Religious thought and its renewal

The author - like most reformers in our Islamic world - undertakes the attempt to correct false perceptions, and to undermine their dominance. He faces deviant ideas and mistaken concepts, which lead to discouragement and freezing of resolve. In doing so, he starts from the axiom of the necessity of changing these perceptions - and spreading the correct Islamic view - as the natural prerequisite for any desired renewal. The occasion for Sheikh Muttahari's talk about revival and renewal was his commentary on the book of the scholar Muhammad Iqbal Lahori: "Renewal of Religious Thought in Islam"; he disagreed with him on some issues, tried to rectify his mistakes on others, and agreed with him on some of his points. The importance of this brief discussion of a matter of great significance, such as the issue of renewal; is that it is a matter that has spread in our recent era, its scope has widened, and so-called heretics now call themselves reformers, to lead people away from the religion of Allah under the pretext of renewal; thus, it was necessary to clarify the issue to refute the nonsense of the pretenders.