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For automobile manufacturers, reducing vehicle interior noise is essential for increasing customer satisfaction and vehicle quality. Windshield wipers are one of the major components that generate such noises, and faulty wipers could negatively affect passengers' psychological and physiological perceptions while driving. Thus, identifying faulty wipers during the manufacturing process would improve the driving experience and vehicle and road safety as well as reduce driver distraction. However, the existing windshield wiper noise-detection process is entirely manual, relies upon human subjectivity, and is time-consuming. Accordingly, this paper develops a novel automated windshield wiper fault-detection system. First, a novel binarization approach is used to effectively binarize the transformed spectrograms of sound signals from windshield wiper operation to segment nAoisy regions. Then, a new matrix-factorisation approach called orthogonal binary singular value decomposition is proposed to decompose binarized mel spectrograms into uncorrelated binary eigenimages to extract meaningful features and identify faulty wipers. Then, the $ k $ k -nearest neighbour classifier is utilised to classify the extracted features into normal or faulty windshield wipers. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system, it was validated on real-life windshield wiper reversal and squeal noise datasets, where it outperformed existing methods and achieved accuracies of 95% and 94%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi are eukaryotic, heterogeneous, unicellular to filamentous, spore-bearing, and chemoorganotrophic organisms which lack chlorophyll. This present study was carried out to isolate and identify fungi from petroleum-contaminated soil. Several fungal genera which included Rhizopus spp., Mucor spp., Penicillium spp., Rhizoctonia spp., Aspergillus spp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporiumspp. were isolated using potatoes dextrose agar, Czapek-Dox Agar, and Aspergillus flavus Differentiation Agar culture media that comparable with co-amoxiclav (1g) and chloramphenicol to prevent the growth of any bacteria. The direct plate and serial dilution agar plate methods were used for the isolation of fungi. Based on results, Aspergillusand Mucor spp. were the most predominant genera and had the highest number of colonies in the soil samples. In this investigation, seven out of 27 soil samples were morphologically (macroscopically and microscopically) identified, such as A. flavus. Aflatoxigenicity of A. flavus was detected using characteristics in Aspergillus differentiation agar and colony fluorescence on exposure to ultraviolet light. Moreover, molecular approaches were used for the detection of aflatoxigenic of the A. flavus isolates. Three structural (aflD, aflO, and aflP) and one regulatory (aflR) gene of the aflatoxin gene cluster of A. flavus were targeted for amplification by the polymerase chain reaction method. The aflatoxigenic of all six A. flavus isolates was detected molecularly which contained two structural (aflD, aflP)genes out of three structural genes, while there was no specific amplification of the aflO gene in the fourth, fifth, and sixth A. flavus which issimilar to the aflR gene in the first and second A. flavus.

Fungi are eukaryotic, heterogeneous, unicellular to filamentous, spore-bearing, and chemoorganotrophic organisms which lack chlorophyll. This present study was carried out to isolate and identify fungi from petroleum-contaminated soil. Several fungal genera which included Rhizopus spp., Mucor spp., Penicillium spp., Rhizoctonia spp., Aspergillus spp., Alternaria spp., and Cladosporium spp. were isolated using potatoes dextrose agar, Czapek-Dox Agar, and Aspergillus flavus Differentiation Agar culture media that comparable with co-amoxiclav (1g) and chloramphenicol to prevent the growth of any bacteria. The direct plate and serial dilution agar plate methods were used for the isolation of fungi. Based on the results, Aspergillus and Mucor spp. were the most predominant genera and had the highest number of colonies in the soil samples. In this investigation, seven out of 27 soil samples were morphologically (macroscopically and microscopically) identified, such as A. flavus. Aflatoxigenicity of A. flavus was detected using characteristics in Aspergillus differentiation agar and colony fluorescence on exposure to ultraviolet light. In addition, molecular approaches were used for the detection of aflatoxigenic of the A. flavus isolates. Three structural (aflD, aflO, and aflP) and one regulatory (aflR) gene of the aflatoxin gene cluster of A. flavus were targeted for amplification by the polymerase chain reaction method. The aflatoxigenic of all six A. flavus isolates was detected molecularly which contained two structural (aflD, aflP) genes out of three structural genes, while there was no specific amplification of the aflO gene in the fourth, fifth, and sixth A. flavus which is similar to the aflR gene in the first and second A. flavus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted at Assisted Reproductive Technology Center (A R T) College of Medicine, University of Basra , from January , 2009 to January ,2010 . The aim was to study the effect of capacitation media on in vitro fertilization of Arabi ewes oocytes . A total of 2279 oocytes were collected from ovaries obtained from Basra Slaughter House .Oocytes were matured in TCM199 (tissue culture medium 199) supplemented with10%Fetal bovin serum (FBS) to study the effect of capacitation media on their fertilizing ability. freshly ejaculated and frozen thawed spermatozoa were capacitated in 1 of 2 media .A Bracket culture medium or Earle’s balanced salt medium . Results revealed that Bracket medium with Hyalouronidase enzyme and Gentamycin instead of Penicillin antibiotics showed significant increase (P≤ 0.05) in number of in vitro fertilized and divided ewe’s oocytes as compared with the Earle’s in both fresh and frozen thawed spermatozoa .

