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The Quran as a Framework for Civilization Development

Agama | Tuesday, 12 Mar 2024, 13:31 WIB

Muhammad Syafi'ie el-Bantanie

(Founder of Edu Sufistik)

Nowadays, our biggest homework is shorten the gap between the ideal of Islam and the reality of Muslims. However, unfortunately we look more at external factors than internal factors. As a result, we often blame the situation rather than introspecting our self. Even naively, we get angry and blaspheme others for the backwardness of Muslims today.

Nowadays, Muslims are still trapped in using the Qur'an as jargon, but are unable to answer various contemporary problems by extracting the values of the Qur'an into systems and schemes in life. For example, if we want to study leadership and management in corporations, then search on google, how many Muslim scholars have written about it? We have difficulty finding references. We will be familiar with names such as John C. Maxwell, Jack Welch, and Stephen Covey.

The same is in the scientific field and other aspects of life. Please search for theories and concepts regarding development economics, foods, maritime, medicine, urban planning, and others. Naively, we often condemn the theories and concepts of western scientists as secular theories and concepts, but we do not produce Islamic scientific theories and concepts as a comparison.

Muslims will never progress if they continue their naive attitude. Muslims will still to be objects and never turn into subjects. What's more, it influences and shifts the dominance of western scientists in science. In fact, Muslims should be leading in science and have their own construction in developing it which is different from western scientists.

Therefore, honestly, Muslims must improve themselves. The scientific tradition in the history of Islamic civilization must be revived. From here, science will develop and produce new theories and concepts that are able to answer various life problems. Theories and concepts extracted and conceptualized from the values of the Qur’an.

Muslim scholars must be at the forefront of efforts to revive the Islamic scientific tradition. Make yourself to study science by intensive. Initiate scientific communities in many aspect. Study in depth the Al-Qur'an, hadith, and Islamic scientific literature to construct Islamic theories and concepts that can be applied in various aspects of life.

Another problem is that some Muslim scholars do not master in analytical, synthetic, systematic and conceptual thinking tools. They are fluent in explaining Islam based on Islamic references, but are unable to extract and construct it into new theories and concepts to answer various problems of the people and life.

Maybe because some Islamic campuses are reject philosophy. Philosophy is considered a haram subject to be taught to students. As a result, Muslim scholars do not have the deep thinking abilities of philosophy. In my opinion, we need to be proportional in looking at philosophy. Forbidding philosophy to be studied is an inappropriate attitude.

We must distinguish philosophy as a methodology for deep thinking from philosophy as a product of thinking. Secularism, capitalism, pluralism, humanism, and feminism are examples of products of philosophical thinking. In this context, we criticize and reject it. However, that doesn't mean we forbid of philosophy. Because, we can borrow philosophical thinking methodology to extract and construct scientific theories and concepts.

The second problem is the lack of a tradition of scientific research and writing among Muslim scholars. Just check how many Muslim scholars are productive in writing? What's worse, it's no longer productive to write, some of them use their names in journal papers to chase lecturer credits.

Let us be honest and carry out self-introspection to bring to self-improvement. We revive the Islamic scientific tradition, as it was once a beacon of world knowledge. We examine in depth the values and general principles of the Qur’an. Then, we extract and construct it into systematic and applicable theories and concepts to answer people's and life's problems.

In this way, the Qur'an becomes the "sound" of life. The Qur'an is no longer a jargon, but rather a framework for building civilization. From the study of the Qur'an, many scientific theories and concepts are produced that are systematic and applicable in various aspects of life. Thus, the lives of Muslims become inspired by the values of the Qur’an. In the end, the civilization is built by Muslims is a civilization illuminated by the light of revelation.