what we do – and forgive
me for saying it bluntly – is impose on Islamic concepts the way Christian studies are done in
Germany since the 19th century. Now one can argue that this has been working well in
Germany for the Christian community, and looking for equality we should include also
Muslims and Jews in the same system. The answer to that is my next set of questions: If the
decision of how to teach Christianity would have been considered anew in Germany today,
are we sure that it would have been done in the same way?. Is it absolutely necessary to have
two departments of Christian theology – one Catholic and one Protestant -- in every
Professor Sarah Stroumsa
Professor of Arabic Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
university? Is it not possible to have one department of theology in which Protestant and
catholic theology are taught together? Furthermore, one can question the very inclusion of the
study of theology within a secular university context. All these questions refer to traditions
that are well established in Germany, and seem to work well because the difficulties and
conflicts that accompanied them have been smoothed by time. This does not mean that it is
wise to introduce a new religious tradition into the same structures, nor does it guarantee that,
without the mellowing effect of centuries, the success will repeat itself.
There is, however, an already established tradition of studying Islam within the
German university system, a tradition in which German scholars have served as trailblazers
and have taken a leadership role since the 18th century. This tradition, based on rigorous,
critical reading of the sources, included historical, philological and sociological research, in
all the domains nowadays referred to as "Orientalistik", “Islamwissenschaft” or "Arabistik",,
and the fruits that it bore in all these domains have earned it international fame. It is worth
asking ourselves what will happen to these domains, and to this glorious tradition of
outstanding critical research, when the proposed “Islamstudien” are introduced into the
university. I fear that the introduction of a different standard of non-critical "Islamic studies"
into the university will compromise the academic study of Islam, and may be harmful to the
university as a whole.
In this context, in responding to the question “what is Islamic theology?" I am tempted to
stress the context, and ask: "What is a university, and what kind of teaching do we want to
have within a university?”
Being neither a Muslim nor a theologian, my answer to the question of "what is Islamic
theology" relies first and foremost on what the classical texts say: texts by Muslims, believers
and others, who over the centuries expressed their view on precisely this question. From the
tenth century philosopher al-Farabi to the twelfth century heresiographer al-Shahrastani, from
the twelfth century theologian Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali to the Andalusi statement Ibn Tumart,
Muslim thinkers address the question of what is Muslim theology. Some of them certainly
regard the theological discourse as a legitimate part of Islamic discourse, but in reading their
definitions of kalÁm or Islamic theology, it is clear that they do not see it as capturing the
essence of Islam.Much of the study of the Koran, exegesis, mysticism, and philosophy, is left
Professor Sarah Stroumsa
Professor of Arabic Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
out of the theological discourse. For the same reason, theology is also not the first thing that
most contemporary Muslims will put forward as the way to study Islam.
I would therefore like to urge the committee and the people involved in this project to
consider again other possibilities. One must find a way to reconcile the constitutional
obligation to train religious teachers within the university with the essential need to keep the
university as the realm of critical, non-sectarian research.