does islam encourage critical thinking

About Islam

• # Quran 382 Articles
• # Spirituality 382 Articles
• # Discovering Islam 382 Articles
• # Shariah 382 Articles
• # Videos 382 Articles
• # Family & Life 382 Articles
• # Fatwa & Counseling 382 Articles
• # Muslim News 382 Articles
• # Youth Q & A 382 Articles
• # Donate 382 Articles
• Family & Life
• Culture & Entertainment

Does Islam Allow Discourse and Critical Thinking?

I would like to begin by stating that my sentiments in the following anecdote are my own, personal opinion. I tell it as an attempt to reveal the beauty of discourse.

I walked by the “Dawah Day” booth of the Muslim student group at my university and read something that I found interesting. Representing the five pillars of Islam were literally five walls that posed as actual pillars with the obligations written on each one.

As I stood and read each pillar, I came across the second wall that read, “Praying five times a day in Arabic, the language prescribed to us in the Holy Quran.”  In Arabic , I thought.  Does it have to be in Arabic?

I suddenly remembered attending a spiritual night at my youth group in Los Angeles, and one of our youth mentors led the group in a prayer that he recited in English.

As I followed along the translation of the Quran in English for the first time in prayer, I actually understood everything he was saying. For the first time, I was not rushing through Arabic words of which I didn’t know the meanings.

" title="Advertise and Market to Muslims" target="_blank">Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Was that wrong of us to do?  I thought, as I stared at the statement. “Arabic, the language prescribed to us in the Holy Qur’an.” I found myself in complete disagreement with the words that my colleagues wrote.

I looked over at a friend standing by me and described my sentiments to her. She disagreed with me, and a gentleman overheard our conversation and excitedly joined in, as did a few other Muslim students.

My belief was that God hears and understands all of our languages, and as long as we understand what we are saying, then we are getting the most out of our prayers. My colleagues believed that Arabic cannot be perfectly translated, and anyone who does not know Arabic is obligated to learn it. This should be our lifelong commitment.

The gentleman who joined in early in the conversation decided to make his argument using a different angle: “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him (PBUH), prayed in Arabic and he was the perfect human being that we all strive to become like. Wouldn’t you want to emulate the exact actions of the prophet?”

Although I understood his point, I answered back, “My perfect emulation of the prophet would be having the deep connection with God that he had while praying and feeling the utmost spirituality that he felt. I cannot do that when I recite in Arabic because I don’t understand most of what I’m saying. I do understand when I read in English.”

How Much Should We Rely on Scholars?

During our conversation, a point was mentioned that made me think very deeply about the history of scholarly reference to many religious opinions: “ The majority of Muslim scholars ruled that prayer should be recited in Arabic and in no other language.

Because the majority agreed on this  fatwa , or religious ruling, then we should not pull our own opinions out of our own minds just because we feel or think a certain way, and make that our Islam. We must go along with what the majority of our scholars agreed on. Doing otherwise is not logical.”

Although I agreed with him somewhat about that point, I was still very skeptical.

I did a lot of research later that night and found many different scholarly opinions on this topic. One scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah, who shared my opinion, said:

“Supplication is allowed in Arabic or any other language as God knows the intention and meaning of the supplicator. God knows the sounds of His creation crying out regardless of the language.”

An opposing source, the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence said:

“The majority of the schools of thought (Hanbalites, Shafites, Maliki’s) prohibited reading the Qur’an through a translation. […] The Hanafi’s held it impermissible for the one who is proficient in Arabic to read it in another language while they permitted one to read it through a translation.”

This conversation developed in me a desire to learn and understand these differences in opinion. After spending a long time thinking and discussing this topic with many people, both religiously educated and not, I realized that there is so much that we think we actually know, but the reality is: None of us know anything for sure. And, the history of Islamic thought is based on opinion, not fact.

We strive to reach the truth, without actually knowing what the truth is.

This explains why my conversation with my classmates was so unproductive, mainly because, instead of accepting each other’s approaches to prayer, we were trying to prove each other wrong. And this is a major problem in our  Ummah  today.

Free and Critical Thinking

Why is it that in Islam we are taught to accept our human diversity in terms of race and religion, but not the diversity of discourse within the Muslim community?

This irony is the epitome of why our Ummah is so uncooperative. We refuse to acknowledge each other’s differences as something beautiful. Instead, we blame each other’s opinions on the reasons for troubling global issues.

Slandering each other because we won’t change our beliefs is not a tool to success; rather it is the knife that has sliced us into divided communities.

One of the most beautiful things about the religion of Islam is its concept of free and critical thinking:

“Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], ‘Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire’” [Quran 3:191]. 

“Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought” Quran 16:69].

We have hundreds of scholars throughout history who have shared with and influenced the Muslim world with their new and profound opinions and explanations on certain aspects of the religion.

But one of the most dangerous things that I have found Muslims across the globe doing is following a certain  fatwa  just because the majority of Muslim scholars agreed upon it. People do so without doing their own research for themselves and finding truth in what makes sense to them.

It is important to acknowledge the level of scholarship that our scholars have, but it is also important not to disregard the fact that we are humans too, and we have the ability to think and study on our own. We have the ability to make our own findings and formulate our own opinions and interpretations based on the knowledge that we gather.

Sharing our interpretations and opinions of Islamic concepts creates an open-minded atmosphere among our communities. We can freely and comfortably allow ourselves to discover new perspectives.

