The Quranic Dilemma

This book focuses on reconnecting with the lost rich humanitarian content of the Quran through a hermeneutical investigation of al-Khidrs story. Through an active engagement with primary and secondary sources, the book provides a new analytic reading of this puzzling Quranic story. By reinvestigating the largely overlooked pluralistic message in the Quran, the book debunks an Islamic fundamentalism, which often uses the text as a justification for ill-informed choices that can be easily seen to drag the Quranic text in unexpected directions. It introduces current academic controversies over proper addressing of critical issues in Islamic heritage and goes beyond mystic romanticization to clarify blind spots in reading al-Khidrs story. Through rethinking al-Khidrs story, the book addresses the exegetical classical and modern attempts to reconcile the Quranic unconditional endorsement of the right to life for everyone regardless of their faith, with the perplexing reference to infidelity as a justification for killing found in chapter 18. The Quranic Dilemma will be of interest to all scholars of Islamic Studies or those interested in Quranic interpretation, Muslim ethics, or comparative theology.