Introduction

This paper aims at providing a comprehensive Qur’anic view of the concept of critical

and creative thinking as part and parcel of the Qur’anic view of man. Obviously, man as

vicegerent has a noble task and a grand mission to undertake on this earth. As clearly stated in

some Qur’anic verses, the essence of the mission of man has to do with the faculties which are

put at his disposal by his omnipotent Creator. In this respect, the faculty of Tafakkur becomes

one of the most important features that not only distinguishes man from other creatures, but also

qualifies him to accomplish a pivotal role as a civilization builder and mission conveyor. In the

present work, the concept of ‘ya’qilun’, ‘yatafakkarun’ and ‘yatadabbarun’ were analyzed from

different perspectives. On the other hand, the present works also finds its importance in the need

for deep insights into Qur’anic view of thinking, not only as a human faculty but also as an agent

of human creative thinking and human dynamic development.

Definitions of creativity

According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, creativity is the ability to make or otherwise bring

into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or

a new artistic object or form. Sternberg (2003) defines creativity as ‘people’s ability to go

beyond given information and imagine new and exciting ways of reformulating old

problems .While the Arabic dictionary Al-Mu’jam Al-Waseet defines the verb “to create” as “to

bring something into being in a way that was not before”. Therefore, creativity is producing

something that was not in existence before or has nothing similar to it. However, the American

Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, to create is “to cause to exist; bring into being;

originate.” Creativity therefore means “having the ability or power to create things.” In Islam,

the definition of creativity closely connected with the Creator: Allah. Al-Mazeidy (1993) has

added a new dimension to the definition of creativity. He defined it as “the ability of designing

new forms that are beneficial for humanity and are in accordance with the Islamic shari’ah and

principles.” In his definition, Al- Mazeidy emphasized that the newly created things should be

useful and helpful to human beings in their life. He emphasized also that the new things should

follow Islamic foundations and principles.

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Creativity in Islam

Islam is creative by nature. In fact, the Qur’an itself contains great and creative ideas

including a complete system of guidance for life, enabling people to live in accordance with

Islamic foundations. As we know that the Qur’an was revealed as a miracle to the Prophet

Muhammad (S.A.W). It challenged all people to produce a few verses like the Qur’an but they

failed. It is a sign of divine creativity to reveal an inimitable book that is unique and relevant to

all people in all places and times. Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad’s (S.A.W.) role was also

creative. He was able to create and build a Muslim society from scratch. He transformed people

from worshipping idols to worshipping one God and fromfighting one another to building a

strong solidarity and brotherhood among all. The Prophet was the door throughwhich a

completely new system of behavior for human beings was displayed. The first Islamic society

established by the Prophet was creative in nature in the sense of newness and uniqueness, and

that small society was to be the base of the great Islamic civilization to follow. It is in such

situations that the religion, the Qur’an, the Prophet and the Muslim society are creative in nature,

and many Muslim scholars were able to produce creatively such as Imam Abu Hanifa, Malik Bin

Anas, Imam al-Shafi’I and Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal. Each was able to establish a unique school

in Islamic Fiqh. They had their own school of thought using a different methodology with a big

number of students who continued the development of their respective schools.

Definitions of Critical Thinking

The Western understanding of the power and nature of critical thinking has emerged

towards an increasingly more explicit formulations starting from as earlier as the 20 th Century.4

In 1906, William Graham Sumner published a land-breaking study of the foundations of

sociology and anthropology, Folkways, in which he documented the tendency of the human mind

to think socio-centrically and the parallel tendency for schools to serve the uncritical function of

social indoctrination. At the same time, he recognized the essential need for critical thinking in

life and education. He described critical thinking as “the examination and test of prepositions of

any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality

or not”.

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A recognized example of the general philosophical definition proposed by Robert Ennis a

renowned critical thinking philosopher, who defined critical thinking as “reasonable, reflective

thinking that is focused on deciding what to believed or do”. By stressing on reasonable thinking,

Ennis implies that critical thinking must rely upon good and appropriate reasons in reaching the

best conclusions. Any belief or actions based not on good and appropriate reason are

unreasonable. Furthermore, the element of ‘reflective thinking’ indicates the important of

consciousness aspect in good thinking for thinking will never become reasonable by accident.

