INTEGRATION AND ISLAMICISATION OF
ACQUIRED HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AS A
MUSLIM UNIVERSITY MISSION IN THE
ERA OF TURBULENCE*
By
Prof. M. Kamal Hassan, ISTAC, IIUM
Keynote speaker delivered at the Seminar Arab-Malaysian Global Higher Education Summit 2012, organized by USIM and AKEPT on October 4,
1
2012.
THE ERA OF TURBULENCE AND
THE FAILURE OF THE 2012 RIO SUMMIT
If one were to take into consideration the recent symptoms of
dangerous systemic breakdown of Western economic and
financial systems (George Soros 2012, Jeff Rubin 2012, Joseph
Stiglitz 2012, Richard Duncan 2012, Paul Krugman 2012) as well
as the moral decay of modern culture, one wonders how much
longer should the rest of the world remain subservient to the
dominant paradigm of secular modernity and unethical
progress. Even the multi-billion financier George Soros, in the
face of “a rippling earthquake of financial instability” expresses
the need for a new paradigm of financial markets to solve the
crisis of global capitalism (George Soros 2012)
2
The disappointing outcome of the recent
UN summit (Rio + 20) on sustainable
development in a decade at Rio de Janeiro,
since the first Rio Earth Summit 20 years ago,
drives home the need to remodel the notion of
sustainable development which includes “the
capacity to address the interlinking problems of
ecosystems and livelihoods intergenerational;
consolidation of nature with culture, values; and
civilisational aspirations for the future society
and economy, such that the quality of life of
humankind for generations to come remains
preserved if not enhanced” Dzulkifli Abdul
Razak 24th June 2012).
3
In an article, “Rio’s unsustainable nonsense” written by
Professor Jagdish Bhagwati at Columbia University, the
author concludes that only a policy mix based on the
credo “Less Excess and More Access” “will guarantee that
our societies will remain viable and achieve genuine
“sustainability” (Jagdish Bhagwati, 23rd June 2012). The
Summit, however, managed to come out with a 49-page
document titled “The Future We Want” which Bo
Normander, European director of Worldwatch Institute
dismissed as “a long list of platitudes and feeling-good
rhetoric” (New Straits Times editorial, 28th June 2012).
For Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United
Nations, the world needs a new model of growth
4
THE COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN
PARADIGM OF DEVELOPMENT
In this era of economic turbulence and political
uncertainties, coupled with the spectre of environmental
catastrophes and widespread social unrest, the current
model of development – even after becoming more
comprehensive in scope via the MDGs and HDIs –
seriously lacks the spiritual and transcendental
mechanisms to deal with the inward ailments of the
human soul left unattended by the reigning paradigms of
secular humanism and secular modernization strategies.
The inability to envision a holistic material-spiritual
human growth and wellbeing is a direct consequence of a
worldview grounded in the naturalistic ontology and
positivistic epistemology of modern science.
5
PROBLEMS OF THE
SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Western social sciences from which the grand
Western narrative of development or progress are
constructed are even more value-loaded and
problematic than the natural or hard sciences. Pulled
in many different directions by the conflicting schools
of thought and theoretical orientations of all shades
and colours, the contemporary social sciences are not
in a position to provide lasting and stable foundations
for a more humane, peaceful and meaningful existence
of human beings and societies in a highly pluralistic,
mobile and globalised world.
6
ECOLOGICAL
CATASTROPHIES
Wallerstein argues that the grave ecological catastrophes the
world is in now—the greenhouse effect, depletion of the ozone layer,
poisonous toxic waste in the water, the air and the earth,
unpredictable global warming and climate change—are “directly the
result of the fact that we live in a capitalist world-economy.”(1998:
82). In his view, the present historical system is in fact in terminal
crisis.”(1998: 85). He argues for the creation of “not only a new social
system, but new structures of knowledge, in which philosophy and
sciences will no longer be divorced, and we shall return to the singular
epistemology…prior to the creation of the capitalist world
economy.”(1998: 86). He thinks it is possible and desirable to bring
about in the twenty-first century, “the epistemological reunification of
the so-called two cultures, that of science and the humanities; the
organisational reunification and redivision of the social sciences, and
the assumption by social science of centrality in the world of
knowledge” (The Heritage of Sociology, The Promise of Social Science,
1998: 243).
