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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| THE INTELLECTUAL SITUATION IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM |
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| Halima |
| 12/26/03 at 01:48:22 |
| THE INTELLECTUAL SITUATION IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM by Dr. MUHAMMAD FAZL-UR-RAHMAN ANSARI. Muslims all over the world can be broadly classified into four categories, which have been brought into existence by the currents and cross currents of the internal weaknesses and the external impact of Western thought. These categories are: 1. The "progressive and enlightened" Muslims who have learnt to understand and appreciate Islam in the light of modern knowledge and problems. They have an unshakable faith in Islam, which is based on understanding and they practice it intelligently. This provides them with complete immunity against all anti-Islamic influences, whether Marxist or otherwise. These upholders of dynamic orthodoxy are the future hope of Islam. 2. The "old-fashioned" Muslims who refuse to come out of the intellectual atmosphere of eight hundred years ago. Their view of Islam is marred by certain wrong notions based upon obscurantism and misguided conservatism which confines their religious outlook mostly to rituals and basic morals, renders their practice of Islam imperfect and lands them in innocent forms of compromise with un-Islamic ideals. They have a staunch faith, but because they do not possess a clear view and a correct understanding of Islam's economic system, political outlook and social ethos, they are capable of being misguided on that score by the glamour of un-Islamic slogans and movements. 3. The "believing" but "non-practicing" Muslims and the "indifferent" Muslims whose religious consciousness is defective and for whom Islam is only a historical legacy--a part of their national heritage which, like the archaeological remains of the past, might be respected vaguely but which is not meant to be adopted as a living guidance governing the practical issue of life. Educated in irreligious Western ideals, brought up in an atmosphere alien to Islam and deprived of the opportunity to imbibe Islamic teachings, they are hardly distinguishable from the non-Muslims in their practical lives except in the matter of what might be termed "Muslim nationalism" which, combined with a vague belief in God, they uphold in varying degrees. They have thus only a formal faith in the Islamic religion, while in all the practical affairs of life they look to the West for inspiration and guidance. Though a small in minority, they wield considerable influence in all the Muslim countries because of their major share in the political life and administration where modern Western education alone counts today. 4. The "atheistic and irreligious" people who bear Muslim names only because their Muslim parents named them so. They imbibe atheism either because they become entangled in grossly immoral ways of life and thus lose all sense of nobleness and spirituality, or because they receive onesided education in the materialistic philosophy of Western atheistic thinkers and are captivated by the idea or, in the case of those who are not very highly educated, because they consider it fashionable to swim with the latest currents of Western thought which are aggressively atheistic. In all cases these "Muslim atheists" are a people who never had an opportunity of knowing even the fundamentals of Islam and thinking on them seriously. This group forms a microscopic minority and is drawn from among the modern educated intelligentsia. Reproduced from: THE COMUNIST CHALLENGE TO ISLAM" BY MUHAMMAD FAZL-UR-RAHMAN ANSARI. First Edition -April 1951. Published by THE MAKKI PUBLICATIONS 100 BRICKFIELD ROAD DURBAN SOUTH AFRICA See also: THE QURANIC FOUNDATIONS AND STRUCTURE OF MUSLIM SCOIETY BY DR. MUHAMMAD FAZL-UR-RAHMAN ANSARI Available from: WORLD FEDERATION OF ISLAMICMISSIONS, Islamic Center, B Block North Nazimabad, Karachi-(Pakistan) E-mail: info@wfim. And wfim@k... Web site: www.wfim.org THE OTHER PRESS 607 Mutiara Majestic, Jalan Othman 4600 Petaling Jaya, Selangor D.E. Malaysia Email: ibtkl@p... Web site: www.ibtbooks.com |
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