Thus any critical thinkers must consciously seek for good reasons and be reflective in examining

the reasonableness of their own and others’ thought.

Critical Thinking in Islam

Islam encourages men to engage in critical thinking in order to meet the divine

expectation of human creation. While various material and utilitarian benefits can be generated

from the process of good thinking, the recognition of Allah as the Sole Creator of the universe

and all creatures will always remain the ultimate goal of thinking and contemplation in Islam.

The impact of the recognition, however, does not only enhance one’s spirituality but also

improve his or her social living. This explicitly explain the key function of human mind in

making sense the realities of human and social well-being based on rationality in the light of

revealed guidance. This recognition also reveals sense of direction of thinking process and

activities as dictated by the mind Giver in order to make thinking and life more meaningful.This

thinking faculty, apart from being an essential reality of man, is an indispensable feature for

man’s unique position in accepting the noble mission of Allah’s vicegerent in earth. In this sense,

Jamal Badi and Mustapha Tajdin (2005) mentioned that the faculty of thinking is the most

superior feature that does not only distinguish man from other creatures, but qualifies him to bear

Allah’s responsibility in sustaining mankind and building civilization.

Notably, the Qur’ān demands the readers to utilize this faculty in many

differentapproaches and styles. The derivative forms of al-‘aqlor “intellect” alone has

beenrepeatedly used forty nine times in various chapters of the Qur’anurging Muslims to

exercise their intellect in pursuing good reasoning and drawing conclusions to discover truth

guidance. In supporting those different approaches and styles, the Qur’an also use other terms

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which carry different shades of intellectual emphasis such as tafakkur (contemplating),

tadhakkur (taking to heart), tadabbur (pondering), tafaqquh (comprehending), tabassur

(understanding), tawassum (reflecting), nazar (considering) and i’tibār (taking a lesson).

Thinking related to the Islamic tradition

Apart from the Qur’anic emphasis on the specific intellectual terms and concepts in

applying critical and creative thinking, there are narrations and stories in the Qur’an that

implicitly promote the tradition of critical thinking. The term taqlid(imitation) as opposed in a

way to critical thinking, for example, although it is not mentioned in the Qur’an but the rejection

of the idea and concept are clearly indicated. The Qur’an has condemned the uncritical tradition

of the pre-Islamic society (jahiliyyah) that tends to accept and recognize irrational beliefs

inherited from their earlier generations. It also considers this attitude as neglecting the role of

mind and being influenced by the evil desires.Moreover, this Qur’anic condemnation of

taqlidcan be seen as a manifestation of its advocacy on the critical thinking tradition particularly

in examining the rational and logical aspect of any culture and belief prior to adoption.In

addition to the above implicit narration, there are many other narrations and stories that signify

the tradition or spirit of critical thinking in Islam such as follows:

1. The Muslim is urged to ascertain any news brought by a wicked person (fasiq). They are

obliged to examine the sources of information and not merely to accept any information and

to make judgment without investigating the credibility of itssources as part of the evaluation

process. This has been mentioned in Surah Al-Hujurat : 6 (O ye who believe! If a wicked

person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, lest ye harm people unwittingly, and

afterwards become full of repentance for what ye have done)

2. The event where the Prophet Sulayman had demanded the Hoopoe bird to come with a clear

reason for its absence in the birds gathering led by himillustrates the requisition for man to

think and act based on unambiguous statements orevidences instead of emotions and

prejudices. Another good example of this requisition is the event where the Great al-‘Aziz of

Egypt refused to accept the claim of his beloved wife, Zulaikha who had accused the Prophet

Yusuf without having any concrete evidence. These prophetic stories provide guidance and

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inspiration to Muslim to be more critical, analytical and objective in his decision far from any

element of biasness and favoritism to whom he loved.

