Abstract
Ismā’īl Rājī al-Fārūqī (1921–1986) was deeply troubled by the crisis of knowledge in Islam today, especially the bifurcation between revealed Islamic knowledge and acquired human knowledge. Current knowledge is largely conceptualized and interpreted through a Western secular world view but accepted as universal. The modern educated Muslim is thus torn between the wonderful material progress of secular education and the rigidity of a traditional Islamic education which has not engaged with the challenges of modernity.
In an attempt to reconcile Islam with modernity, to enable Muslim social science students and graduates to gain an Islamic perspective on knowledge, Fārūqī developed the concept of ‘Islamization’. The ‘Islamization of knowledge’ is the synthesis of old and new within an Islamic epistemological framework. The notion was enthusiastically received by Muslim educationists in the West and in the Muslim world.
This chapter explores Fārūqī’s idea of the ‘Islamization of knowledge’; reviews the criticisms, modifications and alternatives put forward by other Muslim scholars, especially the shift in nuance to ‘integration of knowledge’; and concludes with a new proposal.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
AbūSulaymān, A. A. (2007). Revitalizing higher education in the Muslim world. London: IIIT.
Ahmed, A. S. (1986). Toward Islamic anthropology. Virginia: IIIT.
Al-Alwani, T. J. (2005). Issues in contemporary Islamic thought. London/Washington: IIIT.
Alatas, S. F. (2010). Intellectual and structural challenges to academic dependency. In K. Sinha-Kerhoff & S. F. Alatas (Eds.), Academic dependency in the social sciences: Structural reality and intellectual challenges (pp. 55–77). New Delhi: Manohar.
Alatas, N. (1985). Islam, secularism and the philosophy of the future. London: Mansell Publishing.
Daud, W. M. (1991). The beacon on the crest of a hill. Kuala Lumpur: IIIT.
Delgado, J. (2014). Book review, Malkawi, epistemological integration. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 75–79.
Elmessiri, A. M. (2006). ‘The gate of Ijtihad’ in epistemological bias in the physical and social sciences. In A. M. Elmessiri (Ed.), Epistemological Bias in the Physical and Social Sciences (pp. 1–76). London/Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
Fārūqī, I. (1981a). Preface. In I. Fārūqī & A. Naseef (Eds.), Social and natural sciences Fārūqī (pp. 5–7). Jeddah: King Abdulaziz University.
Fārūqī, I. (1981b). Islamizing the social sciences. In I. Fārūqī & A. Naseef (Eds.), Social and natural sciences (pp. 8–20). Jeddah: King Abdulaziz University.
Fārūqī, I. (1982). Islamization of knowledge: General principles and work plan.. IIIT.
Fletcher, C. D. (2008). Ismail Al-Fārūqī (1921–1986) and interfaith dialogue. McGill University.
Habib, R. (2006). Modernizing vs. westernizing the social sciences: The case of psychology. In A. M. Elmessiri (Ed.), Epistemological bias in the physical and social sciences (pp. 126–144). London/Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
Henzell-Thomas, J. (n.d.). Towards an expanded glossary of key terms: Introduction and five model entries. Draft document. IIIT.
Hussein, A. (2006). Bias in western schools of social thought: Our heritage as the starting point for development. In A. M. Elmessiri (Ed.), Epistemological bias in the physical and social sciences (pp. 77–104). London/Washington: The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
Hashim, R., & Rossidy, I. (2006). A comparative analysis of the conceptions of Alatas and al-Fārūqī. In Islamization of human sciences.
Malkawi, F. H. (2014). Epistemological integration: Essentials of an Islamic methodology. London: IIIT.
Mohamed, Y. (1993a). Islamization of knowledge: A comparative analysis of Fārūqī and Rahman. Muslim Education Quarterly, 11(1), 27–40.
Mohamed, Y. (1993b). Islamization: A revivalist response to modernity, in Muslim educational quarterly, 10(2), 12–23.
Mohamed, Y. (1994). Islamization of knowledge: A critique. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 282–294.
Mohamed, Y. (2009). Integration of knowledge in Islamic context: Raghib Isfahani’s theory of justice. In K. D. Crow & K. D. Crow (Eds.), Islam, cultural transformation and the re-emergence of Falsafah (pp. 55–76). Tehran: Iranian Institute of Philosophy.
Ragab, I. (2006). The methodology of Islamizing human sciences. In M. Y. Hussain (Ed.), Islamization of human sciences (pp. 73–100). Kuala Lumpur: Research Centre, IIUM.
Rahman, F. (1982). Islam and modernity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Safi, L. (1993). The quest for Islamic methodology: The Islamization of knowledge project in its second decade. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 10(1), 23.
Sardar, Z., & Henzell-Thomas, J. (2017). Rethinking reform in higher education: From Islamization to integration of knowledge. London: International Institute of Islamic Thought.
Yusuf, I. (2014). Ismail al-Fārūqī’s contribution to the academic study of religion. Islamic Studies, 53(1–2), 99–115.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mohamed, Y. (2018). Critical Reflections on Fārūqī’s Islamization of Knowledge. In: Smeyers, P. (eds) International Handbook of Philosophy of Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72761-5_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72761-5_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72759-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72761-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)