al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa al-Mazahir wa al-Asbab

al-Ilmaniyya: al-Mafhum wa al-Mazahir wa al-Asbab (Secularism: Concept, Manifestations, and Causes) is a treatise by the Moroccan scholar Mustafa Bahou, examining the historical genesis, conceptual framework, and social and intellectual manifestations of secularism in the Western and Islamic worlds al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa…+1.

Publication and Context

The book was published in Ramadan 1432 AH (August 2011 CE) by the Moroccan newspaper al-Sabil, based in Salé and Rabat al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa…+1. It serves as the opening volume and general introduction to Bahou's multi-part research series titled Buhuth fi al-Ilmaniyya (Studies on Secularism), establishing the conceptual foundation for subsequent titles addressing secularist perspectives on Islam, Quranic and prophetic stances on secularism, and Islamic law al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa….

Themes and Method

The work examines secularism as an ideological and cultural phenomenon rooted strictly in the specific historical trajectory of Western Christian civilization, shaped by Greek philosophical traditions, Roman legal heritage, and the conflicts of church authority al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa…. Bahou contrasts these historical preconditions with the context of the Muslim world, arguing that secularism represents an external transplant rather than an organic development within Islamic societies al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa….

Bahou identifies three central arguments utilized in secular critiques of Islam:

1. The portrayal of religious texts and traditional concepts as contradictory or historically limited al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa….
2. The dismissal of classical Islamic interpretive methodologies—such as legal theory (usul al-fiqh), Quranic sciences, and Arabic linguistics—as unscientific, while prioritizing modern Western deconstructive and critical methods al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa….
3. The claim that the historical implementation of religious law produced social and political decline al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa….

Addressing the situation in Morocco, Bahou argues that Islamic jurisprudence under the Maliki school governed public and private legal life continuously until the arrival of French colonial rule, which replaced traditional governance with positive legal codes al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa…+1. The treatise concludes with a proposal to establish an independent academic research institute staffed by specialists in translation, philosophy, history, Orientalism, and Islamic jurisprudence to analyze secularist discourse and study the modern implementation of Islamic legal norms al-Ilmaniyya al-Mafhum wa…+1.