Rationale for the Islamization of Knowledge

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RATIONALE FOR THE ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE

E.M. Muhammad Suhail Al-Hudawi

Lecturer, Dept. Aqeeda and Philosophy,

Darul Huda Islamic University, Kerala, India,

P.B. No 3, 676306 (Pin)

[email protected],

+91 9605744822

Abstract

This paper tries to examine the need for the project of islamization of knowledge. It will

discuss the historical, intellectual, socio-economic and political need for the islamization of

knowledge project. In the view of the author, there are many reasons which called for the

urgent need for the project of IOK. This need is the combination of the crisis emanated from

within the ummah and the outside. The inside reason, on a major part is consequence of the

outer reasons. The inner problem which made the origin of the IOK is the intellectual,

economical, and political crisis of the ummah. Today ummah stands at the lower ladder

among the world nations. Even though it has wealth it is weak because of the intellectual

bankruptcy. The outer reason is coming from the western civilization which corrupted all the

fields of knowledge and contaminated it with time-place bound short-lived human reason and

rejected revelation as a source of knowledge. This rejection emerged from the corruption of

Christianity. When Christianity (Islam) reached Rome or Europe, in general, it was

Romanized instead of Christianizing (Islamizing) the Rome. Along this Christianity was

already corrupted by its adherents. These two corruptions made the Christianity unmatched

to the changing world and compelled the Europe to reject the revelation. This created all the

problems. So the corruption of the Christianity had a far reaching consequence.

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Introduction

Islamization of knowledge project is one of the major intellectual movements that witnessed

the twentieth century Muslim world. Since it’s commencing in 1960s by Syed Naquib al-

Attas and by Ismail Raji al-Faruqi in 1980s it has been an issue of long discussions and

articulations. Since that time Great names of the Muslim world have been interfering in its

process either as proponents or critics. It can certainly be considered one of the most credible

and long-standing contemporary Muslim intellectual responses to modernity, if we take the

late 1960s as its starting point. It has become a movement that got the attention of the ummah

as a response to overcome its current (intellectual, political, social and economic)

backwardness.

Islamization of knowledge: towards a definition

Different definitions are available on Islamization of Knowledge. Some of them are as

follows:

Imad al-Din khalil: Taking part in intellectual pursuits, by examination, summarization,

correlation, and publication, from the perspective of an Islamic outlook on life, humankind,

and the universe.1

Syed Naquib al-Attas: In the individual, personal, existential sense islamization refers to what

is described above in which the holy prophet (SAAS) represents the highest and most perfect

example; in the collective, social and historical sense islamization refers to the community’s

1 Imad al-Din Khalil. Islamization of Knowledge: a methodology(Herndon: IIIT). 3.

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striving towards realization of the moral and ethical quality of social perfection achieved

during the age of the holy prophet (SAAS)2

Many other definitions also are available. Isma’il Raji al-Faruqi, Abu Sulayman, Taha Jabir

al-Alwani and other proponents of the IOK also have defined it in their own way. However,

all of them, though variable in words, are unanimous that IOK is a project to reassert the

place of Islam with regard of knowledge. Contemporary knowledge is infected by the western

secular and materialistic world view which rejected revelation- the source of true and

authentic knowledge- as a source of knowledge and solely depended upon the short-lived

human reason. This infection has spread to the Muslim world also. It has been deviating the

Muslim generation from the right path. So a purification is needed, i.e., to restate the

revelation and reason in their proper place. This is the project of IOK is all meant for.

Why the project of Islamization of Knowledge

Why such a project known as Islamization of knowledge is needed now? What is the

necessity of such a movement for the ummah? Moreover, what a religion can do to all kinds

of knowledge, while religion is confined to spirituality? To answer many such questions and

to clarify the rationale for the Islamization of knowledge it is essential to keep some factors in

mind: the backwardness of the ummah, the incapability of the western civilization to solve

the problems of the ummah and the concept of din in Islam or the comprehensiveness of

Islam. We can begin with the last point.

(A) The concept and the comprehensiveness of DIN

2 Muhammad Mumtaz Ali. The history and philosophy of islamization of knowledge: a preliminary study of

pioneer’s thought(Kuala Lampur:IIUM Press). 14.