Ijtihad , or the ability of human beings to think critically and independently, is a freedom that we were born with. It is a part of our human dignity and our freedom of choice. We need to use it, but we do not.

“The universe around us is also God’s continuous communication. Independent thinking is thus another way to understand God’s message through reading His other book — nature,” says Dr. Muqtedar Khan in his article titled  What is Independent Thinking?

“Outside the discourse of the traditional jurists, intellectuals, reformers and philosophers, have seen independent thinking as not only inevitable but a mandate, that enables the continuous renewal and revival of the Islamic spirit.”

I urge the Ummah to study and delve deep into our religion and to develop in ourselves a level of scholarship that our human minds have the capability of creating.

This article was first published on Patheos.com

Privacy Overview

• en العربية ar বাংলা bn English en فارسی fa Français fr German ge Indonesian id Portuguese pt Türkçe tr Uygur ug اردو ur

Thinking in Islam

Publication : 20-09-2019

Views : 25477

Praise be to Allah.

The Muslim should strive to preserve his belief and his faith, and focus on maintaining his sound fitrah and thinking; he should flee for the sake of his religious commitment and spiritual well-being from doubts and confusion, for hearts are weak and specious arguments may be attractive, because of the way they are presented as something beautiful by proponents of innovation and misguidance, when in fact they are based on flimsy and weak foundations.

Reading books that promote innovation and misguidance, or books that promote shirk and myths, or the books of other religions that have been distorted, or the books written by atheists and hypocrites, or looking at websites that promote these deviant ideas and propagate specious arguments, is not permissible except for one who is well-versed in Islamic knowledge, whose aim in reading such material is to refute it and highlight its corrupt nature, and has the ability to do that or is qualified to take on this task.

As for one who does not have Islamic knowledge looking at or reading such material, doing so is more likely to lead to some sort of confusion, undermining the belief in his heart and shaking his faith, because of the specious arguments that he reads.

This has happened to many ordinary Muslims, and even to some seekers of knowledge who are not qualified to deal with such material, to the extent that in some cases they have ended up misguided and astray – we seek refuge with Allah.

Very often, the one who looks at these books may be deceived by his thinking that his faith is stronger than all the specious arguments presented, but then suddenly he finds – if he reads a great deal – that the specious arguments have begun to take root in his mind in a manner that never occurred to him.

Hence the advice of the scholars of the righteous early generations was to forbid looking at or reading such books.

We have quoted the words of the scholars in the answer to question no. 92781 .

It is essential to learn Islam from its sources, the greatest of which, and the foundation thereof, are the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Islam has emphasized the importance of reason and thinking, which is reflected in many verses. There are phrases that are repeated dozens of times in the Qur’an, such as “Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you might use reason” [al-Baqarah 2:242], “for a people who give thought” [Yoonus 10:24] and “for a people who understand” [al-An‘aam 6:98].

Allah calls upon us to think in the Qur’an, as He, may He be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded”

[Saad 38:29].

Allah, may He be glorified, says, calling us to reflect upon His creation (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do they not contemplate within themselves? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth and for a specified term. And indeed, many of the people, in [the matter of] the meeting with their Lord, are disbelievers”

[ar-Room 30:8].

Indeed, Allah, may He be exalted, has criticized the people of Hell by stating that they did not benefit from their reason, and He tells us (interpretation of the meaning):

“And they will say, ‘If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze’”

[al-Mulk 67:10]

“So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts”

[al-Hajj 22:46].

Thinking is an act of worship, which Allah points out in the verses (interpretation of the meaning):

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:190-191].

Shaykh as-Sa‘di said:

Here Allah tells us that “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding”. This encourages people to think deeply, examine these signs and contemplate the creation. He left the word “signs” ambiguous, and did not state explicitly what it points to, as an indication of the great number and ubiquitous nature of those signs. That is because in creation there are amazing signs that dazzle those who look upon them, convince those who ponder them, attract the hearts of those who are sincere and strengthen the faith of those of understanding. But the details of what these signs contain are impossible for any person to list or even comprehend some of them.

In conclusion, what we see in them of greatness, the vastness and order in the movement of heavenly bodies, point to the greatness of their Creator and His power, which encompasses all things.

Their perfection, precision and beauty point to the wisdom of Allah, His control over all things and the vastness of His knowledge.

The benefits they bring to people are indicative of the vastness of Allah’s mercy, the all-encompassing nature of His grace and kindness, and the necessity of being grateful to Him. All of that indicates that the heart should only be attached to its Creator and originator, and should do its utmost to seek His pleasure, and not associate with Him any of those who have not even an atom’s weight of power over themselves or others on earth or in heaven.

Allah has intended these signs only for those of understanding, namely people of reason, because they are the ones who benefit from that and who contemplate the signs with reason, and do not merely look at them with their eyes.

Then Allah describes those of understanding as being those “who remember Allah” in all circumstances, “standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides”. This includes all types of remembrance of Allah, both verbal and in the heart. That includes praying standing; if that is not possible, then sitting; and if that is not possible then lying on one’s side. “and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth” that is, so that they may reach the conclusion intended (that there is a great Creator).

This indicates that thinking is an act of worship, and is one of the characteristics of the close friends of Allah. When they think and reflect upon these things, they realise that Allah did not create them in vain, and they say: “Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]” and exalted are You above all that is not befitting to Your Majesty; rather You created it in truth, for truth, and including truth.

