none

CM12: Dangerous Freethinkers

Ziauddin Sardar argues that freethinkers can be dangerous in numerous ways, James E. Montgomery examines the radical freethought of the ninth-century thinker Jahiz, Oliver Leaman wrestles with Ibn Rushd’s dangerous idea, Robert Irwin explores the myths surrounding the great Sufi mystic al-Hallaj, Bruce Lawrence thinks that Al-Biruni is the greatest freethinker of all time, Aziz al-Azmeh explores Abbasid culture and the universal history of freethinking humanism, Stefan Weldner looks at the notion of the Divine in Adonis’s poetry, Abdelwahab El-Affendi dissects the thought and politics of the Sudanese reformist Mahmoud Taha, Mohammed Moussa is unimpressed by the neo-modernity of the Iranian freethinker Abdolkarim Soroush, Nazry Bahrawi defends the interpretations of the Egyptian scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Eva Hoffman suggests that dissidents should be as mindful as the Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz, Johan Siebers explains why the pen is the chosen instrument of the dangerous freethinker, Hanan al-Shaykh recalls the freethinking women who shaped her life, Alev Adil struggles with ‘the Aisha Project’, and Merryl Wyn Davies on why freethinkers are mad, bad and dangerous.

In this issue

Al-Biruni: Against the Grain by Bruce B. Lawrence

Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni liked school. No, he loved school.The challenge to read and recite, to count and to calculate was fun, but ...

The Circumference of Freethought by Ziauddin Sardar

‘This cannot happen again.’ Sprout just did not want to lay any more eggs. Inside her overcrowded coop she couldn’t move, flap ...

Jahiz: Dangerous Freethinker? by James E. Montgomery

Freethinking is characterised by a reliance on reason and autonomy rather than authority or institution. It is an inquisitive and questioning ...

Abbasid Freethinking Humanism by Aziz al-Azmeh

On 13 July 1856, Charles Darwin wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, wondering at ‘what a book a ...

Mahmoud Taha: Heresy and Freedom by Abdelwahab El-Affendi

The lowest point for the regime of former Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiri (1969–1985), if not for the whole of modern Sudanese history, ...

Ten Freethinkers to Think About

Freethinkers have three basic characteristics. First, they actually think – often outside or against the dominant modes of knowing, doing ...

Out of the Old Box by Hanan Al-Shaykh

I began to think about the past as I opened an old box where I kept my journalistic articles. I found a series of interviews I had conducted with ...