Courage Wanted

By Muneeb Nasir

Tariq Ramadan in his book, Radical Reform: Islamic Ethic and Liberation, addresses Muslim societies and communities everywhere with a bold call for radical reform.

 

The publisher, Oxford University Press, writes in its description of the book that ‘it is bound to provoke controversy and spark debate among Muslims and non-Muslims alike’.

 

Ramadan argues that radical reform demands not only the equal contributions of scholars of both the text and the context, but the critical engagement and creative imagination of the Muslim masses.

 

In response to this call for critical engagement, a group of interested and courageous readers in Toronto have been meeting to discuss and reflect on the author’s bold proposals for reforming Muslim minds - see Reading Circle schedule here

 

Reflections on 3rd  week reading,  Determining the Sources of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence: Pages  - 84 - 112

 

It will take courage to move from techniques to substance, from means to higher ends and from passivity to activity.

 

In addition to creativity and confidence, it will take courageous scholars to propose ethics that goes beyond those based on necessity (darurah) and need (hajah) to ones based on justifications.

In earlier times, the scholars had these qualities as they were able to naturally integrate the Revelations with the social and human contexts in a world that was simpler. It came to them naturally as they were totally familiar with the society and its knowledge.

 

Growing complexity disempowered scholars and they retreated behind the texts to safeguard and remain faithful to them.

 

A rupture took place between the two revelations – the outspread book (al-kitab al manshur) and the written book (al-kitab al-mastur).

 

Both the Revealed text and the Universe promote what is good and what benefit humans. 

 

Another level of context, beyond the natural laws, is the human realities and histories, the ever changing realm of cultures, customs, social, political systems….

 

The Universe, as with the revealed text, contains definitive principles, the natural laws (as-sunan al-kawniyyah) that are just as explicit and clear.

 

And also, as with the Revealed text, there are signs in Universe and in the changing human realities that are open to interpretation.

 

Two orders that mirror each other, each completes the other and gives it meaning.

 

Creativity, confidence and courage - the pieces are filling in and the picture of transformation reform is taking shape.