The only verse in the entire Qur’an to equate the testimony of two women to that of one man is the so-called verse of debt (ayat al dayn), which occurs in Qur’an 2:282. This verse contains a significant amount of material that later jurists categorized variously as recommended or merely instructional (irshad) and without legal import. However, a very few jurists opined that the recording of debts, witnessing, and all other matters dealt with in the verse may be categorized as obligatory (wajib). Whether we agree or disagree with a particular school, there is near unanimity among all jurists that the Qur’an’s mention of testimony in relation to transactions was revealed to advise Muslims on how they might reduce the possibility of misunderstandings arising among themselves. Therefore, the entire matter of testimony was revealed to humanity by way of instruction. Obviously, instruction is one thing, while binding legal precepts are another matter entirely. The verse of debt, moreover, may be seen as connecting testimony, the taking of witnesses, the agreement of both parties to the contract at the time of its ratification, and the judge’s (qadi)ep tance of testimony given by the witnesses, as follows: and call upon two of your men to act as witnesses; and if two men are not available, then a man and two women from among such as are acceptable to you as witnesses . . . (2:282) The verse goes on to explain the reason for seeking testimony from two women in place of the testimony of one man, by saying “. . . so that if one of them should make a mistake, the other could remind her” (2:282). Thus, the verse indicates clearly that there are differences in the ability of women to serve, under the prevailing social conditions, as competent witnesses and givers of testimony in cases involving financial transactions. The relevant wording implies that, in general, transactions were not often matters of concem to women at that time. It also indicates that the actual witness would be one woman, even though her testimony might require the support of another woman, who would “remind” her if necessary. Thus, one woman acts as a guamntor for the accuracy of the other‘s testimony ...

Any study of authority will need to consider the subject from a number of different perspectives, including an analysis of concepts and how bese are formulated, and a study of the effects of these concepts at both the practical and theoretical levels. The study that ensues does not claim to be the last word on the subject. Rather, its purpose is to open the door to further examination and inquiry and to critically analyze the main concept, in addition to the network of concepts attached to and contingent upon it. I shall not spend a great deal of time analyzing the lexical aspects of the concepts we are about to study, because terms and concepts are two different things. In a study of terminology, it might suffice to identify the lexical root and its particular meanings and then move on to a discussion of the usages appropriate to a particular field, subject, or science. Thereafter, one might attempt to define the term in a way that gives a clear idea of its intended meaning. A concept, however, may be described as a term connected to a network of philosophical and culhual roots. Furthermore, regardless of the diversity of its roots, a concept will always correlate with the epistemological paradigm in which it functions. Certainly this assumption holds true in regard to Islamic concepts or those concepts that are key to an understanding of the Islamic order. Surrounding the Islamic concept of divine authority, for example, there is an entire network of related concepts. Unless these related concepts are understood, both on their own and within the larger context of the Islamic order itself, the concept of divine authority will remain unclear. This network includes, for example, the concepts of divinity, creation, worship, the world and the hereafter, the divine discourse, the lawful and the unlawful, the classification of texts as relative or unqualified or ...