7
THE DISEASE OF CORRUPTION AND
ABUSE OF POWER
One of the major causes of the ongoing uprising and unrest in the
Middle East today is entrenched political and economic corruption in
the power structure and social system of several nation states. The
pretensions and deception of autocratic regimes which have been
enriching the cronies and sycophants of power at the expense of the
people and the country have been exposed, and the need for political
and moral reform of the corrupt system is indeed urgent. With the
culture of corruption and power abuse being widespread in many
parts of the Muslim world, it is not strange that massive “leakages”
and partial siphoning of public funds have become commonplace
practice or institutionalised in the midst of economic development or
growth. The twin diseases of corruption and abuse of power pose a
formidable challenge to concerned Muslim intellectuals and Godfearing leaders as they are major vices or evil deeds which should
never be committed by people in authority or entrusted to govern a
country.
8
CORRUPTION IN MUSLIM
COUNTRIES
The 2010 Corruption Perception Index shows that of the top
20 countries perceived to be least corrupt, only one Muslim
country, Qatar, made it to number 19 with 7.7 score. From the list of
the nine most corrupt countries with scores of 1.8 to 1.1, only one
country, Myanmar, is a non-Muslim country with a score of 1.4. The
rest are Muslim countries, namely Burundi (1.8 at no.170), Chad (1.7
at no. 171), Sudan (1.6 at no. 172), Turkmenistan (1.6 at no. 172),
Uzbekistan (1.6 at no. 172), Iraq (1.5 at no. 175), Afghanistan (1.4 at
no. 176) and Somalia, the lowest (1.1 at no. 178). China with 3.5
stand at no.78, India with 3.5 stands at no. 87, while Russia with 2.1
stand at no. 154. The Muslim countries that achieved better
rankings than the majority of Muslim countries are U.A.E with 6.3 at
no. 28, Brunei with 5.5 at no. 38, Oman with 5.3 at no. 41, Bahrain
with 4.9 at no. 48, and Jordan with 4.7 at no. 50, and Malaysia with
4.4 at no. 56. Another group of Muslim countries perceived to be
among the low achievers are Egypt (3.1 at no. 98), Indonesia (2.8 at
no. 110), Bangladesh (2.4 at no. 134), Pakistan (2.3 at no. 143), and
Iran (2.2 at no. 146).
9
THE EDUCATIONAL REFORM OF
MUSLIM SOCIETIES
The educational system, based on the worldview of Tawhid,
has to implement the integration of modern knowledge with
spiritual-ethical values, of reason with revelation, and of
science and religion, so as not to become subservient to the
dictates of the heartless market or neo-liberal economics
which lead to the commercialization of higher education and
the ethical erosion of the professionals, bureaucrats, business
and the power elites. Bearing in mind the critical analysis of
Harry Lewis, a long-time former dean of Harvard college in his
book, Excellence Without A Soul: How A Great University
Forgot Education (2006), the institutions of higher learning in
Muslim countries should not be blind worshippers of foreign
“idols” or they too would lose their souls.
10
THE NEED TO DEVELOP CULTURE OF PUBLIC
INTEGRITY
In the fight against the cancer of corruption and
abuse of power, the establishment of anti-corruption
agencies which are independent of political or executive
influence and works professionally without fear or favour can
no longer be delayed. These institutions and law enforcement
bodies have to be led by leaders well-known for their integrity,
competency and dignity. A culture of public and private
integrity based on the foundations of `ilm, imaan, `adl
,amaanah, `ubuudiyyah, taqwaa, ihsaan and ummatic
responsibility – all of which are first nurtured in the family
and educational institutions, and then infused into the civil
service right up to the thrones of political power – would
serve as a strong impregnable fortress against the onslaught
of worldly temptations of one sort or the other, which have
managed to topple powerful and affluent dictators,
presidents, prime ministers, emperors and kings.
