Muhammad Shahrour

Muhammad Shahrour (born in 1938 in Damascus) is an Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Damascus who writes extensively about Islam. Shahrour was trained as an engineer in Syria, the former Soviet Union and Ireland.

Shahrour says that traditional scholarship on the Koran is unscientific. His interpretation of the Koran supports liberal political positions such as pluralism. He also says that the Koran must be read and understood in relation to ever changing social realities. Shahrour and a dozen or so like-minded intellectuals from across the Arab and Islamic worlds provoked bedlam when they presented their call for a reinterpretation of holy texts after a Cairo seminar entitled "Islam and Reform" in 2004.

Shahrour's first book has circulated throughout the Middle East and North Africa. His second and third books have been banned in many countries, but thousands of copies have been published, sold, and circulated under the table. At least thirteen books have been published attacking Shahrour's first book.

Muhammad Shahrour’s official website