How much outside of what we are familiar with, do we know? And how much information do we really know to make sound judgements and decisions and form opinions?
Realistically speaking, the answer is "not enough" for both the above questions. It will never be enough, no matter how much we know, because our knowledge is limited due to time, or due to certain style or method of thought we adopt in our lives. But the important thing is that we make a concentrated effort to know a broad spectrum of things in order to contextualise our thoughts and views to a certain extent.
Take, for example, our knowledge of Muslim thought. What is "Muslim thought", to begin with? It is the very diverse and complex pool of knowledge that Muslim thinkers have contributed to the world ever since the Holy Prophet s.a.w. brought us the Message from Allah.
Muslim thought is not restricted to how we do our prayers, how we recite the Qur'an, and whether we can drink alcohol and eat pork or not. It covers an expanse of knowledge, way beyond these issues. Studying Muslim thought requires a Muslim to open his or her mind, and be critical on what he or she comes across. Not everything can and should be accepted - but it would give every Muslim reason to appreciate our roots, our rich tradition in intellectual thought and the fact that much of Muslim thought gave life to modern philosophical thought and inspired much of the modern systems and concepts in place.
A workshop and seminar I attended yesterday introduced a whole range of Muslim thought. Matters from the genesis of Shi'a Islam, to Mu'tazilites, to 'Asharism, to the maddhabs, to political Islamic thought, to contemporary thought was covered in an engrossing 2-hour lecture. It was not enough. I had come across many of these topics during a module I took in University, but this refresher had even more insights.
This spectrum of knowledge may not go down too well with some folks who may be used to a particular type of thinking - but the point of such a lecture and intellectual effort is not to believe or disbelieve, it is just to show that such thought exists. That isn't too much to ask of Muslims today.
The next question is to increase avenues of such knowledge. Not enough people are familiar with such knowledge to spread to the community. Thus it may be time to create special programmes and reach out to more people who may be interested to give a listening ear to such a topic.
Realistically speaking, the answer is "not enough" for both the above questions. It will never be enough, no matter how much we know, because our knowledge is limited due to time, or due to certain style or method of thought we adopt in our lives. But the important thing is that we make a concentrated effort to know a broad spectrum of things in order to contextualise our thoughts and views to a certain extent.
Take, for example, our knowledge of Muslim thought. What is "Muslim thought", to begin with? It is the very diverse and complex pool of knowledge that Muslim thinkers have contributed to the world ever since the Holy Prophet s.a.w. brought us the Message from Allah.
Muslim thought is not restricted to how we do our prayers, how we recite the Qur'an, and whether we can drink alcohol and eat pork or not. It covers an expanse of knowledge, way beyond these issues. Studying Muslim thought requires a Muslim to open his or her mind, and be critical on what he or she comes across. Not everything can and should be accepted - but it would give every Muslim reason to appreciate our roots, our rich tradition in intellectual thought and the fact that much of Muslim thought gave life to modern philosophical thought and inspired much of the modern systems and concepts in place.
A workshop and seminar I attended yesterday introduced a whole range of Muslim thought. Matters from the genesis of Shi'a Islam, to Mu'tazilites, to 'Asharism, to the maddhabs, to political Islamic thought, to contemporary thought was covered in an engrossing 2-hour lecture. It was not enough. I had come across many of these topics during a module I took in University, but this refresher had even more insights.
This spectrum of knowledge may not go down too well with some folks who may be used to a particular type of thinking - but the point of such a lecture and intellectual effort is not to believe or disbelieve, it is just to show that such thought exists. That isn't too much to ask of Muslims today.
The next question is to increase avenues of such knowledge. Not enough people are familiar with such knowledge to spread to the community. Thus it may be time to create special programmes and reach out to more people who may be interested to give a listening ear to such a topic.