“then protect us from the punishment of the Fire” by protecting us from doing bad deeds, and helping us to do righteous deeds, so that we might attain thereby salvation from the fire. End quote.

In the hadith narrated from ‘Ata’, he said: ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr and I went to visit ‘Aa’ishah. She said to ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr: It is about time you visited us. He said: O my mother, I say as the first one said: Make your visits at long intervals, and people will love you more. She said: Spare us from this gibberish of yours! Ibn ‘Umayr said: Tell us of the most amazing thing you saw from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). She remained silent for a while, then she said: One night he said: “O ‘Aa’ishah, let me focus on worshipping my Lord this night.” I said: By Allah, I love to be near you, and I love what makes you happy. He got up and did wudoo’, then he began to pray. She said: And he kept weeping until his lap became wet. Then he wept and kept weeping until his beard became wet. Then he wept and kept weeping until the ground became wet. Then Bilaal came to call him for prayer, and when he saw him weeping, he said: O Messenger of Allah, why are you weeping when Allah has forgiven you your past and future sins? He said: “Should I not be a thankful slave? Last night a verse was revealed to me; woe to the one who recites it and does not reflect:

‘Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire’

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:190].”

Narrated by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh (2/286). See also as-Silsilah as-Saheehah (1/147).

The man of literature and great thinker, Ustadh ‘Abbaas Mahmoud al-‘Aqqaad, wrote a book on this issue, entitled at-Tafkeer Fareedah Islamiyyah (Thinking is an Islamic Duty).

Was this answer helpful? No Yes

Source: Islam Q&A

Similar Topics

We do not advise you to continually read the books of the people of misguidance

share Question

You can ask your question on the website via this link: https://islamqa.info/en/ask

Log in Create an account

Password should contain small, capital letter and at least 8 characters long

Can't log in to your account?

If you do not have an account, you can click the button below to create one

If you have an account, log in

Create new account Log in

Reset Username or Password

Send feedback.

Is there room for critical thinking in Islam?

To be Muslim is not to be politically asleep, but rather to be in a permanent state of critique.

Nothing is more satisfying than the conviction that your enemy lacks the ability to think critically. What could be more gratifying than the idea that the person you are fighting is trapped in an airlock of unreflection? It blesses your struggle, redeems your cruelty, legitimises your violence. If a definition of humanity is the ability to think for oneself, then what could be wrong with fighting the unfree?

The modern pairing of Islam with the incapacity for critical thought is a fairly old gesture – the Enlightenment philosopher Leibniz said Muslims were so fatalistic they wouldn’t even jump out of the way of carts. Over the past fifteen years, however, the internet has enabled and amplified a panoply of voices with this view.

From the digital rooftops, a thousand voices are shouting down Islam as a space inimical to any form of rational reflection: millionaire right-wingers masquerading as free-thinkers such as Bill Maher, Eton-educated “voices of the people” such as Douglas Murray, sophisticated hate-distillers such as Ann Coulter and her not-so-bright British version, Katie Hopkins … even Greek classics professors-turned-Islam experts such as Tom Holland have joined the fray.

Some of the historical acrobatics involved in this gesture are awe-inspiring. Any academic would be laughed out of the room if they suggested St Augustine was somehow complicit in the bombing of abortion clinics, or that the medieval Hohenstaufen culminated in the Third Reich, or that the Renaissance never happened. Almost on a daily basis, however, confident, context-defying lines of continuity are drawn for Islam across centuries and continents, monocausally linking the Ottomans to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), or seventh century theology to attacks on shopping malls. In these re-writings of history, contrary or problematic episodes (such as the vast contribution of the Islamic world to geometry, astronomy and the vocabulary of science in general) are not just left out – anyone even trying to mention them is mocked as a naive, idiot liberal. It’s a wonderful age to be alive.

I often wonder what can be done against this collective dumbing-down of an entire faith. Patiently repeating points and examples from history – in the manner of explaining something difficult but obvious to an eight-year old child – does not seem to go very far in combatting a million views on Youtube. Raising consciousness is not enough – there almost seems to be a will not to know here, a decision to remain in the foetal warmth of a particular narrative. When a Western, best-selling public intellectual openly laughs at the idea of “Islamic inventions”, and garners online 10,000 likes in doing so, it is difficult to see what benefit the provision of empirical facts can provide. Large sections of our society seem to be locked into certain fantasies about Islam and the West – and how we are going to unlock those fantasies remains as unclear as ever.

Not that scholars have given up. Irfan Ahmad’s latest book, Religion As Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace (2017), offers an interesting opposition to the West-and-the-rest narratives of an European Enlightenment radiating outwards from Greece and Germany into the backward corners of a darker world. Positing the Prophet Mohammed as “a critic of the Meccan social order”, Ahmad constructs an alternative genealogy of the verb to critique (tanqid/naqd), one which is not by any means dismissive of Greek/pre-Islamic/Western traditions, “but which at the same time can’t be subsumed within them”. It is a welcome move that intelligently and articulately condenses the work of previous scholars (Talal Asad, Gayatri Spivak, J G A Pocock) on two important points.

First of all, it demonstrates the extent to which the Enlightenment was an “ethnic project” – an ethnic project, moreover, which was in constant need of an enemy. When Kant spoke about the space of philosophy to be defined, he often alluded to the space of Europe, whose boundaries needed to be patrolled. Secondly, the tired linking of the critical with the secular – and “uncritical” with the religious – is something Ahmad’s book goes on to rigorously deconstruct. Perhaps a touch controversially for some, he declares: “Against the reigning doxa, which views Islam and critique as mutually exclusive domains … I propose we begin to think of Islam as critique; indeed, Islam as permanent critique.” 

