Crisis
in the
Muslim Mind
ʻAbdulHamīd A. AbūSulaymān
translation by
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
The International Institute of Islamic Thought
Herndon, Virginia USA
Islamic Methodology (1)
© Copyright 1414/1993 by
The International
Institute of Islamic Thought
Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
AbūSulaymān, ʻAbdulHamīd,
1936-/1355-
Crisis in the Muslim Mind / by ʻAbdulHamīd A. AbūSulaymān
English translation by
Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo
p. 160 cm. 22 15 (Islamic Methodology: 1)
ISBN 1-56564-147-X – ISBN 1-56564-138-8 9pbk)
1. Islam – Psychology.
2. Civilization, Islamic –
Miscellanea
3. Muslims – Intellectual Life
I.
DeLorenzo, Yusuf Talal.
II.
AbūSulaymān, ʻAbdulHamīd. Azmat al-‘Aql al-Muslim.
III.
Series
BP175.A27 1993
297.2
– dc20
93-24088
CIP
IIIT
In-house Desktop Publishing
By
Yusuf DeLorenzo
Printed
in the United States of America by
International
Graphics Printing Services
4411
41st Street
Brentwood,
Maryland 22072., U.S.A.
Tel:
(301) 779-7774
Printed
in Malaysia
By: Institut Kajian Dasar
(The Institute for Policy
Research)
Malaysia
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD --- ix
PREFACE TO THE ARABIC
EDITION --- xiii
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH
EDITION --- xvii
CHAPTER ONE
Contemporary Islamic Asalāh:
The Only Solution --- 1
The Historical Roots of
the Crisis --- 22
The Crux of the Crisis and
the Future of the Ummah --- 28
CHAPTER TWO
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:
Past, 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
CHAPTER 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
Islamization and Political
Science --- 132
Islam, Science, and
Technology ---141
CHAPTER SIX
Islam and the Future --- 145
Islamization and Academic
Institutions --- 149
The Future Course of
Humanity --- 153
Islamization is the Issue
of the Ummah --- 158
FOREWORD
There is general agreement that the Ummah is passing
through an extremely difficult stage, one of disintegration and schism, loss of
identity, failure of institutions, and inability to extract itself from its
present state of bewilderment.
There is also general agreement that change is needed.
In particular, the Ummah became acutely aware of its problems following its
early encounters with Western civilization in Egypt and Turkey. In the two
centuries that have passed since then, the Ummah has suffered through periods
of dictatorship and submission to foreign experiments with its political and
administrative systems, its culture and business, ethical and social makeup,
and science and art. None of this, however, has yielded the kinds of results
that the Ummah wanted or hoped for. Instead, the Ummah found itself caught up
in a vicious circle.
What this means is that the leadership of the Ummah
has been unable to determine the proper approach for bringing about the change
needed to lead it toward its true objectives. After pondering the matter at
length, looking at it from different perspectives, and considering objectively
the attempts of the Ummah in the past to extract itself, we are convinced that
the process of change must begin in the thought of the Ummah. This is because
thought naturally precedes deeds, whether they prove to be correct or faulty.
(pg.ix)
Only sound
thinking will result in sound reconstruction, and only sound thinking will
deliver the Ummah from the crisis which threatens to strangle the life from it.
Since Islam represents the sound core of the Ummah’s
thought and its true spirit, which tempers its sensibilities, moves its
consciousness, and kindles within it the power to create, to construct, and to
contribute, only Islamic thought suitable for the Ummah.
Therefore, we may state confidently that the desired
process of change is based on the thought of Islam and guided by its teachings,
a process rooted in Islamic doctrines, values, and ethics and deriving its
essence from Islam’s sources.
Islamic thought is a general term, and interpretations
of it differ. Since its definition is crucial, this book seeks to provide a
definition which precisely delineates its method, identifies its principles,
and anchors its basic concepts.
The book begins with a critical discussion of the
traditional methodology of Islamic thought, which is followed by a look at its
fundaments and sources. The discussion then moves on to the subject of this
methodology’s performance in terms of the comprehensiveness of its scope and
means. Finally, a general comparison is made between Islamic and scientific
methodologies.
Thereafter, the author deals with the social sciences
and humanities from the perspective of the Islamization of knowledge. At the
end of the book, the author speaks of two matters: Islam and the future, and
the future of humanity. Finally, he announces his satisfaction with the idea
that Islamization is the most important issue before the Ummah, that it is
indeed the Ummah’s future, its destiny, its objective, the means of its
emergence from its crisis, and the way to its building a new civilization and a
new renaissance.
Undoubtedly, rectifying the methodology of Islamic
thought, returning to the roots of the matter, moving from the particular to
the general, treating the causes of the problem rather than the symptoms, and
advancing general principles and axioms, all in accordance with the teachings
(pg.x)
of
Islam, are the guarantees for the success and correctness of the process of change
in thought that will enable the Ummah to put its feet on the right path. This
is what this book attempts to explain.
Some may feel that the author attaches more importance
to this issue than it deserves. But there can be no doubt that the issue of thought
is fundamental and is of great concern to all Muslim scholars. Furthermore,
according priority to this issue does not mean that other issues are forgotten.
