FUTURE OF ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES

By, Dr Muhammad Mumtaz Ali

The question of how we should understand the Islamization of Knowledge [IOK] movement in the context of rapidly changing global circumstances is of considerable importance. Closely related to this is the equally pertinent question concerning the future direction and relevance of this movement at a time when many scholars have either overlooked it or are reluctant to engage with it critically. There is little doubt that the Islamization of Knowledge movement has now reached the completion of its fifth decade, marking a significant milestone in its intellectual history.

In recent years, the discourse on the Islamization of Human Knowledge [IOHK], particularly as articulated within the International Islamic University Malaysia [IIUM], has identified several new dimensions. These developments have been highlighted primarily by Kamal Hassan, who has drawn attention to evolving conceptual and practical concerns of the IOHK movement considering contemporary global realities. These aspects, which relate both to the theoretical foundations of IOHK and to the changing circumstances of today’s world, merit independent and detailed discussion. However, in this brief essay, the focus will be limited to examining the continuing importance and relevance of the Islamization of Human Knowledge.

The IOK/IOHK movement has often been perceived by some critics as an ideological project closely associated with particular political orientations. As a result, they hesitate to recognize it as a legitimate intellectual and academic endeavour. Such perceptions have contributed to a failure to appreciate the movement as a distinct epistemological and methodological initiative aimed at rethinking the foundations of knowledge production. This essay seeks to shed light on several key aspects of the movement that will be further explored our point of view.

To achieve this, the discussion will begin with a brief overview of the historical context in which the Islamization of Knowledge movement emerged. This will be followed by an introduction to the perspectives of some of the pioneering scholars who shaped its epistemological and methodological framework. For many of its proponents, the IOHK represents both a conceptual paradigm and an intellectual movement whose relevance extends beyond the Muslim world and speaks to the broader concerns of humanity.

Background of IOHK

Some people are unable to understand the proper background of the movement of IOHK. They relate it to the past movement of Imam al-Ghazzali and some other relates it to the time of the Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] and few think it is no more relevant. But all these views are not correct. The movement of IOHK is, in fact, a new concept and movement that emerged during 1970s and still relevant as it is the need of humanity. We do find in the recent past some references to it in the writings of Said Nursi, Ali Shariati, Muhammad Asad, Muhammad Iqbal, Sayyid Qutb, Sayyid Mawdudi, Sayyid Hossein Nasr etc. 

Nasr refers to the first International Conference on Muslim Education held in Makkah in 1977 and says: For several years I had worked on this project with Abdallah Naseef, then the President of King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Syed Ali Ashraf, Bangladesh, a well-known Muslim educator. This conference led to the establishment of several Islamic universities from Malaysia to Nigeria. In later conferences the need for the Islamization of various disciplines were discussed.

In one of the conferences the whole idea of Islamization of knowledge was introduced by my colleague at Temple University, Ismail al-Fariqi, and later the International Institute of Islamic Thought. He further says I had in fact spoken of the necessity to integrate knowledge cultivated in the modern West into the Islamic perspective from the 1950s onward but had not used the term “Islamization” of knowledge. What I and Syed Ali Ashraf had proposed during these conferences was precisely the integration of all forms of knowledge into the Islamic perspective and the creation of an educational curriculum based on the Islamic worldview. The goals set by the Makkah Conference were not only reached, but the Impact of the conference was great, and the question of the “Islamization of Knowledge” continues to be one of the central intellectual concerns of the Islamic world today.  Later, we see Syed Naquib Al-Attas, Ismail Al-Faruqi, AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, Taha Jabir Al-Wani, Mehdi Gulshani, Kamal Hassan and Osman Bakar highlighted this issue in detail in their writings. Seyyed Hossein Nasr gives us a better understanding about the Islamization of Knowledge: 

Nevertheless, there is a great deal of intellectual effort being spent in this domain…in what is now coming to be known as the “Islamization of knowledge”, which means integrating various subjects into the Islamic worldview. The dimensions and parameters of this important undertaking are being debated within many institutions and by many of the leading thinkers in the Islamic world today. [5] 

Several Muslim intellectuals of the 1960s and 1970s and onwards until 2005 focussed on the Islamization of Knowledge. They argued that Islam contains all that is needed today to meet the requirements of people in the modern world while protecting them from the dehumanizing aspects of modernization and secularization. Their commitment to Islam as the foundation of societal organization was beyond doubt. But today we find a new brand of Muslim intellectuals, modernists, liberalists, secularists, Westernizers who speak in terms of reconciliation and mediating Islam and modernity instead of revival of Islam, its culture, and civilization. They argue that Islam and science are compatible without realizing the philosophical foundation of modern secular science. They fail to differentiate between modern Western secular and its philosophical foundation. They aim to reconcile reason and spirituality, religion and freedom. These intellectuals have taken upon themselves to reconcile the Western vision of life, humanity, and the universe with those of the Islamic vision of life and society. 