To be Muslim, in other words, is not to be politically asleep, or passively receptive to a divine will, but rather to be in a permanent state of critique. Not everyone will be politically comfortable with some of the choices Ahmad has as examples of this critical tradition (Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami, is given a central chapter), but the gesture he makes – developing an alternative genealogy of critical thought in the Urdu Islamicate traditions of South Asia – is a valuable one.

To be fair, there is another aspect to this issue we have not yet touched upon. The critical tradition of Islam might well be compared with a city which is under attack on two fronts – from without, and from within. In addition to a certain relentless Western reduction of Islam to an unreflective cult, there are those within the Muslim world would wholly reject some of its most famous philosophers and critical thinkers as un-Islamic. The late Shahab Ahmed’s monograph What Is Islam?: The Importance of Being Islamic (2015), in this respect, stands interestingly alongside Irfan Ahmad’s book as a parallel attempt to re-define the parameters of the Islamic world – and, implicitly, its relationship to both the Western and the secular. Although Shahab Ahmed’s focus on activities such as wine drinking lends it a different tone from Religion As Critique, both books share a frustration with narrow definitions of the Islamic tradition. In Shahab Ahmed’s case, this is a desire to expand the idea of being Islamic well beyond the “putative centrality” of jurisprudence which most convention seems to define the religion by; in Irfan Ahmad’s book, a similar belief in the value of everyday experience – “the practice … of the nonscholarly and commoners” as Ahmad puts it – is given as much weight as the pronouncements of the ulema in deciding what an Islamic critical tradition might be.

These debates will go on. In closing, it might be worth ending with the words an Arab philosopher wrote in the city of Damascus, just over 800 years ago. Words which demonstrate (if you’ll forgive my anachronism) a remarkable pre-psychological awareness of the extent to which we personally construct the God we worship:

“… you will see no one who worships an unmade God, since man creates in himself that which he worships and judges.  When a person sees something of the [divine] Real, he never sees anything but himself.”

The writer is Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), and the extracts are two lines taken from his Futuhat, written at some point during the 1220s. Of course I am ripping these words out of context, and yet the sentiment they express – the God we pray to always reflects us, even comes out of us, in some way or another – is a suspicion to be found across Jewish and Christian traditions too (Maimonides, Meister Eckhart). Eight hundred years ago, a keen epistemological querying of religious experience was already at work. Admittedly, the goal of this querying was not a secular demolition of God, but a purer experience of the divine; not the exposure of God as a psychological illusion, but a clearer demarcation between what we imagine God to be, and the thing that lies beyond it. Some might call this a deferred critical thinking: critical thought put to the ultimate service of the uncritical. It’s a fair charge – people are entitled to their opinion. But there must be something valuable in trying to remember that lines like these were being written in Damascus, and Cairo, and Cordoba, centuries before Gramsci, Marx and Descartes. And certainly 800 years before Youtube.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Islamic Critical Thinking: An Analysis of Its Significance Based on The Al-Quran and Scholarly Views

• Noraini Junoh Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan Malaysia
• Abdul Manam Mohamad Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin Terengganu Malaysia
• Zanirah Mustafa@Busu Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan Malaysia
• Nor Asmira Mat Jusoh Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Kelantan Malaysia

Critical thinking is a very important intellectual tool that could help a person form arguments, determine the credibility of sources, analyse presumptions or make decisions in various contexts. Hence, this study intended to examine the Western and Islamic critical thinking concepts as well as its significance according to the al-Quran and the views of scholars. The library research method was used extensively for collecting and analysing data, which was sourced from literature by philosophers, psychologists and Islamic scientists, especially those involved in the cognitive field. The conceptual framework was built using the content analysis method. According on the analysis, the importance of Islamic critical thinking based on the al-Quran and views of scholars in the cognitive field were extensively elaborated to assist in the practice of Islamic critical thinking.  The study found similarities and differences between Islamic and Western critical thinking. The similarities are from the rational utilization aspect and the difference is from the value of truth aspect, whereby Islamic critical thinking accepts divine deliverance ( wahyu ) as the main source of reference when thinking so that the product of thinking eventually becomes the absolute truth. Hence, the major significance of Islamic critical thinking is to enhance the faith ( iman ) and piousness ( takwa ) towards Allah SWT by contemplating and examining nature. At the same time, critical thinking helps a person to face contemporary challenges and solve problems related to every aspect of life. Moreover, critical thinking activities are greatly demanded in Islam so that the mind bestowed by Allah SWT is not neglected and is used properly without transgressing HIS divine deliverance ( wahyu ).

Al-Quran al-Karim

Abdul Mujib & Jusuf Mudzakir. (2001). Nuansa-nuansa Psikilogi Islam. Jakarta: PT RajaGrafindo Persada.

Abdul Rahman Abdullah. (1995). Falsafah Alam Semesta Dalam Sejarah Tauhid Melayu. Selangor: Access Infotech Sdn. Bhd.

