Islamic Rethink
Islamic Rethink is our framework for promoting an evolving and progressive understanding of Islam. It underlies the publishing strategy of our Safis Publishing imprint.
Background
The Qur’an presents Islam as a religion that transcends time and place. This statement, which is believed by all Muslims, means that Islam can effectively deal with the ever-changing world and respond to any emerging situation. The early Muslim scholars showed this by successfully applying the broad principles of Islam to the specific and different circumstances that Muslims in various lands were experiencing. Their efforts are seen in the enormous corpus of literature that was developed over the centuries, which founded various schools of thought and continued to develop them. These ensured that Islam continued to be as relevant to the life of ordinary Muslims everywhere as it was at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
Few would dispute the fact that the general mindset of many Muslim scholars has changed over time. They moved from interacting with the world proactively, through new ideas based on the principles laid down in the Qur’an, to a largely passive attitude that focused on applying the views of past scholars to the continuously changing world. This change is usually expressed as narrowing down the domain of “reason” (ʿaql) and expanding the authority of “tradition” (naql).
This unwillingness to accept that, while the general principles of Islam are immutable, the implementation of these principles must change over time has almost brought Islamic thought to a halt. Enlightened minds and voices have continued to be forcefully suppressed by the overwhelming mindset that almost unreservedly venerates the past and the old and nearly uncompromisingly despises the present and the new.
The golden combination of intellectual creativity, openmindedness, free thinking, freedom of expression, and unfettered learning allowed the early Muslims to build a monumental heritage. This legacy was later hijacked by an unholy alliance that promoted the cessation of individual and societal learning and development through a mix of rigidity, sectarianism, intolerance, incompetence, and intellectual dependency.
Islamic Rethink is a framework that we have developed to promote the spirit of Islamic learning of the early Muslims, as many Muslims today try to meaningfully relate to a world that at times looks alien to them. This change is also necessary to create greater harmony between the practice of Islam and that of other religions and philosophies in today’s world.
Principles
Islamic Rethink is based on three fundamental principles:
- The Qur’an is the Word of God that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad
- Muhammad is the final Prophet
- Islam is a religion of compassion, peace, and tolerance.
These principles represent the broadest description of Islam, thus accommodating various Islamic views and interpretations. This means that Islamic Rethink is not a call to rethink Islam according to some external criteria or principles. It rather promotes a process of continuous rethinking within an Islamic framework, hence the name Islamic Rethink rather than Rethinking Islam.
This framework provides Muslim thinkers with a safe environment that encourages creative and progressive thinking about Islam, without threatening their faith. Yet the initiative of Islamic Rethink is not only for Islamic intellectuals. Anyone who can operate within the framework of Islamic Rethink and works towards its objectives can partake in its activities. Indeed, Islamic Rethink can greatly benefit from the contributions of non-Muslim intellectuals.
Objectives: The "Four Rs"
Islamic Rethink has four specific objectives:
- Renewal: Interpreting Islam’s sources and teachings in a modern context.
- Reform: Modernising practices and laws that reflect outdated thinking and a failure to understand Islam in a way that keeps it relevant to the time.
- Reevaluation: Reassessing religious and historical sources of Islam in the light of new discoveries and developments in human knowledge.
- Renaissance: Identifying and discussing the elements of an Islamic renaissance.
The Four Rs underlie the publications and activities guided by Islamic Rethink.