For such thinkers the concepts of shura [consultation] and khilafah[vicegerency, stewardship] correspond with Western ideals of democracy and republicanism, while socialism and social justice are represented by zakah. Most important theme dearer to these intellectuals is how to reconcile Islam with modernity and how to offer an Islamic and indigenous version of modernity. Another significant theme is how to strengthen Islam by reforming the accumulated understandings of it. However, some other intellectuals and scholars continued debating the need of IOHK and it application in teaching, research, and writings articles and books. They continuously hight the significance of IOHK. 

Relevance of IOHK 

For better comprehension of need and relevance of IOHK we need to look into the arguments of earlier scholars. For Ali Hassan Zaidi Islamization of Knowledge means: 

         …the reconstruction of knowledge more popularly…known as the Islamization of Knowledge, a debate that has been active now among Muslim thinkers for more than 25 years. Muhammad Iqbal’s The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam [1934]was clearly a harbinger of this debate, and other early systematic attempts at the reconstruction of modern knowledge occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, when Khurshid Ahmad, a follower of Mawdudi’s, began to define the field of Islamic economics. In the 1960s and 1970s, S. H. Nasr’s writings on the philosophy of science and his calls for the development of Islamic science received modest public reception. The specific notion of ‘Islamization’ began with S.M. Naquib al-Attas’Preliminary Statement on a General Theory of the Islamization of the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago [1969], and in a subsequent work entitled Islam, Secularism and the Philosophy of the Future [1985], al-Attas argued that secularization of knowledge is the greatest threat to Muslims.

      Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud argues: 

The Islamization of knowledge issue is undoubtedly the most promising intellectual agenda of Islamic resurgence and one of the most controversial issues that has captured the imagination and elicited strong reaction of Muslim intellectuals and activists across the globe since the second half of the 1970s. At a time when Muslims are visibly vulnerable in all areas of collective life, the issue of Islamization of contemporary knowledge is really an “epistemological revolution,” as al-Attas calls it, which erupted like a wildfire blazing across the seas from Kuala Lumpur to Plainfield, Indiana, to many centres of learning across the globe.[3]

Daud further contends:

       The intellectual conception of the Islamization of present-dayKnowledge is indeed one of the most revolutionary and seminal contributions in modern Muslim thought. This is so because, modern Muslim thought has been trapped in an intellectual crisis and caught in the devastating dilemma between the wonderful appearances of the results of modern and pervasively secular knowledge and technology, and the apparent rigidity and bankruptcy of its own traditional thought, as conceptualized and presented by the jurists and theologians. [Daud, The Beacon, 1991, 32-33] 

Rationale

The pioneers of the Islamization of Knowledge [IOK] movement have identified several interrelated factors that account for its emergence. These factors may be analytically grouped into four broad categories. At the first level, it is argued that modern and contemporary human knowledge, commonly organized into academic disciplines is not value-neutral, but rather the product of a particular worldview. This dominant worldview, shaped largely by secular, materialistic, and Eurocentric assumptions, is perceived as being fundamentally at odds with the Islamic worldview.

According to this perspective, the epistemological foundations, underlying assumptions, and methodological orientations of modern disciplines reflect concepts of reality, knowledge, and truth that are incongruent with the Islamic understanding of existence, revelation, and moral purpose. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, one of the foremost intellectual architects of the IOK movement, explicitly articulated this concern by emphasizing that contemporary knowledge is deeply embedded with Western philosophical presuppositions that have been historically detached from divine guidance. For al-Attas, the crisis of knowledge in the modern world is not merely technical or methodological, but essentially epistemological and spiritual in nature, necessitating a critical re-examination of the foundations upon which modern disciplines are constructed.

The present-day knowledge, as a whole, is not true knowledge because it is interpreted through the worldview, the intellectual vision and the psychological perception of the Western culture and civilization. The essential spirit of this culture and civilization is against the spirit of Islamic culture.  

It is asserted that the Islamic worldview is grounded in several fundamental principles, most notably tawḥīd [the oneness of Allah], prophethood, and understanding of the Hereafter. These foundational elements shape the Islamic understanding of reality, knowledge, ethics, and the ultimate purpose of human life. In contrast, the dominant modern Western philosophical and scientific worldview largely denies or marginalizes these metaphysical and spiritual foundations, instead embracing secularism as its defining orientation. As a consequence, knowledge and education that are deeply rooted in the modern Western worldview have undergone a process of secularization, which, from the perspective of Islamic thought, undermines the integrity and coherence of the Islamic worldview.

