“The Qur’an and Positivist Methodologies: Revisions in Orientalist Thought” by Abd al-Rahman Ubayd Kamala: An Overview and Critical Reading

Abstract

This study examines a sample of Asian Arabism by presenting and critically reading the book The Qur’an and Positivist Methodologies: Revisions in Orientalist Thought by the Malaysian Arabist Abd al-Rahman Ubayd Kamala. The analysis goes beyond laudatory or dismissive positions in order to identify the nature of the book in terms of its epistemological content, scientific methodology, and formal presentation. The study arrives at a set of conclusions articulated under the following headings: Otherness-oriented readings revisiting themselves—as the otherness-based study of the Holy Qur’an has become an academic subject for second-order otherness studies among leading figures of Asian Arabism, resulting in the correction of certain Orientalist views of the Qur’an; The Orientalist method’s fidelity to its Western frames of reference—since Western Orientalism’s approach to the Qur’anic text adhered to European traditions of investigating textual historicity and stripping it of its sacred character; and The religious question as a civilizational, relative value—a notion confirmed in the positivist view that regards religion as part of culture, and in non-Islamic religious perspectives that see Islam as an extension of Judaism and Christianity.