Based on these Qur’anic narrations and stories, it is clear that all fundamental aspects of

modern critical and creative thinking concerning issues such as clarity, precision, relevance,

sound evidence, depth and fairness have been inclusively if not deeply covered. Moreover, these

cognitive and logical issues have been approached within the context of the Islamic spirituality to

provide special religious attributes to the discourse. Therefore, it can be inferred that critical and

creative thinking is certainly not strange from the Islamic teaching. The Qur’an has presented the

thinking culture in various ways and aspect in which they couldbe systematically structured to

form a clear conceptual definition of Islamic critical and creative thinking. Even though the

Islamic and Western definition of critical thinking would be technically similar, but the

differences lay on the conceptual comprehension of those technical terms used in the definitions

and on the worldview (tasawwur )of both traditions. Creative and critical Muslims will be

distinguished from the Western view because we have Divine guidance to be followed. The

Western only understand these both conception in a mechanistic wayie: how things work. They

are lack of essence since they did not have the idea of divinity in their thinking. As such the

conceptual definition of Islamic critical and creative thinking would function to describe the

thinking from the Islamic worldview as a replacement to the Western secular conception. It is

essential for the Muslim educators to explore and introduce the concept of Islamic thinking,

particularly in the Muslim educational system, to instill the next Muslim generation with proper

skills of thinking, far from any secular element.

The concept of Ya’qilun, yatafakkarun and yatadabbarun in the context of thinking

Al- Quran gives focus on the establishment of the right thought so that our mind which is

‘aqal’ will be guided with the right facts, information and values. It often reminds men to use his

mind to think. The concept of ya’qilun, yatafakkarun and yatadabbarun which introduced in Al-

Quran is important in relation to thinking since they will lead to the meaningful skill of thinking.

These three terms are necessary to be understood in order to know what are the messages and

wisdoms behind them and how to apply them in the right context and condition.

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Ya’qilun or ta’aqqul derives from the word ‘aql’ which means intellect or to use one’s

mind in the right way. (Badi & Tajdin, 2005) In Al- Quran, the word aql does not occur in the

noun form, the words occur only in the verb form such as ta’qilun, ya’qiluha and na’qilu which

is translated as using the intellect. It occurrence only in the verb form suggest that it has a

dynamic application. In all these verses, this word designates an activity which is performed, or

needs to be performed, or an activity that is not performed despite its indispensability. (S.

Kocabas, 1987) Allah does not make something in a vain; there must be a wisdom that needs to

be investigated of using the word aql only in the verb form.

The most attractive part regarding the use of the verb form of aql in the Quran is that, the

activity is always referred to as a positive one. According to Kocabas (1987), if we translate the

verb form of aql as using the intellect or activating the intellect, then we see that there is no

occurrence to suggest that using the intellect has any undesirable consequence whatsoever.

Hence, aql also is something vital to human being in order to distinguish them from other beings

such as animal, plants and so on.

Aql also can be regarded as a tool to acquire knowledge. Men must use aql in the right

way so that they will get the tremendous input. Al- Quran classifies aql or intellect into two

categories which are ‘aql al rushd or guided mind and ‘aqlu al idrak or a conceiving mind, where

the mind conceives but does not lead to guidance in the ethical and religious fields. (Badi &

Tajdin, 2005) Every man has been granted with aql but not all men possess ‘aql al rushd or

guided mind. If men see surround them and think, it is the process of acquiring and searching by

using their ‘aql but not necessarily they get hudan or guidance because only Allah has the power

to grant guidance according to His will. The ethical and principal values that men gain merely

from the thinking ability are not enough and incomplete without the guidance from Allah

Yatafakkarun or tafakkur is the Arabic term for thinking. Many early prominent Muslim

linguists defined tafakkur as reflection upon something or pondering, and contemplating. The

term has been used as a “verb” rather than a “noun” in all the verses which is regarded as a

process rather than an abstract conception. Al- Quran refers to tafakkur in multiple words and

not in one single term, it signifies a deliberate, systematic process of reflection. From

observation, almost all of this derivate form has been used in present tenses and in plural form

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which implies the importance of collective thinking in Islam or Shuratic thinking. (Badi &

Tajdin)

According to Professor Malik Badri, a contemporary Muslim psychologist, he gives a

clear statement on Tafakkur that it is not just the ability to understand and solve problems in this

wordly life. It bridges perception and conceptions from this life to the hereafter and from

creations to its Creator, the Almighty. Tafakkur motivates all the external and internal activities

of the believers. It goes beyond the superficially of materialism to a deeper horizon of the spirit.

