Against the backdrop of recent work on how ‘Islam’ should be understood as a scholarly category, this article focuses in on one particularly striking insider definition of Islam: ‘Islam is whatever takes a man to God, and infidelity (kufr) is whatever prevents a man from the Way of God’. Articulated by the sixth/twelfth century Sufi ʿAyn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī, who was executed on charges of heresy in 526/1131, this definition works as a key component in its author’s critical and constructive projects. Whilst forming part of a vociferous critique of interpretations of Islam as presented by the scholars of jurisprudence and theology, the definition also plays a central role in ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s reconceptualization of Islam as the dynamic and ever-changing Way to God, rather than a set of fixed doctrines and practices. In this article, I interpret this definition in light of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s complex, multifaceted and highly original theory of religious difference, which I suggest provides a theoretical framework in which it becomes evident that ʿAyn al-Quḍāt meant his definition to be taken literally.

中文翻译：

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由内而外的伊斯兰教：ʿAyn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī 对伊斯兰教作为媒介的重新认识

在最近关于“伊斯兰教”应如何被理解为学术范畴的工作的背景下，本文重点关注伊斯兰教的一个特别引人注目的内部定义：“伊斯兰教是将人带到上帝面前的任何东西，而不忠（kufr）则是阻止来自上帝之道的人”。由 6/12 世纪的 Sufi ʿAyn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī 阐述，他于 526/1131 年因异端罪名被处决，这个定义是其作者批判性和建设性项目的关键组成部分。虽然形成了法学和神学学者对伊斯兰教解释的激烈批评的一部分，但该定义在 ʿAyn al-Quḍāt 将伊斯兰教重新概念化为通往上帝的动态和不断变化的道路中也发挥着核心作用，而不是一个一套固定的学说和实践。在本文中，