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Islam is not a ‘religion’ in the sense that such belief systems are known in the modern-secular

world. Rather Islam is a ‘way of life’. It is a revealed ‘pattern of life from Allah Almighty,

the creator, to the creatures to be followed throughout their life. As Syed Naquib al-Attas

remarks:

The concept couched in the term din,which is generally understood to mean

religion,is not the same as the concept religion as interpreted and understood

throughout western religious history. When we speak of Islam and prefer to it in

English as a ‘religion’, we mean and understand by it the din,in which all the basic

connotations inherent in the term din are conceived as gathered into a single unity

of coherent meaning as reflected in the Holy Qur’an and in the Arabic language to

which it belongs.3

Al-Attas explains the comprehensiveness of Islam by returning to the meanings of the term

din. He says: the word din has many meanings: indebtedness, submissiveness, judicial power,

natural inclination or tendency. The verb dana which derives from din conveys the meaning

of being indebted, including various other meanings connected with debts. In the state in

which one finds oneself being in debt is to yield and obey to the laws and ordinances

governing debts and also, in a way, to the creditor, who is likewise designated as a dain.

There is also conveyed in the situation described the fact that one in debt is under obligation,

or dayn. Being in debt and under obligation naturally involves judgement: daynunah and

conviction: idanah, as the case may be. All the above significations including their contraries

inherent in dana are practicable possibilities only in a organized societies involved in

commercial life in towns and cities, denoted by mudun or mada'in. A town or city, a

madinah, has a judge, ruler, or governer- a dayyan. thus in the various applications of the

3 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. Islam and Secularism (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1993). 51.

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verb dana alone, we see rising before our mind's eye a picture of civilized living; of societal

life of law and order and justice and authority.4

As a way of life revealed from the creator to the creatures Islam has and should have clear

view and vision on every aspects of life, which makes it a comprehensive system. In this

sense Islam is not confined to the spiritual dimension, rather it is a whole system. In Islamic

view, as a being man has many dimensions to be followed. He has many rights and duties to

give and take. These rights and duties extent from individual to social. As an individual he

has to fulfill many duties with his creator, Allah Almighty. He is fully indebted to Him for he

brought him to existence. His life has a purpose. He is created to serve him “I have created

only the Jinn and man that may serve me5”. He is created as khalifah(vicegerent) of Allah

Almighty. He is given the duty of amanah. These duties to Allah Almighty can be fulfilled

only if he completes many duties to his society. This make him obliged to lead a social life.

Social life extends from family to the ummah and the whole beings and non beings in the

universe. His duties and rights to the society include all aspects of the social life, political,

social and economical. As a comprehensive system Islam has clear instructions on all these

fields.

Here comes the need for the project of an Islamization of Knowledge. In the contemporary

world almost all fields of knowledge has been contaminated with the western material and

secular intervention. The disciplines have been developed according to their world view,

which reject revelation as a source of knowledge and solely depends on reason. Therefore a

re-establishment of knowledge, as al-Attas terms it dewesternization of knowledge, is

essential; hence a neutralization. As al-Attas states:

4 Ibid. 52,53. 5 Al-dhdhariyat: 56.

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Our real challenge is the problem of the corruption of knowledge. This has come

about due to our own state of confusion as well as influences coming from the

philosophy, science, and ideology of modern Western culture and civilization 6

I venture to maintain that the greatest challenge that surreptitiously arisen in our

age is the challenge of knowledge, indeed, not as against ignorance; but knowledge

as conceived and disseminated throughout the world by Western civilization… It

seems to me important to emphasize that knowledge is not neutral….but its

interpretation through the prism, as it were, the worldview, the intellectual vision

and psychological perception of the civilization that now plays the key role in its

formulation and dissemination.7

(B) The backwardness of the ummah

No one studying the current situation of the ummah will be in difficult to find out its

problems. In spite of being the one sixth of the total world population, holding majority and

power in about fifty nations and endowed with great treasure of natural resources that can

keep it sounds economically, it is not in powerful situation to stand boldly in front of the

dominant western threats.

