Between Authenticity and Modernity: Rationalist and Historicist Currents in Maghrebi Islamic Thought Между самобытностью и современностью: рационалистическое и историцистское течения в исламской мысли Магриба

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Vural M.

RUDN Journal of Philosophy, cilt.30, sa.2, ss.415-429, 2026 (Scopus)

Özet

The study examines the intellectual landscape of contemporary Islamic thought, with a particular focus on the North African (Maghreb) region and the influential precursors of modern reformism. The inquiry begins by addressing the historical encounters between the Islamic world and Western modernity, analyzing the shift from classical metaphysics to contemporary discourses centered on hermeneutics, civilizational analysis, and the “Islamization of Knowledge.” Central to this foundational discourse is the figure of Jamal al-Din al-Afghānī, whose political activism and critique of naturalism (materialism) laid the groundwork for modern Islamic revivalism by diagnosing the root causes of civilizational inertia. The core of the research evaluates the distinct methodological inquiries of Maghrebi thinkers who seek to transcend the stagnation of the post-classical era. It analyzes the “Realist Personalism” and “Tomorrowism” of Aziz Lahbābī, alongside Malek Bennabī’s seminal theory of “colonisability,” which identifies internal social conditions as the primary catalyst for external subjugation. The study further explores the massive deconstruction of the “Arab/Islamic Reason” spearheaded by Mohammed Abed al-Jabrī through his epistemological triad — Beyan, Irfan, and Burhan — and Mohammed Arkoun’s “Applied Islamology,” which utilizes structuralist tools to dismantle the “mythical closure” of the tradition. Furthermore, the research delves into the radical “Islamic Left” of Hassan Hanafī, which proposes an anthropological turn in theology, and the linguistic hermeneutics of Nasr Hamid Abū Zayd, who defines revelation as a “cultural product.” These historicist and rationalist projects are contrasted with the ethical-traditionalist counter-critique of Tāhā Abderrahmane, who rejects Western-centric methodologies in favor of an indigenous modernity rooted in “Supported Reason.” A critical theme of the study is the analysis of the methodological crisis surrounding the “Period of Codification” (al-Tedwin). It explores how contemporary thinkers attempt to bypass centuries of traditional accumulation to establish a direct, rational link with the founding texts. By analyzing the dynamic dialectic between Asala (Authenticity/Tradition) and Mu’asara (Modernity), this paper identifies the pivotal role of historicist and rationalist methodologies in diagnosing civilizational decline. Ultimately, it proposes that a modern Islamic renaissance depends on the successful synthesis of ethical authenticity and critical rationalism, transitioning the Islamic world from an “object” of Western modernization to a “subject” of its own historical development.