The methodology problem in Fazlurrahman

Fazlurrahman is one of the thinkers who brought a new understanding to Islamic thought. Evaluating tradition in a modern way Fazlurrahman was not indifferent to the conditions of the era in which he lived, has been in search of a unique method. He is well-informed about both eastern and western cultures, knows the problems which both cultures face very well, and has been a thinker who develops solutions to the problems in his own way. Fazlurrahman stated that the problem resolution skills of Ancient Theology are appropriate for their period but they are missing for today's problems because of the diversification of the social, economic and technological developments. According to him, because the methods used in the past are not sufficient to solve today's problems, there is a necessity to look for a new method to produce rational solutions that are appropriate to the nature of revelation. In this thesis, the ideas of Fazlurrahman on the method dealt with his thoughts in the fields of Quranic interpretation, hadith and İslâmic Law, in this way it is tried to shed light on his critiques and suggestions about the science of theology. In Fazlurrahman's view, semantic reading, historicity, evaluation of the text within its context, paying attention to purpose of the word and identifying moral principles have an extremely important place. For this reason, he recommends to criticize classical theology methods historically. This will also reveal to what extent existing theological sects match to the worldview of the Qur'an. Thus Fazlurrahman, tried to justify that moral solutions to the problems in the Islamic world is possible with an effort based reasoning and Qur'an in the contemporary century.