Reddit reply in r/AcademicQuran: western academia methodology and its islamic — March 3, 2025 · mftbilt | Ali Shukri Amin

I'm willing to polish up what I have of the manuscript and send it to you so you can start reading the arguments the sources.

But, the great thing is that I don't actually need to present a book to present the argument. It's a negative deconstructionist argument. The point of the book is to give the reader the context to understand the argument instead of just putting the entire onus of research on their lap.

The onus of proof is on you to justify these assumptions once I point them out.

I have identified 10 layers of the assumption stack underpinning HCM. There is some overlap.

1. Atomism - We know that the HCM presupposes a kind of Epicurean atomism. It sees history and the texts produced as being mechanical, the product of naturalistic laws without reference to a noumenon. This is predicated on the antiquated view that the material world is fundamentally constructed of small indivisible particles known as atoms.

Please prove this outlook.

(cf. Epicureanism at the Origins of Modernity by C. Wilson)

2. Naturalism as epistemology - the HCM presupposes truth can only be reliably known through naturalistic means. The assumption here is that all phenomena being studied can be explained through natural, human processes rather than supernatural or divine intervention.

Religious texts are de facto assumed to be products of human authorship, redaction, and socio-political influences, rather than as directly inspired or dictated by a deity.

Since there is a mechanical naturalist assumption of text production, these texts are assumed to evolve over time and thus be open to source criticism.

The same way naturalistic science reduces complex organisms to their evolutionary components, HCM breaks down religious texts into sources, oral traditions, and editorial changes.

Please prove the truth of this assumption.

(Cf. The Epistemological Skyhook: Determinism, Naturalism, and Self-Defeat" by Jim Slagle)

3. Principle of Analogy (Past Events Must Be Consistent with Present Experience)

HCM assumes that historical events must conform to currently observed natural laws and human behavior.

Please prove the truth of this assumption.