Contemporary Muslim Scholars Research Articles

Imam Al-Shafi'i's Thought About Human Obligations and Rights in Islamic Law

Human rights are issues that are always discussed and have not provided a single understanding. This article aimed to analyze human rights from the perspective of the Imam school of thought by using the analysis of the thought of Imam Al-Shafi'i. This research was qualitative using the library research method based on data management obtained from several pieces of literature. Furthermore, this research used a normative approach by adapting several books of Imam Al-Shafi'i. The research found that human obligations and rights in Islamic law, according to Imam Al-Shafi'i, became an inseparable unit. Muslims must be far back to see the birth history and the development of human obligations and rights. As is meant by Imam Al-Shafi'i, human right is a fundamental thing, and it is worth fighting for social beings. His thinkers about human rights can be seen in some of his works, such as Al-Umm and Al-Risālah. These works are very outside for those who want to learn about human rights. The work and application of human rights imposed by Imam Al-Shafi'i are not much different from what is explained by several figures of human rights thinkers who come from the West. It was as the author found a match in his application after seeing the development of human rights thought from several figures. It is expected that contemporary Muslim scholars prioritize the issue of human obligations and rights in providing legal solutions to Muslims.

COSMOLOGY IN ISLAM, CONSTRUCTING ISLAMIZATION OF NATURE SCIENCE

Cosmology is one of the philosophical and scientific objects that become attention in Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle. However, with the times, this cosmology was found in The Qur’an, exactly in the concept of the sky and earth creation which was written and explained by the creator Himself. Then, Islamic scholars and philosophers come up with this issue and choose it as a medium in constructing Islamic science or Islamization of Nature Knowledge that faces fundamental basic deconstruction, so it causes the epistemological flaw in modern science’s body. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, as the inspirator for sacred science, popularize cosmology as one of Islamic science based on him. Past Muslim scholar, Al-Farabi, involved cosmology in integrating Islam and knowledge before. The interesting thing that will be solved in this article is how Muslim scientist, Fakhruddin Ar-Razi interprets creation signs as the source of cosmology in Islam, which leads this toward signs for thinkers. Not only, these cosmology concepts derived from contemporary Muslim scholars and philosophers will also explain the wisdom behind the creation of nature from its microcosmic and macrocosmic not only for increasing people’s faith nor sign but one of the main concepts of Islamization Nature Knowledge, because it is derived from main Muslim guidance, namely The Qur’an Al-Karim.

History and Jurisprudence of the Maqāṣid

This article, which was originally delivered as a keynote address at the AJIS symposium on “Theory and Uses of Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘a” in May 2021, begins with a review of the Qur’an and Sunna on the maqāṣid, followed by a similar review of the history of maqāṣid and salient contributors to its jurisprudence, while drawing attention to its prolonged marginalization in legal theory. The recent revival of maqāṣid in the latter part of the twentieth century is reviewed next, followed by a note on the special appeal of the maqāṣid, the end of their historical neglect, and a great deal of renewed interest by contemporary Muslim scholars. The relationship of uṣūl al-fiqh to maqāṣid has also been the subject of renewed interest, as to whether it is one of continued domination or one of complementarity between them. Then follows a section on the classification of maqāṣid, how they are appraised and prioritized in relationship to one another; and a review of methodological indicators that can help withthe appraisal and ranking of the maqāṣid and their application to new issues. The article concludes with an account of ijtihād maqāṣidi and its application to contemporary issues.

Rabbinic–Muslim jurisprudence in medieval Andalusia

This article shows that the first rabbinic work exclusively devoted to the field of jurisprudence, which was written in Judaeo-Arabic in eleventh-century Andalusia by Rabbi David ben Sa̔adya, involved a ‘dialogue’ with contemporary Muslim scholars. Indeed, some of the terms used in the work can only be understood in the context of contemporary Islamic legal terminology, with the author assuming that his readers were well aware of the principles of Islamic law. Of particular interest is the author’s use of Islamic jurisprudence to reinterpret biblical verses and Talmudic discourses. This work – hidden for centuries – was preserved in the Cairo Genizah.

Mapping out the Trajectory of Islamic Perspectives on Neuroethics

The advancements of medical technology incited multi-disciplinary discussions with regard to its ethical implications. Within the neuroscientific domain, the term ‘neuroethics’ has gained prominence over recent years. However, the contributions of religious perspectives in the nascent field of neuroethics are particularly few. The scarce literature on Islamic perspectives on neuroethics merely questioned its importance and introduced a sharia-based framework that can be implemented. Building upon this, the possible trajectories of Islamic perspectives on neuroethics can be mapped out by tapping into several issues within Islamic bioethics, such as cloning and genomics. Topics such as these are deliberated through the collective discussions by contemporary Muslim scholars and biomedical scientists, thus producing well-informed dialogues and decisions. Building upon these may assist in developing further the Islamic perspectives on issues within neuroethics. This lays the groundwork for all the stakeholders involved in advance, in order to predict and prevent potential harms and challenges.