Opening Remarks This paper will examine dimensions that seem to be absent, whether totally or partially, from the thought and practice of certain contemporary Islamic movements in the Muslim world, many of which may be viewed as extensions of the liberation movements that played significant roles in maintaining the ummah's identity at the tum of the twentieth century. We will address these movements and remind them, for "remembrance does the faithful a world of good" and "wisdom is the pursuit of the faithful; wherever it is found it should be cherished." Since God created Adam, people have fallen into two categories: those who perform their roles according to the teachings of revelation and those whose roles originate from their own ideas, desires, and views or those that have been passed down from their ancestors. The first type sees history as the outcome of conflict between humanity and nature. In response to the latter, the true religion-Islam-has been the indispensable sine qua non for correcting humanity's basic assumptions, rebuilding its vision, helping it to find peace of mind, and providing it with answers to quintessential quesions. The use of Islam as the foundation for both thought and practice is the force that drives activist Muslims. In the Qur'an, God revealed a perfect text that responds to questions of existence at all levels.1 Moreover, God has linked the Qur'an's totality and all-encompassing explanatory nature to the responsibility of witnessing that, after the Prophet, was passed on to the ummah.2 Through the testimony of the Prophet and of the ummah, God will certainly cause His purposes to prevail.3 We define this witnessing as a consciously responsible type of witnessing that has its own economic, social, and intellectual characteristics based on a specific societal order, on the one hand, and a specific scientific and methodological order on the other. Our responsibility in witnessing, then, is much greater than we have envisaged or put into practice in the past. Certain dimensions that are absent from our perspectives and practices may be uncovered by weighing them against the objectives manifest in the repsonsibility of witnessing.4 This process makes the issue of reform and change a composite, as opposed to a simple, one. Moreover, both factors require an awareness that must be "methodological" and that examines all dimensions at the levels of both theory and application. In this way, we may gain an understanding of the agents that affect change and generate deviation and the resulting crises ...

Introduction Within the Islamization of Knowledge school, the idea of the Islamization of Knowledge has always been understood as an intellectual and methodological outlook rather than as an academic field, a specialization, an ideology, or a new sect. Thus, the school has sought to view issues of knowledge and methodology from the perspectives of reform, inquiry, and self-discovery without any preconceptions, doctrinal or temporal constraints, or limitations on its intellectual horizons. The school is keenly aware of the workings of time on ideas as they pass from stage to stage and mature and is therefore the first to say that the Islamization of Knowledge is not to be understood as a set of axioms, a rigid ideology, or a religious movement. Rather, in order to comprehend the full meaning of the term, it must be viewed as designating a methodology for dealing with knowledge and its sources or as an intellectual outlook in its beginning stages. An ongoing critique and the attempt to derive particulars from the general are essential to the process of development. The initial articulation of the Islamization of Knowledge undertaking and the workplan was therefore produced in general terms. At that early stage, the focus was on presenting a criticism of both traditional Muslim and western methodologies and then introducing the Islamization of Knowledge and explaining its significance. The first edition of the Islamization of Knowledge pointed out the principles essential to any attempt to fashion an Islamic paradigm of knowledge based on the. Islamic worldview and its unique constitutive concepts and factors. It also addressed, briefly, the intellectual aspect of the Islamization of Knowledge. The main focus, however, was on the practical aspects of producing textbooks for use in teaching the social sciences, as this was considered the first priority at a time when the Muslim world was losing its best minds to the West and the western cultural and intellectual invasion. Accordingly, twelve steps were identified as the basis from which the preparation of introductory social science texts might proceed ...

By the time secularist thought had succeeded, at an intellectual level, in challenging the authority of the Church, its roots had already taken firm hold in western soil. Later, when western political and economic systems began to prevail throughout the world, it was only natural that secularism, as the driving force behind these systems, should gain ascendency worldwide. In time, and with varying degrees of success, the paradigm of positivism gradually displaced traditional and religious modes of thinking, with the result that generations of third world thinkers grew up convinced that the only way to “progress” and reform their societies was the way of the secular West. Moreover, since the experience of the West was that it began to progress politically, economically, and intellectually only after the influence of the Church had been marginalized, people in the colonies believed that they would have to marginalize the influence of their particular religions in order to achieve a similar degree of progress. Under the terms of the new paradigm, turning to religion for solutions to contemporary issues is an absurdity, for religion is viewed as something from humanity’s formative years, from a “dark” age of superstition and myth whose time has now passed. As such, religion has no relevance to the present, and all attempts to revive it are doomed to failure and are a waste of time. Many have supposed that it is possible to accept the western model of a secular paradigm while maintaining religious practices and beliefs. They reason that such an acceptance has no negative impact upon their daily lives so long as it does not destroy their places of worship or curtail their right to religious freedom. Thus, there remains hardly a contemporary community that has not fallen under the sway of this paradigm. Moreover, it is this paradigm that has had the greatest influence on the way different peoples perceive life, the universe, and the role of humanity as well as providing them with an alternative set of beliefs (if needed) and suggesting answers to the ultimate questions ...

