A Critical Introduction to Religious Intellectual's Hermeneutics

Mojtahed Shabestari as an initiator of religious intellectual’s hermeneutics has undertaken a main part in spreading such a discourse in Iran. As a result of his following postmodernist epistemology, a sort of relativism and deconstructionism appeared in his religious interpretations. The present article is to examine the claim that the religious intellectual’s hermeneutics is a philosophical discourse the method of which is not consistent with the Bible and scripture. The continuous use of new theories including hermeneutics has taken this sort of thought to dissolution and the logical and direct result of it is clear departure from holy Quran and Sunna and falling into a sort of secular discourse and hermeneutical relativism. The article will show that one can be both pluralist and protected from relativism, a position which Shabestari could not coherently adopt. In fact in his view relativism is not of a negative theme but a valuable accomplishment. This article is an attempt to criticize intellectual principles of Shabestari largely from his hermeneutical origin particularly in view of Gadamerian influence on his thought. By highlighting historical and temporal aspect of religion this religious neotheologian has confined it to the age of revelation and overlooked timeless capacities of faith. In addition he reduces revelation to the word of Prophet. The truth is that, however, one cannot undertake reinterpretation of scripture through Jacques Derrida without jeopardizing the entire reliability of its meaning