Editorial 

Man’s physical and intellectual life has become too complicated and 
diversified for a single individual to internalize, however knowledgeable 
he or she may be. Hence, ijtihad and renewal are no longer a mission 
reserved exclusively for a mujtuhid, ‘ d i m ,  or a leader as was traditionally 
the case a few centuries ago. 

Historically speaking, more than a h u n d d  years ago, this demanding 
reality of human life was recognized by the Ottomans. Rather than 
following the established traditions of placing the responsibilities of 
legislation in the hands of a grand mujfuhid, a broad committee of 
‘ulama, statesmen, and public figures was set up to take charge of cudi- 
fying the )Lanafl school of fiqh (known as the Majalla). It is therefore the 
responsibility of scientists, ‘ulama, philosophers, and, above all, social 
scientists to play a significant role in the ongoing movement of Islamic 
renewal. 

Yet the intellectual tcnewal of a nation can only be set on foot with 
a critique of dominant norms, paradigms, and ideals, whether of intrinsic 
mots or of foreign origins. Indeed, it is through a comprehensive and 
constructive critical insights that society will be able to develop a new 
and invigorating worldview. This is the starting point and common 
denominator shared by most articles of this issue of M I S S .  

Mona M. Abul-Fad1 proposes an extensive and profound analysis of 
contempomy social theory. Her goal is to illustrate its misrepnasentation 
of the human venture and to lay the foundation for an Islamic perspective 
of social theory. Similarly, though on a smaller scale, Abdulwahab al 
Masseri reflects on the common mts of imperialism, secularism, and the 
dominant western epistemological outlook. Challenging decaying ideals 
of other categories, Tihi J. a1 ‘Alwini presents a detailed reformulation 
on the rights of the accused in a typical Islamic judicial system. By 
drawing on primary Islamic texts and classical fiqh sources, his work 
epitomizes that of a contemporary fuqih vis-A-vis contemporary issues. 
Suha T a j i - F d ’ s  article is in contrast With that of a1 ‘AlwZitll. Here, 
a social scientist attempts to deconstruct a modemfuqih’s (a1 N a W i  



reading of the canonical sources of Islam (the Qur'an, hadith, and @ah). 
This, of coutse, is a necessary step toward u n d e m d i n g  the intricacies, 
shortcomings, and richness of contemporary Islamic political thought. 

Our M e r s  will not fail to notice Ibrahim Abu-Rabi"s review article. 
It is now our goal to expand our book review section. AJZSS, therefore, 
is welcoming more contributions to this section, especially those articles 
dealing with several related books or scholarly publications of a certain 
field of Islamic studies. 

We would also like to remind our contributors of an essential require- 
ment, namely, properly documenting their research papers. Papers must 
adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, and all consulted sources must be 
indicated in full (author, name, title, city and date of publication, 
publisher, and exact page numbers). It is very time-consuming for AJZSS 
staff as well as for authors to halt publication procedures of a certain 
paper so that such bibliographical requirements may be fulfilled. Please 
submit all contributions on diskette using either WordPerfect 5.1 for 
Windows (IBM) or Microsoft Word (Machtosh), if possible. 

' AbdulHamid AbiiSulaymiin