Recognition of the need for renewal and reform is as old as the Islamic community itself, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad who saw himself as a reformer following in the footsteps of the biblical prophets, calling the citizens of Mecca and Medina to return to the message and worship of the one true God, revealed to Moses, Jesus and one final time to Muhammad. Islamic revivalist movements have drawn on this long and rich tradition of revival and reform. The failures of and threats to Muslim societies have given rise to individual reformers and to reformist movements led by scholars or mystics. Islamic revival and reform involve a call for a return to the fundamentals, the Quran and Sunna, and the right to interpret and apply ijtihad or use of independent judgement to these primary sources of Islam.
‘The Revival of Islamic Thought’ consists of a series of five lectures given with the same title by the martyred professor Āyatullāh Muṭahharī at Huṣayniyyah Irshād in 1970. The first lecture entitled “Iqbāl and the Revival of Religious Thought” was given on April 27, 1970 in commemoration of the Islamic reformer ‘Allāmah Iqbāl of Lahore, Pakistan. The succeeding lectures were delivered with an interval of one week from each other. As pointed out by the martyred professor himself, it is obvious that this topic is broad and these five lectures are just an introduction to it. Of course, there are also relevant discussions in his other works such as Revival of Religious Thought in the book Ten Discourses.