Al-Ghazali, Muhammad. “Islam and Arab Culture in Our New World,” Year 2, Issue 7 (Winter 1416 AH/ 1997 CE), Pp. 139-153.

Abstract

Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali begins his article by addressing the expansion of Islam, the impact of Islamic civilization on other civilizations, the scope of its spread, and the many schools of thought in Islamic intellectual tradition, such as those pertaining to fiqh and law, education and ethics, Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr) and hadith, and doctrinal beliefs (ʿaqā’id) and theology (kalām). His article outlines administrative, political, and economic thought, and examines the differences in fiqh among the juristic schools, and how these differences were exploited by enemies of Islam.  His article also discusses Divine attributes, issues of hermeneutical interpretation (ta’wīl) in understanding Qur’anic text, and attempts at interfaith dialogue and reconciliation of schools of thought.  It concludes with discussing the emergence of the innovation of “nationalities” (i.e., nationalism in the Muslim world) and how nationalism and ʿaqīdah were disassociated, leading to the fall of the Islamic Caliphate.