Question: How can we keep pace with the modern age without compromising our own values?

Answer: The world we live in is passing through a dizzying process of change and transformation. With each passing day, technology takes a firmer hold on our lives: distances shrink, time seems to contract, and the world grows smaller. Today, an idea, a remark, or a single thought can reach the most remote corners of the globe in seconds. This rapid change exposes the earth, on the one hand, to certain forms of decay and, on the other, to some positive developments. As children of this age, we cannot remain indifferent to these transformations. If we wish to guide the times while preserving our values, we must stand at the very center of life and learn to read the language, spirit, and needs of the age correctly. Only then can we speak of putting the wind of the era behind us and shaping the course of time.

Turning to the Interpretation of the Age

When dealing with scriptural texts that are open to differing interpretations or matters for which no definitive ruling exists, we must always take into account the conditions in which we live and the guiding influence of time. While filling the spaces left open to juristic reasoning, we are obliged to consider the age’s own interpretive context. In its technical legal sense, abrogation came to an end with the passing of God’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), for the authority to repeal a definitive religious ruling and replace it with another belongs solely to the Lawgiver Himself. Yet within the realm of interpretation beyond the explicit texts, one must not forget that time can, in a sense, bring about change in many matters—that is, it can produce a practical transformation in rulings that are open to alteration.

Thus, the second caliph ʿUmar (may God be pleased with him) no longer allocated zakat to those who had been classified during the Prophet’s time (peace and blessings be upon him) as muʾallafa al-qulūb—people whose hearts were to be inclined toward Islam. This was because, in his era, Islam had illuminated every quarter with its light and had taken hold of hearts and minds. Forces that sought to extinguish that light encountered a firm resolve. As a result, there was no longer any need to grant such individuals a share of zakat in order to guard against their potential harm. With his remarkable intellect and keen insight, ʿUmar exercised the juristic judgment required by the circumstances of his time.

This, however, did not amount—as some imagine—to changing the ruling of the verse itself. As Zahid al-Kawtharī explains in detail in his work Maqālāt, the matter concerns how the expression muʾallafa al-qulūb in the verse is to be understood. The effective cause of the ruling—the factor that prompted its legislation—was identified in the verse as taʾlīf al-qulūb, winning over hearts. As emphasized in the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, when the effective cause exists, the ruling applies; when that cause disappears, the ruling no longer applies. ʿUmar understood his own time very well and issued such a judgment under those conditions. In our own day, however, it can be said that this effective cause has reappeared, for there are now many people whose hearts might be won and whose faces might be turned toward Islam through acts of generosity and benevolence. In a sense, changing circumstances have rendered ʿUmar’s time-specific judgment no longer applicable and have revived the effective cause underlying the ruling.

Developments in the present age can open new horizons for understanding the scriptural texts. By drawing on today’s accumulated knowledge and scholarly resources, it is possible—within the framework of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence—to derive new rulings from the Qur’an and the Prophetic traditions. In particular, as science and technology advance at great speed, many new issues have emerged in the fields of trade, commerce, and social transactions that earlier jurists never encountered. Resolving these matters, as children of our own time, falls to us.

New Interpretations in Qur’anic Exegesis

Any new Qur’anic commentaries that are produced must also turn to the interpretation of the age. Taking into account contemporary knowledge and scientific developments, the scriptural texts should be approached in a language that people today can readily understand. Verses that touch on scientific realities, in particular, are highly amenable to being reinterpreted in light of the data offered by modern science.

Classical exegetes, after all, grounded their interpretations in the scientific level of their own times. Today, however, scholarly research and the knowledge it yields have become far more systematic and comprehensive. Matters that were once shrouded in mystery—such as a child’s development in the womb, the fertilizing role of the winds, or the movements of celestial bodies—are now known in considerable detail. This makes it possible for the relevant verses to be explained in a more orderly, illuminating, and contemporary manner.

For example, Tantawi Jawhari produced a commentary that related Qur’anic verses to the scientific data of his era, crafting what was almost an encyclopedic work. Yet the sciences advance so rapidly that some of the information in his book inevitably requires revision in light of today’s accumulated knowledge. Progress across disciplines—from commerce to the arts, from technology to medical developments, and from physics to chemistry—makes it necessary for us to cultivate new perspectives on the Qur’an and to broaden the horizons of interpretation.

Methods of Service Suited to the Age

Similar considerations apply to methods of service. Because professions, preoccupations, perceptions, and ways of thinking have changed so markedly in today’s world, the approaches used to convey religious values must be reconsidered. We now have to find new language, styles, and tools capable of speaking to contemporary audiences.

In yesterday’s world there was neither television nor the internet; neither cinema nor theater was known. Today, however, these media have become indispensable parts of daily life. People spread their ideas and philosophies of life through such channels. Our task, then, is to seek ways of communicating our values and message effectively by employing the cultural instruments of the age.

