Download or read book Islam and Literalism written by Robert Gleave and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this reading of Islamic legal hermeneutics, Robert Gleave explores various competing notions of literal meaning, linked to both theological doctrine and historical developments, together with insights from modern semantic and pragmatic philosophers. Literal meaning is what a text means in itself, regardless of what its author intends to convey or the reader understands to be its message. As Islamic law is based on the central texts of Islam, the idea of a literal meaning that rules over human attempts to understand God's message has resulted in a series of debates amongst modern Muslim legal theorists.