The widespread dissemination of secular knowledge through modern Western models of education among Muslim societies particularly among Muslim youth is  therefore regarded as potentially harmful. Proponents of the Islamization of Knowledge argue that if Muslims are to benefit from modern Western knowledge and educational systems, such engagement must first be preceded by a systematic process of critical and analytical study which is termed as Islamization. This process involves a critical examination of existing disciplines in order to assess their underlying assumptions, conceptual frameworks, and value orientations which are basically based on metaphysical ignorance and philosophical speculation. While it is acknowledged that modern Western secular disciplines contain many factual, empirical, and practically useful elements that are compatible with Islamic teachings, it is also contended that not all components of these disciplines align with the Islamic worldview. Certain key concepts embedded within modern knowledge reflect secular paradigms that conflict with Islamic metaphysical, ethical, and epistemological principles. Accordingly, these concepts must be carefully identified, critiqued, and, where necessary, reformulated or replaced with concepts derived from the Islamic worldview.

At the second level of argumentation, it is maintained that knowledge is not value-neutral but inherently value-laden. Alongside factual and technical information, systems of knowledge and education transmit the values, norms, and cultural principles of the worldview from which they originate. From this standpoint, the values associated with Islam differ significantly from those embedded in the modern Western secular worldview. Consequently, the transmission of modern secular knowledge also entails the transmission of secular values such as materialism, individualism, pragmatism, liberalism, and secularism. Critics argue that educating Muslim youth exclusively through secular knowledge frameworks risks alienating them from Islamic moral and spiritual values, leading to their gradual internalization of secular norms. This phenomenon, it is contended, has already occurred and continues to occur across many parts of the Muslim world. To prevent the erosion of Islamic values, advocates of the Islamization of Knowledge emphasize the necessity of reforming modern disciplines and educational systems so that they can serve as effective vehicles for transmitting Islamic values alongside intellectual and scientific knowledge.

At another level, it is argued that the introduction and dominance of modern secular education in Muslim societies have contributed to deep divisions within the Muslim community [ummah]. Historically, two parallel educational systems have existed and continue to exist: modern secular institutions and traditional religious institutions. This duality has resulted in the fragmentation of Muslim societies into distinct groups often characterized as modern, traditional, religious, or secular Muslims each shaped by differing worldviews, value systems, and intellectual orientations. As a result, Muslims increasingly hold divergent perspectives on fundamental questions of life, knowledge, and morality, sometimes leading to mutual suspicion and ideological conflict. The proliferation of labels such as traditional, modern, liberal, conservative, progressive, militant, or extremist reflects, in part, this underlying epistemological and educational fragmentation. Proponents of the IOK movement argue that such divisions have contributed to the broader decline of the ummah. They therefore propose the Islamization of modern knowledge and the integration of traditional and modern educational institutions into a unified educational framework as a viable response to these challenges. It is anticipated that an Islamized system of knowledge and education would promote intellectual coherence, reduce internal divisions, and foster unity of thought and action by grounding all learners in a shared understanding of the Islamic worldview, its sources of knowledge, and the ultimate purpose of human existence.

The fourth category of argument concerns the aims and objectives of education itself. From the Islamic worldview, education is not merely a means of economic advancement or technical proficiency, but a holistic process aimed at nurturing morally responsible, spiritually conscious, and intellectually balanced individuals who can fulfil their obligations to Allah SWT, society, and humanity at large. These objectives differ fundamentally from those of modern secular education, which often prioritize utilitarian, material, and market-driven goals. Consequently, the uncritical adoption of modern Western secular educational models and disciplines is regarded as detrimental to the holistic development of the ummah.

In light of the above arguments, it may be concluded that the foundational concerns that gave rise to the Islamization of Human Knowledge movement remain relevant and pressing. Indeed, they demand renewed attention and serious engagement, particularly in the contemporary era shaped by digital media, globalization, and rapid cultural transformation. Proponents argue that without a conscious and systematic effort to reform knowledge and education in accordance with Islamic principles, the Muslim world and humanity, more broadly, will continue to face moral disorientation, intellectual fragmentation, and social instability. The Islamization of Human Knowledge is thus presented not merely as a corrective project for Muslims, but as a broader civilizational response to the crises of modernity.***

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Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mumtaz Ali  is an academic member from AHAS KIRKHS, IIUM.