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Introduction
The main characteristic of the contemporary history of the
Islamic civilization is full-fledge confrontation and conflict between the
Islamic culture and the Western culture.[1]
However,
regrettably, in the field of research the confrontation between the two great
civilizations " Islamic and Western " is totally different. On the one hand, due
to the longstanding dictatorial governments, keeping the masses away from the
religious culture and confining the religious thought to the individual rites
and rituals, a static, disappointing atmosphere, devoid of any innovation,
permeates the Islamic World. On the other hand, due to the renaissance and
experiencing life in the ambiance of modernism, an atmosphere of creativity,
modernization, social activities, and inclination towards discovery and
domination of the unknown realms (sciences, territories, cultures and
civilizations of other nations) permeate the Western world.
Hence, cultural interaction and exchange,
which is possible only within the framework of a bilateral dialogue, has given
its way to a unilateral monologue, that is, the all-out arrival of Western
concepts and terms in the Islamic countries. This challenge is the main reason
for the emergence of social-religious reformist movements of the Muslim
intellectuals in the contemporary Islamic societies.
Having felt the threat of metamorphosis and destruction of
cultural identity and originality of the Islamic societies, Muslim social
reformers founded the movement for the revival of Islamic thought. The movement
aimed to revise the religious teachings and expurgate them from superstitions
and intellectual residues and ultimately reinterpret the religious teachings
according to the requirements of time and space in order to lay the foundations
of cultural activities in the Muslim societies to spread and consolidate
fundamentals of Islamic culture among the masses.[2]
“The rise of the European civilization and its domination of
the Eastern territories, paralleled with the deterioration and decline of
Islamic civilization in the nineteenth century, caused various reactions by the
Muslim scholars. These reactions, stemming from national, religious emotions and
human needs, compelled the scholars and believers to endeavor for finding a
solution to restore their identity and reconstruct their civilization. Therefore
the nuclei of reformist movements were formed one after another in the Islamic
world… These movements can be designated as the Islamic Renaissance or Islamic
Revivalism.”[3]