Introduction As a faith and a way of life, Islam includes among its most important objectives the realization of justice and the eradication of injustice. Justice is an Islamic ideal under all circumstances and at all times. It is not to be affected by one's preferences or dislikes or by the existence (or absence) of ties of blood. Rather, it is a goal to be achieved and an ideal to be sought: "Surely, Allah commands justice and the doing of good" (Qur'an 16:90); "And I was commanded to deal justly between you" (42:15); and "Allow not your mcor for a people to cause you to deal unjustly. Be just, for that is closer to heeding" (5:8). There are also many hadiths in the Sunnah that command justice and prohibit wrong. Moreover, the achievement of justice is one of the objectives towatds which human natm inclines, while its opposite-injustice-is something that humans naturally abhor. Allah has ordained measures by which justice may be known and by which it may be distinguished from its opposite. He has clarified the means by which all people might achieve this objective, facilitated the ways by which it may be accomplished, and made those ways (the most important of which is the institution of judgment (qada), manifest to them ...

The subject of naturalization, which is an integml part of the concept of identity and its related problems, has been an issue in the Muslim world since its filst contacts with western thought, culture, military, and politics. Even though the matter was decided, in practical terms, by the emergence of ethnic and geographic nation-states out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire, it remains an open topic at the cultural and academic levels. In fact, whether it is addressed as a challenge, an excuse, or as a means to an end, it remains a major and very sensitive question. As new ethnic and regional Muslim nation-states begin to show signs of instability, the subject grows more complex: it takes on new aspects of identity and affiliation and seeks to discover the best way of ordering relations between the peoples of each region or between them and the (factional, military, or otherwise) elitist governments controlling them. With the stirrings of a new Islamic movement and its members' belief that Islam represents a viable political alternative, the question of naturalization has become a major challenge to them. In fact, it is often thrown in their faces by their secularist opponents. Thus the question has become instrumental in the current political struggle taking place in the Islamic world. Many Muslim governments cite indigenous non-Muslim minorities as an excuse to deprive their Muslim majorities, who often represent 98 percent of the total population, of the right to be ruled by the Shari'ah. These are the same governments that discredit Islamic movements by viewing their very presence, principles, demands, and objectives as a threat to national unity. To counteract this "threat," then, they promulgate "emergency measures" and suspend constitutional legal codes. Naturalization is the basis of nationalism, which gives identity to the modem state, and may be defined as an affiliation with a geographically defined region. Anyone who traces hisher lineage to that region is subject to all accompanying rights and responsibilities. Thus the bond between them is secular and worldly. The same is true of bonds between states, for they are entirely secular and m e a s d in terms of profit and loss. It is essential that all citizens, regardless of their religious, ethnic or ...

