Modernism According to the thought of Fazlur Rahman

Abstract

Contemporary modernism is primarily concerned with reform and internal reconstruction, seeking to develop a critical attitude towards the West and its own historical heritage. Muslims must study Western ideas objectively, as well as Islamic religious history and ideas. If not, success in facing the modern world would be impossible, and survival as a Muslim would be highly doubtful. The first and most basic task of contemporary modernists is to develop a correct and logical methodology by studying the Qur’an for guidance on the future of Islam. The methodology developed by Fazlur Rahman in several of his intellectual works can be divided into two, namely contemporary modernism and classical modernism. Fazlur Rahman promised that the methodology he offered could avoid the arbitrary and uncontrolled growth of ijtihad. This research is aDescriptive qualitative research that examines the problems of modern thinking Fazlur Rahman. This type of research is normative or library research. The primary material in this study consists of norms (basic), works of Fazlur Rahman, research results, works of experts, and others. Meanwhile, secondary and tertiary materials are in the form of dictionaries, encyclopedias, cumulative indexes, and so on. This research concludes that the reformulation of classical modernism has at least attempted to carry out internal reform, namely instilling rationalism as an initial solution to intellectual stagnation and decline. By relying on the belief in the universality of the Qur’an in responding to the challenges of the times. Interpreting the Qur’an on the basis of normative Islam to answer modern issues in the context of modernity is the central idea for the construction of Islamic thought by Fazlur Rahman.