11
TAZKIYAH AL-NAFS OF THE
LEADERSHIP
People in leadership positions must be mindful and vigilant
against the spread of the diseases of the spiritual heart, the qalb,
which includes hypocrisy, jealousy, nepotism, ostentation, greed,
arrogance, pride, self-admiration, passion for and delusions of worldly
power, wealth, fame, influence, and hubb al-dunya (love of the
pleasures of the world). These are the fertile unseen breeding grounds
for the viruses of corruption and abuse of power to grow and spread
within the human and social systems. The continuous tazkiyat al-nafs
(cleansing or purification of the soul) of the leaders, as the most
fundamental internal reform process, has to go hand in hand with the
vigorous comprehensive external and structural reforms to ensure that
Muslim societies and countries have the capability – not just the
intention or determination -- to change the trajectory of materialistic
“sustainable development”.
12
The Blind Imitation of Secular
Quality Culture Leading to
Excellence without a Soul: A
Lesson from Present–Day Harvard
University
13
In facing the challenges of the New Economy (“the
knowledge economy”) universities are expected to
produce what Daniel Bell and Peter Drucker called
“knowledge workers” a few decades ago. The Economist
(October 4,1997) survey of universities entitled “The
Knowledge Factory” analyses the transformation of
universities in contemporary western society and finds that
“the university moves even further from its origin as a
sanctuary” and becoming “more an incubator of new
industries in a technology-dominated economy. (October 4,
1997:5)
If universities are to become “the engine room of the
knowledge economy…can the university accommodate all
these different demands and still remain true to itself?” (The
Economist October 4, 1997:5)
14
The survey points out that “Outside America,
many governments are already demanding more
say over the kind of work that academics do. (The
economist October 4, 1997:16) It would appear that
the university of the future in the technologically
advanced countries may consist of diminished core
and a cloud of external relationships” with the
“possibility of the research university turning into
something akin to a holding company.” Then the
great tradition of “the community of scholars” as
envisioned by cardinal John Henry Newman, the
founder of Catholic University in Dublin, is bound to
wither way. (The Economist October 4, 1997:19)
15
COMMERCIALISATION OF HIGHER
EDUCATION
The forces of commercialization are too strong to
resist. Jennifer Washburn (University, Inc: The
Corporate Corruption of American Higher Education, 2005)
reveals that during the last two decades, commercial
considerations have quietly transformed every aspect of
academic life, and “universities are abandoning their
traditional role as disinterested sources of education,
alternatives perspectives, and wisdom.” The greatest shame
for the great past presidents of Harvard University such as
Derek Bok would be to read a book by a former Dean of
Harvard College, Harry R. Lewis, who had more than 40 years
of personal experience with Harvard, which illustrates with
bold honesty how Harvard College has lost its educational
mission (see Excellence Without A Soul: How A Great
University Forgot Education, Public Affairs Press, 2006).
16
EMERGENCE OF ISLAMIC UNIVERSITIES
IN THE 80S AND AND THE MISSIONS OF
INTEGRATION AND ISLAMICISATION
Islamic Universities emerged as a new model of integrated university
education in the Muslim world that would: (1) put an end to the tragic
dichotomy of religious sciences (`ūlūm al-dīn) and worldly sciences
(`ulūm al-dunyā) by reintroducing the Islamic paradigm of the
integration of human reason with Divine revelation, of science and
religion, and of technology and ethics, as was the practice in the
Islamic centres of learning at the height of its glorious civilisation; and,
(2) equip the new generation of Muslim intellectual leaders not only
with useful knowledge and skills from the natural sciences, medicine,
engineering, information technology, architecture, economics, law,
social sciences and the humanities knowledge, but also with the
relevant Islamic values and perspectives related to those university
disciplines. While the first aim is covered by the university’s mission of
Integration of human knowledge, the second is subsumed under the
mission of Islamisation (or Islamicisation) of human knowledge.
