Why Has the Culture of Questioning and Critical Thinking Receded in the Arab and Islamic World?
It is neither surprising nor unnatural that great civilisations are founded upon the shoulders of questioning, nor that advanced nations ascend by virtue of that first moment when a person casts a searching, restless gaze upon what surrounds him, and asks: why? how? when? The question, at its root, is not merely a word uttered, but a movement of the mind, a pulse of the soul seeking the light of truth amidst the darkness of ignorance and stagnation. I need not expend many words to establish that any people who have lost this capacity to question, or who have smothered this innocent instinct in its cradle, have thereby condemned themselves to remain in the shadows of backwardness and sentenced the minds of their children to lethargy and inertia.
Such, whether we accept it or not, is the state of the Arab and Islamic world in these latter times—times in which one might have expected the lamps of thought to be kindled, and the doors of schools and universities to be opened wide so that they might become beacons for the intellect and the quest for knowledge. Yet we find, in many cases, these institutions transformed into factories producing minds resigned to passivity, tongues trained merely to recite, and minds silenced from daring to question or to think outside the familiar.
This is not a phenomenon born of recent days nor the result of a single, limited incident; rather, it is a bitter fruit harvested from years upon years of confusion between sanctification and blind imitation, between respect and intellectual subjugation, between sincere faith and fear of inquiry. Thus, the question—which in free nations is a sign of maturity and intelligence—has become, amongst us, a crime whose perpetrator is pursued, an intellectual treachery whose author is condemned, and an audacity against tradition, religion, and society.
And how could it be otherwise, when we have taught our children in our schools, from their earliest years, that the teacher must not be questioned, that the shaykh is not to be debated, that the book is not to be reflected upon but merely repeated verbatim, and that truth is not the fruit of arduous seeking, but a thing handed down to us which we must accept as we accept the rising and setting of the sun?
What is astonishing, indeed what is deeply regrettable, is that this intellectual stagnation has not remained confined to religious institutions alone, but has seeped like stagnant water into modern universities and institutes, born in the bosom of the contemporary world, and expected to be fortresses of reason and free inquiry. Instead, in many parts of the Arab and Islamic world, these have become institutions that merely issue certificates, bestow titles, and gratify the vanity of people with academic degrees—yet empty minds of the ability to think critically, extinguish the spark of questioning in hearts.
Do we require proof or argument to realise that the Arab mind, in its current state, suffers from a manifest weakness in research and creativity? Does anyone need great effort to observe that our intellectual output is meagre and feeble, and that we are dependent upon others in the fields of discovery, invention, and scientific advancement? All this is simply because, with bitter clarity, we have killed in ourselves and our children the habit of questioning, smothered critical thinking, and worshipped our traditions and inherited ideas with a reverence scarcely different from idolatry.
I do not say that this fate is inevitable and inescapable, nor do I believe that incapacity is inscribed upon the foreheads of Arabs and Muslims. Rather, I firmly believe—as does everyone who judges himself and his nation fairly—that our emergence from this dark tunnel cannot happen except by reviving questioning in minds, resurrecting free thinking in homes, schools, and universities, lifting the guardianship imposed upon minds, and convincing people that questioning
is
not rebellion, nor is independent thought a betrayal, but that both are the very essence of religion, the spirit of civilisation, and the foundation of revival.
Did not the Noble Qurʾān, the first book of Arabs and Muslims, call them time and again to reflection, contemplation, and deep thought? Did not their noble Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, instil within them the spirit of dialogue and inquiry? Was not their history, in its most glorious epochs, an age when thinkers and philosophers took pride in bold questions, profound discussions, and far-reaching contemplations?
Our salvation from this intellectual bewilderment depends upon restoring to our educational institutions their true role, so that our schools and universities become free platforms for thought, not prisons for the mind. We must raise our children upon the conviction that questioning is the root of virtue, that critical thinking is a sign of maturity, and that fear of opposing opinions is a weakness unworthy of those who aspire to glory and advancement.
If we do so, there is no doubt that a new dawn of renaissance will break upon us, that Arab and Islamic minds will create as they once created, advance as they once advanced, and we shall realise then that every backwardness we endured was but a heavy price paid for relegating questioning to the margins—and that every progress we achieve will be by virtue of this question which they thought was rebellion, yet which turns out to be the very path to salvation and honour.
I do not doubt for a moment that the day the Arab and Muslim regain the courage to question will be the day a new page of glory begins, the day the mind is awakened from its long slumber, and the beacons of civilisation—extinguished by fear and parched by blind imitation—are rekindled. For when peoples take possession of their minds and unleash their questions, they are capable of changing the course of history and creating anew in the fields of knowledge, thought, and life. Our ummah is no exception to this rule—if only it wills, if only it is sincere in resolve, if only it lifts from its intellect the shackles, from its thought the siege, and returns to its original nature: where questioning is the beginning, free thinking the means, and truth the goal, where there is no place for fear of the mind, nor dread of the question.
Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI. Original post: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/6387
