Very interesting indeed …

… The Prosblogion — Philosophers and their religious practices part 17: Islamic philosophy and the individuality of religious experience. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)

Following Abdulkarim Soroush and some other religious intellectuals, I believe, we can posit a distinction between two kinds of secularism: “philosophical” secularism and “political” secularism. While the former pledges a world without spirituality and negates religious beliefs in general, the latter involves a historically specific political position in the form of separation between religious institutions and the State. Moreover, secular version of Islam can vote for historicity of the Sharīʿa laws and make room for the science of hermeneutics to interpret Qur’anic verses in light of and compatiblewith rational moral principles. This secular interpretation of Islam which can make Islam compatible to the modern era and to the Human Rights convention is very contrary to the Islamic clergymen who are now ruling Iran as a Muslim country, whom believe that we can find everything in and extract everything from Islam. Therefore, they think, we don’t need empirical science, philosophy, sociology, political science, etc.