Abdul Rahman Embong. (2002). Faktor Ideologi Politik dan Budaya Daiam Penutupan Minda Melayu Islam. Persidangan Isu dan Proses Pembukaan Minda Umat Melayu Islam. 29-31 Januari 2002. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Ahmad Sunawari Long. (2006). Pengenalan Metodologi Penyelidikan Pengajian Islam. Bangi: Jabatan Usuluddin dan Falsafah, Fakulti Pengajian Islam, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Alias Azhar. (2017). Scientific Thinking in Islamic Thought: Concept and its Importance. International Journal of Nusantara Islam, 5(1), 13-22.

Al-Ba‘albaki, Munir & Ruhi. (2002). Al-Mawrid al-Wasit Mazduj: Qamus ‘Arabi-’Inkilizi. Cet. 7. Beirut, Lubnan: Dar al-‘Ilm li al-Malayin.

Al-Banna, Gamal. (2006). Al-Islam wa al-‘Aqlaniyyah. (Terj.) Kuala Lumpur: Jasmin Enterprise.

Al-Buti, M. S. R. (2004). Manhaj al-Hadaratul Insaniyyah fi al-Quran. Terj. Muhammad Ramzi Omar. Putrajaya: Yayasan Islam Hadhari.

Al-Farabi, Abu al-Nasr Muhammad. (1906). Ara’ al-Madinah al-Fadilah. Misr: Matba‘ah al-Sa‘adah.

Al-Ghazali, Abi Hamid Muhammad. (n.d.). Kimiya’ al-Sa‘adah. Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Sa‘biyyah.

Al-Ghazali, Abi Hamid Muhammad. (2011). Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din. Jeddah: Dar al-Minhaj li al-Nasr wa al-Tawzi’.

Al-Ghazali, Muhammad. (1996). Kayfa Nata’ammal Ma‘a al-Quran. Terj. Muhammad Rivai Batubara. Cet. 2. Selangor: Budaya Ilmu Sdn. Bhd.

Al-Hadi, Syed Sheikh bin Ahmad. (1965). Ugama Islam dan Akal. Kelantan: Percetakan Pustaka Dian.

Al-Qaradawi, Yusuf. (1996). Al-‘Aql wa al-‘Ilm fi al-Quran al-Karim. Kaherah: Maktabah Wahbah.

Al-Qarni, ‘Iwad ibn Muhammad. (1418 H), Hatta la Takuna Kallan. Jeddah: Dar al-Andalas al-Khadra’.

Amir Mohd Nason & Mohd Shukri Hanapi. 2019. Penerapan Pendekatan Pendidikan Berasaskan Qalbu Dalam Pembelajaran Abad Ke-21: Cabaran Dan Harapan. Journal of Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities, 20 (SPECIAL ISSUE), 33-48.

Anita Ismail et al, (2016). The Islamic Perspective on Thinking and Innovative Culture as Exemplified by the Works of Renowned Muslim Scholars. Jurnal Sains Insani, 01, 22-25.

Asmawati Suhid. (2005). Pemantapan Komponen akhlak dalam pendidikan Islam bagi menangani era globalisasi. Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 6, 95-103.

Bakkar, ‘Abd al-Karim. (1993). Fusul al-Tafkir al-Mawdu’i. Damsyiq: Dar al-Qalam.

Bassham, Gregory. (2005). Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. New York: Mckay.

Dewey, John. (1933). How We Think. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Co.

Ennis, R. (1985). A Logical Basis of Measuring Critical Thinking Skills. Educational Leadership, 43 (2), 46.

Fathi Yakan. (2002). Api Kebangkitan Islam dan Cabaran Abad ke-21. Terj. Ibn Ghazali. Kuala Lumpur: Jasmin Enterprise.

Harun Nasution. (1979). Kedudukan Akal dalam Islam. Jakarta: Yayasan Idayu.

Harun Yahya. (2000). Deep Thinking, terj. Mustapha Ahmad. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.

Hashim Musa. (2001). Merekonstruksi Tamadun Melayu Islam: Ke arah Pembinaan Sebuah Tamadun Dunia Alaf Ketiga. Kuala Lumpur.

Hui, Lim Kim. (2009). Seni Pemikiran Kritis Satu Pendekatan Logik Tak Formal. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Ibn Sina. (1938). Al-Najah fi al-Hikmah al-Mantiqiyyah wa al-Ilahiyyah. Kaherah: Matba‘at al-Sa‘adah.

Jamal @ Nordin Yunus et al. (2011). Pemikiran Kritis dan Kreatif. Selangor: Pearson Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Kamus Dewan Edisi Ketiga. (1994). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Khalif Muammar. (2012). Pandangan Islam Terhadap Tradisi dan Kemodenan. Jurnal Hadhari, 4(1), 23-48.

Mahmud, Abdul Halim. (1998). Al-Islam wa al-‘Aql. Cet. 4. Kaherah: Dar al-Ma‘arif.

Maria Salih. (2013). Konsep Pemikiran dan Kemahiran Berfikir Kritis. Dalam Pemikiran Kritis dan Kreatif. Nurulhuda Abd Rahman dan Md Nasir Ibrahim (ed.). Perak: Penerbit UPSI.

Meyers, C. (1986). Teaching Students to Think Critically. California: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers.

Mohd Azhar Abd Hamid. (2001). Pengenalan Pemikiran Kritis dan Kreatif. Skudai: Penerbit Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Mohd Farid Mohd Shahran. (2015). Akidah dan Pemikiran Islam: Isu dan Cabaran. Cet. 3. Kuala Lumpur: Institut Terjemahan dan Buku Malaysia Berhad.

