Hamdard Islamicus _ Vol. XXIII, No. 1 | The Role of Critical Thinking in Islam i Yedullah Kazmi i Departinent of Bévestion, International Islamic Unive "To be critical is to tx to understand the world "To understand is to find reasons why things are the way they ate. The world becomes our world only when ‘we understand it by throwing a grid of meaning over | it We make the world meaningful, in other words, | through the process of eoiiication. There are several | ways of coding and decoding the world and making it our world. Musical sounds, shapes ana forms of plastic arts and human gestures formalized in dance, artificial Tanguage of mathematica and the natura) language of spoken and written words axe allforine af coding the meaningfuluess of our world. But, if to be estical isto understand (decode) the world, it is also to go beyond the given meanings in an sttempt to create new rmeqnings (coding) in all the different ways, Inuman beings can create meanings end therefore change'the ‘world. And in es much as we are part of the worl, any cage in he ‘world includes change in ws. Hence, to ho exticl into find and give reasons for why ‘Shings-ae the way they are, {Lis also part of belog critica) f-ack why wo and the world as well can not be-atherwise, Both coding and decoding or nderstanding-and creation of meaning _ativo ‘There iy therefore, ever an element of utopia in a cvtique. A criliqne iva way of loking beyond what sta what could be but is not, A critique is, in other ‘words, an exercise that prepares us to go beyond the given world to a world that has net yet comme to pass; ‘a world waiting just beyond the horizon for those who + venture to go further than mest, Furthermore, a critique is predicated onthe freedom that the dilectical tension between is and is not, between what has come to be and what ie possible, necessarily creates. And it is the tension between how Uhings are and how hey Jalen Comba, §9100, Koafe Lumpur, Malaysia can be that gives ertique its estcal edge. To put ita litte differently, it i not possible to be ertial without the utopian imagination, to imagine how Uhings can be otherwic. The utapian cloment suggests yot another aspect of eritiquo, Ibis not a destructive ae, but rather an expression of he creative impulse that forever Iabours to give life and the world a new meaning. And in ae much asa critique aims to give new and different meaning to life i is socal in its content. Hence it ie ation, although there may be an element of that too; which is at the core of critique, And if critique ie a necessmy moment in understanding our world then understanding presupposes an active engagement with the world non every Muslim fy fo understand it, Since there is an immeasurable depth of meaning in each &yah of ‘the Qur'an, we have been asked to rehearse or read it often, The reading of tho Qur'an i not merely an act af piety undertaken to enhance one’s spsituality, but alo, although not divorced from the former, on intellectual exercise engaged in to understand the Quran, as one would any other deep and profound book that requires constant and continuous struggle to comprehend the fall scope of meaning contained in its pages. Honce an ostensibly, even beguilingly simple line of the Qur'an like “He Who taught (The use of) practical not poetic imag ‘the Pen is not a sit alLif- chooses to tect ov whidh wear equted to do afer all The bility touse the penis the ability townite, The ability to write isn ability sits limited to writing only thet which has already been written. Copying js not, in the full sense of the word, yally writing. ‘the tru meaning of the ability to write lies in the direction of being able fovwnite what has not been written before and to rewrite mnHamdard Istamicus id amend what he been written, It is the ability to go heyond the given, to go beyond that which ‘alveady is, that which already has been written. The, use of the pen, in other words, symbolizes the Divine use of the pen, in other words, symbolizes the Divine HR of being creative in all the aspests possible for Thumons to be creative io, but above all in the field of ‘eowledge, For, afterall, going beyond what already ie, isa creative act, And ifthe ability to 18 been defined as a critical activity thon Allah, by Jeaching us the use of the pen, has indeed endawed us with the faculty co be critical and expects us to uae it Isis thio faculty that differentiates us from animale on the one hand and angels, on the other, And because we ean go beyond, but more tly, because itis our déstiny nay our duty to go beyond that we can so fatally go wrong. Thus, although we are unigue (made from the best of mould)" in the sense of being the only, exeetures fo whom Allah gave the gift of freedom to be! critical and hence creative, vet: in this freedom is the tub which makes mortals of us all, While free to choose! we-can make a wrong choice, while figa’tthink and | "reflect we eon make on ena in thinking. Bit. not to | think fo fer of making a mistake so give up learning! ‘end developing. The refusal to think for fear of making’ & mistake is slso to ignore Allah's constént reminder in the Qur’dn that Ho is off forgiving and kind to those who, learning from their mistakes, repent. Allah is all too well aware of human frailty and fragility. He” made us thus, Not to rely on His kindness is to fail to acknowledge that His countless blessings are for usin order te develop as human beings ‘The correct view would be to regard human fragility as that which makes for human drama. In other words, human fragility is not a limit to human ‘growth and development but rather the very eondition for human development and transcendence, Neither the snimals nor the angels are expected to perform a6 humans are; only humans are judged and tested, no ‘one else is. Te this not why no one but man took the wiantle of being hunnan? Not to think and reflect and be critical or fear of making a mistake, therefore, have serious consequences for human beings. Not to exorcise what Allah has given us is to reject Tis blessings, 28 We ‘Vol. XXIM, No. ‘whic jn turn means rejecting Allah's plans for us, A.crtique pre-supposes « norm to judge the given by and to g6 boyond it, Allah gave a general universal norm in the very first aya that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (P.5.1L), “Read in the name of God...” Ibis very significant that Allah, in this yah, is not commariding us to read just the name of God but rather to read in the name of God, ie. read