Systematization of "the Thought"

Why is the “Critical Mass” Important?

It is important because the scholar(s) who will systematize the thought will raise from among them.

At present time Muslims read fairly about modernity or postmodernity but can not make criticism of them competently. There are two main reasons for this. First, Muslims in general do not know their religion well. So when they read much about the modernity, the resulting picture is that they mostly bend their knee to it and try to accommodate it with Islam. Second, their reading of modernity is not enough. Muslims are not generally sensible to the conflicting aspects of modernity with Islam for they do not know well modernity, and accordingly they lose their bearings and errantly attempt to accommodate it with Islam.

In order to overcome this fundamental problem, we should try to form a “critical mass.” This body should be competent at comparing and contrasting the very features of Islam with that of modernity in terms of various variables such as symbolic figures, historic events and key concepts. Only if such a level of competence is achieved, we can rightfully claim that the scholarly discussions required to be made in the process of the systematization of the thought will become “meaningful” debates. For instance, if we want our criticism about philosophers to get respect from intellectual or scientific circles, we should have a good grasp of all the themes of philosophy, all the details of their biographies, ideas or the cultural and historical backgrounds of the philosophers, and what is more, we should understand them correctly. This is true, of course, for criticism of modernity too. For example, if we want our criticism about the concept of “freedom” to get respect form intellectual or scientific circles, we should have a good grasp of, for instance, John Stuart Mill, all details of his life, and the cultural and historical backgrounds of his ideas, etc. That is the very level of competence that the “critical mass” should achieve.

Nonetheless this level of knowledge is not enough for systematizing the thought. Only those people who are of sound instruction i.e. the genuine ulama can systematize the thought. Here we should know that raising of this ulema does require prior existence of a “critical mass.” This body will pave the way for the circumstances that will produce those ones who are capable of systematizing the thought. Then the debate that will proceed on this sound grounds will bear its fruits in time and finally the thought will be systematized.