Mohd Fauzi Hamat. (2002). Pembangunan Minda Ummah Berasaskan Asas Utama Pemikiran Epistemologi Islam: Satu Perbincangan. Jurnal Usuluddin, 15, 35-52.

Mohd Sulaiman Yasin. (1980). Pengantar Falsafah Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Mohd. Nakhaie Ahmad. (2001). Anjakan Sikap dan Budaya Hidup Bangsa. Kuala Lumpur: YADIM.

Mohd Radhi Ibrahim. (2020). Integrasi Ilmu Usuluddin Dalam Pengajian Agama Di Masjid. Journal of Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities, 23 (1), 128-144.

Nasruddin Yunos et al. (2015). Pengesahan Berita Dalam Komunikasi Islam: Ibrah Daripada Ayat 6 Surah Al-Hujuraat. eProceedings International Seminar on al-Quran in Contemporary Society (10-11 Oktober 2015). Fakulti Pengajian Kontemporari Islam, UniSZA.

Nasruddin Yunos, Abdul Salam Yusof & Mohamad Mohsin Mohamad Said. (2012). Menjana Pemikiran Kreatif dan Kritis. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

New Oxford Englilsh-English-Malay Dictionary. (2007). Terj. Zubaidah Abdul Rahman. Selangor: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

Osman Bakar. (1991). Al-Farabi: Kehidupan, Hasil Karyanya dan Peri Penting Tokoh. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Osman Bakar. (1992). Clasification of Knowledge of Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Institute For Policy Research.

Panel Penulis JAKIM. (1999). Memelihara Persaudaraan Islam: Adab dan Cara-caranya, Penjelasan Kepada Isu Semasa Yang Diperkatakan. Kuala Lumpur: JAKIM.

Phillips, John Arul. (1997). Pengajaran Kemahiran Berfikir: Teori dan Amalan. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publication & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

Qutb, Sayyid Muhammad. (1972). Tafsir fi Zilal al-Quran. Kaherah: Dar al-Syuruq.

Salasiah Abd. Wahab. (2001). Madonna, Pascamoden dan Kebudayaan Popular. Jurnal YADIM, 2.

Shaharom TM Sulaiman. (2001). Budaya Hiper dan Ekstasi Gaya Hidup Remaja Dalam Era Siber. Jurnal YADIM, 2.

Syafawani Mohd Hashim & Wan Fariza Alyati Wan Zakaria. (2020). Ancaman Ideologi Keganasan: Faktor-Faktor Penglibatan Masyarakat Malaysia Dalam Kumpulan Daesh. Journal of Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities, 23 (1), 111-127.

Tabarah, Afif Abd. Fatah. (1992). Ruh al-Din al-Islami. Terj. Md. Akhir Yaacob. Kuala Lumpur: Bahagian Hal Ehwal Islam Jabatan Perdana Menteri.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary. (1990). Edisi Baru. New York: Oxford University Press.

Woods, John & Walton, Douglas. (1974). Informal Logic and Critical Thinking. Education, 95:1, 84-86.

Zainoriah Kadri. (2015). Elemen Pemikiran Kritis Menurut Perspektif al-Quran: Kajian Surah al-Rum. Tesis Kedoktoran Jabatan Akidah dan Pemikiran Islam, Universiti Malaya.

• Full Text (PDF)

How to Cite

• Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)

Copyright (c) 1970 Noraini Junoh, Abdul Manam Mohamad, Zanirah Mustafa@Busu, Nor Asmira Mat Jusoh

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .

The copyright of this article will be vested to author(s) and granted the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license , unless otherwise stated.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

• AHMAD MURSHIDI MUSTAPHA, Noraini Junoh, Abdul Manam Mohamad, Metodologi Penyusunan Kitab Hujjah Allah al-Balighah Karya Shah Wali Allah al-Dihlawi (1703-1762M) , ‘Abqari Journal: Vol. 27 No. 1 (2022): Journal of Islamic Social Sciences and Humanities

Similar Articles

• Wan Mohd Fazrul Azdi Wan Razali, Mohd Rosmizi Abd Rahman, Jaffary Awang, Muslim Heritage in Religionswissenschaft: , ‘Abqari Journal: Vol. 4 (2014): Al-'Abqari

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Journal Specification

Open Access Policy

Al-Abqari is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access.

Information

• For Readers
• For Authors
• For Librarians

Abqari Journal, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai. Negeri Sembilan. Malaysia. Email : [email protected]

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Download Free PDF

Islamic Critical Thinking: An Analysis of Its Significance Based on The Al-Quran and Scholarly Views

‘Abqari Journal

Critical thinking is a very important intellectual tool that could help a person form arguments, determine the credibility of sources, analyse presumptions or make decisions in various contexts. Hence, this study intended to examine the Western and Islamic critical thinking concepts as well as its significance according to the al-Quran and the views of scholars. The library research method was used extensively for collecting and analysing data, which was sourced from literature by philosophers, psychologists and Islamic scientists, especially those involved in the cognitive field. The conceptual framework was built using the content analysis method. According on the analysis, the importance of Islamic critical thinking based on the al-Quran and views of scholars in the cognitive field were extensively elaborated to assist in the practice of Islamic critical thinking.  The study found similarities and differences between Islamic and Western critical thinking. The similarities are fro...

