Theological Issues of Reform Discourse in the Muslim World: Ijtihad and Taqlid in Fundamentalism and Traditionalism

Abstract

From a semi-nomadic traditional society to a modern Kazakhstani society, which experienced violent Soviet modernization in the 20th century, the main condition for changing the identity of the main social components is decolonization and renewal of public consciousness. The task of this modernization is to get rid of archaic outdated ideas about human, society and the state, their interrelationships, obsolete traditions and customs, their rudiments and stereotypes in the national and religious mentality. However, at the same time, another unshakable principle of consciousness renewal is the unshakable preservation of the fundamental spiritual and moral values created during the historical development of the nation, that is, the religious and cultural code that forms the core of the national identity. These two trends need a scientifically based premise to find an effective balance between tradition and innovation. Therefore, consideration of the theological issues of the reformist discourse in the Muslim world, especially the analysis of the struggle between modernism and progressiveness that took place in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, leads us to the rise of the themes of ijtihad and taqlid in Islamic fundamentalism and traditionalism.