Islamization of knowledge

The Islamization of Knowledge is an intellectual concept rooted in Islamic philosophy. It suggests the integration of Islamic teachings with modern academic disciplines, including science and technology. The idea believes that knowledge and science should be consistent with the principles of Islam, promoting a comprehensive understanding of the world from an Islamic perspective.

This concept originated among Islamic thinkers during the 20th century, including prominent figures like Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi, who expressed concerns about the secularization of knowledge in Muslim societies in response to what he called "the malaise of the ummah" (faithful). He argued that by using tools, categories, concepts, and modes of analysis that originated wholly in the secular West (like Marxism), there was a disconnect between the ecological and social reality of Muslim nations, and worse, a total inability to respect or even notice violations of ethics of Islam itself. In his view, clashes between traditionalist ulema and reformers seeking to revive Muslim society with modern science and professional categories were inevitable without the strong ethical constraints that applied to methods of early Muslim philosophy. He proposed therefore to revive those methods, restore ijtihad and integrate scientific methods within Islamic limits.

Al-Faruqi's analysis called the Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Workplan (1982) remains the primary source for this program. Nasr's work on the congruence between classical Islam and the modern ecology movement is thought by some to be even more fundamental and to suggest parallels between the ethical constraints that secular activists seek to place on science and technology, and the ethical constraints that Islam sought to place on philosophy and politics. An Islamic ecology would likely converge with economics and put Islamic pillars under a form of ecological economics.

The Islamization of Knowledge encourages a shift from segregated learning (where religious and secular knowledge is separated) to an integrated system interpreted through an Islamic lens. It proposes the critique and reconsideration of scientific, social, and humanistic disciplines based on Islamic principles.

Supporters argue that this concept helps Muslims maintain their religious identity in a secular world while benefiting from modern science and knowledge. Critics, however, worry about the potential conflation of religion and science and the impact on free inquiry. Others express concerns about a single interpretation of Islam being imposed on diverse Muslim societies.

The concept has led to the establishment of institutions like the International Institute of Islamic Thought, which focus on intellectual development and research inspired by the Islamization of Knowledge.

See also

• Islamization
• Islamic advice literature
• Islamic revival
• Early Islamic philosophy
• Islamic philosophy
• Torah Umadda, a philosophy concerning the interrelationship of secular knowledge and Jewish knowledge

External links

• The Islamization of science or the marginalization of Islam: The positions of Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Ziauddin Sardar
• The Islamization of Social Sciences
• Liberal and progressive Islam from Alan Godlas' Islamic resources page at the University of Georgia
• Imtiyaz Yusuf (ed.), Islam and Knowledge: Al Faruqi's Concept of Religion in Islamic Thought