Features of Taha Jabir Al-Alawani's Intellectual Renewal (Tajdīd)

Abstract

This article treats the concept of renewal (tajdīd) in Islamic thought as understood by Taha Jabir Al-Alwani, who is considered one of the thinkers of the contemporary school of thought known as Islāmiyyat al-Maʿrifah (“The School of Islamic Knowledge”). It is divided into four sections. The first explores the concept of renewal and its relation to the Prophet Muhammad's hadith on renewal and mujaddidīn (bringers of renewal to religion) as understood by Al-Alwani, and in relation to a number of terms that overlap with the concept of renewal, especially the concept of revisionism (al-murājaʿah). The second section addresses Al-Alwani’s vision of renewal in the field of education, and religious education in particular. The third section uncovers the relationship of Al-Alwani’s critical mindset to his renewal efforts. The final section underlines Al-Alwani’s interest in the issue of method and methodology as one of the most crucial issues to Islamic intellectual renewal. The article concludes that Al-Alwani’s research does not delve into the subject of uṣūl al-fiqh (the science of Islamic Legal Theory) and the necessity of its renewal and tended instead to leave it as is (i.e., to serve what it was developed to serve). Rather, Al-Alwani calls on deducing further methods to address issues in the social sciences, as such issues come with a particular context or reality (wāqiʿ) and thus require more specialized methodologies to treat them. It is precisely for this reason that Al-Alwani placed great emphasis on developing methodologies as used in uṣūl al-fiqh for the humanities and social sciences.