The Revival and Renewal of the Modern Muslim Ummah

On the topic of today, Dr. Sameer, this idea of this podcast came through a walk that we were having just about two weeks ago, and I think it's quite adequately titled, Revival in an Age of Crises, Self, Society and the Ummah.

From that, Dr. Sameer, my first question to you is, Is there a difference between renewal and revival?

Very interesting and very important questions.

Revival, renewal.

I like to use the Arabic equivalents to kind of pin down the meanings.

So revival, the term often in Arabic used is Ihya.

And renewal, the Arabic term is Tajdeed.

And we know from tradition and the Hadith of the Prophet that every 100 years there will be sent a great scholar or someone who will renew.

Mujaddid.

Mujaddid, exactly.

And Imam al-Ghazali is considered to be a Mujaddid and he titled his work Ihyaa, Ihyaa Ulama al-Din.

And so some people use them as synonyms, but I think there's a fundamental difference.

Ihyaa is the revival of the core fundamental spirit, principles, values of a tradition by giving it a new lease on life, by engaging in a return back to roots, fundamental roots.

Renewal, I would say, Tejdeed, is the element of how this core spirit, impulse, values and principles can be adapted, translated and made relevant for a particular age or a particular period.

Overlapping meanings, but slightly different in the sense of what's actually going on, what's happening.

So when Imam Ghazali says he is not inventing or reinventing the wheel, he's breathing new life into the fundamental core of the deen that already exists.

And he's a Mujaddid because he did it in such a way, in such a form that it spoke directly to the existential political, economic and spiritual needs of the people of that age.

Hence, it's a renewal.