Politically, most of the Muslim world had achieved independence from their colonial powers

after the Second World War. But even after more than six decades of their independence

most of them remain in political inconsistency. Whenever a dictator is overthrown another

one comes to power and gradually becomes more or equal worse to the former. They couldn’t

establish a firm system according the Islamic worldview which can bring development and

6 Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas. The Concept of Education in Islam: A Framework of an Islamic

Philosophy of Education (Kuala Lumpur: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, 1995) 7 Al Attas. Islam and Secularism. 127.

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prosperity to the humanity. In addition, against the Islamic concept of universal brotherhood

Muslims are divided into many nations which put themselves against each other.

When considering the economic state of the ummah many of Muslim countries are sound

with natural resources like petroleum. At the same time almost all the Muslim countries

remain undeveloped and a large number of Muslims under poverty line. As Parvez

Hoodhboy states: wealth and weakness never joined together never in the history of

humanity, except in the contemporary Muslim world. Whenever the nation had wealth it had

sway in the world and vice versa. 8

These two main causes of the backwardness return to another root cause: educational

backwardness. Intellectually the ummah stands at the present at the lowest rung of the ladder

among the nations. Without developing a strong educational system the ummah cannot solve

its problems be it economic, political or social. Since the educational system has a vital role

in nurturing the future leaders and members of the ummah it is inevitable to build up a strong

educational system according to the worldview of Islam. The ummah cannot continue

adopting the western system, which is prevalent in all the Muslim countries, as a method of

its educational system. As it is elaborated below it has been proved that the western system is

no longer useful for the ummah’s needs.

As al-Faruqi states:

The greatest task confronting the ummah in the fifteenth Hijri century is to solve

the problem of education. There can be no hope of a genuine revival of the ummah

unless the educational system is revamped and its faults are corrected. Indeed, the

system needs to be formed anew. The present dualism in Muslim education, its

bifurcation into an Islamic and a secular system must be removed and abolished

8 Parvez Hoodhboy. Science and Islam.

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once and for all. The two systems must be united and integrated, and the emergent

system must be infused with the spirit of Islam and must function as an integral

part of its ideological program. It should not be allowed to remain an imitation of

the west; nor should it be left to find its own way; nor should it be tolerated that it

serves merely the economic and pragmatic needs of the student for professional

training, personal advancement, or material gain. The educational system must be

endowed with a mission, and that mission must be none other than that of

imparting Islamic vision and cultivating the will to realize it on the largest scale.9

Why not the Western Model?

Certain questions may rise from some quarters. They say: We are living in a well developed

world. Man is running fast through immediate emerging science and technology. Every day

we are witnessing the birth of new technologies. The machine that we used yesterday is out

of fashion today. When we look to the source of these machines we can find out that all these

are coming western countries. They are producing all these things. These western countries

are developed countries. Economically they are sound. Their educational system is powerful.

Then it is better for Muslim countries to imitate their system, and hence we can develop our

nations. Then why we reject these developed models? Why we insist for an Islamic

alternative? Such questions have been coming from many intellectuals. In their view the

importing of the western civilization with its scientific and technological models we can

develop the Muslim nations. If such an argument is true? If it is practically successful? The

coming lines will make an attempt to examine the validity of those questions.

(C) incapability of the western civilization to solve the problems of the ummah

9 Ismail Raji al-Faruqi. Islamization of knowledge: Its General Principles and Work Plan (Herndon: IIIT,

1417/1997, 3rd Ed.) 13.

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Since a couple of centuries the ummah has been travelling through a total backwardness.

With the invasion of the western countries it loosed its power politically and remained slave

community to the western authority. When the Christian dominated western countries got

sway on the Islamic societies, it started sterilizing it intellectually, socially and economically.

For more than ten centuries Muslims had been dominating over the west and was posing

threat to the corrupted Christianity. Christian Europe used all its powers to defeat the Islamic

world. Crusades that the western Christian empires, under the leadership of the catholic pope,

launched against the Muslim world in their homelands were the mightiest of them. But this

two century lasted effort also couldn’t defeat Muslims. So when the west got a chance it tried

its best to sterilize the Muslims at maximum.

