Hisham al-Ghazzi
Hisham al-Ghazzi is a Syrian lawyer, former deputy minister, and reformist Islamic thinker.
Family
The Al-Ghazzi family has lived in Damascus since the fourteenth century and is noted for a long line of scholars and judges.
Biography
Born in 1923, Al-Ghazzi attended and graduated from the Arab Institute of Law . Following a spell in legal practice, he worked at the Syrian Ministry of Finance, occupying such positions as Director of Public Revenues, Deputy Minister, and Head of the Special Petroleum Board, establishing a reputation for scrutiny, discipline, and incorruptibility.
Thought and Ideology
In a series of books on modern and traditional Islam, Al-Ghazzi challenged conventional interpretations of key Qur'anic verses and the legitimacy and coherence of much of the Hadith. He revitalized and redefined concepts like al-ghā’iyyah, īlāf, tahāfut al-turāth, and al-insān al-dhamīr. These he used in arguments against doctrinal and institutional oppression, blind imitation, and nihilism and in defence of the freedom of human thought and action. His legal training and economic know-how as well as his early socialist sympathies and knowledge of Western authors give a distinctive flavour to his writings, increasingly dealing with a broader human rather than exclusively Islamic condition.
Main publications
He is the author of several books
- Buna al-Islām, Dar Usama, Damascus, 1992
- Al-Mithāq al-Islāmi bi-l‘awdah ila-l-Qur’ān, Al-Dar al-Wataniyyah al-Jadidah, Damascus, 2004
- Al-Insān man Yakūn?, Dar Tlas, Damascus, 2008