On the contrary, renewal will only come about when all issues are treated from
a sound Islamic basis.
A number of studies have been published recently on
the crisis of thought, the makeup of the Arab mind, the reconstruction of the
Muslim mind, and issues of Islamic thought and methodology. This present study,
however, takes a very different approach.
In his analysis of the crisis of the Muslim Ummah and
its intellectual, methodological, and historical dimensions, the author takes a
uniquely penetrating look at the problem. The ability to detect linkage between
different issues and to derive lessons and wisdom from events are among the
qualities that distinguish the author and his work. He is not distracted by
side issues or by academic or technical discussions that pointlessly engage the
reader’s attention. This is one of the reasons that some readers may find the
author’s style difficult at first. On rereading, however, in the light of the
author’s objectives and basic ideas, the same readers will have no trouble in
following what the author intends.
As readers delve further into this book, they will
discover that they are not reading a fairy tale or a cleverly-written piece of
literary forte. Rather readers are bombarded with new ideas and perspectives that
penetrate their innermost being. In short the author is a hardened veteran who
has weathered the concerns of da’wah and the difficulties and burdens of
struggle for the sake of Islam.
The Ummah’s pain and anguish are not merely subjects
for treatment from a literary point of view. Its pains are his, as is its
suffering. If he were a poet, it is possible that he
(pg.xi)
would
have filled a library with his verses on the subject. Were he a professional
writer, the bibliography of his works might have run to several volumes. In
fact, a professional writer might develop each one of the author’s ideas into a
separate book.
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 mujāhid
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.
May Allah Most High grant that this book proves to be
as beneficial as we hope it will be; and He is the Granter of Success!
All praise be to Allah, lord of the Universe!
Dr. Taha Jabir al ‘Alwani President,
IIIT
DhulHijjah 1314AH/June 1993AC
Herndon, Virginia USA
(pg.xii)
PREFACE TO THE ARABIC EDITION
All
praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds!
Peace
and blessings on Muhammad, His
Servant
and Messenger!
The book in your hands is very special. It is not a
compendium or a composition, but a study, a contemplation, and an analysis that
has occupied me throughout my life.
As a child, I opened my heart and soul to the Ummah’s
trials and anguish as expressed by its writers and poets. Where I grew up, in
Makkah, in the classroom and between the covers of my books, the pages of
history opened before my eyes and, in my imagination, I relived the Ummah’s
best and worst moments along with the finest and most courageous of its heroes.
Often bitterness and frustration crept into the depths of my soul; but more
often did the urgency of the crisis fill my heart with determination and the
conviction that things must change.
The voyage of life provided me with experience and
knowledge, and I never stopped asking myself about the reasons for the Ummah’s
decline and fall. As I was never prone to intimidation, I was unwilling to
accept anything less than a satisfactory answer. Moreover, aided by personal
experience and my studies in both the classical disciplines of Islam and in
modern knowledge, I constantly pondered the crisis of the Ummah, searched for
its causes, and
(pg.xiii)
sought
answers and solutions. Nor was I ever satisfied with lamentation, emotional
outbursts of anger, or even sentiments of zealous loyalty. To me, the problems
of the Ummah demand understanding, study, and analysis. Therefore, I put all my
personal and practical abilities, all my learning, and all my accomplishments
to work. Day and night I pondered the Ummah’s history, event by event, in quest
of deeper understanding. I sought only the truth and the remedy.
When I write, I do so because I have made the Ummah’s
problems my own problems. Nothing I write is criticism, or faultfinding, or
objection, or slander. Rather it is straight talk whose truth and candor are
sharp and bitter.
As I speak to you in these terms, I am aware of the
wealth of goodness residing in the Ummah, of the excellence of its essential
being, of the strength it possesses in its depths, of how it is favored by its
profound faith, its readiness to sacrifice, and its sincerity. I am not seeking
to bestow compliments, nor am I looking for excuses, nor attempting to make the
affliction seem less than it is. Rather, I have taken it upon myself to
identify areas of impotence and backwardness for the purpose of rectifying
these and seeking a way out of the crisis.
If I have been remiss in praising the Ummah’s
contributions, outstanding individuals, scholars, leaders, youth, or mujahidin,
then my excuse is that, while the malaise grows more insidious, I am attempting
to uncover the true nature of the affliction in order to prescribe an effective
cure.
I do not insist on adherence to anything I have said
in this book or to any opinion I have offered. Nor do I fear that something I
have written may prove to be wrong. My only concern is that readers should join
me in considering my vision of the reasons that led to the downfall of the
Ummah.
No one could be happier than I if this book leads to
serious discussion. Despite its modest proportions, this book is not an easy
one to read, for its subject matter, which is extremely complicated and
involved, stretches across populations, generations, and centuries. In order to
(pg.xiv)
follow
its arguments, the reader should know the Ummah’s history and have an
understanding of the sunan (natural laws) that Allah applies to nations
and civilizations.