17
RATIONALE FOR THE
MISSION
• The underlying rationale behind these two intertwined
intellectual mission of the Islamic Universities was the
long-standing and ardent desire of conscientious Muslim leaders and
intellectuals throughout the world to see the liberation of Muslim
culture, society and personality from the pervasive influence of the
ideology or worldview of secularism – which they regarded as
understandable and even legitimate in the Western context, due to
the peculiarities of past European experience vis-à-vis the powerful
authority and dogmas of the Church – which runs counter to the
worldview of Islamic monotheism (Tawhid) which does not subscribe
to the dichotomy of the sacred and the profane, the separation of
worldly knowledge from religious knowledge, or the divorce of human
reason from the guidance and wisdom of Divine revelation. In the
worldview of Islamic monotheism, the human intellect is, first and
foremost, a God-given trust (amanah) which is meant by its Creator
and Sustainer to be used in accordance with guidelines, principles and
values provided by Divine revelation.
18
• But the process of Westernisation and secular
modernisation in the Muslim countries during the
colonial period, and continued in the post-colonial period –
albeit in different and more subtle forms at the hands of
thelocal power elites or agencies – have introduced the social
sciences, the humanities and the natural and physical sciences
based almost entirely on the secular humanistic, naturalistic
or materialistic worldviews. In the production and the
development as well as the dissemination of those three
branches of human knowledge, the human intellect is the only
means and source of knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, its
operation within the framework of agnostic, atheistic, secular
humanistic, materialistic or naturalistic worldviews would
somehow bear the imprints of the underlying primary
assumptions of those non-Tawhidic worldviews or
philosophies.
19
THREE MODES OF
INTEGRATION
The mission of Integration and Islamicisation of human
knowledge in the context of International Islamic University
Malaysia was translated in the following ways in designing the university
curriculum:
1. All the three branches of “acquired human knowledge”, would be taught in
English using text books or references which are available in the market, but
they are to be imbued, as far as possible, with relevant Islamic values and
perspectives -- wherever or whenever necessary. In the case of the hard
sciences, engineering and technology—including information and
communication technology courses -- the integration of Islamic ethics or
spiritual values has become an important part of the curriculum. The medical
sciences have also incorporated the relevant content from Islamic ethics,
jurisprudence, creed and Islamic cultural and moral values. This integrationist
approach is also adopted in the curriculum of architecture and environmental
design. In the case of engineering, medical, architectural and accountancy
degree programmes, they are also required to comply with the national
professional competency standards set by the respective national or
international governing bodies.
20
2. Another approach is to provide a comparison
between the conventional and the Islamic systems
in the fields of law, education, economics, finance
and business, while emphasising the importance of
the Islamic perpectives, values or theories which
are normally dealt with in the specific courses
within the same department or faculty. In the case
of the faculty of law, students who wish to become
specialists in Islamic law and Islamic legal practice,
in addition to their expertise in the conventional
legal system, can continue into the fifth year to get
a second degree in the special field.
21
3. It is compulsory at the undergraduate level for all
students – except for students studying Islamic
Revealed Knowledge and Heritage (IRKH) programmes, which
are taught mainly in Arabic – to study four compulsory
university courses dealing with the Islamic worldview, science
and civilisation, ethics, and religious obligations. Arabic
language proficiency at different levels – from elementary to
intermediate -- are required of all students, while those
studying IRKH courses and Islamic law specialisation courses
have to possess advanced level proficiency in Arabic. The
ability to read the Qur’an properly is also a requirement for
Muslim students, while Islamic personality or character
development of the students and their community service or
engagement programmes are handled by the Student Affairs
Division as part of the co-curricular activities.
22
INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCES,
HUMANITIES AND ISLAMIC REVEALED
KNOWLEDGE DISCIPLINES IN ONE
FACULTY
The study of social sciences and humanities is
handled by the unique Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Islamic
Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS),
which integrates the social science disciplines with
humanities under the title “human sciences” which
co-exist with Islamic revealed knowledge disciplines
(ma`arif al-wahy) within a single faculty. This is the
largest faculty of IIUM comprising ten departments
with
around
4000
students,
including
undergraduates and postgraduates.
