Mushkilat al-Thaqafa
- Author died
- 1393 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr
Mushkilat al-Thaqafa (The Problem of Culture) is a philosophical and sociological study by the Algerian thinker Malik Bennabi (1323–1393 AH / 1905–1973 CE), published as part of his broader series Mushkilat al-Hadara (Problems of Civilization) . The work investigates the definition, components, and social function of culture, proposing a methodology for cultural renewal aimed at re-engaging the Islamic world and developing societies in historical progress .
Background and Composition
The genesis of the book dates back to around 1959, when Bennabi was residing in the Maadi district of Cairo . During this period, students frequently visited his circle seeking clarification on the concept of culture, which he had previously outlined in works such as Shurut al-Nahda (The Conditions of Renaissance) and Fikrat al-Afriqiyya al-Asyawiyya (The Afro-Asian Idea) . Bennabi was motivated to articulate his own conceptual framework after encountering contemporary academic definitions circulated among university students in Cairo and other Arab cities—including definitions by American scholars William Ogburn and Ralph Linton, as well as Marxist theories found in works such as F. V. Konstantinov's The Role of Advanced Ideas in Social Development . Seeing the limitations of importing concepts conceived within Western liberal or Marxist socialist paradigms, Bennabi sought to provide an original formulation grounded in the historical experience and needs of the Arab and Islamic world .
Bennabi dedicated the work to "the youth aspiring to return Islamic society to the arena of history" .
Contents and Structure
In his introduction, Bennabi argues that culture cannot be reduced merely to abstract intellectual ideas; rather, it encompasses the overall way of life of a society and governs the social behavior of its individuals . He emphasizes that the social order, dynamics, and stagnation of a community are functionally linked to its prevailing system of ideas .
The treatise is organized into several key chapters:
- Psychological Analysis of Culture (Tahleel Nafsi lil-Thaqafa): Analyzes culture as an ambient social "atmosphere" whose elements—such as colors, sounds, gestures, scents, and ideas—are absorbed by the individual from infancy not as abstract concepts, but as familiar sensory and behavioral patterns . It also examines cultural crises that occur when this environment disintegrates and can no longer be assembled through educational methods .
- Psychological Synthesis of Culture (Tarkeeb Nafsi lil-Thaqafa): Translates the analytical elements of culture into a constructive educational program . Bennabi identifies essential pillars required to direct culture effectively: ethics (to establish social bonds), aesthetic sense (to cultivate public taste), and practical logic (to channel public activity) .
- Coexistence of Cultures (Ta'ayush al-Thaqafat): Focuses on the geographical and human boundaries of cultures, discussing how different cultural traditions interact, experience conflict, and occasionally synthesize along their borders .
- Culture Towards Universality (al-Thaqafa fi Ittijah al-Alamiyya): Explores the external relations of culture and its role in fostering cooperation across societies, contrasting organic internal cultural evolution with international cross-cultural dynamics . This section incorporates materials from Bennabi's address to the Congress of Black African Writers in Rome in 1959 (titled "Culture and History") and his 1969 commentary ("What is Against Culture") .
- Conclusion (Khatima): Summarizes the analytical and synthetic methods applied in the book and cautions Muslim societies against relying on borrowed foreign frameworks—whether Western or Communist—to resolve their specific cultural predicaments .
Publication and Reception
The book was translated into Arabic by Dr. Abd al-Sabur Shahin and published by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus and Dar al-Fikr al-Mu'asir in Beirut . Subsequent editions and archival supervision were managed under the auspices of Nadwat Malik Bennabi, directed by his literary executor Omar Meskawi, following a legal mandate registered at the Sharia court of Tripoli, Lebanon, in Rabi' al-Thani 1391 AH / June 1971 CE .
Scholars studying contemporary Islamic thought regard Mushkilat al-Thaqafa as one of Bennabi's principal sociological treatises, noting its systematic effort to diagnose the stagnation of Muslim societies through civilizational and cultural methodologies rather than purely political or superficial remedies . Some Islamic critics, however, observed that Bennabi's reliance on sociological terminology and Western philosophical frameworks occasionally reflected a less extensive grounding in classical legal sciences (shar'iyya) .
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