This sterilization had a far reaching consequence on the ummah. Gradually it began adopting

the western culture and abandoning the Islamic way of life. Many Muslim countries, even

after they got independence from the colonial powers, implementing western political,

economic and educational methods in their countries. They began to think that adoption of

the western methods and technologies are the only way for the development and to keep pace

with the developed nations.

Historically, this attitude was first started over two centuries ago, when the Turkish

'Uthmaniyah empire was confronted by the military might of Europe. Under Salim III the

'Uthmaniyah empire began a policy of imitating Europe, thinking that this was the way to

renew their declining power. The first attempt they made was to import foreign technical

knowledge and experience. The Turkish state began by establishing its first modern

engineering college and followed that with a military academy for training officers along

Western lines. So determined were the 'Uthmaniyah sultans to carry out their plans, and to

regain their power and status that they actually slaughtered their own traditional military

corps, the Janissaries, in their barracks when the resisted pans to "modernize" the army.

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When these attempts couldn’t achieve its goal in restoring the power of the Uthmaniyah

empire they increased their efforts to imitate the west by sending droves of students to

Europe. This policy led to further Westernization. This in turn, brought a new dimension to

imitation: the perception on the part of the Turks that political and social reform would have

to be carried out along Western lines. Otherwise, their reasoning went, they would not have

the kind of atmosphere conducive to the academic, administrative, and military reform so

urgently needed for the reconstruction of their empire.

These attempts were further moved to its extreme when Kamal Ataturk came to power.

Kamal made more comprehensive and overall changes in accordance with European patterns.

The government under him abolished the role of Islam and Islamic culture in society,

endorsed the European concept of secularism, and ensured, in no uncertain terms, the

separation of Islam from the affairs and organization of the state as well as from all aspects of

society. In addition, they abolished all Islamic laws and 'Uthmaniyah institutions and

replaced them with the legal code of the European country they believed to be the most

advanced: Switzerland. In order to nullify the effects of Islamic culture on future generations,

the Arabic script was abolished and replaced with the Latin alphabet. The common people

were forced to adopt European dress, women were required to discard the hijab, and even

Islamic rituals like the call to prayer were required to be performed in Turkish.

In spite of all these attempts, Turkey remained the ‘sick man of Europe’. It couldn’t realize its

ambitions of reform and development. Such kinds of attempts were continued in more or less

quantity in many Muslim countries in Arabia, Asia and Africa. Their fate also was not

different from that of Turkey. They couldn’t reach to the status of the ‘developed countries’.

Why these ‘foreign solutions’ couldn’t bring the better conditions into the Muslim world , as

they dreamed, while it proved successful in the west, from where these ‘developments’ were

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imported? The reason for this failure is that every culture is the outcome of a particular

world view. Their disciplines are developed as a response to their problems, not for the

problems of others. Hence their products will not benefit others. Dr.Abdul Hamid Abu

Sulayman was right in identifying this reality. He states:

The reasons for the failure of this approach are easy to understand. Nations, as

living human aggregates, are far more complex than individuals in their

composition and in the amount of energy it takes to motivate them either to

overcome obstacles or to be constructive. Each nation, then, in the same way that it

has its own motivations, psychology, and history, has its own composition in terms

of its values, beliefs, and concepts. Unless these are understood correctly, it is next

to impossible to deal with a nation in a way that will inspire it to realize all of its

hidden potential for progress.

What motivates one human being may not motivate another. The same is true of

nations, since each nation works on the basis of its own incentives and priorities. It

is therefore a major mistake to ignore a nation's incentives and priorities and rush

headlong after a blind imitation of plans for production and reform without a

proper understanding of what distinguishes that nation from other nations. Unless

this way of understanding nations is adopted, the future of the Ummah will be no

better than the long centuries of importation and imitation. 10

He further explains the problem of imitation:

The imported foreign solution is, to use a metaphor, a theatrical solution which

turns the Ummah into a passive spectator in a drama that is mere play-acting and

only a shadow of reality. The most that the audience can do during a performance

10 Abdul Hamid Abu Sulayman. Azmat al-Aql al-Muslim. Translated by Talal Delorenzo. Crisis in the Muslim

Mind(Herndon: IIIT) 14.

