Need for Development of Islamic Humanities
Ayatollah Mahmoud Rajabi, head of the Imam Khomeini (RA) Education and Research Institute, in a recent speech talks about Islamic humanities. Following are excerpts from his remarks:
The Holy Quran says: “It is He who has sent forth His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to uplift it above every religion, no matter how much the idolaters hate it.” (Verse 33 of Surah At-Tawbah)
According to this verse, the mission of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the prevalence of the Islamic culture in human society and, in other words, the realization of the Islamic civilization in the world.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has described the realization of the Islamic civilization as the peak of Islamic Revolution. This is what the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was appointed to prophethood for and the path that Holy Book, the Quran, was revealed to guide people to. A civilization has a frame, content, intellectual fundamentals and exterior manifestations. Unfortunately, in human society more attention is paid to manifestations and appearance than content. For example, people consider civilizations based on emergence of cultures while the fact is that the contents are what constitute the true identity of civilizations.
If we want to act upon this holy verse and implement it in the world and materialize the Islamic civilization, we need to make sure that the rich culture of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Holy Quran will prevail in society. Otherwise, the Islamic civilization will not be materialized.
The Holy Quran says the religion of Islam, namely Islamic culture, ideals, values and norms, should prevail. On the other hand, in order for such a culture to prevail, it is the Islamic sciences that can create culture and identity.
Other sciences can also be used as tools for realization of culture and civilization but what is fundamental is humanities. That is why we see more and more attention to humanities in the world. This shows that even non-Muslim societies have come to the conclusion that the humanities are necessary to achieve their goals. Therefore, humanities plays a fundamental role in formation of Islamic civilization.
