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Introduction to Islamic critical thinking
A good Muslim must perceive critical thinking from a very essential angle and consider it as something which is allowed in Islam because, if we go back to origin of critical thinking we will be able to see clearly that if not as a result of critical thinking we Muslim would have remained static i.e. no moving forwards intellectually, religiously and spiritually. The doctrine of thinking in Islam has been blocked since the third century after Ijrah till when Sheikh Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah revived it in the seventh century and said that we muslim should think, our religion does not forbide thinking provided it is in line with Qur’an and Sunnah, and many of his students followed him on that. And that revival offeres islam a memorable development.
Critical thinking drives us out of any form of Jahiliyyah because failure to think is planning to become a “Negative Muqalid”.
Al-Taqlid
Al- taqlid simply means relying on somebody opinion, imitating his decision without thinking critically before implementing it. And this “Taqlid” could be positive or negative literarily.
Positive Taqlid
This is reffered to as imitating the Prophet (SAW) as far as his sunnah is concerned.
Reference of positive taqlid from Quran
Quran 12:38 [And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrahim(Abraham), Ishaq(Isael) and Yaqub(Jacob) and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allah. This is from the grace of the to us and to mankind, but most men think.
Negative Taqlid: This means imitating people dogmatically.
Reference of negative taqlid from Quran Q5:104.
"And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrahîm (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya'qub (Jacob), and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allâh. This is from the Grace of Allâh to us and to mankind, but most men thank not (i.e. they neither believe in Allâh, nor worship Him).
Islam has established a very strong foundation and framework for its critical thinking,, this elements are:
1. At-Tafakkur: This can be directed towards the creation of the creation of the universe and the signs of Allah.
2. Al-Yaqin: It is the systematic process of verification of 'Ilm to what reach certainty. A Mujtahid who wanted to research on something must have certainty of knowledge on what he is doing.
3. Al- 'Adl : It is important for a Mujtahid to stay away from partisanship, it stresses the importance of objectivity in the process of thinking free from any emotional and personal interference.
A good Muslim must perceive critical thinking from a very essential angle and consider it as something which is allowed in Islam because, if we go back to origin of critical thinking we will be able to see clearly that if not as a result of critical thinking we Muslim would have remained static i.e. no moving forwards intellectually, religiously and spiritually. The doctrine of thinking in Islam has been blocked since the third century after Ijrah till when Sheikh Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah revived it in the seventh century and said that we muslim should think, our religion does not forbide thinking provided it is in line with Qur’an and Sunnah, and many of his students followed him on that. And that revival offeres islam a memorable development.
Critical thinking drives us out of any form of Jahiliyyah because failure to think is planning to become a “Negative Muqalid”.
Al-Taqlid
Al- taqlid simply means relying on somebody opinion, imitating his decision without thinking critically before implementing it. And this “Taqlid” could be positive or negative literarily.
Positive Taqlid
This is reffered to as imitating the Prophet (SAW) as far as his sunnah is concerned.
Reference of positive taqlid from Quran
Quran 12:38 [And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrahim(Abraham), Ishaq(Isael) and Yaqub(Jacob) and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allah. This is from the grace of the to us and to mankind, but most men think.
Negative Taqlid: This means imitating people dogmatically.
Reference of negative taqlid from Quran Q5:104.
"And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrahîm (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya'qub (Jacob), and never could we attribute any partners whatsoever to Allâh. This is from the Grace of Allâh to us and to mankind, but most men thank not (i.e. they neither believe in Allâh, nor worship Him).
Islam has established a very strong foundation and framework for its critical thinking,, this elements are:
1. At-Tafakkur: This can be directed towards the creation of the creation of the universe and the signs of Allah.
2. Al-Yaqin: It is the systematic process of verification of 'Ilm to what reach certainty. A Mujtahid who wanted to research on something must have certainty of knowledge on what he is doing.
3. Al- 'Adl : It is important for a Mujtahid to stay away from partisanship, it stresses the importance of objectivity in the process of thinking free from any emotional and personal interference.
