An assessment on huseyin kāzim kadri's discourse against the new kalām of science

Abstract

The need for renewal felt in various fields with the Tanzīmat, and the changes and modernization activities realized in accordance with it, and the nature and boundaries of these activities are important issues that determine the period's intellectual agenda. Some of the proposals for a solution to save the state are related to the renewal of religious thought. The bad situation in the Ottoman Empire stems from the way religion is understood, not from religion itself, and one of the names that produce ideas about the necessity of changing this way of thinking is Huseyin Kāzim Kadri. He believes that Fiqh and Exegetics should be based on the work of updating the content of Islamic Sciences within the framework of contemporary needs. Claiming that the basic need of society is not Science of Kalām but Catechism, Kadri claims that the attempt of the science of Kalām, regulated to respond to the needs of the age will not result in even will cause religious conflict among people. In this article, Huseyin Kāzim Kadri's intellectual background, his suggestions for the renewal of religious thought and his objection to the new Science of Kalām are discussed.