CENTRE FOR FOUNDATION

STUDIES
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC
UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

“THE DIFFERENCES PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN

BARRIERS AND ISLAMIC BARRIERS”

NAME: NUR AZLINI BTE ABD. YAZID @ AZIZ

MATRIC NUM: 082760
COURSE: CRITICAL THINKING
GROUP: 3
 INTRODUCTION

Critical thinking1 is the general term given to a wide range of

precognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively

identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims, to

discover and overcome personal prejudices and biases.

In critical thinking, there is a barrier which is having many

perspectives. Depends on dictionary2, barrier is anything that

prevents people from being together or understanding each other. It

is meaning barriers are also a resistance in life we have to face it. It is

also an obstacle, problems and inhibit. It is completeness that means

our knowledge must complete to make an argument. It is also a

cognitive skill that comes from leaning.

Barriers have many perspective which is an Islamic perspective and

non-Islamic perspective. Here we will see the differences between

these two perspectives.

1
Introduction to critical thinking by Gregory Bassham page 1
2
CAMBRIDGE Advance Learner’s Dictionary 2nd edition page 93
 BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING

The preceding section raises an obvious question: If critical thinking

is so important, why is it that uncritical thinking is so common? Why

is it that so many people including many highly educated and

intelligent people find critical thinking so difficult?

The reasons, as you might expect, are quiet complex. Here is a list of

some of the most common barriers to critical thinking. Relativistic

thinking, bias, powering emotion, superstition, egocentrism,

sociocentrism, conformism, wishful thinking, stereotyping and

unwarranted assumption3.

Relativistic thinking crucial to understand why this is a trap,

because once one has fallen into it, it is very difficult to see any point

in studying critical thinking at all. Relativism is the view that truth is a

matter of opinion. Subjectivism is the view that truth is a matter of

individual opinion. The other common form of relativism is cultural

relativism. This is the view that truth is a matter of social or cultural

opinion. In other words, cultural relativism is the view that what is

true for person A is what person A’s culture or society believes is true.

3
Introduction to critical thinking by Gregory Bassham page 11
 Biases are the tendency to over rate over estimates oneself. The

idea of considering oneself better than others. Over confidence can be

an obstacle to a genuine personality development. Over confident is

not self confident. Critical thinkers must be honest in admitting our

own strange and weakness. We as a normal human must have honest

self-evaluation.

Egocentrism is an egoist or egoistic. There are those who consider

and regard their own ideas, interest, and values as superior to others.

The result would be they become selfish and self-centered. They

would not as a result of suffering from this barrier able to see the

good and corrects argument from other people. Many of us however

suffer from this barrier. There are two common form of egocentrism

which are self interested thinking and self serving bias.

Sociocentrism is group centre thinking. This is thinking that over

emphasize the importance of one at group. One can become irrational

and unreasonable of a result of over emphasizing group important.

Sociocentrism can be in two forms which are group biases and

conformism

Group biases are take place when we consider our own group

society, ride, nation as being better than others.

 Over powering emotion is about the lost of reasoning sense when

the emotion is too strong for them to control. For example, when

someone become anger and cannot control their self, no doubt they

will commit suicide. Moreover, it can end up with killing, fighting,

and murdering.

Self deception means when you hide the truth from yourself. It

means that you are cheating on yourself. It is an attitude of mind

which has developed in certain people to the effect of ignoring the

truth and the real fact knowingly deep inside his heart or mind. He

knows it all false and one day sooner or later he has to accept the real

fact. For instance, Fuad know that drinking wine is not good for

health but he still want to drink that water.

 BARRIERS IN ISLAMIC PERSPECIVE

In Islamic perspective, arrogance is one of the worse behaviors

that were hated by Allah. When someone being arrogance they will

make them stuck to think critically. As in Qur’an verses that mention

Allah will not give them the path of rectitude. In contrast, the barrier

of egocentrism will make a person to be selfish because they do not

want accept any ideas or opinion from other people. The result, they

do not able to be a critical thinker due to the undeveloped mind.

Takabbur means arrogance that unpleasantly proud and behaving

as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people.

Arrogance (takabbur) has been mentioned about sixty times in

Qur’an. In all these places it has been condemned, as it is one of the

main causes of going astray and denying messages of Allah. For

example in Qur’an verses mention “it is in this way that God sets a

seal on every arrogant, self exalting heart.4”

4
Verses (Ghafir : 35)
Taqlid and Ta’assub is one of the matters of barrier that hinder

tafakkur. When someone put too much concern on their

traditionalism it will make them difficult to be a good thinker. In

Islamic perspective, who put too much concern on their

traditionalism and do not follow the rule of God, they will be punish

and Allah will not give them hidayah to be good thinker. This is

because not all the traditionalism follows the rule of Islam. While in

conventional barrier, relativistic thinking is different with Taqlid and

Ta’assub. This is because it more concern on what the society or

individual think and not based on Qur’an and Sunnah.

Taqlid and Ta’assub mean traditionalism and blind following.

Traditionalism means the belief in or act of following traditional

ideas and ways of doing things. Allah says in Qur’an : “ But when they

are told, (follow what God has bestowed from on high), some answer,

(Nay, we shall follow only that which we found our forefather

believing in and doing ). Why, if their forefather did not use their

reason at all, and were devoid of all guidance?”5

5
Verses ( Al-Baqarah: 120 )
 The different between over powering emotion and lusts and

desires (hawa’) is when someone over emotional anything can be

happened and will make them commits suicide, killing and others. In

contrast, in Islamic perspective hawa’ happen when satan conquer

such person to do something out of our mind and also do not have a

close ‘ibadah towards Allah.

Lust and Desires ( Hawa’) , “ And since they cannot respond to this

thy challenge, know that they are following only their own likes and

dislikes: and who could be more astray than he who follows but his

own likes and dislike without ny guidance from God.”6

“Hast thou ever considered the kind of man who makes his own

desires his deity?”7

6
Verses ( Al-Qasas:50 )
7
Verses ( Al-Furqan:43 )
 The difference between self-deception and al-I’arad is self

deception happen when ones do not want ignore the truth on one

matter. While, al-Farad is that we turning away from believe in

Qur’an and Sunnah that comes from Allah.

Al- Farad is turning away from the truth. “So long as we keep their

hearts and their eyes turned away from the truth, even as they did not

believe in it at the first instance: and so we shall leave them in their

overweening g arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro.” 8

The difference between wishful thinking and reliance on

conjectures is that wishful thinking believes in something not because

of any good evidence but wish to be true. While, reliance on

conjectures is more focusing on conjectures that can never be change.

Reliance and conjectures, Allah says: “Now if thou pay heed unto

the majority of those who live on earth, they will but lead thee astray

from the path of God: they follow but other people’s conjectures, and

they themselves do nothing but guess.”9 Allah reminds us that

conjectures can never be a substitute for truth.

8
Verses ( Al-An’am:110 )
9
Verses ( Al- An’am: 116 )
 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, barriers have many perspective depends on the

scholars. Sometimes it can be benefit to us, but sometimes it can

bring us to harm. We as a Muslims should follow our Shariah in our

daily life. Whatever happens in our life comes from Allah. Everything

has their reason and their miracle. We as a knowledgeable human

must have a good critical thinking and do not judge something by its

cover. Try to accept another idea and not being biases because it is

forbidden in Islam.