An expert on Medieval Arabic literature, who comes from the German philological tradition, makes an important contribution to the debate about the role of Islam in our contemporary world. He criticizes the present "Islamization of Islam", that is, reducing Islam to exclusively religious meanings. In opposition to the Modern West, characterized by its requirement for precision, Islam belongs to societies that show a higher degree of "tolerance for ambiguity". From this perspective, contemporary Islamic fundamentalism could be paradoxically perceived as a manifestation of Modernity. The author reviews the way in which ambiguity in the Koranic text, in the Tradition and in gender relations is handled and "domesticated" within Islamic classical culture.