Issues of Ijtihad

THE ART OFCLEAR THINKING identify themselves with. Instead of responding to the matter pragmatically and adjusting accordingly, they view it in ideological terms and react emotionally, which only worsens the situation. In their personal affairs, these people are pragmatic and agree to make suitable adjustments in order to protect their interests, but when it is an issue of the community they identify with, they often become impractical and refuse to make the same sort of pragmatic adjustment. The reason for this difference in behaviour is a lack of intellectual awakening. The biggest weakness of present-day Muslims is lack of intellectual awakening. No movement has emerged among them that could engage in promoting their intellectual nurturing in the light of the principles of the art of right thinking. The outcome of this is that present-day Muslims are deprived of intellectual development. Many people are simply living at the animalistic level, knowing nothing about intellectual growth and the process of positive thinking. Result-Oriented Action The Prophet Moses appointed his brother Aaron to be responsible for the Children of Israel and went to Mount Sinai for some days. It so happened that, thereafter, the Children of Israel began worshipping a calf made of gold. Aaron tried to stop them, but seeing their insistence, he later kept silent. When Moses returned, he destroyed that golden calf, threw it away, and punished the culprits.