Hassan Hanafi


Hassan Hanafi is a professor and chairs the philosophy department at Cairo University. He is a leading authority on modern Islam.
Hanafi was born into an artistic family in Cairo. As a youth he studied the violin, which he continues to play to this day.
As a young man motivated by a revolutionary political activism, Hanafi associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Later Hanafi studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Since 1967, he has been a professor of philosophy in Cairo, as well as a visiting professor at universities in France, the United States of America, Belgium, Kuwait and Germany.

Philosophy

Hanafi is a disciple of the phenomenologist Osman Amin, and published a trilogy in which he used Husserl's methods to reconstruct classic Islamic philosophy and to critique the sources and development of European consciousness.
Hanafi's interpretation of Islam has also been described as socialist and he has elaborated on the concept of an "Islamic Left", interpreting Islam in a socialist manner. He also promotes an interpretation of Islam supporting the development of a global ethics.
In his more recent works Hanafi has argued that Islam needs to be understood in way that facilitates human freedom and progress.
Hanafi has acted as an adviser to the InterAction Council, a coalition of 26 former prime ministers and presidents. He is also a member of the Association for Intercultural Philosophy, which encourages a dialogue among philosophers from all over the world. He is one of the original signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Controversy over his apostasy

Hassan Hanafi's book "An Invitation for Dialogue" has been accused by conservative Islamic scholars as heresy and apostasy.
His liberal opinions about Islam have infuriated conservative Islamic scholars and Azhar. For example, he stated that the name of the God should be changed to "Transcendence." Conservative scholars from Azhar refuted that Hanafi is distorting Islam.
There was a fatwa, an Islamic opinion issued by Islamic scholars that condemned Hanafi as an apostate. This has raised controversy in Egypt, as many liberals disagreed with the charge that Hanafi was an apostate.

Disciples

In an Egyptian magazine he declared that his main disciples in Egypt are: