Crisis in the Muslim Mind

Description

The author, however, is a distinguished thinker whose concern is with the goals of the Ummah and the objectives of its existence. At times, readers will notice that his words have the hardness of a majahid or the directness of a pioneer. His writing is frank. for he goes straight to the point that he wishes to make. Rather than use a circuitous route, he shakes the reader with his exposition and forcefully draws his attention to the objective. The original publication of this book in Arabic was delayed for several years in anticipation of the moment when the Ummah's political and intellectual leadership would be ready to look realistically and candidly at such a deep and comprehensive discussion of the Ummah's situation. Recent events, however, have made the translation of this book and the adaptation of the topics it deals with a matter of great importance. We can only hope that the book will find a place for itself among the issues that engage the attention of the intellectual and social leadership, as well as the youth, of the Ummah. FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix PREFACE TO THE ARABIC EDITION . . . . . . . . Xiii PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION xvii CHAPfERONE Contemporary Islamic Asdlah: The Only Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Historical Roots of the Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Crux of the Crisis and the Future of the Ummah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 CHAPTER1WO The Traditional Methodology . of Islamic Thought: Assessment and Critique . . . 35 Shari'ah and Non-Shari'ah Sciences . ........ 38 Neglect of the Social Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 The Conflict Between Reason and Revelation ... 46 Our Intellectual Heritage: Past1 Present, and Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 CHAPTER THREE Principles in the Methodology of Islamic Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 The Basic Concepts: The Purposeful Nature of Creation . . . . . . . . . 79 Objectivity of Truth .................... 81 Freedom ............................ 83 Tawakkul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Causality" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Islamic Methodology: Means and Application . . . 98 CHAPI'ER FOUR Requirements for Establishing the Islamic Civilizational Sciences . . . . . . . . . . 105 Classifying Islamic Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Dimensions of Existence ........ . ..... . .. 113 The Impartiality of Truth .............. . .. 119 CHAPTER FIVE The Premises of the Social Sciences . . . . . . . . . 123 Islamization and the Science of Education . . . . 125 Islamizatlon and Political Science .......... 132 Islam, Science, and Technology .. .......... 141 CHAPTER SIX Islam and the Future ..... .. ............. 145 Islamizatlon and Academic Institutions ...... 149 The Future Course of Humanity" .......... .. 153 Islamization is the Issue of the Ummah ... .. . 158