MİLEL VE NİHAL
journal for studies of belief, culture and mythology

Volume: 4 number:1
 Junuary - April 2007

The Problem of Representation of
Non-Muslims in Classical Islamic Thought

Burhanettin TATAR

Abstract: The rich intellectual inheritance which was developed by classical Muslim thinkers regarding the non-Islamic beliefs and cultures has affected Muslims on the basis of two major problems historically. First problem concerns the relationship between this intellectual inheritance and Qur’an; the second one relates to the question if the images of beliefs and cultures of non-Muslims constructed within this inheritance have played any role for establishing a reasonable and ethical relation between Muslims and non-Muslims.

This paper claims that historical transformation of ‘Kuranic expression for non-Muslims’ to ‘conceptual thought about them’ has created a difference between Qur’an and intellectual (conceptual) discourse in many aspects, such as the difference between ‘understanding’ and ‘explanation’, and an ‘infinite semantic field’ and ‘limitation of content within a concept’, ‘ethicality of direct expression’ and ‘distanciation of indirect concept.’

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