Taha Abdel-Rahman Philosophy of Islamic Modernity: Intellectual Foundations and Moral Stakes

Abstract

This study presents a discussion of the philosophical perception of Islamic modernity as offered by Taha Abdel-Rahman in his philosophy focusing on both; intellectual cognitive foundations  and religious moral stakes. So, the discussion here is initiated with the notion of modernity as generally presented in intellectual philosophical works and as specifically determined by Taha Abdel-Rahman. Next, the paper illuminates the most common characteristics of Western Modernity (Mechanization, totalitarianism, universalism, etc.), clarifying all the justifications behind Taha Abdel-Rahman’s critique of all those features. The paper covers all the most significant disadvantages of modernity reproduced by Arab thinkers and philosophers, being “incomplete” because of its lack of “creativity “and “independence”. Finally, the paper discusses the moral evaluation of modernity in its western form and the features of alternative modernist model suggested by Taha Abdel-Rahman,  presenting its most important foundations and analyzing all its purposes and objectives. The study concludes that Taha Abdel-Rahman offers a profound critique of modernity on both levels:  the ‘dominant’ Western form, and the Arab ‘transferred’ form. Taha Abde-Rahman suggests a new alternative for Islamic modernity. He made radical modifications in all the principles of Modernity, reconstructing it depending on unavoidable moral and religious foundations.