The Muslim mind experienced a crisis of thought when, duting the early centuries of the Islamic eta, ijtihad began to be viewed as limited to legal matters rather than as a methodology for dealing with all aspects of life. This limited understanding engendered a malaise that allowed taqlid to attain such prominence and tespectability that its cancetous, constricting, and irrelevant fiqh spread throughout Muslim life. Had ijtihad retained mote of its lexical meaning and cteativity, and had fiqh been considered only one of its uses, perhaps Muslims would have overcome many of the problems that confronted them. However, this patticularization of ijtihad confined the Muslim mind, and taqlid eventually led to the paralysis of its creative abilities. Had ijtihad remained a way of life for Muslims as Allah commanded, they would not have fallen behind in establishing the Islamic sciences necessary for their society and civilization. They also would not have had to watch the reins of leadership fall pass to the West, whose most important qualification was its ability to engage in creative and scientific teasoning. Although its intellectual tradition was tainted with pagan Greek influences, the West achieved world leadetship. Had Muslims taken up those sciences and laid the foundations of society on the basis of tawbd (unity), the face of the earth would be different today and the state of civilization itself would be fat more felicitous than it is at present. Before ijtihad was confined to the purely legalistic framework of fiqh, the Muslim mind was enlightened, eager to deal with all manner of thought, and able to meet challenges, generate solutions, and achieve its goals. Had it not been for taqlid and its subduing of the Muslim mind, that mind would have achieved great things. Certainly, a mind with its beginnings in the verse, "Read! in the name of your Lord Who created . . ." should be mote than able to renew the ummah's mentality, to continually adjust to changing circumstances, and to initiate the sciences of civilization at a time when the West was o v e m by wild forest tribes. What Do We Mean by Ijtihad? For the teasons indicated above, we ate calling for a new type of ijtihad. Rather than the ijtihad specified by the scholars of usd, which will ...

The Intemational Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is pleased to sponsor this important seminar, as its topic and objectives, the nature of the issues to be raised, and the points of view represented by the scholarly participants and their papers are of vital concern to the Islamic world. Through its participation, the institute has opened a new chapter for academic activity and intellectual jihad, particularly in Arabic and Islamic cultutal circles. As the institute joins the Union of Egyptian Engineers (UEE) in this pioneering intellectual effott, it seeks to articulate its third objective as regards the reform of the methodology of Islamic thought: the Islamization of knowledge in order to build a new Islamic cultural order and lead the ummah to the most beneficial ways of overcoming its backwardness. Moreover, as the IIIT joins the UEE in this undettaking, it seeks to exonerate itself from the charge that it is biased in favor of theoretical thinking and thus insensitive to the applied sciences. While this is the impression that might be given by the institute's publications and statements, the truth is that these are indicative only of its priorities and have nothing to do with bias. Contemporary Western thought and cultute have begun to cast their datkness over everything in a way that obliterates, or neatly so, all non- Western thought and culture by weakening established concepts and detracting from the importance of their soutces. The West has done this under the guise of academic objectivity, by endowing its own social sciences and humanities with an assumed universality that makes of their dubious disciplines not only a virtue, but the authoritative last word. In fact, however, the West's "universality" is little more that its own selfcentetedness and the stripping of others of all vestiges of their own civilization and culture. The universality of Islam, however, is another matter entirely, for it includes and integrates every people and every culture. Yet the West, more by means of its influence than its supposed universality, insists on popularizing slogans like "knowledge for knowledge's sake" and "art for art's sake" in a less-than-subtle attempt to persuade others to renounce their own traditions, thought, and culture as a prelude to plunging headlong into their supposedly universal counterparts in the West. Indeed, ...

During the past three decades, development has been perceived both as a goal itself and as a means towards achieving certain goals. In many Third World countries, development has even become a form of ideology. To achieve it, numerous theories and strategies have been presented. Many of these approaches have been experimented with in a practical manner. In general, however, returns and benefits have been negligible. Although modernized sectors have appeared in most third World countries, along with social classes and lifestyles similar to those of the West, the majority of the population's economic and social standard of living has deteriorated. Many basic human and Political rights have even been stripped away in the name of achieving development. In many instances, development has become nothing more than a slogan and a means for despotic regimes to solidify their grip on their unfortunate populations. Perhaps the same factors contributing lo the lhlrd World's paralysis contribute to the West's success and achievement. One group of related factors is the concept of development, its ideology and strategy. When we analyze this issue, we find that the historical advances in western society since the Industrial Revolution, and its associated social and cultural movements, did not follow a predetermined written strategy or various five- and ten-year plans. Rather, this development followed a more spontaneous course determined by the changing circumstances of time, place, culture, and individual effort. As a result of the accumulation of such experiences, procedures, and know-how, development was achieved. When development was defined as a goal for the Third World, readymade western procedures, theories, and strategies were adopted without regard to the fact that these procedures were not actually implemented in the West but rather came about as a result of a long period of trial and error. In the third World, however, they are implemented beforehand and thus redefine what the Third World will look like socially, culturally, and intellectually ...

