Shadaab Rahemtulla - Quran of the Oppressed (Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs)

This book would not have been possible without the loving support of my family. Throughout my education, my parentsMehfuza and Haiderali Rahemtullahave been my rock, an unwavering source of comfort and encouragement. It is because of them that I was able to enter graduate school, let alone complete it. I cannot separate this book, which is based on my doctoral dissertation, from the beautiful and radiant face of Sara Ababneh, my life partner and comrade in struggle. This is not only because, throughout the research and writing, I was in a perpetual conversation with her about my work, but also because we met during my very first week in Oxford as a graduate student. Her presence, insight, and love therefore are an integral aspect of my learning. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to Saras familyMahmoud, Dorothee, Nora, and Hannafor their friendship and hospitality in Jordan. From the moment I arrived in Amman, they made me feel like a part of their family. Our children Leila and Ali arrived shortly after we moved to Jordan. I cannot express in words the joy that they bring to my life, and I pray that they will grow up to become conscientious human beings committed to the values that lie at the core of this book, namely: justice, compassion, and solidarity.

I am truly blessed to have had wonderful teachers. I wish to express my gratitude to Derryl MacLean, Paul Sedra, Thomas Kuehn, and the late William Cleveland, all at Simon Fraser University, and James Piscatori, now at the University of Durham, for their teaching, support, and unceasing encouragement. I am forever indebted to Christopher Rowland and James McDougall, both at the University of Oxford. I could not have asked for more engaging and selfless supervisors. James pushed me in my writing to be as detailed, as exhaustive, as rigorous as possible. If this book is meticulous, it is because of him. Chris was not only an outstanding teacher and mentor, but he is the scholarindeed, he is the human beingthat I want to be. Without words and through his actions alone, Chris taught me what a genuine commitment to liberation means, and that is translating ones social and political ideals into ones personal life.

The revisions for this book were completed while teaching at the University of Jordans School of International Studies in Amman, and I would like to thank all the faculty and administrative staff for their warm collegiality and friendship, especially university president Azmi Mahafzah and deans Abdullah Nagrash, Faisal Al-Rfouh, and Zaid Eyadat. A special shout out goes to my brilliant and inspiring students, including (but certainly not limited to) Ayesha al-Omary, Wesam Wekhyan, Rita Adel, and Laila Meloelain.

Having now written a monograph, I have come to appreciate the truly exacting work that goes into the production process. I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Oxford University Press and beyond: Tom Perridge, Karen Raith, Kavya Ramu, Francesca White, Joy Mellor, Martin Noble, Hannah Chippendale, and Diarmaid MacCulloch, the chair of the Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs Committee. I am grateful to Diarmaid for inviting me to be a part of the series. I am indebted to the anonymous external reviewer at OUP, whose perceptive and deeply learned comments significantly improved the manuscript. This book would not have been possible without the funding that I received for my doctorate. I thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Clarendon Fund at the University of Oxford for their scholarship support.

Finally, I would like to thank the intellectuals studied in this bookFarid Esack, the late Asghar Ali Engineer (may he rest in peace), Amina Wadud, and Asma Barlasfor doing what they do, for being who they are. While I have striven to be critical of their work, I have learned immensely from their insights. They have opened up new horizons for me, giving me a language, a vocabulary, a space with which to bring together the two callings that lie closest to my soul: faith and social justice. For this, I thank them from the bottom of my heart.