The vision of Hassan Hanafi on identity in the context of alienation

Abstract

This study represents an attempt to understand the Arab reality and confront the challenges facing Arab societies by elevating science and knowledge, and advancing the Arab Islamic reality to free it from the weaknesses and setbacks it is currently experiencing. This study focuses on Hassan Hanafi's vision of the concept of identity in the context of alienation, as Hanafi is considered one of the prominent thinkers who have addressed the concept of identity in depth, indicating that it represents "the self-awareness of the individual or group of its distinctive characteristics that differentiate it from others." This awareness is shaped through the individual's interaction with the cultural, social, and historical factors surrounding them. He sees identity not as a fixed given but as an open project formed through the struggle against forces of alienation, which manifest in cultural dependency and civilizational alienation. Hanafi presents the concept of "heritage and renewal" as a mechanism for restoring civilizational selfhood, emphasizing that overcoming alienation can only be achieved by re-reading heritage with a contemporary vision that connects the self with reality. For him, identity is not a repetition of the past, but a re-establishment of the self in light of the present.