It is generally agreed that taqlid is not allowed in the case of fundamental beliefs, such as the existence of God and His attributes. The teason for this is that such questions ate to be answered by the individual on the basis of his/her own knowledge and conviction, while taqlid repments reliance on the knowledge of others. Another teason for this is that there is only one truth in such matters, and all who call themselves Muslims must recognize, know, and be lieve in these articles of faith. Anything else would be heresy and disbelief. The scope of taqlid is thus limited to the interpretation of particular aspects of Shari'ah rulings. Rulings on essential knowledge (ma'lum bi al darurah) about Islam' (i.e., testifying aloud; believing in the heart that God is One and has no partner. that there is no being like or similar to Him; that He neither gives birth nor was given birth to; that He has no equal; that He is the Creator of all and the One to which all creation will durn; that He, the Eternal, gives and takes away life; that He and His attributes and person have no beginning and no end; and that He is the possessor of (sits upon) all (the throne of) power, m thus beyond the Teach of taqlid. Each Muslim is required to acquire a knowledge of these and other similar matters. It was for this reason that the Prophet said "Seeking knowledge is the duty of every Muslim"' Nonetheless, certain scholars ate of the opinion that taqlid is allowed even in such fundamental mattes. This opinion, however, is without substance, for taqlid, as discussed above, is essentially an allowance granted to those without access to the relevant texts of the Qur'an or Sunnah. These mattes cannot be categorized as such, for they are both available and totally clear to each Muslim, meaning that they are not in need of any interpretation through ijtihad ...

The Lexical and Technical Meanings of Taqlid The lexical meaning and structure of the word “taqlid” clearly indicate the negative connotations surrounding its technical meaning as well as its retention of much of the literal sense. The Arabic root q-ld comes from qald, which means ”to twist or to twine.” As most necklaces were twined or braided, the word came to refer to necklaces, and the active form of the verb (taqlid) to putting on a necklace. An example from early Arabic poetry uses taqlid in this sense: They placed on her (round her neck) amulets, To ward off evildoers and enviers. The same word is also used to refer to the marking made around the neck of an animal destined for sacrifice during hajj. In addition, a camel is said to be “necklaced” (muqallad) when a rope is placed over its head and around its neck. In a less literal usage, this word has the sense of placing responsibility on an individual, as in “The sultan charged (q-I-d) someone with a duty,” as charging a person in such a manner resembles putting a necklace around hidher neck. Here, the one who accepts the responsibility is as one who wears a necklace.‘ The classical~uh’di efine taqlid as one’s ”acceptanceo f another‘s madhhQb without knowing the other person’s justification.” (In this definition, Madhhab includes everydung that fills within the purview of ijtihad.) Although the fuqaha’ have defined the term in different ways, all agree that it signifies the acceptance of and acting upon another‘s word without trying to substantiate it. In other words, ...

The year which has just ended has presented the Muslim world with a major challenge: the bipolar world order which provided some kind of balance between the East and the West disintegrated and was replaced by a unipolar one. How will this affect us? The new world order is an order controlled by a single superpowex which has its own philosophy, thought, and culture. If we look closely, it seems that its philosophy stands on a collection of what appears to be mutually opposed dualities which both necessitate the various elements of conflict and make all attempts to end the resulting polarization and conflict futile. But the recent demise of the opposite pole and the end of the Cold War does not mean that the world is about to witness a period of peace, tranquility, and security in the shade of this so-called new world order. hther, the inherently belligerent nature of this entirely Western-controlled civilization precludes such a development, for such an order requires an opponent, either real or imagined. In other words, if one is not readily available it will have to be created, so that the fight can be carried on elsewhere. While many are now saying that the nature ofthe conflict may shift from military to economic power, this does not automatically mean that positive developments will occur or that the world can expect true and constant security, tranquility, or peace from this civilization. It is thus all the more disconcerting that the Islamic world finds itself in a state of unpreparedness and disarray unprecedented in all of its lox history, and that the collapse of the Soviet Union, the other Western pole, leaves the role of adversary to the Islamic world. All of this suggests that the Islamic world, which is now infirm, divided, and unable to protect its own resources, will be faced with the prospect of becoming a battleground over the course of the next few decades. It is therefore essential that Muslim scholars, thinkers, research institutes, universities, and enlightened political elites undertake the responsibility of ensuring that the Islamic world passes through this coming period of crisis successfully ...

