Reading Abdennour Bidar: New Pathways for European Islamic Thought

This article introduces the work of the young French Muslim philosopher Abdennour Bidar (b. 1971). It argues that Bidar’s work may be the first attempt that innovatively outlines a theoretical framework for European Islamic thought that is neither Eurocentric nor Islamocentric in the classical senses of the terms. Through a theosophic approach, Bidar tries to put the two worldviews together in a genuine effort of a theologian-philosopher. I divide his project into three intellectual stages which correspond to his three basic concepts: Self-Islam, Islamic Existentialism, and Overcoming Religion.