Description
The process of bringing the religious and the secular elements together is, from the Islamic point of view, a restoration of the link between reason and revelation, or between the role of the mind in appreciating (comprehending and interpreting) revelation and guiding the mind by means of the revelation's objectives, its comprehensive and universal outlook, and its living and civilizational values. Thus, the joining of the two wings in the pursuit of reform is an intellectual process in its methodology and style. In other words, the crisis faced by the Ummah at the present time is one of thought.
It is only natural, then, that the call to the proper approach, the explanation of what that approach and its priorities should be, and the plans for its implementation should be made by the Ummah's intellectuals, writers, and concerned social and political leaders. These people must strive to clarify the picture, to make the Ummah aware of the problem, and to plant the seeds of reform so that these may grow and eventually bear fruit. It may sometimes seem that the road is a winding one. This, however, is the case in every beginning and new undertaking. Although the beginning may be difficult, people have never chosen paths simply for the ease of passage these may afford them. On the contrary, paths are chosen for the reason that they lead to those objectives for which people set out on the road in the first place.
