Editing Nasr Abu Zayd (section)

{{short description|Egyptian Quranic thinker, author, and academic (1943-2010)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Nasr Abu Zayd
| native_name   = نصر حامد أبو زيد
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by the blind and visually impaired's speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| image         = Nasr_Abu_Zayd.jpg 
| caption       =
| birth_name    = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1943|07|10}}
| birth_place   = [[Tanta]], [[Kingdom of Egypt|Egypt]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2010|07|05|1943|07|10}}
| death_place   = [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]]
| nationality   =
| other_names   =
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}}
'''Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd''' ({{langx|ar|نصر حامد أبو زيد}}, {{IPA|arz|ˈnɑsˤɾe ˈħæːmed ˈæbuˈzeːd|IPA}}; also '''Abu Zaid''' or '''Abu Zeid'''; July 10, 1943 – July 5, 2010) was an Egyptian [[Quran]]ic thinker, author, academic and one of the leading [[Liberalism and progressivism within Islam|liberal theologians in Islam]]. He is famous for his project of a [[Humanism|humanistic]] [[Quranic hermeneutics]], which "challenged mainstream views"<ref name="eb" /> on the Quran, sparking "controversy and debate."<ref name=eb>{{cite web|title=Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd|url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Nasr-Hamid-Abu-Zayd|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=10 December 2015}}</ref> While not denying that the Quran was of divine origin, Zayd argued that it was a "cultural product"<ref name="cook-2000-46" /> that had to be read in the context of the language and culture of [[Early history of Islam|seventh century Arabs]],<ref name=cook-2000-46/> and could be interpreted in more than one way.<ref name=FRINHAZ2004:174/> He also criticized the use of religion to exert political power.<ref name=obitnyt-6-7-10/> In 1995 an Egyptian [[Sharia]] court declared him an [[Apostasy in Islam|apostate]], this led to threats of death and his [[Religious persecution|fleeing]] Egypt several weeks later.<ref name=obitnyt-6-7-10>{{cite news|title=Nasr Abu Zayd, Who Stirred Debate on Koran, Dies at 66| work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/world/middleeast/06zayd.html?_r=0|access-date=10 December 2015|agency=REUTERS|date=6 July 2010}}</ref> He later quietly returned to Egypt where he died.<ref name=obitnyt-6-7-10/>

Abu Zayd has been referred to as among "the big names" of the post-1967 Arab intellectual tradition.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1032725872|title=Islam, state, and modernity : Mohammed Abed al-Jabri and the future of the Arab world|date=2018|others=Francesca Maria Corrao, Zaid Eyadat, Mohammed Hashas, Abdou Filali-Ansary|isbn=978-1-137-59760-1|location=New York, NY|pages=5|oclc=1032725872}}</ref>