Pengaruh Orientalis Goldziher dalam Studi Hadis Kontemporer di Indonesia

Goldziher is considered a pioneer of skeptical hadith studies among western and non-Muslim scholars. In addition to being widely followed, his thesis received refutation and rebuttal from western scholars themselves and contemporary Muslim scholars. This study aims to determine the influence of Goldziher's hadith thought in the developments of hadith studies in Indonesia and how the responses shown by hadith researchers to his thoughts. This research is a literature study whose main data source is e-articles of religious scientific journals in Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that there are 22 articles discussing the thought of Goldziher's hadith. This shows a fairly dominant and significant influence of Goldziher's hadith thought in the dynamics of contemporary orientalist hadith studies in Indonesia. The responses shown by Indonesian hadith scholars to Goldziher's hadith thought, can be categorized into four categories; Descriptive-Exploratory, (6 articles), Descriptive-Appreciative (2 articles), Descriptive-Comparative (12 articles) and Descriptive-Comparative-negative (2 articles). This response from the hadith reviewers in Indonesia can be a trigger for the process of synthesizing a new theory from the anti-theses of Goldziher's hadith thought and those who oppose it that still not clear from the hadith researchers in Indonesia.

Pemahaman Makna Hadits Tinjauan Tekstual dan Kontekstual

The understanding of the text of the hadith always experiences dynamics, not unlike in the paradigm of the interpretation of the Qur'an. The terms of textual and contextual understanding that have been echoed by contemporary Muslim scholars are only a mapping, not a model of a solution, this problem is still a problem that needs to be reviewed and developed again. This study opens up horizons about the meaning of hadith both textually and contextually

Menelisik Eksistensi Tuhan, Islam, dan Al-Qur’an Perpsektif Karen Armstrong

The discourse of this study is in the form of Karen Armstrong's thoughts about the existence of God, the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an, which began with her search for God by becoming a nun. In examining Armstrong's thinking, the writer uses a type of research library approach with descriptive-analysis method which is assisted by Hans George Gadamer's hermeneutic theory. The results of this study are in the form of an understanding that in Karen Armastrong's view of God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the Qur’an, in the process of searching for god, a sense of curiosity about Islam grows and gives rise to Armstrong's admiration for the Prophet Muhammad, whose ideas are seen in a early prophetic history while receiving revelations in the cave of Hira. God here is Allah in Islam, and the existence o the Prophet Muhammad as a representation of Islam, and the Qur’an as the holy book of Muslim that gives the mission of God.Armastrong's perspective expressed in his writings has implications for the religion of Islam, in the form of a contribution to the treasures of early understanding of God, Islam, and the Qur’an, to the development of the perspective of contemporary Muslim scholars.

Mafhūm al-Basāṭah inda Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah (HAMKA)

In modern life, humans in groups become two. First, the despicable human being due to exaggeration and Second, a despicable human being is caused to be too lacking. The two groups of humans could not put things in their place and were far from simplicity. To answer a problem above, researchers will examine the thinking of Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah or Hamka an important view in the study of contemporary Muslim scholars. This research wants to explain the concept of simplicity according to Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah and its importance to modern life. This research is a literature study (Library Research). Furthermore, researchers use descriptive methods and analytical methods. And also elaborate and analyze some of his thoughts with the Sufistical Approach. The researchers concluded that the simple concepts carried by Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah (Hamka) are "Istiqomah" (perpendicular in the middle) and "I'tidal". Simplicity in worship will draw near to God is a form of necessity. This also applies to daily activities.

Kritik Interpretasi Otoritatif: Studi Hermeneutika Khaled M. Abou El-Fadl

Interpretation on the Qur’an has faced stagnation for using textual paradigm in exploring the meaning of the Qur’an. Since then, the developing social problems can’t find the solutions from the Qur’an, even those are forced to apply the meaning of the Qur’an interpreted in classical context. In contemporary era, there is shifting paradigm in interpretation, which is not merely focused on textual meaning, but has started to seek for textual meaning of the Qur’an by using hermeneutics. However, a number of theories on hermeneutics show their subjectivism in relation with the ideas developed by contemporary Muslim scholars. This comes from their distinguished social and intellectual conditions, especially their concern in looking at their surrounding condition. Most of scholars in hermeneutics offered new theories focused on method of interpretation. Here, Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, an exponent on hermeneutics, offered his hermeneutical thought in criticizing the concept of authority in interpreting the Qur’an. This study aims to explain the ideas of Khaled M. Abou El Fadl in Hermeneutics and Islamic Law, his social and intellectual context as the background of his idea.