For instance, by drawing on the language of art—writing powerful novels and stories, and producing high-quality television series and films—it is possible to reach very different segments of society. Indeed, fine examples of this have appeared in recent history. If you do not have enough people who can wield the pen, write scripts, convey truth through aesthetic expression, and master the performing arts, then you must cultivate such cadres. Put differently, if you wish to be effective in an arena where everyone is competing, you must assemble a strong team and play by the rules of the age.

At the same time, a serious estrangement from religion and spirituality is evident in today’s world. Moreover, while worldly-minded people sometimes display prejudice—and even hostility—toward the devout, the religious themselves can act distant or even coarse toward those who do not share their outlook.

Yet in an age when disagreements and conflicts are intensifying, what is required is to seek tolerance and magnanimity for everyone and to pursue paths of dialogue with all, regardless of a person’s identity or way of life. No matter how people live or what occupies them, building walls between ourselves and others and confining them to their own worlds is unworthy of those who walk in the path of the Prophets. No one grants us the right to keep our distance from people—or to exclude them from our lives—simply because of how they choose to live.

Indeed, through activities of magnanimity and dialogue, we have often been surprised to witness the deep respect and love that many individuals from very different backgrounds feel for God and His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It turns out that great treasures are hidden in many hearts we would never have expected. Hearts that give off light without having touched fire—who knows how they will blaze and shine once a single spark is struck?

Truths That Time Cannot Wear Away

It is useful to offer this reminder here: being open to the innovations that time presents does not require us to regard everything from the past as obsolete and discard it like a worn-out object. The valuable works produced by earlier generations through immense effort, sweat, and devotion still contain precious gems that can be appreciated today. To deny or ignore this heritage would be both an injustice to our predecessors and an intellectual failing.

At the same time, there are certain truths that never grow old, no matter how much time passes. They endure because they originate from a source that does not age. What makes them appear “outdated” in some eyes is merely the soot, dust, and grime that have settled on them over time. What is therefore needed is to polish them anew and reveal their brilliance.

What truly grows old are things fashioned by human hands and shaped by time; such things may age and reach the end of their usefulness. Knowledge and rulings that come from a heavenly source, however, always preserve their freshness, vitality, and vigor. For this reason, to treat them merely as “antique artifacts”—maintaining respect while assuming they can no longer address contemporary needs—would be a serious mistake.

Conformity with the Definitive Foundations

One must also remember that whatever novelties time may bring, the essentials of our faith—the foundational disciplines of the Qur’an and the Sunnah—do not change. Our task is to hold firmly to these constants and to assess every matter by their standards. In resolving the problems we encounter, it is indispensable to benefit to the fullest from the age’s accumulated experience, knowledge, and resources. At the same time, we must carefully examine whether every issue we address accords with the religion’s definitive foundations (muhkamāt), with the pure understanding of the righteous forebears—the generation of the Companions and those who followed them among the Successors and their successors—and with matters upon which there has been scholarly consensus.

To that end, we must first possess a deep knowledge of Islam and of its primary sources, the Qur’an and the Sunnah. May God be eternally pleased with our early scholars, for they conducted profoundly rigorous inquiries into understanding divine revelation, established solid criteria in the fundamentals of theology and jurisprudence (uṣūl al-dīn and uṣūl al-fiqh), and laid down clear and systematic disciplines for the Islamic sciences. When one adheres to this scholarly legacy, confusion in religious matters is avoided, for they examined every issue with such meticulous care that they left virtually nothing obscure in matters of faith, clarifying everything with precision.

The methodological principles articulated by the scholars to ensure sound understanding of religion have been applied repeatedly throughout history and tested against the religion’s definitive foundations. For us, therefore, they represent a reliable and safe path. They may be likened to signs and signposts placed along the roadside: when we avert our eyes from them, we risk straying from the path. If we wish to move forward securely without mishap, we must remain faithful to the disciplines they established. In particular, any choices we make in the name of religion must always be in harmony with its primary sources.

In His Noble Book, God commands us to hold fast to His rope (Surah Āl ʿImrān, 3:103). If we grasp a sturdy rope with our hands, we can walk safely in whatever realm we choose, travel confidently in any age, and engage with people of different outlooks and philosophies without anxiety. Because we are holding to an unbreakable line or a firm handhold, we do not fear being shaken. We can readily discern which exhortations and insinuations of the age run contrary to our fundamental values and would draw us away from our path. Thus, on slippery ground where feet may falter, we proceed with greater care and preserve our firm stance.

In sum, as time advances, the sciences develop, technology progresses, culture changes, and time lays its hidden pearls before us. In this process, our ways of thinking also take shape. If we can use time as a lens or a telescope, we may come to understand the Qur’an more fully and devise more accurate methods and approaches for conveying its message. In matters open to juristic reasoning, we may even place the winds of the age at our backs. Yet whatever we do, we must remain bound to the religion’s definitive foundations, avoid wounding the spirit of the Qur’an, and place our reverence for the scriptural texts above all else.

Muʾallafa al-qulūb: Those whose hearts were to be inclined toward Islam or whose potential harm to Islam was to be averted. Because of these considerations, this group is included among the categories entitled to receive a share of zakat funds mentioned in Surah al-Tawbah, 9:60.