CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM RESPONSE
TO THE CHALLENGE OF KNOWLEDGE:
SEPARATING THE GRAIN FROM THE CHAFF - 11

[Background ]  [ The Problem I ]    [ The Problem II ]   [ The Problem III ]   [ Approach of IIIT ]   [ Delineation of the Problem ]   [ Role of History ]    [ Role of Attitudes ]   [ Role of Institutions ]   [ I. of Knowledge & Islamization of Society ]   [ Concluding Remarks ]  Concluding Remarks Undoubtedly there is a strong case for the Islamization of knowledge. But whether the expression Islamization of knowledge is the appropriate term for what is needed to be done or not, is something that needs to be revisited and re-examined in the light of some of the reservations raised. This is to avoid an oversimplification which may engender naiveté, complacency and mediocrity, so that instead of facing the challenges squarely, the Ummah may end up escaping them. But even more importantly, the problem needs to be defined more precisely; we should be able to identify precisely the problem for which Islamization is the solution. Having defined the problem, the direction must also be mapped out clearly, for, as it has been said, if one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable. Once the problem is pinned down and the direction charted out, it should be easier to begin the journey, long and arduous as it is bound to be. The issues raised here may not themselves be important, what is important is the response they may elicit. Indeed some of these little thoughts have been bared precisely to provoke the thoughts and perhaps the fury of greater minds, who in responding will take the Ummah, along with the rest of humanity, to greater intellectual heights. Needless to say, the Ummah needs these greater minds today more than ever before, and perhaps the best way to access them is to keep our doors open, especially for non-conformist and the not so pious, we may well discover that we have more to learn from them than we thought.   By Usman Bugaje   * Published in Encounters, Journal of Inter-Cultural Perspectives, Vol 2 no 1, March 1996, Islamic Foundation, Markfield Conference Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicester LE67 9RN, UK.   Bio-data The author graduated in Pharmacy from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. He did a masters programme in African Studies and later a doctorate in Intellectual History both at the Institute of African and Asian Studies, University of Khartoum, Sudan. At the time this paper was written, worked with Islam in Africa Organisation and taught at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He has between 1999 and 2002 served as Special Adviser (Political) to the Vice President of Nigeria and in April 2003 was elected to the Nigerian House of Representatives for a four year term.   Footnotes: 1. Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, ‘Aja`ib al-Athar fi al-Tarajim wa al-Akhbar (4 vols), Cairo, 1879. vol. iii P. 34 -6. Quoted in J. Heyworth-Dunne, An Introduction to the History of Education in Modern Egypt, London. Luzac & Co. n.d. P. 96-7.   2. J. Heyworth-Dunne, An Introduction to the History of Education in Modern Egypt, Op. Cit. P. 403. 3. Quoted in Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1982. P. 130. 4. J. Heyworth-Dunne, An Introduction to the History of Education in Modern Egypt, Op. Cit. P. 397. 5. See Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity, Op. Cit. P. 130 6. Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Lahore, SH. Muhammad Ashraf, 1971. P. 7. 7. Ibid. P. 14. 8. Ibid. P. 2. 9. Ibid. P. 25. 10. Fazlur Rahman, Op. Cit. P. 132. 11. This was in his Presidential address of All-India Muslim League in December 1930, quoted in Khalid bin Sayeed, Western dominance and political Islam: Challenge and Response, New York, SUNY Press, 1995. P. 34 - 5. 12. S.H. Nasr, The Need for a Sacred Science, New York, SUNY Press, 1993. Pp. 7 & 20. 13. Ibid. P. 90. 14. S. M. N. al-Attas, Islam, Secularism and the Philosophy of the Future, London, Mansell, 1985. P. 104 - 5. 15. Ibid. P. 196. 16. Ibid. P. 199. 17. Ibid. P. 200. 18. Ibid. P. 203. 19. Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity, Op. Cit. P. 130 & 138. 20. Ibid. P. 132 - 3. 21. Ibid. P. 139. 22. Ibid. P. 140. 23. This literature is massive  and ever growing. It includes the proceedings of the two major conferences: one held in Pakistan in 1982 Published under the tittle, Islam: Source and Purpose of Knowledge, (Herndon, Virginia, 1988), the other under the tittle, Toward Islamization of Disciplines, (Herndon Virginia, 1989). There are a host of other materials in English and Arabic and I suppose some other languages also, including two very important works in Arabic, Kaifa na Ta’amul ma’a al-Sunnah by Yusuf al-Qardawi and Kaifa na Ta’amul ma’a al-Qur’an by Muhammad al-Ghazali. 24. A. Abusulayman, (ed.) Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Work Plan, (second edition, revised and expanded) IIIT, Herndon, Virginia, 1989. This appears to be largely the paper of  I.R. al-Faruqi titled ‘Islamization of Knowledge: Problems, Principles and Prospective’ with some input from A. Abususlayman’s Paper titled ‘Islamization of knowledge: A new Approach Towards Reform of Contemporary Knowledge’ both delivered at the 1982 conference in Pakistan and published in Islam: Source and Purpose of Knowledge, above. 25. Ibid. P. 1. 26. Ibid. P. 6. 27. Ibid. P. 8. 28. See I.R. al-Faruqi, ‘Islamization of Knowledge: Problems Principle and Prospective’ in Islam: source and Purpose of Knowledge, Pp. 53-62. 29. A. Abusulayman, Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Work Plan, P. 57. 30. S.M.N. al-Attas, Islam, Secularism and the Philosophy of the Future, Pp. 42-3. 31. T. J. al-Alwani, ‘The Islamization of Knowledge: Yesterday and Today’, an unpublished paper, (Trans. from the Arabic by Y.T. DeLorenzo), see P. 2. foot note 2. “The Institute in no way considers itself responsible for the work done by these quarters, or for their views.” 32. Ibid. P. 1. 33. Ibid. P. 8. 34. See S. P. Manzoor, ‘Contemporary Muslim Reformist Ideas’ and M. Arif, ‘Islamic Economics: Challenges and Potentials’, both in A.O. Naseef (ed.), Today’s Problems and Tomorrow’s Solutions: the Future Structures of Muslims Societies, London, Mansell, 1988. See also S.V.R. Nasr, ‘Islamization of Knowledge: A Critical Overview’, in Islamic Studies, vol. 30, no. 3, 1991. Pp 387-402. 35. S.H. Nasr, The Need for a Sacred Science, New York, S.U.N.Y. Press, 1993. P. 51. 36. S.M.N. al-Attas, Islam, Secularism, and the Philosophy of the Future, P. 127. 37. Abdul Karim Souroush, ‘The expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge’, a PC Printout of an unpublished paper presented at Institute of Islamic Studies,  McGill University 13/4/95. P. 3. 38. Ibid. P. 4. 39. G. Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1981. 40. Ibid. P. 79. 41. Ibid. P. 154. 42. “ In the Middle Ages an imaginary intellectual from the world of Islam, say Baghdad, on a visit to the world of scholarship in the Christian West, far from feeling out of his element, would be quite comfortable in his new surroundings. Quite familiar to him will be the colleges of Paris and Oxford, with their scholars and fellows, and their masters and doctors, aided by their assistants, repetitors and servitors. In attending the school lessons and exercises, he would feel at home with the lectures and disputations. Indeed as a visiting scholar, he would expect the courtesy of being invited to engage in a disputation or two, preferably three the usual number for Baghdad ..... the impressive list of technical terms representing the same functions as their Islamic counterparts, ..... all this and more, including the subordination of the literary arts so depressing to Tha‘lab and so eloquently deplored by John of Salisbury.” Ibid. P. 238-9. Makdisi added that, “Of course we have no knowledge of  such a visitor to the Christian West: the magnetism of Islamic learning made it so that the thrust of travel was rather eastwards. P. 240. 43.[1] It is particularly interesting that this fashion persisted in spite of the opposition of Mozarab Alvaro of Cordoba, who complained: “My fellow-Christians delight in the poems and romances  of the Arabs: they study the works of Muslim theologians and philosophers, not in order to refute them, but to acquire a correct and elegant Arabic style. Where today can a layman be found who reads the Latin commentaries on Holy Scriptures? ..... Alas! the young Christians who are most conspicuous for their talents have no knowledge of any literature or language save the Arabic; they read and study with avidity Arabian books; they amass whole libraries of them at a vast cost ...” Ibid. P. 240. 44. Ibid. P. 299. 45. Ziauddin Sardar, Inquiry, London, April, 1986. P. 43. 46. A. J. Arbrrey, Aspects of Islamic Civilization: As Depicted in the Original Texts, London, George Allen and Unwin, 1964. Pp. 128 & 136-46. 47. Ziauddin Sardar, Inquiry, London, January, 1987. P. 51. 48. Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World, London, Virago Press, 1993. P. 24. 49. See Khalid Bin Sayeed, Western Dominance and Political Islam: Challenge and Response, New York, S.U.N.Y. Press, 1995. P. 162. 50. Fatima Mernissi, Op. Cit. P. 44. 51. For details see, Khalid B. Sayeed, Op. Cit. P. 165. 52. Fazlur Rahman, Op. Cit. P. 139. 53. G. Makdisi, Op. Cit. Pp. 225, 228-9. 54. See S.H. Nasr, The Need for a Sacred Science, Op. Cit. 55. Abdullahi Smith, Quoted in Ibraheem Sulaiman, ‘Education as Imperialism’ in Inquiry, London, July 1985. P. 34. 56. Ziauddin Sardar, Inquiry, London, April, 1986. P. 43. 57. Fazlur Rahman, Op. Cit. P. 137. 58. S.H. Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1981. P. ix. 59. Bashir Nafi‘, ‘An Interview with Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani: IIIT and the Islamization of knowledge Project’ in Al-Insan no. 14, Sha’ban 1416/1996. P. 68. 60. S.H. al-Attas, Intellectuals in Developing Societies, London, Frank Cass, 1977. P. 15. Quoted in Z. Sardar, below. 61. Ziauddin Sardar, ‘Reformist Ideas and Muslim Intellectuals: the Demand of the real World’, in A.O. Naseef, Today’s Problems Tomorrow’s Solutions, OP. Cit. P. 169.