Ramadan al-Buti's methodological approach in Theology: between Scylla and Charybdis
https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2025-18-1-173-198
Abstract
The article presents the specific terminological (conceptual) apparatus used by M.-Said M.-Ramadan al-Buti in the book “al-Salafiyyah”, with a detailed consideration of the concepts of “Arabian scales”, “scientific and ideological shield” and “compass”, defined by the Sheikh as the pillars of the methodological path of knowledge (manhaj) established by the righteous predecessors with sincerity of confession and pristine Arabic speech. Based on the systematization of information found in more than half of the sections of the book, the research provides a brief characterization of the scholars who adhere to the scales of sanity and those who have deviated from them, as well as the results of their work. In the course of identifying Ramadan al-Buti's position on the issue of the limits of questioning, the paper reveals his attitude towards the Quranic prohibition of questioning formulated by the representatives of the extreme conservative approach, as well as the limits of freedom of authorial judgment advocated by the representatives of the liberal approach in religion. Using the example of Ramadan al-Buti's classification of knowledge, as well as the flexibility of his language and his ability to choose words delicately, the author describes how, through his proposed methodology, the sheikh manages to balance the extreme viewpoints, thereby offering a moderate position of Islamic methodological approach.
About the Author
T. E. Sedankina
Russian Islamic Institute ; Bolgar Islamic Academy
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tatyana E. Sedankina, Cand. Sci. (Pedagogy), Associate Professor, the Head of the Department of Systematic Theology; the Russian Federation; Associate Professor, Department of Theology
Kazan; Bolgar
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Sedankina T.E. Ramadan al-Buti's methodological approach in Theology: between Scylla and Charybdis. Minbar. Islamic Studies. 2025;18(1):173-198. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31162/2618-9569-2025-18-1-173-198
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