This research paper aims to emphasize the necessity of renewing religious thought. It highlights the distinction between renewing religious thought—which is a human endeavor—and religion itself, which is divine revelation from God, the Lord of all worlds. While we currently feel an urgent need for renewal, we can also find legitimate religious grounds for this necessity, whether in Quranic verses or in the sayings of our noble Prophet (peace be upon him). A top priority in this renewal is the revival of ijtihad (independent reasoning), which has long been abandoned. Its absence has contributed to the crises the Muslim community faces today and has led to the emergence of extremist and deviant groups that stray from the true essence of Islam. Hence, the need to renew religious discourse is not a luxury but a pressing necessity that imposes itself upon us. The threat now comes from those who falsely claim to represent Islam, spreading corruption on Earth and killing innocent people. Our real crisis is an epistemological one—claiming a return to the “original” Islam without a proper understanding of what that truly entails. This makes renewal an imperative, and ijtihad an unavoidable requirement.
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