Islamisation Theories of Malay Culture: Issues and Responses

Interaction between Islamic teachings and cultures has resulted in the Islamisation of culture. The Malay culture was not an exception as Islam has transformed it into a Malay-Islamic culture. But it has raised questions on how Islamic teachings interacted with the indigenous culture before Islamising it and the degree of success of this process. These questions later on turned into a heated polemic, dividing the scholars into those who support the Islamisation of culture and those who oppose it. This study will look into the Islamisation theories of Malay culture deliberated by the orientalists and comparing them to the responses from contemporary Muslim scholars. It will be argued that both of these camps have opposing views regarding the basis of philosophical, sociological and historical theories in the Islamisation of culture. While the orientalist camp condemned it, Muslim scholars see it as a remarkable process in transforming the human culture.

Komparasi antara Konsep Syura dan Demokrasi dalam Politik Islam

This paper examines the concept of Shura and democracy in a normative manner and then in depth the interesting things in a comparative study. This study stems from a prolonged discussion among Muslim intellectual circles about the full picture of Islamic politics. In general, contemporary Muslim scholars and intellectuals make the concept of shura or deliberation as a principle in the study of Islamic politics. This could be the actualization of Islamic teachings by arguing that the democratic system is substantially in line with Islam and has become a major theme in the development of a civilized political system. The substantial values of democracy that are in line with Islam can be observed from the thinking of political experts. Whereas Islam as a universal religion includes the principles that support the establishment of democracy, namely the principles of justice, equality, equal rights and obligations before the law, pluralism, equalitiy, liberty and the principle of deliberation. However, implementatively these substantial values do not escape the tiring problems and discourse, which cannot be separated from the existence of Islam with comprehensive teachings in all aspects, in contrast to Western values based on secularism and freedom.

A Genealogical Analysis on the Concept and Development of Maqaṣid Syarī‘ah

Maqāṣid syarī‘ah has a tremendous urgency to the process of Islamic law’s adaptability and modernization, especially in response to the increasingly complicated and crucial human problems where the treasures of classical fiqh are no longer capable to answer them. This paper studies a genealogical analysis to answer the question about the origin of the concept of maqāṣid syarī‘ah by uncovering its embryo and genes of this completely new concept. It was library research employing discourse analysis. Primary and secondary sources of works from previous and contemporary Muslim scholars discussing maqāṣid were studied and analyzed using Gadamer’s hermeneutics. The study found that from the historical perspective, maqāṣid syarī‘ah did not just emerge at the time of al-Syaṭibi, but, based on empirical data, it had been present long before his time. The literature analysis on uṣūl fiqh concluded that the figures before al-Syaṭibi had developed some works that were actually in the area of the essential and substantial values of maqāṣid syarī‘ah, however, they presented them using other words and terms so that they were considered as not of maqāṣid syarī‘ah.

Philosophical hermeneutics and contemporary Muslim scholars’ approaches to interpreting scripture

Although the German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer was not a religious thinker or theologian, his work and approach have influenced thinkers in the field of theology. This article explores some ‘overlaps’ between Gadamerian hermeneutics and the ideas of some contemporary Muslim scholars such as Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Abdolkarim Soroush, Muhammad Mujtahed Shabestari and Hassan Hanafi regarding issues of textual interpretation and understanding. In particular, the article seeks to understand how such ideas have appeared in these Muslim scholars’ approaches to interpreting the Qurʾan. It also explores some of the implications that follow from incorporating Gadamer’s ideas into Islamic theological and political discourses. The article argues that the application of Gadamer’s hermeneutic philosophy to the realm of Qurʾanic studies is not only fruitful insofar as it provides new insights into the interpretation of the Qurʾan, but also has important consequences for Islamic theological and political discourses more broadly.

Fazlur Rahman’s Influence on Contemporary Islamic Thought

AbstractThis article examines the influence of Fazlur Rahman, one of the most widely quoted scholars among contemporary Muslim modernists, on contemporary Islamic thought. It explores how Rahman’s ideas about revelation and the interpretation of the Qurʾān have influenced some contemporary Muslim scholars of the late twentieth and early twenty‐first centuries, such as Abdolkarim Soroush, Arash Naraqi, Abdullah Saeed, Nurcholish Madjid, Farid Esack and Amina Wadud, and thus have given rise – whether directly or indirectly – to such schools of thought as Islamic liberation theology and feminist exegesis of the Qurʾān. The article also provides a critical evaluation the thought of Fazlur Rahman, and examines how its shortcomings have been rectified by his followers. The article ends with some recommendations to contextualist scholars about Qurʾānic justice and its relation with our contemporary understandings of justice.

