لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Section 6
Conclusion
Needless to sax the task at hand is a great one
which we should not expect to be completed in one or two generations. However,
there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. The first steps along this path in
twentieth century thought have already been taken by such scholars as Shahid
Mutahhari and Shahid Sadr who have shown that Islamic thought is sufficiently
rich and flexible to demonstrate its superiority over Marxism. Despite this
success, work remains to be done even with regard to Marxism in order to deepen
the critique and thereby secure the territory gained. There is also a daunting
amount of historical research that needs to be done on the developments which have
taken place within the Islamic sciences, and not merely philosophy, but the
entire spectrum of Islamic thought, from fiqh to mathematics. We need to
understand, for example, how Aristotle's understanding of practical rationality
and justice were transformed in the hands of Ibn Sina, not merely insofar as
Neoplatonic' elements were incorporated, but how the doctrines of Aristotle
were reformulated in Farabi's thought and then adopted by Ibn Sina, and exactly
how much was changed of this and why by the Safavid period philosophers such as
Sadr al‑Muta'allihin. This kind of work requires close textual analysis,
and an excellent place to begin is with the themes of Whose Justice? Which Rationality?, the concepts of justice and
practical rationality. MacIntyre did not review Islamic thought on these
issues, but then this is not really his area. Without a familiarity with the
relevant Arabic texts, the task cannot be done. This is a task to be taken up
by Muslim scholars, and God willing, it will be.What the study of MacIntyre's work promises for
Muslims is an example of how the history of ideas can increase one's
understanding of philosophical differences, and how that understanding can be
used to mount a criticism of elements of Western culture Muslims have also
found objectionable. At every turn, further research by Muslim scholars
suggests itself. For example, what are the similarities and differences between
the criticism of modernism offered by MacIntyre and that offered by Muslim
thinkers? How do the concepts of justice employed by Muslim scholars compare to
those exhibited in the four traditions MacIntyre discusses in Whose Justice? Which Rationality?? What
are the similarities and differences between the account of dialectic found in
Aquinas and that of Farabi's Kitab al‑jadal?
What are the differences between the concept of the nation‑state as
understood in Western political philosophy and the political entities discussed
by Muslim political thinkers? This list could easily be extended for pages.I pray that the translators of MacIntyre's work will
be successful, that Muslims will struggle through the issues raised by
MacIntyre, and that they will not merely read his work, but will be inspired by
it to advance Islamic scholarship, God willing!