(Badi & Tajdin, 2005)

Professor Malik asserted that Tafakkur goes through three interrelated stages, i) gathering

of information that comes through perception via the senses, imagination or the intellect, ii)

paying closer or thorough attention to that information and acknowledging its perfect creation

that leads to the astonishment and appreciation, iii) moving on to think about the Great Creator in

a way that leads to stronger faith and better knowledge about His attributes. Tafakkur also leads

to the awareness and consciousness about the Great Creator, Allah. It brings us to get closer

Allah. Yet it is regarded as an ibadah even though think for a moment.

Al-Qaradawi has quoted Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's own observation as well as some

epithetic statements the latter narrated from other leading figures to the effect that "thinking for

an hour is better than worship of many years," and another statement that "thinking for an hour is

superior to a whole night of prayer." To this Ibn Qayyim added that "thinking is the act of the

heart whereas worship is the act of one's limbs, and the former is superior to the latter." (Kamali,

2006)

Yatadabbarun or tadabbur is very significant term since it has a deeper meaning than

ta’aqqul and tafakkur. It means pondering or to think to seek the truth. One has to deeply and

fully understand the meanings behind the words he/ she recites and unveil its implications,

analyzing, determining the main ideas, and looking for details and being comprehensive in

approaching those verses. (Badi & Tajdin)

“This is a book (the Quran) which We have sent it to you, full of blessing that may ponder over

its verses, and that men of understanding may engage in remembrance”. (Shaad: 29)

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This verse comprises the concept of fikir and zikir which leads to the rise of men of

understanding. When we connect our aql to the Great Creator, it involves the concept of ‘fikir

and zikir’. Fikir is thinking while zikir is remembrance of Allah. The skill of thinking in the

context of pondering over in Islamic tradition connects with ‘fikir and zikir’. According to

Professor Sidek Baba (2013) in his commentary, fikir or thinking has cognitive attribute which

connects aql with phenomenon. While zikir or remembrance of Allah, it connects thinking with

the unseen thing which is Allah.

Think and reflect things exoterically are not enough to illustrate tadabbur because it

includes the esoteric matter. Think about an event does not merely develop our sight and

observation exoterically but the wisdom behind the event or creation has to connect with Allah’s

will. Looking at the event fundamentally leads us to fikir but when we relate that event with

Allah, it develops the factor of fikir and zikir. (Sidek Baba, 2013) For instance, when we look at

the idols of worshipping, we use our mind to think critically about the logical reason of

worshipping idol. How people can worship the thing that created by them that supposedly they

worship something superior than them. From this inquiry it brings us to investigate and explore

the truth from the Quran to get the exact answer. By having this concept, our mind that being

driven by Al- Quran will produce the valuable thought and will result to the guided mind.

Conclusion

Basically, the concept of ya’qilun, yatafakkarun and yatadabbarun are purposely to

produce the good man since it builds the relationship between man and Allah. Islam urges man

to think creative and critically based on the divine revelation. Divine revelation is meant to guide

man towards knowledge of the aims of righteous life. (Sidek Baba, 2013) Both intellect and

revelation are important for the righteous life in this world.

Thinking can be trained and applied not only toward this mundane world but also toward

the hereafter. Allah has gives man guidelines to be followed in order to use his mind in a right or

wrong way. Either to think critically or creatively, it must be based on the guideline given. Man

has a choice to choose his way by using his aql. The way that he applies his aql determines his

relationship with Allah.

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