Kontroversi Pemikiran Hadits Mahmud Abu Rayyah

This paper aims to analyze of Mahmoud Abu Rayyah’s thinking about hadith considered controversial. Although he is an East, but thought much in tune with the group the West. In between the opinions controversial is about standing of hadith that is different from the Sunnah, especially in the writing of hadith, dismantle of establishment equity theory of companions, and doubted the credibility of the companions of Abu Hurayrah. The whole of his opinion is eventually denied by some contemporary Muslim scholars. This paper concludes that the thought of Mahmud Abu Rayyah against hadith has many drawbacks, especially about the history of the writing of hadith and doubts against Abu Hurairah, which contradicts with his own opinion.

Evolution of Islamic Law in the 20th Century: The Conception of Collective Ijtihād in the Debate Between Muslim Scholars

Abstract In order to meet the demands of modern life and its complexities, Muslim scholars developed in the 20th century a new instrument of Islamic legal finding, namely al-ijtihād al-jamāʿī [collective independent legal reasoning (ijtihād)]. The latter serves at present as a basis for the technical work within various institutions of contemporary Islamic law, in particular the fiqh academies. This article examines collective ijtihād as a newly developed concept of modern Islamic Law. By focusing on discussions among contemporary Muslim scholars about this concept, I aim to outline certain theoretical characteristics and a methodological framework for collective ijtihād. Furthermore, this article describes positions taken by Muslim scholars concerning the legitimacy and the probative value (ḥujjiyya) of collective ijtihād.

Between Islamic Education Core Values and Character Building

The purpose of this study is to know the relation between Islamic education core values and character building. Islamic education has a value meaning with a very deep influence, as formulated from the Quran, As-Sunnah and leading contemporary Muslim scholars. The major basic principles of Islamic education core value to character building which are considered as very important in this contemporary Muslim world are knowledge, tawhid (Oneness of God), vicegerent of Allah, Taqwa or God-Fearing, and, effort to persuade good deeds and prohibit evil among subordinates and community. In fact, other principles are amanah (trust), justice, shura (consultation), brotherhood, moral and ethical behaviours, responsibility (trustworthiness), muhasabah (accountability) and motivation. Islamic education can cultivate positive perceptions and motivations, positive emotional responses, and can avoid stress reactions. Its special Islamic education core value is the tawhid (unity) which is the spiritual and material unity, the unity of body and soul, the unity of the world and the hereafter, and the unity of thought and action. Because individuals have different concepts of what is right, it is necessary to develop core values of Islamic education for character building. Method of this study is descriptive qualitative. Result of this study are Islamic education core values (Tawhid) is a process of inspiring and coaching voluntary followers in an effort to fulfil a clear as well as shared vision

An Unlikely Champion of Women’s Rights under Muslim Personal Law: Mawdūdi on the Anglo-Muhammadan Law

Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdūdi was one of the most renowned Muslim scholars of the 20th century. In addition to his portrayal as a gender insensitive / women unfriendly scholar, he is regarded as one of the founding fathers of political Islam in the modern era for developing a comprehensive political theory of Islam. Mawdūdi was a prolific writer who wrote on a wide array of subjects, although there are some areas in which his contributions have never attracted the academic attention they deserve. With this background, this paper analyzes Mawdūdi’s book Huquq al-Zawjayn written during the British Rāj which has generated debates in the post-colonial legal landscape of Pakistan about some important issues related to women’s rights in marriage. Mawdūdi expressed unflinching disapproval of his contemporary Muslim scholars for their parasitic imitation of the rules of fiqh and their hesitation to have recourse to the divine sources, that is, Qur’ān and Sunnah for ushering solutions of then prevalent religious and social vices. Additionally, he criticized sternly the British Raj and the byproduct of its legal apparatus in the domain of family law, that is, the Anglo-Muhammadan law. Consequently, Mawdūdi presented a model for Muslim personal law inspired by and reconstructed from Qur’ānic verses and sayings of the Holy Prophet (SAW).Keywords: , , , ,

Kontroversi Pemikiran Hadits Mahmud Abu Rayyah

This paper aims to analyze of Mahmoud Abu Rayyah’s thinking about hadith considered controversial. Although he is an East, but thought much in tune with the group the West. In between the opinions controversial is about standing of hadith that is different from the Sunnah, especially in the writing of hadith, dismantle of establishment equity theory of companions, and doubted the credibility of the companions of Abu Hurayrah. The whole of his opinion is eventually denied by some contemporary Muslim scholars. This paper concludes that the thought of Mahmud Abu Rayyah against hadith has many drawbacks, especially about the history of the writing of hadith and doubts against Abu Hurairah, which contradicts with his own opinion.