Despite the seminal attempts for establishing interactive relations or cooperation among sciences, the main course of events does not seem to be heading in the correct direction.Those who guide a society are not intellectuals, but scientists and scholars. But they view the world with professional blindness. They tend to lose sight of the forest as they concentrate on a single tree. A sociologist looks at everything from the window of sociology and thinks that the entire world consists of sociology. A psychologist or an economist has a similar perspective. This naturally brings with it scientific blindness, preventing an understanding of matter as a whole, and imperceptibly blinding intellectual life.
The biggest danger for the Muslim world is still positivism and the glorification of the natural sciences. As you might remember, the last century's claim was that natural sciences provided an exegesis of the Quran. Of course, nature is God's creation and gives us signs about Him, but we must question whether the method by which information about nature is collected is a sound one. Things are never so simple, and no one can suggest that everything obtained through scientific methods necessarily acknowledges the truth of Islam or provides an exegesis to it on its own.
For instance, when psychology emerged as a science, the first thing it did was to purge itself of metaphysics, religion and philosophy. It then adopted the methods employed by physics and biology. A step further, it argued that a psychological case should be assessed in a laboratory or under laboratory conditions. Next, it stipulated that its data must be expressed in terms of mathematics. But, can moods or the spiritual life of man be understood by using the methods of biology and physics? Absolutely not. It is clear that we need other methods.
The danger in question is still applicable as we continue to glorify exact sciences. A bird needs two wings to fly. We need to know Islamic sciences and Islamic heritage of knowledge and culture and adopt an Islamic paradigm, and at the same time, we must closely watch the developments in the West and see what progress has been made or what distinguished scholars or scientists think or how they perceive the world. One thing is certain: The 21st century will be the era of the return to religion. The inhabitants of this planet will either commit suicide or return to religion.
One cannot agree with famous sociologist Peter Berger more: Europe has never been as religious as it is now. In the Middle Ages, Europe was not religious. The church dominated, but society was pagan. On the other hand, society was always religious at all times in the Muslim world. There were religious scholars, Sufis, dervishes, madrasas, religious orders, etc., to train people. The church's domination in the Middle Ages was restricted to only the political sphere. Society continued to live within the framework of its former pagan beliefs and traditions. In particular, the nations to the north of Europe have never become fully Christians but remain pagans. Today, the northern countries such Denmark, Netherlands, etc., are the places where Christianity is weakest. However, crises give one the opportunity to rethink everything.
It is my conviction that the moment it starts to question itself by jettisoning its current cultural racism and egocentric perspective, Europe will feel the irresistible need to return to belief in one God and to the Gospel. Thus, the current church-centered religion may be replaced with a book/Gospel-centered one, which will be utterly beneficial to Europe. Moreover, if their dialogue with Muslims goes well, this will imply what Said Nursi described as purification of religion, getting closer to belief in one God. For a new intellectual revival, the West needs such a powerful intellectual effort.
