٢٦٩ البقرة ﴾وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ﴿

(Al-Baqarah 2:269) “… and he, to whom wisdom is granted, is indeed granted abundant good”

We witness a growing wave of the world of social media with varying shapes and forms. We closely observe new trends in social practices and lifestyles which will eventually and inevitably affect people’s view of gender, family & relationships. We hear all the time about the concept of “modern” life which calls for trying & adopting new ideas, concepts, and practices and considers the “old” ideas & practices as outdated and sometimes described as backward. We live in a very dynamic realm where new and/or “modern” trends are always introduced to the different facets of life such as economy, financial transaction, politics, civic engagement, liberties, human rights, etc.

This is an intellectual and social theme dealing with the Islamic perspective on the new trends and directions the society is facing and is pushed to practice, adopt and call for.

The following are relevant questions worth of answering:

 

  • What is the view of Islam on what is “new” and what is “old”?

  • Does Islam object adopting what is considered “new” and always advocates to stick to and adopt what is considered “old”?

  • Do the word “fundamental”, the concept of “fundamentalism” and the adjective of “fundamentalist” always have a negative connotation or do we “can/have /need” to adopt them and call for them in some cases? And what are these cases where we have to be “fundamentalists”?

  • Is “modernity” a synonym for “innovation” which is highly abhorred and blameworthy in Islam or Islam might sometimes be calling for and inviting to “modernity”? And what are these praiseworthy cases of “modernity”?

  • How can we distinguish between the following?

  • Islam is opening the door widely to think, innovate and benefit from others

(الْكَلِمَةُ الْحِكْمَةُ ضَالَّةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ حَيْثُمَا وَجَدَهَا فَهُوَ أَحَقُّ بِهَا)

(“A wise word is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it, he has more right to it”)

  • Innovation in the matter of Deen and imitating others is blameworthy”

(من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ماليس منه فهو ردّ)

(Whoever introduces into this matter of ours (meaning Islam) something that does not belong to it shall have it rejected.)

(لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِي جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لاَتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ )

(You would tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and step by step so much so that if they had entered into the hole of the lizard, you would follow them in this also)

  • How can we balance between the following:

  • Protecting our families and the new generation from the new immoral directions in society & the massive sweeping waves like LGBTQ, Atheism, corruption of social media, etc.

  • Continuing to benefit from the new tools and opportunities around us without watering down our Deen or assimilating our principles.

EXAMPLES FOR IMPORTANT TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

 
  • Social Media: Big potential and real danger.
  • The Society and the Immoral Directions: Normalizing LGBTQ in all facets of life.
  • Islam and the Contemporary Family Life: the challenge of the new trends.
  • Parenting & New Realities: New opportunities & challenges.
  • Political participation & engagement and Modernization.
  • Islamic Reform (التجديد): in which areas and to what extent?
  • Islamic Fiqh: A robust system delivering for all ages and realities.
  • The Islamic Intellectual Capacity: between “flexibility المرونة” & “deadlock الجمود “
  • Islamic Dawa & New Tools/Trends: What is acceptable and what is not?
  • Islamic Movement: Renewing the tools, revisiting/reconsidering the objectives while holding tightly on the principles.
  • Islamic Financial/Economic System: The new transactions in the balance while dealing with a well-connected global financial/economic system.
As we continue building the Program, we will keep adding related thoughts, ideas and topics, in-Shaa’Allah.

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