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is to applaud or show its displeasure in accordance with the twists of the plot and

what it evokes. This does not mean, however, that the Ummah has any significant

role to play in what takes place on the stage between the actors representing the

political and social leadership. This may explain why every time one of these plays

ends or a leader falls from power, or a role is finished, the Ummah merely shakes it

off and goes about its business as if nothing had happened. Before long, it will

move on to witness another play, another distraction, another leadership, and

another round of the latest trends in imitative historical and foreign solutions.

Dr.Muhammad Mumtaz Ali also has expressed the same reflection. He says:

They [those Muslims who were praising the western culture]were so awestruck by

the development and modernization of the west that they completely failed to see

that every culture is a product of a particular world view and is relevant to a

particular time and place.11

These explanations do not mean that this materialistic world view is appropriate for the west

and it will lead them to success. It only means that that system may fulfill their immediate

needs, but in the long run, however, it will make any profit. i.e., they are only patch-work, not

a right medicine for the disease. Only through reestablishing the revelation in its place and

using the reason in accordance with it this problem can be solved. Here comes the time to

explain why the west abandoned the revelation and gave the sole power to the reason.

The answer to, “why the western model is not capable to save the ummah?” will be

elaborated below. This discussion is divided into two points: the concepts of development

and progress in the western and the Islamic concepts. In order to decide to accept or reject

the western model of development, it is essential to explain the concepts of development in

11 Muhammad Mumtaz Ali. Critical Thinking: An Islamic Perspective (Batu Caves: Thinker’s Library)ix.

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Islam and the west, for the entire discussion is revolving around the development. The second

point explains the true cause behind the inability of the west, i.e., the corruption of the

Christianity and the separation between reason and revelation.

(i) The Concepts of Development and Progress

Here, the western concept of ‘development’ and ‘progress’ has to be subjected to a

redefinition in the Islamic view point. Islam does not agree with the western understanding of

the development and progress. This is an important point that everyone who advocate for the

imitation of the western model must give their attention. Because they are advocating for the

import of the western model supposing that it is the real model of the development. The

problem of the western the concept of development and progress is that it is built around the

material needs. They have set a criterion for development and progress which is in order to

achieve some material grades. A country will be considered as developed, undeveloped or

underdevelopment according to that criteria. A country will be considered ‘developed’ if it is

able to improve the social welfare of the people e.g. by providing social amenities like quality

education, potable water, transportation infrastructure, medical care, etc.

As Kofi Annan, the former secretary General of UNO defined it: a developed country as

follows: "A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy

life in a safe environment."12

Wikipedia encyclopedia states: Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions. One

such criterion is income per capita; countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per

capita would thus be described as developed countries. Another economic criterion is

industrialization; countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate

would thus be described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human

development Index (HDI), which combines an economic measure, national income, with

12 http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/G_05_00.htm.

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other measures, indices for life expectancy and education has become prominent. This

criterion would define developed countries as those with a very high (HDI) rating.13

According to this criterion Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in northern America,

Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Europe are considered ‘developed’ regions or

areas. In international trade statistics, the southern African Customs Union is also treated as a

developed region and Israel as a developed country. Any one look to this list will not be in

difficult to find out that all the countries listed above have a common feature, i.e., all of them

have adopted the so called ‘western culture or model’.

It is clear from the above clarifications that western model of development and progress

criterion only considers the economical state of the country. Even other standards like:

education, health, etc are evaluated in relation with the economic development. They

overlook the mental satisfaction of the citizen. In their view an ideal citizen is he who

abide the law of the nation and who follow the culture. They suppose that a citizen will

be happy if he gets all material comforts. They suppose that if a society is in a good state

the citizens will be in a good state. W.H. Auden, in his satiric poem ‘the unknown

citizen’, has illustrated this beautifully: in this poem he says about a British man who

abides all the laws of the nation and followed all the cultural traits of the nation, in the

end Auden asks: Was he free? Was he Happy? The question is absurd: was he free? Was

he happy?

