REVIVING KALĀM JADĪD IN THE MODERN AGE:THE PERPETUAL RELEVANCE OF AL-GHAZALI AND FAKHR AL-DIN AL-RAZI

Abstract

The new kalām (kalām jadīd or new dialectics) intellectual movement started by al-Ghazālī and matured by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī succeeded in putting all the hellenising philosophical and natural sciences within the theological and epistemological ambit of tradition. This historical success provides pertinent lessons for Muslim scholars and intellectuals today to formulate what can be called a kalām al- ʿasr, or the Dialectics of the Age, in order to bring tradition to engage creatively and evaluatively with the challenge and allure of contemporary westernising sciences.