23
DIVORCE OF REASON AND REVELATION
AS THE BASIC DIFFERENCE
The divorce of the metaphysical and spiritual dimensions
of the public sphere and the modern sciences is
understandable given the long and bitter conflict
between the Church and the proponents of independent
human reason in pre-Enlightenment Europe which led to
the triumph of secularism, positivism and empiricism. In
Islamic culture, civilisation and history such a divorce
would be untenable and unjustifiable because the
epistemology and worldview of Islam posit a harmonious
and complementary relationship between divine
revelation and human reason.
24
ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES ON ECONOMIC,
POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEMS
The Islamic critique of capitalism and socialism, secular democracy and
communism, secularized education and secular legal system was
among the earliest to be mounted by the Muslim reformist and
revivalist thinkers in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and in
the Malay-Indonesian archipelago. In the face of the ideological and
intellectual challenges coming from the dominant post-colonial
Western thought, they argued for the need to promote an “ Islamic
economic system”, an “Islamic educational system”, an “Islamic legal
system”, and an “Islamic political system” in the Muslim countries
which have adopted the secularised Western educational, economic or
political systems, although this early reformist and revivalist Muslim
discourse lacked the sophistication and scholarly rigour and finesse
that the contemporary experts in the social sciences are capable of.
25
EPISTEMOLOGY OF TAWHID AND
SECULAR EPISTEMOLOGIES
Epistemology, or the theory of the nature, sources, scope and
limits of human knowledge, is fundamental to all sciences,
natural or social, because it constitutes the basic assumptions
or presuppositions about how scientists claim to know or
study the subject matter. In the social sciences, epistemology
is a sub-topic of the philosophy of the social sciences which
includes the study of ontology, an important branch of
philosophy that deals with the nature of “being”. In the
modern Western social sciences, however, ontology refers in
general to the theoretical assumptions about social reality
or the nature of the “world out there”, independent of the
investigator or the observer of social phenomena, actions or
behaviours.
26
Rationalism
Idealism- Types
of Idealism
Marx's
materialism Criticism and
alternatives
Empiricism
Behaviorism
Postmodern
philosophy
PositivismAntipositivism
and Critical
theory
Cognitive
revolution
Postpositivism
BehavioralismBehavioralism
as a Political
Approach
Poststructuralism
RealismPhilosophical
realism Socio-political
realism
Materialism
Perspectivism
Constructivist
epistemology Constructivism
and sciences
Deconstruction
Social
Constructionism
27
Each of the above-mentioned epistemological positions, as
well as those not mentioned above, provides the general
philosophical, ideational, ideological or theoretical framework
from which social science theories, concepts, analytical tools
and methodologies are constructed and developed. The
variety of epistemological positions and paradigms of modern
knowledge reflects the breadth of intellectual freedom and
the liberalism of modern Western thought which permits the
growth of different as well as conflicting schools of thought,
without necessarily impeding the consolidation or the
privileging of certain schools of thought to emerge as the
reigning orthodoxy for a certain period of time.
28
THE MAJOR ISSUE
The major issue from the Islamic point of view,
however, is not so much related to the
micro methodological or theoretical details, or with many
useful and enlightening results of Western social science
research – in spite of differences in the schools of thought –
as with the macro philosophical underpinnings, the
underlying worldviews or the basic epistemological
frameworks. The separation of human reason or sense
experience from religious faith in realities which are
beyond the ken of human reason, or the exclusion of
metaphysical or spiritual dimensions of life in human beings
and the universe in the attempt to explain, understand or
forecast human or social behaviour – especially if they
concern Muslim actors or behaviour – constitute the most
fundamental difference between the Islamic epistemology
and the secularist or humanist epistemologies.
29
Apart from this epistemological
difference, the worldview of Islam projects its own
theology, cosmology, ontology, anthropology, axiology
and religious history, all of which shape a more holistic
(physical, mental, spiritual and moral) understanding of
man, family, society, culture, politics, economics,
education, law, international relations. The nature,
means and goals of social change envisioned in the
worldview of Islam shape the Islamicised social
sciences within an epistemology that harmoniously
integrates divine revelation with human reason.
