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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]
