Why this book?
- Acquaintance with one of the most influential theories of religious intellectualism in Iran
- Examining the relationship between religious understanding and the evolution of the humanities and philosophy
- Understanding the theoretical foundations of Abdolkarim Soroush's view on religious knowledge
- Comprehending one of the most important contemporary intellectual controversies about religion and interpretation
About the book
"The Theoretical Contraction and Expansion of the Sharia" is a collection of articles by Abdolkarim Soroush, first published in Kayhan-e Farhangi magazine and later released as a book. The main subject of the book is the question of how religious knowledge is formed and what its relationship is with other domains of human knowledge.
In this work, Soroush distinguishes between "religion" as a fixed entity and "religious understanding" as the human interpretation of religion. He argues that the understanding of the Sharia is influenced by the achievements of the sciences, philosophy, and other human disciplines, and with the transformation of these fields of knowledge, religious knowledge also undergoes contraction and expansion.
This book holds a central place in the thought of Abdolkarim Soroush and paved the way for numerous discussions and critiques among religious thinkers, philosophers, and scholars of Islamic sciences. Studying it is of particular importance for those interested in the relationship between religion and reason, the history of Islamic thought, and the debates of religious intellectualism.