Tawḥīd as Social Justice: The Anthropocentric Hermeneutics of the Syrian Theologian Jawdat Saʿīd

Since the 1960s, the Syrian theologian Jawdat Saʿīd’s (1931–2022) anthropocentric and social perspective on Qur’anic hermeneutics has played a major role in the ongoing epistemological debates that are emblematic of progressive trends in Islamic thought. By approaching history as the main source of the holy book of Islam, Saʿīd developed a particular understanding of jihād, leading him to the theorisation of radical nonviolence. This paper aims to analyse how this epistemic approach is employed in relation to another pivotal doctrinal notion, namely tawḥīd, which Saʿīd translates in social terms as the accomplishment of global justice and equality. His shift from a theological to a social interpretation of tawḥīd reveals a process of de-dogmatisation of the doctrine. This same shift also occurs in his interpretation of sacred history, which is intended as a paradigm to help mankind to cope with societal challenges through the continuous renewal of the meaning(s) of the Qur’an. A comparative exploration of the thought of a selection of other modern-day intellectuals in the second half of the article then helps to situate Saʿīd’s effort in the wider context of contemporary Islamic exegetical trends.