Contemporary religious thought in South Africa and the emergence of Qur'anic hermeneutical notions

The struggle by non‐clerics for the right to understand the Qur'an within a context of oppression and a liberation struggle and theological developments connected to it are discussed in this article. The theological developments from traditionalism to modernism to resurgent Islam and the role of the Qur'an in this trajectory have their roots in the South African crucible as much as in normative Islam. From this engagement between Islam and oppression/liberation some key hermeneutical notions have emerged. The Qur'an thus becomes a tool and a source of inspiration for liberative praxis in South Africa.