I hope that readers will give as much of their time
and patience as is required for true comprehension of the issues discussed. A
quick turning of the pages may not enable readers to see more than the
externals, so that they understand the words mechanically. This is why the
result of a cursory reading will only be to further cloud the vision I have
intended to create. Since the subject is so vast, there is little opportunity
for the book to go into the details of every matter discussed, or to produce
historical evidence, or even to include other opinions. Rather, its focus is on
the major issues and those at the very crux of the matter.
It is hoped that academic and cultural circles in the
Ummah, as well as the social leadership, will deal with the thought and vision
presented in this book in a manner befitting the issues that it raises.
Hopefully, the book will motivate a great deal of serious and frank discussion
that will in turn inspire more study and contemplation.
There is nothing in this effort that is intended to
malign or detract from the work of any group or party in the Ummah, or from any
of its individual scholars. I am well aware of the faith, sincerity,
generosity, and jihad in the hearts of those who compose the Ummah. This work
is an attempt to arrive at an objective understanding of the Ummah’s history
and the events that prompted it to tread on roads for which there were no maps,
along which vision was limited, and for which there appeared to be no
alternatives.
I hope that the Ummah’s thinkers, leadership,
scholars, and youth will rise to the challenge and accept their responsibility
in dealing openly and truthfully with this undertaking. Moreover, I am
confident that they will use all the means available to them in confronting the
challenges before them. Certainly this will not be accomplished by snubbing our
identity and nature; nor will it come about through an increase in resources,
or in sacrifices, or in calls to honor values and principles, or in
sermonizing, or in
(pg.xv)
becoming
emotional. In fact, nothing will change unless we rectify, before all else, the
ways in which we think! This, in turn, will lead to the rectification of the
ways in which we teach, and then to the rectification of our social system and
institutions. Only in this manner will the Ummah be able to revitalize itself.
“O Lord, show us the truth as the truth and grant
that we should follow it. And show us falsehood as
falsehood and grant that we should avoid it!”
I ask Allah Most High to grant the Ummah guidance,
direction, tawfiq, assistance, and competence. Surely, He hears and
answers those who supplicate Him.
‘AbdulHamid A. AbuSulayman
1413AH / 1992AC
Herndon, Virginia USA
(pg.xvi)
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
This work, Crisis in the Muslim Mind, is an
abridgement and translation of an original Arabic text of high literary style.
The subject matter, which is not always easy to follow, is aimed toward the
initiation of serious discussion among Muslim intellectuals regarding the roots
of the malaise of contemporary Muslim society. Such a work is undoubtedly
difficult for anyone other than the author himself to translate. Unfortunately,
I had neither the time nor the opportunity to undertake it myself. However, as
I have full confidence in the abilities of Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo and those who
edited and reviewed the work, I am confident that the message of the original
has been conveyed.
The translation comes out at a time when the Muslim
Ummah finds itself in the wake of the collapse of the former Soviet Union and
the bipolar world order. Throughout the world, the adversaries of Islam
continue their aggression against Muslims, in places like Bosnia, Kashmir,
Kurdistan, southern Sudan, Somalia, the Philippines, Burma, Palestine,
Afghanistan, Algeria, and in many other places. Such dreadful conditions serve
only to magnify the Ummah’s crisis. While Muslims may react to these situations
in the short term, we must never lose sight of the fact that the malaise lies
in our own weakness and incompetency. Perhaps the most striking difference
between the early Muslim generations and those that have followed is that the
early Muslims were raised to be strong, both physically and psychologically.
The dynamics of the Prophet’s instructions
(pg.xvii)
(to
strut and show their strength) to those performing tawaf before the
conquest of Makkah were not lost on the early Muslims. This book deals briefly
with issues of methodology, the relationship between the Qur’an and the Sunnah,
the time and space dimension in the Sunnah, and the rift between the political
and the religious-intellectual leadership of the Ummah. It is the contention of
this work that while the political leadership used force to keep the masses in
order, the intellectual leadership used emotional and psychological means to
keep them in check. The net result of such pressure was the creation of
inhibitions within the Muslim mind, which caused the mentality of the Ummah and
its character to develop in such a way that it lacked initiative and the ability
to innovate and think for itself.
At the present time, the Ummah clearly needs to
address these problems and to deal with them openly and honestly. As a
precondition, it is essential that the Ummah as a whole overcome its
reservations and superstitions in regard to understanding and reinterpreting
both the Qur’an and the Sunnah. In the final analysis, however, it is the
education and upbringing of new generations of Muslims that must be our first
concern.
The responsibility for instituting the needed change
lies squarely on the shoulders of Muslim intellectuals. These are the ones who
must break the psychological chains that have bound the Ummah for the past
several centuries. They are the ones who must diagnose the malady for what it
really is and then prescribe the right cure. Only then will Muslims be able to
actualize the true Islamic way of life represented by Tawhid, khilāfah, and
brotherhood. Finally, once Muslims have regained their dynamism, courage, and
morality they will not only improve their own lot, but contribute positively to
world civilization as well.
‘AbdulHamid A. AbuSulayman
1414AH/1993AC
Herndon, Virginia USA
(pg.xviii)
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