Theocracy in Shia Islam and Judaism: Studies in Legal Theology ; Theokratie im schiitischen Islam und im Judentum: Rechts-Theologische Studien
The dissertation, "Theocracy in Judaism and Shia Islam: Studies in Legal Theology" concerns the conceptual underpinnings of modern theocratic thought in both traditions. It also examines attempts by modern thinkers in both traditions to theologically problematize and unwind those monopolistic theocratic-epistemic syntheses that meld mysticism, law, philosophy and politics by engaging with pre-modern sources with an explicit openness to responding to the contemporary imperative of autonomy. It explores the ideas of thinkers in the Jewish tradition such as Judah Halevi, Rav Kook, Leo Strauss, Franz Rosenzweig and Menachem Lorberbaum, along with figures inspired by the Shia tradition that include Ayatollah Khomeini, Ahmad Narāqī, Mohammed Shabestari, Reza Hajatpour and Fazlur Rahman. The dissertation utilizes the core Shia theological concept of "guardianship" (wilāya) as a philosophical window for comparatively examining the theocratic idea in both Judaism and Shia Islam given the philologically demonstrated fashion with which the canonical medieval Jewish thinker Judah Halevi intimately and creatively appropriates the concept via the figure of the walī (the "guardian") for his legal theology in his magnum opus, the Kuzari. It pays particular attention to the status of "the Esoteric" in the establishment of theocratic epistemic monopoly under the banner of guardianship. ; In der Dissertation "Theokratie im Schiitischen Islam und Judentum: Rechts-Theologische Studien" werden anhand vergleichender Betrachtungen konzeptuelle und historische Grundlagen des theokratischen Denkens in beiden Traditionslinien untersucht. Hierbei stehen auch gegenwärtige Ansätze der theologischen Auseinandersetzung und des Versuchs der Auflösung monopolistischer Synthesen von Mystik, Philosophie und Recht zur Diskussion. Dies geschieht anhand der Ideen jüdischer Denker wie Judah Halevi, Rav Kook, Leo Strauss, Franz Rosenzweig und Menachem Lorberbaum, sowie muslimischer Denker schiitischer Prägung wie Ruhollah Khomeini, Ahmad Narāqī, ...