Hassan Hanafi

Hassan Hanafi (Arabic: حسن حنفي‎; 23 February 1935 – 21 October 2021) was a professor and chaired the philosophy department at Cairo University.[1][2] He was a leading authority on modern Islam.[2][3]

As a young man motivated by a revolutionary political activism, Hanafi associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.[4][1] Later Hanafi studied at the Sorbonne in Paris.[1] From 1967, he was a professor of philosophy in Cairo, as well as a visiting professor at universities in France, the United States, Belgium, Kuwait and Germany.

Early life

Hanafi was born into an artistic family in Cairo, Egypt.[4] As a youth he studied the violin, which he continued to play later in life.[4]

Philosophy

Hanafi was a disciple of the phenomenologist Osman Amin,[5] and published a trilogy[6] in which he used Husserl's methods to reconstruct classic Islamic philosophy and to critique the sources and development of European consciousness.[5]

Hanafi's interpretation of Islam has been described as socialist and he elaborated on the concept of an "Islamic Left", interpreting Islam in a socialist manner. He also promoted an interpretation of Islam supporting the development of a global ethics.[7]

In his later works Hanafi argued that Islam needed to be understood in way that facilitates human freedom and progress.[2][8]

Hanafi acted as an adviser to the InterAction Council, a coalition of 26 former prime ministers and presidents.[9] He was also a member of the Association for Intercultural Philosophy, which encourages a dialogue among philosophers from all over the world. He was one of the original signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.[10]

Controversy over his apostasy

Hanafi's book "An Invitation for Dialogue" was accused by conservative Islamic scholars as heresy and apostasy.[11]

His liberal opinions about Islam infuriated conservative Islamic scholars and Azhar. For example, he stated that the name of the God should be changed to "Transcendence". Conservative scholars from Azhar refuted that Hanafi was distorting Islam.[12]

There was a fatwa, an Islamic opinion issued by Islamic scholars that condemned Hanafi as an apostate. This raised controversy in Egypt, as many liberals disagreed with the charge that Hanafi was an apostate.[13]

Disciples

In an Egyptian magazine he declared that his main disciples in Egypt are:

Death

Hannafi died on 21 October 2021, aged 86.[14]

Notes
  1. Navarro, Alain (2 October 2006) "Egypt professor compares Koran to supermarket" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Middle East Online
  2. Khuri, Richard K. (1994) "A Critique of Hassan Hanafi Concerning his Reflections on the Scarcity of Freedom in the Arab-Muslim World" page 88 In Mardin, Şerif (ed.) (1994) Cultural transitions in the Middle East E.J. Brill, Leiden, pp. 86-115, ISBN 90-04-09873-9
  3. Fornet-Betancourt, Raúl (1999) "Hassan Hanafi (Cairo, Egypt)" Quo vadis, Philosophie?: Antworten der Philosophen: Dokumentation einer Weltumfrage Wissenschaftsverlag Mainz, Aachen, Germany, page 138, ISBN 3-86073-694-9, in German
  4. Murphy, Caryle (2002) "Chapter 11: New Thinking in Islam" Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience Scribner, New York, page 220, ISBN 0-7432-3743-9
  5. Tymieniecka, Anna-Teresa (2002) "Phenomenology and Contemporary Islamic Thought Phenomenology World-wide: Foundations, expanding dynamisms, life-engagements: a guide for research and study Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, page 320, ISBN 1-4020-0066-9
  6. Hanafi, Hasan (1965) Les méthodes d'exégèse: essai sur la science des fondements de la compréhension "ʻIlm Uṣul al-fiqh" République arabe unie, Conseil supérieur des arts, des lettres et des sciences sociales, Cairo, Egypt, OCLC 2894354; Hanafi, Hasan (1980) L'exégèse de la phénoménologie: l'état actuelle de la méthode phénoménologique et son application au phénomène religieux Dar al-Fikr al-Arabi, Cairo, Egypt, OCLC 11867001; Hanafi, Hasan (1988) La phénoménologie de l'exégèse: essai d'une herméneutique existentielle à partir du Nouveau Testament Anglo-Egyptian Bookshop, Cairo, Egypt, ISBN 977-05-0917-5
  7. Olsson, Susanne. 2006. Islam and the West in the Ideology of Hasan Hanafi. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.
  8. Murphy, Caryle (2002) "Chapter 11: New Thinking in Islam" Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience Scribner, New York, page 219, ISBN 0-7432-3743-9
  9. "Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities" Archived 11 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine InterAction Council, 1 September 1997, page 10
  10. "Signatories" official website of "A Common Word"
  11. http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/3749 (Arab West Report Art. 27, Week 20/2000, 10 – 16 May)
  12. http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/4809 (Arab West Report Art. 11, Week 25/2001, 20 – 26 June)
  13. http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/14399 (Arab West Report Art. 2, Week 51/1997, 19 – 25 December )
  14. El Sayed, Mohamed (21 October 2021). "حسن حنفي الأعمال الكاملة له والكتب للفيلسوف المصري". shbabbek.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 21 October 2021.
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