The Nahda is the intellectual progress because the thought is what defines the point of view toward life, and this basis will serve as the foundation for man’s behavior in this life. In the absence of this fundamental thought, the Ummah will decline. Thus, the revival does not refer to the material objects or the circumstances but refers to the human being, his behavior, and his nature. Once this intellectual revival occurs, it will result in material progress in areas such as industry, science, and technology. The mere existence of such material progress is not necessarily an indication of the intellectual progress.
The feeling associated with the revival is not a physical or material feeling like the pain that a person feels when afflicted with a physical injury, but an intellectual feeling akin to the pain which a Muslim feels when he sees a person committing a haram. The human being manifests three type of sensation or feeling: the physical or material sensation caused by external factors such as fire; the instinctive sensation that results from one of the instincts or organic needs such as the sensation of hunger or sexual desire; and the intellectual sensation such as feeling of the grave consequences of Kufr. While the first two types are common to some degree between the human being and the animal, the third type exists only in the human being and, more importantly, is a manifestation of the intellectual revival.
The human being is not born with this intellectual sensation but acquires it through adopting specific thoughts towards man, life, and the universe, based on total intellectual conviction. The more this conviction is instilled in the individual, the more the individual will build corollary thoughts toward life which will gradually establish themselves more firmly until they become concepts for that individual. Such an individual will see the reality of these concepts as well as their connection with the fundamental thoughts, and the intellectual sensation results from such a process.
However, if the fundamental thought is adopted emotionally or though superficial information, then it will fail to produce this consistent intellectual sensation. The sensation of such an individual could be physical, instinctive, or an inconsistent intellectual sensation that mirrors the inconsistency of his thoughts because of the influence of other thoughts hidden beneath the layer of superficial Islamic thought he carries. For example, if the person believes in Maslahah, his feeling will be based on it. If he believes in Capitalism, his feeling will reflect the Capitalist thought he carries.
And if he carries no thought at all, he will manifest a haphazard pattern of feeling. Should such individuals mix Islam with all of these external thoughts, then the sensation or feeling will sometimes reflect Islam and at other times reflect something else.
Islam places a special emphasis in establishing this intellectual sensation among Muslims.
The Qur’an orders Muslims to take their Aqeedah in an intellectual manner through extensive research in order for the Iman to produce its results, among them the intellectual sensation and the Islamic way of thinking. Allah (swt) says: "Beautified for men is the love of things they covet: women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world’s life; but Allah has the excellent return with Him." [TMQ 3:14] In this ayah, Allah (swt) states that the intellectual sensation takes precedence above the material sensation regarding the beauty. The ayah mentions that the beauty of the Iman, which can be felt only by the Muslim, is much higher than the material beauty which can be felt by all people.
In another ayah, Allah (swt) illustrates the distinction between the intellectual sensation and the other types of sensation when He mentions regarding the act of shirk:
"The shirk is a great oppression." [TMQ 31:13] The physical or instinctive feeling may cause the person to sense the physical oppression which deprives their basic rights or abuses them. However, Allah (swt) in this ayah is directing the Muslims to look to things from the Islamic perspective, which would lead to the realization that associating anything with Allah (swt) in any aspect of Tawheed, whether in the creation, in obedience, or in submission, is far greater than any other type of physical or instinctive oppression.
Only Muslims who believe in Islam can feel the seriousness of this type of oppression.
The Prophet (saaw) built this type of intellectual sensation based on the Iman among the Sahabah. It was reported in a hadith that the Prophet (saaw) one day asked his Sahabah, "Do you know who is bankrupt?" They answered, "The bankrupt from among us is the one who does not have money or belongings." In response, the Prophet (saaw) replied, "The bankrupt from my Ummah is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment with Salat, Zakat, and fasting, yet he is coming while he used to abuse this person or beat that person or take the money of the others. These people will start taking from his hasanat (good deeds). And if his hasanat are extinguished before he can fulfill his dues towards them (those he abused), then some of their sayyi’at (bad deeds) would be taken from them and given to him. Then he will be thrown into the Hell-Fire." While the people in general may view bankruptcy in the material sense and feel it as such, the Muslim, after reading this hadith, will look to bankruptcy from a different perspective and will sense its severity.
An extensive survey of the situation of the Ummah shows that the Muslims either lost this intellectual sensation or possess it in a very distorted context. As a result, Muslims cannot feel the severity or magnitude of any critical issue. Any feeling that exists towards such issues will primarily consist of instinctive or material feelings as a result of sensing some tangible or material effect of such an issue. For example, Muslims would feel the issue of occupation of any Muslim land only if the occupation resulted in oppression of Muslims, influx of refugees, killing and raping of Muslims, or other material effects. However, if the occupiers respected the "individual rights" of Muslims, and Muslims prospered under their occupation, then the masses would be heedless towards the gravity of the occupation.
How the Muslims feel the decline also illustrates the lack of intellectual sensation in the Ummah.
Material parameters such as poverty, illiteracy, the spread of disease, the prevalence of technological backwardness, and the oppression of the ruler and his regime, govern the feeling of the Muslims towards the decline. Thus, when Muslims debate the issue of revival, the debate would focus on the end result of the decline. As a result, Muslims present their solutions towards the decline from a material perspective which deals only with these outward symptoms of the decline, such as removing the ruler without changing the system, opening schools, increasing the standard of living, or preaching morals. Such an approach is superficial because a person does not need a high level of sensation to feel the material manifestations of the decline, nor does he require an intellectual capacity to realize the existence of such symptoms in the Ummah. If Muslims concentrate their efforts in dealing with these symptoms by suggesting solutions thinking that they are the problems, they will soon realize that all of their efforts dedicated to this end are in vain.
However, if a person sensed the decline in the correct way based on the decline of the thinking level, the absence of the Islamic way of thinking, the lack of the common awareness, and the absence of any common idea that can bind Muslims, this individual will realize that the problem is much deeper than the poverty, the illiteracy, or even the occupation.
Whatever remains of the intellectual sensation became distorted due to the existence of conflicting ideas among the Muslims. For example, some may think that a problem exists in the "occupation" of Iran to some Arab-dominated lands, or a similar problem exists in the "occupation" of Turkey to some Arab-dominated territories in the country’s southern regions. In addition, some may sense the Pakistani existence in Bangladesh as a problem. The sensation that exists among such individuals is heavily influenced by Nationalism. On the other hand, those who look to the people as Muslims would not concern themselves with what regime controls which territory inhabited by Muslims because none of these regimes rule by Islam. Thus, a Muslim would not waste his or her time lobbying for any of these regimes but would work to address the setup of the society, including the regimes themselves.
In conclusion, the real crisis facing the Muslim Ummah is an intellectual crisis. No one will feel the magnitude of such a crisis except those who possess this Islamic intellectual sensation. Those who possess this type of sensation will see and feel things that the rest of the masses fail to notice. The Prophet (saaw) described the situation of such individuals who hold onto Islam in all aspects, intellectually as well as emotionally, by saying: "Islam started as strange, and it will return as a stranger." These two outcomes the lack of the public awareness in the Ummah, and the absence of the intellectual sensation are the two most dangerous consequences of neglecting the Islamic way of thinking because they are spearheading the decline of the Ummah.
InshaAllah, the next article will explore the historical factors which resulted in the absence of the Islamic thinking, as well as address the characteristics of the correct Islamic method of thinking.