Living Islam – Islamic tradition

Islamic Reformation?

Hamza Yusuf: We don't need a reformation of Islam, what we need is to reform our understanding of Islam.

What we need – according to our Prophet (saws) – is a renewal of our commitment to the highest ideals of our Islamic tradition and a lot of Muslims don't realize that. Modernity has captured the Muslims; that is the idea for instance that we are going to create a better world or a better state. Modernity had a utopian desire and many Muslims have adopted the utopian desire of modernity. But all of the utopian energies have led to a dead end road.

Islam is not a utopian religion, it believes that there is a utopia, but you have to wait for it, it is not in this world. And it claims that the nature of the world is distopic and will always be so. What Islam does is that it allows you to get out of your disfunctional rut, as an individual, and if enough of you do it collectively, you will enhance society, but you will not perfect society.

fn1: distopic: What is probably meant here by dystopic is the opposite of "utopic", such as where a utopian society is founded on the idea of perfectionism and fulfillment, which according to the Islamic teachings is an illusion and impossible, dystopic refers generally to negative and undesirable conditions in societies when they are separated from any higher and transcendant idea which could inform them.

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