30
This theocentric vision of social life and culture
in which man is His obedient servant and
trustworthy vicegerent on God’s earth is definitely at
variance with the secular humanist vision of “man as the
measure of all things.” This does not, however, prevent
Muslim individuals, scholars and communities from
learning and benefitting from all the useful and noncontradicting knowledge, theories, concepts, methods or
systems produced by Western social sciences, for they are
guided by the famous Prophetic advice that “Wisdom is the
lost property of the believers; wherever they find it they
are entitled to it.” They may even collaborate with nonMuslim scholars or organisations on programmes or
projects aimed at the improvement of socio-economic or
socio-political conditions of Muslim communities, provided
such programmes or projects are motivated by sincere
intentions.
31
FAITH AND INTELLECT GUIDED BY DIVINE
REVELATION: THE ISLAMIC WAY
What human beings as His obedient servants, or scholars
as the inheritors of the Prophetic mission, ought to do is
to construct human knowledge and understanding of
himself, nature and society by using the God-given
intellect (‘aql), freed from the corrupting elements of the
lower self (nafs, hawa, shahawat), in light of true faith
(iman) in the Living Compassionate Master (Rabb al‘alamin) and always guided by the higher God-given
knowledge, guidance and wisdom as revealed in His
Books which culminated in the unique Qur’an and
exemplified in the tradition of the Final Messenger and
Prophet, Muhammad (S.A.A.S.).
32
TAWHIDIC EPISTEMOLOGY VS SECULARIST
EPISTEMOLOGIES
The Tawhidic epistemology, unlike the secularist or rationalist
or empiricist epistemologies of Western social sciences,
priveleges the authority and superiority of divine revelation
(wahy) as the highest and most perfect knowledge which
unveils theological, metaphysical, spiritual, moral, historical,
eschatological truths and divine purpose – matters which the
human mind or reason can never discover on its own – but, at
the same time, urges the use of the senses, the powers of
observation, reflection, logical thinking, discursive,
contemplative and intuitive powers of the God-given
intellect to gain knowledge of the realities of the world and to
develop human life on earth in the most beneficial way as a
prelude to the everlasting life in the reality of the Hereafter.
33
READING THE TWO BOOKS OF GOD, THE
UNIVERSE AND THE QUR’AN, TOGETHER,
IS A REQUIREMENT HOLISTIC PROGRESS
• While the secularist, rationalist or empiricist
epistemologies of modern civilization do not
accept divine revelation as a source of
knowledge, the Tawhidic epistemology obliges
the obedient servant and scholar of God to use
the two major sources of knowledge, the “Open
Book” of God (the universe and nature) and the
“Recited Book” of God (divine revelation of the
Qur’an) as two complementary and harmonious
structures of knowledge.
34
FIKR AND DHIKR, THE METHOD OF
ULU’L-ALBAB
• The believers who use these two complementary
sources by combining rational thinking (fikr and
tafakkur) with profound consciousness and
remembrance of Allah (S.W.T.) are the best
examples of Islamic scholars and intellectuals,
which the Qur’an extols as the Ulu’l-Albab
(people who use sound reason). Thus the most
important attribute of a scholar or man/woman
of knowledge is the God-fearing attitude (taqwa,
khashyat Allah).
35
LIFE AS ‘IBADAH AND STRUGGLE AGAINST
KUFR, SHIRK, MUNKAR, NIFAQ, ZULM
• The most important aspect of human history
then is the narrative of human submission to or
rebellion of God, the most important meaning of
human life is that of “servitude” to God, and
striving in His cause, while the worst and most
despicable way of life is one of denial (kufr) or
rejection of God, of polytheism (shirk), and of
hypocrisy (nifaq). The best model of a Godfearing society, state and harmonious multireligious culture was the Prophetic model and the
Rightly-Guided Caliphs.
36
CHAOS, DISINTEGRATION AND THE
PROSPECT OF TAWHIDIC INTEGRATION
• Thus the Islamicisation of social sciences at the hands of
Muslim scholars finds its rationale and justification in the
Qur’anic imperative and Prophetic example to actualise the
Best Community and the necessity to implement IQRA’
B’ISMI RABBIKA’ LLADHI KHALAQ.