It is He Who made the sun a radiance, and the moon a light, and determined it by stations, that you might know the number of the years and the reckoning (of time) ... (Qur'an 10:5). Every community possesses a personality and certain traits that distinguish it from others. The ummah of Islam was blessed by Allah Most High with a distinctive personality so that it could serve as a community of the median way (wasatiyah) and as a witness (shahadah): "Thus We appointed you a mid-most nation, so that you might be witnesses over all mankind" (2:143). In view of the important civilizational role to be played by the Muslim ummah, Allah created the elements in its personality with great care in order to ensure that the expected results would come to fruition and that the ummah would become the best community ever brought forth: "You are the best nation ever brought forth to mankind" (3:110). Among the constituent elements of the ummah's cultural and civilizattional identity is its perspective on time, be it past, present, or future, and how it is to be measured. The past consists of history, from which lessons are to be learned. The present is the current reality, every moment of which is to be used to the best advantage or invested. The future is that which is anticipated and planned for so that it may become more resplendent. The communities that went before Islam both understood and calculated time in order to achieve their goals and build their civilizations. To differing degrees, all of them were successful in their endeavor to mark the passage of time. However, every system they devised suffered from calendars featuring ten months in a year, others with widely varying numbers of days in a month, calendars that began in the spring while others ...

The Origins and Beginnings of Taqlid Allah Most High chose the Muslims to be the ummah of mission (risalah), of exemplary good (khayriyah), of the golden mean (wasatiyah), and of witnessing to humanity (shahadah). Along with these responsibilities came the capacity for renewal, for ijtihad, and for correctly interpreting the Shari'ah. As a result, there is a certain inseparable mutuality between the ummah's roles as a median community czun civilizational witness for humanity and its other role as a moral and ethical exemplar, and between its capability for ijtihad and effecting reform. In order to hcilitate these roles, Allah endowed the Qur'an and the Sunnah with the necessary flexibility in every aspect of Islam: its belief system, its methodology, its Shari'ah, and its organization. Thus it was only natural for the early generations of Muslims, both on an individual and a community level, to offer a unique picture to the world: the complete liberation of the human mind from all forms of mental slavery and idolatry. Further protection against Wing from this exalted position was the provision made for avoiding mistakes, deviations, and misinterpretations: only those statements which could be proven by acceptable evidence or supported by valid testimony were to be believed. A look at the ijtihad exercised by the sahabah, whether they were learned qurra' or common people, will suffice to illustrate the amazing transformation which Islam was able to achieve. Why do we not see this situation today? What has happened to the penetrating and enlightened mind inspired by Islam, the one which freed our ancestors from their idols and the obstacles blocking their progress? Haw did such a mind return to its former prison and fetters, robbed of any chance to renew and reform the ummah through ijtihad? In a word, the answer is ...

The year 310 AH (922 AC), the year in which the last of the acknowledged mujtahidun died, may be marked as the beginning of the crisis of fiqh that continues even to this day. At that time Islamic fiqh took a very serious turn and, near the end of the fourth hijri century, its most negative effects began to be apparent. It was then that the thmkmg of scholars was seriously influenced by the apprehension that certain rulers, through their citing permission obtained as the result of the misuse of fiqh, were exploiting the things held dear by the ummah. Thus it was out of fear that the idea of closing the door of ijtihad was born. This essentially defensive notion was accomplished by stipulations to the effect that recourse might only be had to the ijtihad made by the scholars of the earliest generations, that no changes could be made to the ijtihad performed by them, and that any opinion that did not conform to their opinions should be rejected. In this way, the sun set on true ijtihad, and in its place there came mere taqlid, which allowed the state of legal and intellectual lassitude to become widespread. Moreover, the ties of the ummah to the two sources of legislation, the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and to the other sources weakened and then fell away entirely. Finally, fiqhi studies were confined to a few specific textbooks, commentaries on those textbooks, commentaries on the commentaries, and annotations on the commentaries on the commentaries. Let us see how al Ghazzali (505 AH/1111 AC) described the situation, and how his explanation included mention ofthe most important developments to take place in Shari‘ah studies in general and in fiqh in particular. He wrote: You must know that the office of khliafah after the Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, was assumed by the al khulafa’ al rashidun, who were imams and Shari’ah scholars in their awn right. Moreover, they were active in giving futiiwii and making legal judgments. Therefore, only rarely if ever did they need to seek the opinions of the fuqaha’. The result of this was that the fuqaha’ immersed themselves in knowledge of the next world and shunned all else. Thus, they were known for their refusals to give fatawa and legal advice on issues of worldly import, perferring instead to devote all of their deductive abilities to the worship of Allah Most High. But when, soon after the deaths of the al khulafa' al rashidun, the office of khalifah passed into the hands of those unqualified to lead the ummah and unlearned in matters of fiqh and fatwa, it became necessary to consult the fuqaha’ and to seek their advice in nearly everything. At that time, there still remained of the successor generation (the Tabi’un) those who continued in the same way as before, practicing Islam in complete purity, and following the example of the most learned and devout from their predecessors. Thus, if they were sought out (by those in power who would ask them questions), they would flee or otherwise evade them. The result of this attitude was that the rulers had to resort to pressuring scholars to accept positions as qadis and government ...

