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Needless to sax the task at hand is a great one which we should not expect to be completed in one or two generations. However, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. The first steps along this path in twentieth century thought have already been taken by such scholars as Shahid Mutahhari and Shahid Sadr who have shown that Islamic thought is sufficiently rich and flexible to demonstrate its superiority over Marxism. Despite this success, work remains to be done even with regard to Marxism in order to deepen the critique and thereby secure the territory gained. There is also a daunting amount of historical research that needs to be done on the developments which have taken place within the Islamic sciences, and not merely philosophy, but the entire spectrum of Islamic thought, from fiqh to mathematics. We need to understand, for example, how Aristotle's understanding of practical rationality and justice were transformed in the hands of Ibn Sina, not merely insofar as Neoplatonic' elements were incorporated, but how the doctrines of Aristotle were reformulated in Farabi's thought and then adopted by Ibn Sina, and exactly how much was changed of this and why by the Safavid period philosophers such as Sadr al‑Muta'allihin. This kind of work requires close textual analysis, and an excellent place to begin is with the themes of Whose Justice? Which Rationality?, the concepts of justice and practical rationality. MacIntyre did not review Islamic thought on these issues, but then this is not really his area. Without a familiarity with the relevant Arabic texts, the task cannot be done. This is a task to be taken up by Muslim scholars, and God willing, it will be.
What the study of MacIntyre's work promises for Muslims is an example of how the history of ideas can increase one's understanding of philosophical differences, and how that understanding can be used to mount a criticism of elements of Western culture Muslims have also found objectionable. At every turn, further research by Muslim scholars suggests itself. For example, what are the similarities and differences between the criticism of modernism offered by MacIntyre and that offered by Muslim thinkers? How do the concepts of justice employed by Muslim scholars compare to those exhibited in the four traditions MacIntyre discusses in Whose Justice? Which Rationality?? What are the similarities and differences between the account of dialectic found in Aquinas and that of Farabi's Kitab al‑jadal? What are the differences between the concept of the nation‑state as understood in Western political philosophy and the political entities discussed by Muslim political thinkers? This list could easily be extended for pages.
I pray that the translators of MacIntyre's work will be successful, that Muslims will struggle through the issues raised by MacIntyre, and that they will not merely read his work, but will be inspired by it to advance Islamic scholarship, God willing!
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