• The chaotic and collapsing human constructs as manifested
in modernist and postmodernist philosophy, secularist
epistemology, unjust and market-oriented economics,
Machiavellian and immoral politics, sophisticatedly biased
media, severely ravaged ecosystem and increasingly
sensate mass culture that worships the mediocre, the vain
and the vulgar, that have been spawned by the paradigms
of secular humanistic modernity, makes the Islamicisation
mission even more pressing and meaningful.
37
THE OPPORTUNITY ISLAMICISATION OF
CONTEMPORARY HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
The current global economic crisis which is considered
as the worst since the Great Depression of the 30s is
perhaps but a symptom of the larger systemic moral
decadence of an unjust (zalim) contemporary
civilization – a civilization founded and constructed
upon the dominant worldview of secularism which
dethroned God and, instead, deified autonomous
human reason.
This provides a historic opportunity for Muslim thinkers
and academic institutions to come forward with
alternative paradigms of knowledge, systems,
perspectives, approaches and ideas.
38
THREE MEANINGS OF ISLAMICISATION
The term “Islamicisation” is derived from the adjective
“Islamic’ which can be understood to mean that
something is either, a) connected with or related to
Islam, such as Islamic history or Islamic conference or
Islamic book; or, b) in agreement with or not in conflict
with Islam, such as Islamic ideas, Islamic food, Islamic
dress, Islamic medicine, Islamic neighbourhood, Islamic
atmosphere or Islamic garden; or, c) complying fully
with, or fulfilling the tenets or teachings of Islam, or
constructed upon the foundation or doctrines of Islam,
such as Islamic law, Islamic theology, Islamic creed,
Islamic ideology, Islamic faith, Islamic worship or
Islamic ethics.
39
The term “Islamicisation” extends beyond the
idea of embracing those particularities of Islam to include the
idea of being “acceptable by Islamic standards or criteria” or
“in harmony with the values and perspectives of Islam”, such
as the ideas or practices of good governance, excellence,
goodness, beauty, efficiency, beneficence,
advancement,
best practices, harmless innovations or better ways of doing
things, as long as those ideas, practices or institutions – many
of which could be found in non-Muslim cultures or countries –
do not conflict with the belief system, the law and ethics of
Islam.
This explanation, we hope, will remove the unwarranted
perception or interpretation that the project of Islamicisation
of Acquired Human Knowledge is a manifestation of Muslim
Westophobia or prejudice against the West.
40
Islamicisation of Acquired Human Knowledge
is an alternative paradigm for pursuing,
teaching, developing, disseminating, utilising and evaluating
contemporary human knowledge (as contrasted with
Divinely revealed knowledge), in accordance with the
worldview, fundamental principles, ethical values and
norms of Islam. This paradigm encompasses the different
branches of contemporary human knowledge as
represented by the Western-originated behavioral sciences,
human sciences, humanities as well as the modern natural,
physical and applied sciences, insofar as they or parts
thereof are imbued with or constructed upon worldviews,
philosophies, underlying assumptions, theories or principles
which are contrary or repugnant to the Islamic equivalents.
41
ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE OF THE
ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM
Among the ultimate objectives of the alternative
paradigm of Islamicisation and relevantisation is the
liberation of the Muslim Ummah from its internal crisis,
backwardness, malaise and predicaments as well as the
realization of a universal, balanced and integrated
civilization based upon the harmony of Divine revelation
and human reason which upholds the principle of
achieving “goodness in this world” (hasanah fi al-dunya)
and “goodness in the Hereafter” (hasanah fi al-akhirah).
It is one of the religious duties of an Islamic university to
work towards achieving the ultimate objectives.
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• Both the processes of Integration
and Islamicisation and entail a two-pronged
reformatory approach, namely the REFORM OF
THE CURRICULUM of the university and the
REFINEMENT OF THE CHARACTER AND WORK
ETHICS of the students, scholars and
administration staff of the university. This aspect
and dimension of “Islamicisation of the self” is
unfortunately not given the attention it deserves
in most of the literature or discourse on the
contemporary “IOK” project.
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T
E
R
I
M
A
‫شكرا‬
THANK YOU
K
A
S
I
H
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