The definition of the thought: The thought is the judgement of reality from a specific viewpoint, as opposed to philosophy, which is the judgement of what has no reality.
The definition and the basics of the Islamic thought: It is the judgement of reality from an Islamic viewpoint, i.e. the viewpoint of the Islamic Aqeeda (doctrine) and the rules which emanate from it.
The definition and the basics of the capitalist thought:
It is the judgement of reality from a capitalist viewpoint i.e. from the viewpoint of the doctrine of separating the Deen from temporal life, based on benefit and determined by humankind.
The definition and the basics of the communist thought:
It is the judgement of reality from a communist viewpoint i.e. the materialist doctrine based on the negation of the existence of the Creator and on the theory of evolution.
The elements of the thought: The thought is composed of three elements:
1- The reality.
2- The judgement.
3- The linking of reality and the judgement.
The reality is of two types:
1- The things
2- The actions (oral and physical).
The judgement and the linking:
If the reality were a thing, its rule would be either permitted or forbidden, for instance the apple is permitted and wine is forbidden; this is so because the Shari’ah principle states: The basic rule for things is permissibility as long as there is no evidence to forbid them.
If the reality were an action, its rule would be either obligatory, forbidden, desirable, undesirable, or permitted, for instance, actions such as prayer, performing Zakat, establishing the Khilafah and observing Ramadhan are all obligatory; building of mosques and giving Sadaqa to the poor is desirable, whereas usury (Riba) and participation in the disbelieving ruling system is forbidden, and talking in the bath and shaving the beard is undesirable, buying and selling and eating or not eating bread is permitted.
The Shari’ah principle regarding the actions states: The basic rule regarding actions is to abide by the rule before committing the act. Passing judgement on reality must be taken from the Shari’ah evidences, the source of which are the Book and the Sunnah and what they lead to such as the general consensus (Ijma’a) of the Sahaba and the analogy (Qiyas).
The attribution of the thought:
The thought is attributed to three elements:
1- The personalities: i.e. those in whom it originates such as Marx (Marxist thought) or Plato (Platonic thought) etc..
2- The people: i.e. the people who carry such thought, it is for instance said: The Arab thought, or the European thought or the Russian thought etc..
3- The doctrines (Aqa’id): i.e. the thought is attributed to the basic fundament on which it is built, thus it is said: the capitalist thought, the Islamic thought, the communist thought etc.. The correct attribution is where the thought is attributed to the doctrine i.e. to the basic fundament upon which it is built. The Arab thought before Islam was not Islamic nor is it nowadays Islamic as far as the majority is concerned, for they carry the capitalist or Marxist thought.
The Islamic thought is one, there is no difference between the thought transmitted by Imam Al-Hanbali of Najd, or Al-Bukhari from Bukhara, or Al-Mawurdi Al-Asyawi of Asia or Mohammed Asad the Austrian, the thought they carried was Islamic regardless of their nationality and tongue. Therefore the Islamic thought brought by the Arabs and non Arabs is the same, for it is derived from the Islamic Aqeeda, i.e. from the Revelation manifested by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (Peace be upon Him), and extracted in the lawful manner and understood clearly, this could only be achieved by the Arabic language.
The Islamic thought is two types: One that is linked to the Aqeeda i.e. the belief, such as the belief in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers and the Day of Judgement.
The other type is related to the practical Shari’ah rules such as Jihad, the establishment of Khilafah, the unification of Muslim land, the establishment of prayer and Hajj etc…
The basics of the Islamic thought:
The Islamic thought is built on two fundamentals:
The mind i.e. rationality and the Shari’ah.
1- The mind:
Islam has addressed the human mind, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has ordered the human to think, reflect and look at the creations, the universe, the human being and life, and ponder on the relationship between what was before life and is to come after, in order to realise with his mind the belief in the existence of a Creator Who created everything and organised everything. Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [51 : 21 TMQ], “As also in your own selves: will you not then see?” He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) also says: [86 : 5 TMQ], “So let the human think from what he is created” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [7 : 185 TMQ], “Do they see nothing in the ordinance of the heavens and the earth and all that Allah had created?”
With the help of his mind the sane human can realise the existence of a Creator of this universe, and to realise that the Qur’an is the word of Allah and that Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) is the Messenger of Allah, thus the mind would be the basis of the Islamic Aqeeda, and the Islamic Aqeeda would be a rational one i.e. based on rationality and it is the basis of the Islamic thought.
2- The Shari’ah: The Islamic thought with all its particulars, whether the matters which the limited human mind cannot realise because they do not reach the human’s senses such as the being of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), or the angels, or Heaven and Hell etc., or the practical matters related to his actions and his sayings, all these have one single origin which is the Shari’ah, i.e. what has been brought by the revelation – the Qur’an and the Sunnah in all its forms i.e. the oral, practical and avowal, and the other evidences which the Qur’an and the Sunnah have led to in terms of general consensus of the Sahaba and analogy.
The Shari’ah would therefore be the basis of the Islamic thought and it would never override, and for the thought to be considered Islamic it has to have a Shari’ah evidence taken from the revelation. Jihad, the establishment of the Khilafah, the Shura and the belief in the Day of Judgement and the angels, are Islamic concepts for they have evidences derived from the Book and the Sunnah, whereas colonialism, democracy, secularism, the theory of Darwin, socialism, Baathism and the Crusades are non Islamic concepts; The Islamic thought has clearly determined its position vis-a-vis such concepts and its total rejection of them. The Islamic thought would lose its characteristics if it were to abandon completely or partly the revelation; And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has prohibited us and warned us against abandoning the revelation for He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says [3 : 85 TMQ], “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost.”
The Islamic thought is unique and does not resemble any other thought at all, it cannot be patched up or gradually implemented as some people attempt to do; they adopt the Marxist or the capitalist economic system, the moral and social concepts of the west and then they call for the gradual implementation of the Islamic concepts alongside the concepts of disbelief, they are impressed by every new and alien concept, and they falsely and deceivingly attribute it to the Islamic thought in order to conform it with the prevailing thought, and this is known as bargaining i.e. pragmatism.
The special features of the Islamic thought:
The Islamic thought has its special features, the main ones are:
1- The generality of the Islamic thought: For it organises all aspects of human life, the political, social, economic, cultural and moral; Islam has come to organise the mankind’s relationship with his Creator, himself and with others, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [16 : 89 TMQ], “And We have revealed the Book to you explaining everything.”
2- The extensiveness of the Islamic thought: The extensiveness of the Islamic texts allow the scholars to exert the appropriate Shari’ah rules for any matter that arises be it related to an action or a thing.
3- The Islamic thought is a practical thought: Its rules have come to be implemented and executed in temporal life. This thought has been practically implemented for thirteen centuries within a state that has led the World. Islam has linked action to the belief in many of the Qur’anic verses, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [103 : 1 TMQ], “By the time through the ages, verily the human is in loss, except those that beleive and do the right actions”
4- The Islamic thought is addressed to humanity: Islam has addressed mankind in its quality as human regardless of race, colour or tongue, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says [2 : 21 TMQ], “O you people worship your Lord.” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says addressing the seal of prophets and Messengers (Peace be upon them) [7:158 TMQ], “Say: O people! I am the Messenger of Allah sent unto you all.” And He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: [49 : 13 TMQ], “And We created you into peoples and tribes that you may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah are the most pious ones.”
The Arabs, the Persians, the Romans, the Indians and others have all embraced this Deen, and they were taken out of the darkness to the Light, and out of the decline to the sound intellectual renaissance, not to the intellectually, morally and humanly low and materialist renaissance.
