تصورات الفكر الحداثي عن التشريعات الإسلامية للأسرة: دراسة تحليلية مقارنة The Perceptions of Modernity-Related Thought of Islamic Family Legislation: A Comparative Analytical Study

• Published in: Global journal al-thaqafah Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 157 - 175
• Main Author: Abubaker Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Ibrahim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 31-07-2024
• ISSN: 2232-0474; 2232-0482
• DOI: 10.7187/GJAT072024-10

This study aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the perceptions of modernity-related thought concerning family affairs in Islamic legislation. Analyzing the discourse of modernity and the issues raised therein, the researcher attempts to answer the following questions: what effect-if any- does one’s stance on religious heritage have on the study of family-related issues? what are the flaws of the modernists with respect to the family? what are the alternative perceptions that Islam presents concerning family values and legislation? To answer these questions- and to achieve the objective of his study- the researcher has used a descriptive as well as a comparative approach. In conclusion, the study has found that the flaws of the modernist approach, which adopts western secular concepts and values on a universal scale, can be traced back to its rejection of any cultural particularities stemming from religious heritage. That is why it fails to acknowledge or explain the changes witnessed in daily life in Muslim societies. Understandably, an explanation of such changes cannot be reduced exclusively to a material worldview. Identifying some features of such shortcomings, the researcher has referred to the modernists’ rejection of value-based family cohesion, and how they see it as a source of violation to women's rights. Or worse still, they see it as a form of stereotyping the gender roles in line with religious rulings. On the positive side, the study outlined some features of an alternative methodology from within the Islamic worldview- to address the issues of parent education, family upbringing based on dialogue, equality among family members, and women’s freedoms, which modernists usually raise. The study ends by urging researchers to conduct further case studies on a specific country or family institutions. The focus of such works should be on evaluating the content of the modernist discourse in international agreements, and its impact on women and children, on the identity of the family, as well as its functions and characteristics from the perspective of cultural differences among nations.