Here is the difference between the Islamic world view with that of the western. Islam

aims to develop a good individual. Islam says, if we could develop a good individual he

will be a good citizen. For the basic concept of Islam is that, as prophet said “It is

narrated that the Prophet (SAAS) said: “A true Muslim is one from [the transgressions of]

13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developed_country#cite_note-2 .

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whose tongue and hands, all other Muslims are safe; and a true mu’min is one from who

people’s lives and wealth are secured.”14

If a Muslim is like the above description he

cannot cheat his fellow beings and his country and he cannot steal the public property. So

if a Muslim is a good individual, naturally, he will be a good citizen. But if a man is a

good citizen it doesn’t mean that he is a good individual. Hence, the Islamic concept of

man is with double result, while the other is one sided. If a group of guards can be formed

out of a group of pirates? How a concrete building can be built out of a bundle of

degraded woods. West says: yes. Islam says: no. until these pirates change their attitudes

and purify their heart individually. In short, Islam tries to begin from individual to

society, while the west tries to come from society to individual.

The development and progress, as elaborated by al-Attas: change, development and

progress, according to the Islamic view point, refer to the return to the genuine Islam

enunciated and practised by the holy prophet (SAAS) and his noble companions and their

followers and the faith and practice of genuine Muslims after them; and they also refer to

the self and mean its return to its original nature and religion (Islam). these concepts

pertains to presupposed situation in which Muslims find themselves going astray and

steeped in ignorance of Islam and are confused and unjust to their selves. in such

situations, their endeavour to direct their selves back onto the straight and true path and

to return to the condition of genuine Islam- such endeavour, which entails change, is

development; and such return, which consists in development, is progress. Thus, for

Islam, the process of movement towards genuine Islam by Muslims who have strayed

14 Sunan al-Thirmidhi.

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away from it is development; and such development is the only one that can truly be

termed as progress15

This is the true pattern that Muslims has to follow as the model of their development. They

should practice Islam in all their aspects of life. Even the compulsory practices of Islam are

components of individual development and progress. By offering prayer, fasting, hajj, giving

zakat he is throwing all the components of arrogance and misery away and purifying himself.

Through this he can develop his confidence, mental strength, generosity, benevolence and

faith. The instruction of the prophet, which means, “wealth is not amount of property, but

wealth is a rich soul16

” is correct in this context.

(ii) Corruption of the Christianity and the Separation Between Reason and

Revelation

Christianity is not a correct term to denote the truth revealed to the prophet Isa. It is also has

to named as Islam, if it is referred to the prophet Isa. For the truth that was revealed to and

preached by every prophet is one. That is to profess the unity of Allah Almighty. The Holy

Qur’an says, which means:

And we did not send any messenger before you but we revealed to him (saying): none has the

right to be worshiped but I, so worship me.17

And remember when we took from the prophets their covenant, and from you (O,

Muhammad) and from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa son of Maryam. We took from them a strong

covenant.18

15 Islam and Secularism. P.86, 87. 16 Sahih al-Bukhari. Hadith Number: 6446. 17

Al-Anbiya: 25. 18 Al-Ahzab: 7.

17

He has ordained for you the same religion (Islamic monotheism) which He ordained for Nuh,

and that which we have revealed to you (O, Muhammad) and that which we ordained for

Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa, saying you should establish religion and make no divisions in it.

Intolerable for the mushrikun, is that to which you call them Allah chooses for Himself whom

He wills, and guides unto Himself who turns to Him in repentance19

After Isa was lifted to heaven Christianity began spreading into many areas, including

Europe. Byzantium, with Rome as its capital, was the dominant empire in the Europe at that

time. Paganism was the leading belief system in that area. Christianity which spread to this

place had to convert this pagan area into the truth which confesses the unity of Allah

Almighty and rejects any kinds of submission to the beings other than Him. But

unfortunately, instead of Christianizing (Islamizing) the Byzantium, the Christianity was

Romanized. Instead of ash being lightened by spark, the spark was stripped off light by the

ash.

