Rethinking Contemporary Qur’anic Epistemology: Neurotheology, Double Consciousness, and Non-Arabcentric Hadith Traditions
Al-Karim International Journal of Quranic and Islamic Studies March 28, 2026 Muhammad Hisyam Syafii
Indonesian hadith scholars working outside Arab-centric Islamic traditions are developing a neurotheological reinterpretation of the Qur'an by blending classical hadith methodology with indigenous Javanese spiritual epistemology and contemporary cognitive neuroscience. Through interviews, discourse analysis, and ethnographic observation, the study documents how these scholars construct a form of epistemological double consciousness, theorize the collective neurotheological effects of Qur'anic recitation, and reinterpret the classical concept of nafs by integrating hadith anthropology, Javanese spirituality, and modern psychology. The work argues that non-Arabcentric Islamic scholarship is a productive site of neurotheological innovation, where cultural and cognitive diversity enriches rather than deviates from normative Islamic hermeneutics.