Hermeneutics and semantic analysis: a comparative analysis in modern Islamic discourse / Salina Ahmad

Modern Islamic discourse is a field which studies Islam and its interaction with modernity from 18th century up to the mid of 20th CE. In doing so, textual analysis of religious texts is essential and includes employment of suitable methodologies of interpretation. Hermeneutics and semantic analysis are one of those important methodologies and are selected because of their role in determining vast writings in the subject. This paper attempts to do a comparative textual analysis in modern Islamic discourse by comparing and contrasting between the two major methodologies. Existing literature in the subject includes those of Fazlur Rahman (1919-1988), Mohamed Arkoun (1928-2010), Nasr Abu Zayd (1943-2010), Hassan Hanafi (1935-2021), Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1993) and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (1931- ). From the review of the works as well as recent articles related to the subject, we can conclude that hermeneutics is more widely employed by key figures in modern Islamic discourse especially related to sociological ideas and historical approaches. However, semantic analysis is more compatible and better to be employed in Islamic discourse because of Quranic Arabic and conceptual factors in the worldview of Islam.