Through the influence of the roman culture many pagan beliefs and innovations entered

Christianity. Jesus and marry were raised into divine nature, trinity became a fundamental

belief. Priesthood was one of such new comers. In catholic belief system Pope given absolute

power and he was seen as a representative of the Jesus. He had the power to give forgiveness

to the followers.

Through another way Injil, the revealed book to Isa, had been corrupted by then. It had the

same fate of the books revealed to the former prophets. It was corrupted by its followers. To

strengthen their power and to legalize their activities, Priests, who were given the

responsibility to keep it, escorted this untrustworthy activity. When the human intervened in

the divine book it became devoid of its divine nature. Many human thoughts entered it. They

19 Al-Shura: 13.

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replaced many versus that they couldn’t understand, with their own. This invasion continued

in the later period.

This corruption had a far reaching consequence. When the Europe began to think by the

influence of the Islamic Spain, they had to reject many instructions of this corrupted bible,

especially in the scientific area. When the Catholic Church, which had the sway over the

Christendom, confronted with such a challenge it had to select either of the two ways: to

abandon the biblical comments and accept the new discovered scientific truths or to prohibit

any kinds of innovations against the instructions of the bible. Fearing bitter consequences and

loss of power, the church selected the latter. Since that time church began to prosecute,

punish and kill the scientists and declare them heretics. The heliocentric theory of Galileo, for

instance, was rejected to justify the geocentric theory of bible.

This activity of the church led the Europe to abandon the revelation and depend solely on

reason. For the corrupted revelation in front of them was against any progress. But, alienation

of the reason from the revelation, which is the true knowledge, led to another problem. When

the human had to depend solely on reason he had to depend on assumption which is not

accurate like the divine knowledge. The thinking of the short-lived man created many

problems. Capitalism, Materialism, Secularism, Socialism and many other ideologies were

the outcomes of this separation. All these ideologies were responses made by some scholars

to the socio-economic and political issues of their time. Hence they were bounded with time

and place. Therefore, they cannot act as solutions for other societies living in different

cultural atmosphere and even to the coming generations of the same society. For example,

when the capitalism, in the long run, proved its invalidity it led to the emergence of

socialism. But after a few decades socialism proved that it is a utopian theory and cannot

bring prosperity to the societies. This may lead to another solution. This searching for the

solutions will not cease until man restate the place of the revelation.

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Syed Hossein Nasr says:

Western social science is anthropomorphic in nature in that it accepts individual

human existence as the criterion of reality, to the total neglect of any higher

principle. For the same reason, western social science is reductionist, for it not

only separates reason from revelation but rejects the latter as a means of

knowledge.20

Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi says:

Based upon Greco-Roman cultural tradition and rational philosophy, it accepts

nothing which cannot fit the scale of reason and human intellect, and abiding by

the same standard, it considers nothing as moral if it fails to yield maximum

returns in material terms.21

Abd al-Lawi Muhammad further explains the dilemma inherent in the reason:

Depending solely on reason led to deification of it and viewing life and man only

from the materialistic point. The rejection of the unseen dimension of the human

life resulted in a crisis including the aspects of knowledge and the way of

practicing it in the social life.

This means that man’s isolation from spiritual dimension is not merely an ethical

issue. Rather it is a crisis that encompasses every aspect of human life, especially

20 Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Islam and the plight of modern man; and science and civilization in Islam. In:

A.R.Moten, “Islamization of knowledge: methodology of research in political science”, American Journal of

Social Sciences, Vol.7, No. 2(1990): 163 21 Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi. Religion and civilization. 62-70 In A.R.Moten, “Islamization of knowledge:

methodology of research in political science”, American Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.7, No. 2(1990): 163

20

the field of knowledge and the method which tries to treat the social life (human

sciences).22

(iii) Reason and Revelation in Islam

Contrary to the western civilization Islam does not confine knowledge into reason. Islam does

not consider reason as sole criteria of knowledge. Instead, according to Islam revelation is the

first source of knowledge. Since it is coming from the Allah Almighty, all knowing and all

wise revelation is true and authentic and beyond. Human reason has to work in accordance

with the revelation. Without using reasoning and contemplation revelation cannot be

understood. That is why the Holy Qur’an repeatedly urges to use reason. At the same level,

reason cannot work without the light of revelation. Because man has to depend on

speculation otherwise, this is not an authentic source of knowledge.