in the. Jight of the revealed norm. In reading only His name there is na growth in kmewledge or development, hence ‘no room ar need for critique because no call to go beyond. There is just mute contemplation and worship of Allal that angele axe engaged in from eternity to ‘The Qur'an repeatedly invites us to understand the signs (ayot) of Allah, Now, itis in the nature of a ‘ign that it has to be interpreted. Which isto say that the meaning of a sign can not be read off the face of the sign, Had the meaning been abvious, and cleasly apparent would there be any need in the Qui’dn for the constant refrain, “why don't they understand the signe"? In other words, the act of understanding is nat 4 simple and a relatively passive act of grasping a meaning hich is out there, like reaching out and grasping an object with your hand, Rather, to understand the meaning of a sign is a critical and a ‘creative act. The coming to understand the meaning of sim, in other words, isa hormeneutical activity where the meaning of a sign is understood in the context of , the meaning athe whole of which itis a peré.and the ‘meaning af the whelo ie underetood with reference to ‘the meaning of a particular sign, Thie jo a continuous ‘and an unending process which, in the movement from the particular to the general end back, keeps raising the question regarding the appropriateness of the ‘suggested meaning, In raising the question regarding the appropriateness of meaning the hermeneutical circle performs @ critical function, Tt is eritieal in questioning the appropriateness of the accepted, of the taken for granted meaning. Tt is in the natyre of the hermentastical circle to g0 on explori ew meanings and in the Pee caer the old settled meanings. The appiGpriateness of meaning therefore, Polmone nin,XO, No. lane for ws. age the ivan vol universal vealed to the | the name of in this ayah, same of God road in he ly His name snent, hence | call to go and worship + eternity to understand nature of a 5 to say that P the face of ‘and clearly » Qur'an for cerstand the nding is not grasping a ng out and Rather, to itical and a aneaning of livitsshere econtext of art and the ‘ference to coe ement rom epee vss of the ‘reguding rae critical in| niea,orene | oe 1d seuled ‘therfore, Hamdard Islamicus can never be decided and determined ence and for al It should be noted that in trying to understand the moaning of signs of Allah their veracity is never in oubt. One does nat, therefore, raise validity aims against what is being said in tho Qur'dn. ‘The question js never whether what the Qur'din says is true or not, ‘bat rather how to underotand the truth of whish the Quian_speaks. Hence, the entire hermeneutical exercise is aimed not at determining the trath or falechood af the Qurinie claims but st trying to cundeéstand their inherent truth. Jn other wards, the norm that. suides the activity of understanding isthe ‘poliof that the words of the Quis fcom ‘lab and hence thoir ruth ean never be doubted One reads, as was noted earlier, in the name of Allah Inb for the meanings that would be appropriate to the truth, Meanings then are the means by.which the trath is grasped. ‘Now each one of us makes sense of the world around us with the help of a structure of meaning ‘which we possess by virtue of being-in-the-word. It a structure which, although we are near fully conscious ff, yet always asstume in every act of understanding ‘Pho structure of meaning, hoveves, is ot a vigid to underatand the signs, therefare, one looks at Vol. XXTIT, No. 1 of my understanding furthermore has a direct{ cortelation with the seope of my lived reality. In other words, the structure of meaning while making it possible for mé to understand anything aleo defines the horizon of my lived reality, \ith every act of understanding comething new the horizon of my lived ealty a Only when the sign is meaningfully grasped that it is possible for its truth to become part of my lived reality, Hero an example will be helpful. Suppose father or a teacher tells a child that the sum of three aneles of @ triangle is equal {9 two right angles. The child, out of the person making the claitn, accepts it as true, but it is a truth which he never- theless does not understand, because it is not made ‘meaningful to him. To grasp the truth ie to understand hhow itis that the sum of three angles of a triangle is ‘equal to two right angles, And it 3e the task of the porson teaching to make that whieh is opaque, transparent, i.e, make meaningful that, which is meaningless. Naw to make someone_understand nor rathe ee fom what Ho/she alseady-knows,i.e, his/her sbruchure of meaning. jing_someone wuriderstand is but-a process by which the learner, with Struotare. Every time something ney is undersipod ‘the structure changes in order to odate and ‘similate . The degree of change hovover depend Sh how different is that which is added. In other words, 1 wl fait ta understand that which ieotaly allen to ny structure of meaning. In that case the structure ‘wil remain unchanged, Similarly, tT grasp that which fs identical with what I already know then no new tnderstanding ‘would have taken place and the structure will remain unchanged. Hence, these two ‘extremes mark the range of lexibility ofthe strveture. ‘This structure of meaning is part of my lived realty, The notion of “Tived reality’ refers to the conérete reality in which I find myself situated. Other then social and historical parameters “lived reality" situatedness includes such things as the level of my ‘understanding, my interests and motives and reasons for understanding and acting in the world, The level thi help-of what chethe already knows, is made to ‘understand what she/he oss not_knaw. It is like someone taking a few steps back in arder to. leap forward, And having understood the new with the help of the old both the lived reality and the old meaning structure undergo change in the process. In other ‘words, for the child to understand the exiom of ‘geometzy the explanation has to be appropriate to biel her lived reality. And as the understanding changes, ‘the child’s level and nature of appropriateness for any subsequent event of interpretation and understanding also changes. ‘What qmphaticelly underscores ie the situateduess (understanding. Not, however, in the sense ‘understanding is limited to a specific situation and hence the implication that understanding is relative ‘0 that situation, but rather inthe sense that situation count ef unde 7 29