Related papers

Journal of Islamic Studies, Prince of Songkla University, 2021

Objective This research aims at the constructing a basic perspective on critical thinking in line with Islamic principles with a brief explanation of such principles. Methodology This study uses exegetical methods, by studying the relevant parts of the religious texts and systemizing the information in a critical way. Research findings The research demonstrates that the principles for constructing an Islamic critical thinking perspective are found in the primary sources of Islam. The knowledge ‫;العلم(‬ al-'ilm) makes the core of Islamic critical thinking, and means of such knowledge are the revelation ‫;الوحي(‬ al-wahy), the use of senses ‫اس(‬ ‫;احلو‬ al-hawas), intellect (reason and heart, ‫القلب‬ ‫و‬ ‫;العقل‬ al-aql wa al-qalb), historical experience or testimony (‫السياحة‬ ‫ا‬ ‫الشهادة‬ ‫و‬ ; al-siyahah aw al-shidah), and meditating on the natural and physical world ‫;الكون(‬ al-kaun). There are other means such as prophetic dreams ‫الصادقة(‬ ‫;الرؤاي‬ al-ruya al-sadiqah), insight ‫اسة(‬ ‫;الفر‬ al-firasah), illumination (‫;املكاشفة‬ al-mukashafah), and inspiration (‫االهلام‬ ;al-ilham), though they are dismissed to account for any scholarly opinion or position and thus they remain non-binding according to Shariah. However, they can be a gift of a genius mind that is extraordinarily critical, helping such minds in understanding and creativity. Critical thinking includes using many human faculties and the Quran frequently emphasizes contemplation ‫;التفكر‬ al-tafakur), reflection ‫;التدبر(‬ at-tadabbur), understanding ‫;التفقه‬ at-tafaqquh), and reasoning ‫;التعقل(‬ at-taakul); and these concepts are the foundations of critical thinking which could be developed and elaborated in many ways. Applications The need of having an Islamic construction of critical thinking is because of the special worldview of Islam and its conception of knowledge which treats revelation ‫;الوحي(‬ al-wahy) as the primary source of belief and knowledge. The findings of the study can be useful in fashioning a basic curriculum for critical thinking for Islamic educational institutions.

Islamic approach to critical thinking is based on the sources of belief and knowledge in Islam and the scholarly attitude of Muslims throughout history in the major subjects of inquiry in Islamic studies and the subjects which come under the humanities, social sciences, and pure sciences. To be a critical thinker especially when informal logical fallacies are addressed a person should be aware about what could be classified as knowledge and the reliable means of knowledge. In the following sections of the chapter the sources of knowledge in Islam are discussed. Furthermore, it has been shown how the Quran treats critical thinking and why there is a need of having an Islamic perspective on informal logical fallacies.

"Critical Thinking: An Islamic Perspective, by Muhammad Mumtaz Ali, published by the Thinker's Library in 2008, explores "critical thinking" within the context of the Islamist revivalist movement. At 168 pages, the book consists of an Introduction and five chapters. Upon closer inspection, however, the book turns out to be more of a critique of 'modernist,' 'moderate,' and 'liberalist' Muslims than an inquiry into the meaning of critical thinking, from the Islamic perspective.

central position of CT from the Islamic perspectives, also to serve as reference material to both teachers and students of knowledge.

FITRAH:Jurnal Kajian Ilmu-ilmu Keislaman

The purpose of this study is to find out how to apply critical thinking in 21st century learning in Islamic Education at SMPN 5 Gunung Talang, Solok. This research is a field research with qualitative descriptive methods. Based on research on the application of critical thinking in 21st Century learning in Islamic Education. The application of critical thinking is seen from the ability of students when thinking critically, students are more active and eager to ask questions, discuss in solving a problem or finding solutions to those problems

Academia Letters, 2021

This study investigated the experiences of students about online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan’s Higher Education. The researcher scheduled six semi-structured interviews to gather the data. The researcher coded and analyzed the data using N Vivo. The study found that students did not experience useful online learning amid the COVID-19 and they encountered several challenges in their learning. The study suggests that higher education leaders and policymakers should develop and introduce an online learning platform that is practically used to boost students’ engagement and learning outcomes.

Revista Bíblica, 2024

The French philosopher Mehdi Belhaj Kacem on the pandemic, the radicalism of the yellow vest movement, his infamous break with Alain Badiou and how to think outside the university. I sat down with French philosopher Mehdi Belhaj Kacem who the late David Graeber praised as one of the most important philosophers living today. In this interview, we discuss Kacem’s reading habits, what inspires him in the world of thought, how he derived his philosophical concepts, what qualifies as truly radical in our age and why he broke up with his former mentor Alain Badiou. Kacem is, similar to Giorgio Agamben, a major critic of the way the ruling class is managing the pandemic and he is not shy to share his views. In this wide-ranging conversation, we catch a glimpse of a deeply inventive and creative mind, and we get advice for how to do philosophy outside of conventional institutions. This interview was conducted on Thursday December 9th, 2021, by Daniel Tutt. Translation and interpretation assistance provided by Saad Boutayeb. A podcast of this discussion, including a post-interview conversation with Kacem, has been released with English translations by the Jouissance Vampires podcast.

Historia de la filosofía con rostro filosófico. Treinta y cinco aniversario del Seminario, 2024

Studies in the Novel, 2024

Archeologia di un suburbio ostiense. Il quartiere fuori porta Marina, 2023

Tarih İçin Metodoloji, Ed. Ahmet Şimşek, Ankara: TTK, 2022

Éditions Octopus, 2023

Borneo engineering, 2022

2007 IEEE Symposium on Visual Analytics Science and Technology, 2007

British Journal of Ophthalmology, 1987

Brain Stimulation, 2019

Frontiers in Immunology, 2022

Przegląd zachodni

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Jump to navigation

Should Muslims Be Critical Thinkers?

