Heritage and renewal between the Mashriq and the Maghrib: the debate between Ḥasan Ḥanafī and Muḥammad ʿĀbid al-Jābirī on Islam and secularism in Ḥiwār al-mashriq wa-al-maghrib

Journal article

The 'heritage thinkers' ( al-turāthiyyūn) are a group of new religious thinkers who have undertaken a critical analysis of the Arab-Islamic heritage ( al-turāth) by way of explaining a perceived Arab-Muslim decline and achieving renewal ( al-tajdīd). This article is the first in-depth analysis of a major text in the history of heritage thought: the 'Dialogue of the Mashriq and Maghrib' ( Ḥiwār al-mashriq wa-al-maghrib) between the Egyptian Ḥasan Ḥanafī (1935–2021) and the Moroccan Muḥammad ʿĀbid al-Jābirī (1935–2010). After introducing the two thinkers and the text, we undertake a close reading of their debate on the relationship between Islam and secularism. We show that, in line with an argument developed by earlier generations of Muslim modernists, Ḥanafī and Jābirī argue that the most salient features of modernity are to be found in the Arab-Islamic heritage and that renewal can take place through a cognitive act of recognizing assent to that fact. They differ, however, on which dimensions of the heritage they deem the most fertile ground for tajdīd. Through a 'naturalistic' reading of the categories ( aḥkām) of the divine law, Ḥanafī identifies theoretical jurisprudence ( uṣūl al-fiqh) as the means for realizing an authentic 'Islamic secularism' that avoids Western secularism's illegitimate bifurcation of religion and the world. By contrast, Jābirī uses the rationalist Maghribī historiographical tradition to argue that Islam has left the organization of the state to the independent judgement of Muslims. He proposes that by turning to the rationalist Maghribī tradition, which he regards as the historical basis of Western rationalism, Arab Muslims will be able to achieve an authentically Islamic modernity that embraces the liberal values of democracy, pluralism, and rationality and is consistent with contemporary needs. While Ḥanafī, then, seeks to uphold Arab-Islamic unity throughout the dialogue, Jābirī emerges as a partisan advocate for the perspective of the Maghrib.

Authors: Morrissey, F; Nettler, RL

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Maghreb Publications
• Journal: Maghreb Review
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 51-86
• Publication date: 2026-03-13
• DOI: 10.1353/tmr.00024
• ISSN: 2754-6772
• Language: English