ijtehaad

Abstract
This article attempts to explore the expression Hikmah (Quran’s Reason) and is of the view that Muslim culture remained strong as long as it was permeated by it and weakened when it was ignored by the Muslims. It also underlines factors the declines of Muslim cultures, i) primary place was given, instead of Hikmah, to the traditional manqul theological methods for understanding Islam; ii) instead of Kitab and Hikmah, multiple authorities taking a partial view of the Quranic Reason came to dominate the intellectual scene; iii) closure of the gate of ijtihaad for fear of disintegration of a unified Sharia; and iv) transformation of culture of knowledge into a culture of theological censorship. Religion complicates its position by according a place to reason as well in its belief-system which is subordinate to divine authority and restricted to the physical world only. In Islam, this dual authority is represented in the Quran’s terms of Kitaab and Hikmah. The Quran defines reason in its own way and assigns it a role which demolishes the frontiers between the rational and the non-rational. This Quranic Reason extends itself beyond the time-space and brings God-man relations into its area of operations.Read More →