Many adults who were raised by Muslim parents were taught not to question authority. Inquiries like “Why do I have to clean my room?” were most likely met with inflexible responses like, “Because I said so.” 

Many of us quickly learned it was unwise to demand a better explanation. Unquestioning obedience might seem like an Islamic principle due to the faith’s emphasis on honoring parents and following Divine command, but is it really? Can Muslims simultaneously be sincere believers and critical thinkers?  

First, let us define what is meant by “critical thinking.” According to one comprehensive definition, “Critical thinking might be described as the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. In essence, critical thinking requires you to use your ability to reason. It is about being an active learner rather than a passive recipient of information. Critical thinkers rigorously question ideas and assumptions rather than accepting them at face value. They will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the entire picture and are open to finding that they do not. Critical thinkers will identify, analyze and solve problems systematically rather than by intuition or instinct.” 1   

Rigorously questioning ideas and assumptions is the opposite of blind obedience. But does Islam require believers to obey blindly? May we question our parents’ commands? What about our Creator’s? 

Regarding our parents, Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi writes:

“Obedience to parents is not always obligatory. It is common to hear preachers talk about “obedience” as a part of Islamic teachings. However, it is important to note that the primary term the Quran uses is not “ṭā'ah” (obeying) but rather “birr” (being kind to one's parents). In fact, kindness to one's parents is NOT the same as obedience. One must always try one's best to be kind at all times, but one is not obliged to obey each and every command, especially if that command involves the rights of others or is of no direct relevance to the parent.” 2

In other words, we are allowed to think critically about our parents’ requests. If they infringe on others’ rights or have nothing to do with our parents’ wellbeing, we may kindly deny them.

What about our religion and our Creator? May we even think critically about them? Let us remember that critical thinking does not mean criticizing . It means questioning, evaluating, seeking proof, and reflecting deeply. This mindset is, in fact, encouraged by God,who urges us to use our intellect to ponder His creation: 

“Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you might use reason.”  (Quran 2:242)  “Man should reflect on what he was created from.”  (Quran 86:5)

Only when we are convinced that Allah is our Creator, Islam is our religion, and Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is our Prophet, can we obey and worship fully. Our hearts will not be in true submission until our brains have been satisfied. For this reason, each Muslim must seek to understand the deen, clarify his/her own misconceptions, and find answers to any questions that are prohibiting full compliance to Allah’s will. 

In an article that Tom Bassanoof, Ph.D. wrote for IslamiCity: “Critically thinking means suspending previous predetermined evaluation along with anger . . . Your critical thinking capabilities would make you a more efficient and creative Muslim person.” 3

That said, here are four reasons to encourage critical thinking in our children:

1. We want our kids to be able to question, analyze, and respectfully debate what they’re learning in school. 

If something their teacher says contradicts Islam, or stereotypes Mulsims, or even, more generally, is incorrect information, we want our children to be able to identify it, speak up respectfully, and not accept everything they are taught as pure fact. 

2. Our children should be able to assess their peers’ statements and separate fact from fiction.  

Gullible people–which includes many kids of an impressionable age– tend to believe whatever their friends tell them.  If we can instill critical thinking skills early on, our children will be more likely to think clearly and independently. 

3. Today’s youth need to be able to analyze what they see on TV and social media. 

Kids are inundated with information all day long. Parents won’t always know what their children are being exposed to, so arming them with critical thinking skills will help them carefully evaluate what they see and hear. 

4. If they have not questioned the faith of their upbringing and claimed it enthusiastically, is it really theirs? 

It is one thing to be raised in a Muslim family, swallowing whatever is spoon-fed to you. It is another to ask yourself what you believe, why you believe it, and whether you intend to practice it willingly as an adult. Without critical thinking skills, how will young adults be able to grapple with the big philosophical questions, look to Islam for answers, and then embrace it wholeheartedly for themselves?  

As Muslims, we have been given the perfect faith, designed by Allah. We have nothing to fear from critical thinking because logic and reason are compatible with Islam. A sincere questioning person will find satisfying answers in the Quran, Sunnah, and scholarly explanations. Should we obey Allah wholeheartedly and completely? Of course. But should we obey blindly? No. We should obey with our eyes wide open to why we are doing it. Critical thinking will enable our minds and hearts to be equally at ease as we submit to our Creator. 

1 https://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-thinking.html

2 ttps://twitter.com/YasirQadhi/status/1363857765169561603

3 https://www.islamicity.org/22420/importance-of-critical-thinking/

Laura El Alam is a freelance writer and editor and a first-generation American Muslim. She is the author of over 100 published articles and has written a children’s book, Made From the Same Dough , due to be released in 2023, inshaAllah. A wife and mother of five, Laura lives with her family in Massachusetts. You can visit her online at www.seaglasswritingandediting.com .

Add new comment

• Adam's World
• Islamophobia
• Join Webinars!

Our Mission

Cultivate harmony among neighbors through art, media, strategic communication, and education.

The vision of Sound Vision is to establish peace, justice, fairness, and equity in the world.

Follow us on social media

Our programs.

•   Zakat Calculator
•   Give Online
•   Free Newsletter Sign Up
•   Download Adam's World App
•   Contact Us
•   Sign In