The Polemics of Ijtihad From the second hijri century until the present day, the reality, the essence, the rules, the conditions, the premises, the means, and the scope of ijtihad have remained a source of debate engaging some of the Islamic world's greatest theologians, scholars of al usul, and fuqaha': This debate has also been enriched by proponents of the view that the door of ijtihad was closed and that the fiqh left by the Four Imams obviated the need for any further ijtihad, as well as by those who claimed that this door was still open and that the existing fiqh was not sufficient to guide the contemporary Muslim world. In our own times, attention is now focused on the suitability of the Shari'ah as an order and a way of life. This new topic of debate, before unknown among Muslims, emerged after the crushmg defeats experienced by the Muslim ummah after the First World War, such as the dismantling of the khihfah and the creation of artificial states ruled from Europe. Many Muslims blamed Islam and its institutions for their defeat, and soon began to emulate their conquerors. Others, however, had a quite different view: the Muslim ummah experienced these disasters because it had become alienated from the eternal truths of Islam. Thus, what was required was a return to the true Islam and not its wholesale rejection in favor of alien institutions and ideologies. One fundamental part of this return would have to be the use of ijtihad, for how else could Muslims incorporate Islamic principles into situations with which they had never had to deal? Muslims who hold the latter view are aware of the fact that they must meet their opponents in the realm of ideas, for it is here that the future course of the ummah will be decided. To be successful, much energy must be expended in scholarship and conceptual thinking, in seeking to understand humanity's place in the divine scheme of existence and what is expected of it, and how this knowledge might be applied by Muslims as they struggle ...

In my own limited knowledge I know of no specialized studies in our classical legacy which could be described today as political thought, or as treatises on political systems, international relations, systems of government, the history of diplomacy, political development, methods of political analysis, political theory, political planning, or any of the other categories currently studied as a part of contemporary knowledge. Nonetheless, many of the issues discussed on these subjects were treated in the classical legacy through the medium of fiqh (laws of Islam), which in its long history touched upon many of the subjects studied today in the social sciences. Likewise, many of the questions dealt with in the field of political science were addressed by the early scholars of Islam within the framework of their writings on classical Fiqh of al Ahkam al Sultaniyah (the Precepts of Power). Perhaps the book written by Shaykh Ibn Taym-yah, al Siyasah al Shar’iyah, was one of the most distinctive efforts in this direction as well as the book by al Khatib al Iskafi, Lutf al Tadbir, which also dealt with certain issues which remain relevant today. Similar to such works are Suluk al Malik Fi Tadbir al Mamalik, Bada’i al-Silk, and others. These works show that the meaning of politics to the Muslim mind, and as envisioned by Islam, involves making arrangements for mankind in accordance with the values prescribed by Allah (SWT) for the realization of His purposes in creation, and in fulfillment of the trust of vicegerency, the duties of civilization, and the responsibility of the Ummah to act as a witness unto all mankind in its capacity as the “Middlemost Nation.” “Making arrangements” includes reading the past and learning its lessons as well as interpreting, understanding, and analyzing the present in the light of those lessons. Other elements included in “making arrangements” are planning for the future and benefiting from all scientific knowledge that clarifies ...