Purpose of the "Science of Methodology"
Yahya Mohamed
The study of Science of Methodology (علم الطريقة) raises questions about whether it is possible to create a method for religious thinking that differs from what has prevailed in our Islamic heritage. On the one hand, it is concerned with the methodologies of religious understanding, which include a priori assumptions, while on the other hand, it avoids entering into the common sectarian and theological modes of thought used today and in the past.
The purpose of the Science of Methodology is to subject Islamic studies to the domination of methodological and epistemic research, with a complete break from all forms of doctrinal thinking. This is because thinking about the doctrine is achieved not by relying on the doctrine itself, but rather through a methodological and epistemic approach. As a result, this approach can help protects the religion from any distortions caused by limiting thinking to doctrinal beliefs.
According to this science, it is necessary to transform sectarian thinking into a methodological one, in accordance with the Copernican rule. Instead of succumbing to the conformity that makes the method regular according to sectarian thinking, we must turn the equation around by making the method the basis and transforming the sect into patterns of multi-perspective, methodological thinking. Thus, the sect is subject to methodological accountability without being reversed.
In this way, we hope that in the future, suitable conditions for scientific research will emerge, characterized by a departure from the traditional approaches of the past. This shift should resemble the leap forward made by natural science between the modern renaissance and before, thanks to the principles of critical review and continuous theoretical examination.
And, this is what we need in examining and constantly reviewing religious concepts, away from doctrinal and ideological considerations, as well as away from the methods used in rote learning and creating a referendum cadre that only knows how to consult and obtain ready-made answers without understanding the methods of comprehension and thinking. This perpetuates the prevailing phenomenon of blind - imitation in our Islamic societies. Therefore, it was necessary to create a mechanistic cadre that focuses on deep questions related to intellectual mechanism and methodologies.
We also hope that methodology will receive wide attention for research and development, and that it will be adopted in teaching by institutions and scholars to create a new Islamic culture that is free from sectarian and ideological restrictions, and that is based on methodological and empirical research.
We hope that the Science of Methodology will receive widespread attention for research and development, and that it will be adopted in teaching by scientific institutions such as institutes, seminaries, and academic universities related to religious and philosophical studies. It is a new - science that opens up previously unexplored horizons of thought.
This new - science has forced us to present many new concepts and classifications that are dynamic, effective, intellectually and philosophically rich, without being of the simple static type that does not benefit, enrich, or produce anything.
We also point out that this science is not limited to the study of the problematic of religious understanding methodologically, as indicated by the secondary title of the book ("The Science of the Methodology of Religious Understanding"). Rather, its role extends to the study of various sciences, including natural science, as evident through our comparison between the religious problematic and the scientific problematic and overall human perceptions, based on the existence of some basic commonalities between these diverse fields. Each of them is based on two interacting elements: the human self, as represented by the Priori, and the external subject, specifically that each of these fields carries cognitive systems consisting of five pillars: source of knowledge, methodological mechanism, generators and a priori directives, questioning, and productive and generative.