Nasr Abu Zayd: Was he a Muslim?

This question was prompted by Nasr Abu Zayd's obituary which appeared in the New York Times, Tues, July 6, 2010. MENA, the offical Egyptian news agency, said he died in a Cairo hospital where he was being treated for an unidentified illness. He was 66.

The obituary said that Dr. Zayd believed that Islam "should be understood in terms of its historical, geographic and cultural background." He added "that 'pure Islam' did not exist." The Koran he said, "was a collection of discourses."

Western academics in reviewing his book, "Voice of an Exile: Reflctions on Islam" (2004) praised it for its scholarship. Reuters quoted Dr. Zayd, as saying in 2008 that "religion has been used, politicized, not only by groups, but also (by) official institutions in every Arab country." "The distinction between 'the domain of religion and secular space,' he said, 'had been eroded.'"

"(Dr. Zayd) argued that the Koran was both a literary and religious text, a view that clashes with the Islamic idea that the holy book is the final revelation of God.'"

As per the NY Times account, an Egyptian Shariah court in 1995, declared Dr. Abu Zayd an apostate from Islam. The court annulled his marriage, effectively forcing him and his wife into exile. Death threats, notably from the Islamic Jihad group led by Ayman al-Zawahri, who has since become deputy leader of Al Qaeda, caused Dr. Zayd and his wife to leave for the Netherlands .

In recent years, Dr. Abu Zayd quietly returned to Egypt, first for lectures and later for health reasons.

So, to repeat my question, was Dr. Abu Zayd a Muslim?

It is interesting that no such question arises regarding Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah, the top Shiite cleric in Lebanon, whose obituary appeared in the NY Times on Monday, July 5, 2010. His writings and preachings inspired the Dawa Party of Iraq and a generation of militants, including the founders of Hezbollah. He was "one of the most learned and influential Shiite 'spriitual references.'" As per the NY Times, "he famously justified suicide bombings and other tactics of asymmetrical warfare by arguing that if Israel and its allies used advanced weaponry, Islam permitted the use of any weapons in retaliation."

No question here, Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was indeed a Moslem. And, if Fadlallah was a Muslim, its hard to see how Dr. Abu Zayd could have been one too.