|
Renaissance
was launched in January 1991 with an aim to communicate the true message
of Islam and to purge it from various innovations which have, over the
years, crept into its edifice. The basic idea behind its initiation is
to present the teachings of Islam in their pristine form and to apply its
principles in current circumstances with a view to present positive solutions
to the problems faced in the fields of law and politics, economics and
sociology and indeed in all the other spheres of life.
No doubt,
a tempest has blown the Muslim fleet out of course. We are going through
a period of general decline in all the affairs of life. A revolution in
the intellectual and mental perspectives is the need of the hour. The challenge
we face is prodigious and the effort required is Herculean. But then, there
is a heartening aspect to this situation: In recent times, the task of
such an intellectual and mental reformation has already been taken up by
a religious scholar of exceptional intellect, Imam Hameed Uddin Farahi
(d:1930). He, together with his most outstanding pupil Amin Ahsan Islahi
(d:1997), has redirected the Muslim religious thought to the path from
which it had deviated by opening the way to direct deliberation on the
Qur’an.
We intend
to continue the work of intellectual revival begun by these two personalities
in our own limited capacities so as to contribute whatever we can to the
cause of this awakening. We are no scholars or men of learning, but very
ordinary seekers of the truth. Our limitations and shortcomings are as
evident to us as the midday sun, yet it is just the quest for the truth
and the desire for its dissemination that has inspired us to undertake
such a daunting task. In the tremendous pandemonium that prevails, our
voice is no more than a whisper, yet something deep down in our hearts
beckons us to devote even the last quantum of energy we have for the cause
of truth:
Stand upright, speak thy thought, declare,
The truth thou hast that all may share,
Be bold, proclaim it every where,
They only live who dare.
|