Rafiʿ, Muhammad ibn Muhammad. “The Question of Historical Consciousness and the Paradox of Building a Vision of the Future,” Year 15, Issue 60 (Winter 1431 AH/ 2010 CE), Pp. 95-130.

Abstract

Muhammad Rafiʿ’s article aims to contribute to the approach between two central epistemological paradoxes that constitute a major challenge for contemporary Islamic thought; one relates to the issue of positive consciousness of our history, and the other relates to researching the epistemological foundations in order to build a vision of the future which is strategic to regulating the civilizational activity of the Ummah in its historical course. The article addresses these within the following themes: the question of historical consciousness (including the methodology of building historical knowledge, the Western material methodology, and the emotional methodology), issues of building the historical consciousness (including the issue of the premature political transformation of Islamic governance, features of the stage of historical transformation, and foundations of Westernization), and foundations for building a vision of the future.