A.R.Moten says:

In contrast [to the western world view] Islam is deeply rooted in divine revelation.

As revelation is a distinguishing feature of Islam, Muslim scholars took very keen

interest in disentangling the various issues connected with it. However, the truth of

revelation was always appreciated in the light of reason. From the very beginning

revelation’s relation continued to be of central importance in all philosophical and

theological debates. Even al-Ashr’ari, before whom the system of rationalist kalam

crumbled, strongly defended the use of reason, or kalam, in explaining standard

formulations of doctrine. It is also well known that imam Abu Hanifah and his

celebrated followers al-Tahawi and indeed, al-Ghazali adopted the principles and

methods of reasoning as an avenue to knowledge.23

22 Abd al-Lawi Muhammad . Mushkilat al-Manhaj inda al-Mufakkirin al-Muslimin al-Muasirin wa inda al-

Muhaddithin: Muhawalata Inshai Ulum Insaniyyah Islamiyyah. In al-Manhajiyyah al-Islamiyyah wa al-Ulum

al-Sulukiyyah wa al-Tarbawiyyah(Herndon: IIIT) 167. 23 A.R.Moten. Ibid: 163,164.

21

In short Islam always encouraged use of reason in the light of revelation. This

combination will lead to the emergence of the branches of knowledge according to the

world view of Islam.

The explanations given above clearly justify the rationale for the Islamization of knowledge

movement. Knowledge becomes true only if it comes from Allah Almighty, the creator and

the all knowing. Muslims who hold the Holy Qur’an with them are the holders of true and

authentic knowledge also. They have to develop their academic disciplines and sciences in

accordance to that holy book. But unfortunately, the contemporary Muslim world is adopting

the dominant western techniques and methods of knowledge. They are looking to it as a

means of development and progression, while these disciplines are not neutral; rather they are

produced according to the world view of secular and materialistic west. Since the west has

abandoned the revelation as the source of knowledge their productions are the outcome of the

short-lived human reason. Human reason is bounded with time and place. Therefore the

disciplines coming from this ‘time-place bound human reason’ cannot be considered as

common to all societies and ages. So the knowledge has to be saved from this contamination

and has to be neutralized according to the true and authentic revelation. This is the rationale

for the project of Islamization of knowledge. The proponents of IOK project has been

advocating for this purification of knowledge.

Conclusion

In short, the islamization of knowledge is not only a project to save the ummah from its

present condition, but also it is the need of humanity. Because the root problem here is the

contamination of knowledge; its separation from the revelation, the true and authentic

knowledge. This separation happened through the corruption of the Christianity. The

Christianity which reached to the Europe was the duplicate version of the true revelation

22

(Islam). it was already corrupted before it reach there. Human interference had polluted the

holy book Injil. Because of this interference many wrong concepts entered it. This

interference had a far reaching consequence. When the Europe started scientific thinking they

had to oppose many verses of the ‘human bible’. Christian church didn’t allow this

opposition. Because they realized that if they agree the scientists they will be obliged to reject

bible and that will erode the soil under their feet. When the church rejected development it

led to the thought that revelation, here represented by the corrupted Christianity, is against the

development and that compelled them to reject religion and to separate between reason and

revelation. Since that period Western Europe began to conquering new horizons of

knowledge solely depending upon their reason. This caused many other problems.

Knowledge was polluted and was contextualized. Through the project of islamization of

knowledge, its proponents are aiming to refine the knowledge and to restate the revelation in

its correct place. The production of the mass destructive weapons, and the toxic wastes were

the result of the selfish human mentality, which tended to conquer all ‘others’. This affected

the smooth existence of all kinds of beings on the earth. So the reestablishment of the

revelation and the realization of the project of IOK will not only save the Muslim ummah and

the humanity but also the entire creators of the universe. So, no doubt, it is the urgent need of

the universe.

ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST

23

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