Ibrahim Kalin: You cannot look at yourself in someone else's mirror

WISE NEWS PRESS / ANKARA, TURKIYE — NOVEMBER 27, 2025

Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and academic Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kalın, in his evaluation on the "Kendi Gökkubbemiz" (Our Own Dome) program, pointed out that the Islamic world has lost its own vision of civilization and universal language, stating, "If your only mirror, the only mirror you look into, is someone else's mirror, then something is definitely going wrong there."

Making in-depth analyses on civilization losing its ability to ask questions, the loss of words, and the "dome" metaphor, Kalın made important observations on how the idea of integrity lost in the modern era can be reconstructed.

"A hole has formed in the dome"

İbrahim Kalın stated that when a civilization stops asking the real questions and gets lost in secondary issues, it loses its own dome. Referring to the verse in the Quran, "Can you see any rifts in the dome of the sky?" Kalın said:

"Do not let your dome be pierced. Divine wisdom requires this. Not letting your own dome be pierced, spoiled, or distorted should be the greatest responsibility of a culture, a civilization. The consciousness that there is a reality greater than us above our heads is a state of consciousness that determines where and how we walk on earth."

"We lost the universal language"

Touching upon the universality of the concepts produced by Islamic civilization in the past, Kalın reminded that the definitions made by Ibn Sina in the 10th century were valid from Andalusia to Zanzibar. Stating that this integrity is shattered today, Kalın said, "We lost this universal language. In the name of what did we lose it? In the name of protecting our values. But faith itself already carries a universal dimension."

Words and the codes of civilization

Emphasizing that words are not just tools of communication but the codes of a civilization, Kalın gave the following example through the concept of "intellect" (akıl):

"When an elder of ours says 'son, use your intellect (be smart),' there is a connection between that intellect and the 'active intellect' (aql-i faal) used by Ibn Sina. When we stand up and use the concept of reason intended by Descartes, Kant, or Hegel, it is impossible for us not to become alienated from ourselves. When you start thinking with someone else's words and concepts, and if you have no other linguistic horizon, you condemn yourself to that linguistic universe."

Kalın stated that it is impossible for a person to know others without knowing themselves, concluding, "We need to have a place where we stand, a stance."

www.wisenewspress.com