Conference Summary
Following the Quran recitation by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Maşalı, a faculty member of Marmara University Faculty of Theology, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Görmez, the President of the Islamic Thought Institute and the International Islamic Thought Foundation, made the opening speech of the conference and expressed his happiness in hosting Taha Abdurrahman, saying that he had been following him since the 1970s and had read his works with great enthusiasm
“Our teacher is a great moral philosopher”
- Görmez, who stated that Abdurrahman has more than 30 books, said, “These are texts that look at Islam and its problems from the inside. I am extremely happy to know such a scholar who shares all our troubles with us. Generally speaking, there are two types of writers, those who only write books and those who serve the ummah with their writings. Just like Imam Ghazali, Abdurrahman is a thinker who addresses the problems of the ummah and. “finds answers to today’s problems.”
Görmez, who addressed Taha Abdurrahman’s words “There can be no renewal without renewal”, continued as follows:
“He who does not renew himself cannot pursue renewal. Abdurrahman says that there are two great conditions for renewal; to reason and to have morality. We can divide his books into two in this context. The first is books that teach us to reason and the second is books that teach us to rebuild morality.”
“The main purpose of the advent of Islam is not limited to saving man from humiliation”
- Prof. Dr. Taha Abdurrahman, who was deemed worthy of the 2020 Necip Fazıl International Culture and Arts Award in Turkey, along with many other awards throughout his life, said that Turkey is a country that builds its new glorious future with its past, units itself with science and “protects those who seek security” and that he is happy to be here.
Pointing to the title of the conference, “How Can We Establish an Original Islamic Philosophy?”, Abdurrahman stated that there are three main principles in Islamic philosophy and noted the following:
| Main Principles |
|---|
| 1. Muslims should value their own uniqueness and take this as a starting point. |
| 2. To carry originality to a universal dimension and to explain it within this framework. |
| 3. To define and utilize philosophy in order to combine originality with universality. |
The Moroccan thinker underlined that there are many fundamental issues regarding the relationship between Islam and philosophy, and said, “A Muslim philosopher must create his own philosophical problems. Otherwise, he cannot go beyond adapting what he has taken from others to the Islamic world of thought.”
“Only philosophy based on wisdom can save humanity from present and future collapse”
- Taha Abdurrahman, who also stated that moral values should be based on nature and should be disseminated, said, “A Muslim philosopher should know himself and follow the morality of the Prophet in his thoughts and behaviors.”
- Pointing out that the scientific image of philosophy distances philosophy from its essence, Abdurrahman said, “Another responsibility of ours is the renewal of the philosophy of wisdom, which distinguishes between ‘abstract reason and rational reason’ and bases morality on nature. Only philosophy based “On wisdom can save humanity from present and future collapse.”
At the end of the conference, which attracted great interest, ISAM President Prof. Dr. Mürteza Bedir presented a gift to Taha Abdurrahman.
