Contemporary Muslim Society

Contemporary Muslim Society Now, consider Muslim society. In the present era, the process of intellectual evolution among Muslims has almost come to a standstill. The primary reason for this stagnation is the dominance of imitative thinking (taqlidi), while the practice of independent reasoning (ijtihadi) has been abandoned, and treated almost as a vice to be avoided. Generally, there is a widespread belief that all knowledge and research have already been accomplished by the scholars of the past (salaf). The prevailing notion is that our only task is to read their books and follow their conclusions. However, this mindset creates a permanent obstacle to intellectual progress. Muslims today face two possible approaches in their way of thinking: 1. “My stature is lesser than that of my predecessors, but I stand upon their shoulders.” 2. “My stature is smaller than that of my predecessors, and therefore, I lie at their feet.” The first approach represents the ijtihadi way of thinking, which leads to continuous intellectual progress. In a community where this intellectual tradition exists, each generation fully respects its predecessors but uses their achievements as a foundation to advance further. This ensures continuous growth and progress. In contrast, the other school of thought is based on blind imitation, restricting the intellectual progress of Muslims at a certain point. This approach has two disadvantages simultaneously. First, it deprives such individuals of reaching the higher intellectual levels of religious truth. Second,