INTELLECTUALISM FROM PERSPECTIVE OF MALIK BENNABI

Abstract

Intellectuals are those who possess knowledge and expertise in their areas of specialization and other fields. This ingenious group plays an imperative role in developing their communities and nations. It is disappointing on examining the current state of the Muslim community in many respects even in the field of science that their intellectual state of affairs is seriously worrying and wanting. This state of underdevelopment is a symbol that there is lack of effectiveness on the role played by the intellectuals in these countries. This research is an effort to examine the true role of the intellectuals, by highlighting the opinion of Malik Benabi the famous Muslim scholar of the 20th century – about intellectuals. The study starts by exploring the underlying meaning of the term intellectual, examines the intellectual concept of Bennabi's thoughts, identifies the element of philosophy that exists from the intellectual concept, and examines the fundamentals and interests of Bennabi's intellectual understanding in the context of development of a particular nation’s civilization and civilization generally. This is a library based research and it utilized a content analysis methodology which focused on Bennabi's key works, especially those that deal with intellectual issues and matters surrounding them. The findings of this study reveals that Bennabi's intellectual understanding refers to a form of thought which emphasizes intellectual value related to spiritual elements. Intellectuals and intellectualism are considered the lifeblood of a civilization and a civilized society. Without intellectuals and intellectual values, a society will to be considered dead and not even functioning in the course of forming the history of world civilization. Bennabi's intellectual thinking was based on this philosophical element, which has had an impact on current intellectual development, particularly on strengthening the intellectual idea of the Islamic society specifically and the world at large.