FIMA Year Book 2009 - Federation of Islamic Medical Associations

A 13-Year ExperienceIslamization Of Knowledge: A ProjectOf Epistemological ReformCrisis of knowledge:I spent the period 1982-1994 workingon various projects of Islamizationof Knowledge as a strategy to resolvethe ummatic crisis of knowledge. Idiscussed the crisis in a series of paperseven as recent as 2007 (5, 6) . There wasa dichotomy in the education system:traditional Islamic vs. importedEuropean. There was a dichotomyin the sources of knowledge, ulumal din vs ulum al dunia. Studentscould not deal with the contradictoryworld views presented to them andended up confused. This resulted inthe elite of the ummah having a splitmindneither traditional Muslim norEuropean. This confusion resulted inintellectual weakness with inability toanalyze and solve the problems of theummah. The crisis also explained whyafter many years of sending studentsoverseas to acquire knowledge, theummah was still dependent on othersin the fields of science and technology.Motivation for innovation in scienceand technology cannot occur in thepresence of intellectual confusionabout basic issues like identity. Afteryears of involvement with the issueof the crisis of knowledge, I reacheda working definition of Islamizationof knowledge as well as a practicalstrategy for achieving it. I believed thenas I continue to believe today that theIslamization strategy could effectivelyresolve the crisis of knowledge both inmedicine and other disciplines.The concept of Islamization ofknowledge:Islamization was a process of recastingthe corpus of human knowledge toconform to the basic tenets of ‘aqidat altawhid. The process of Islamization didnot call for re-invention of the wheelof knowledge but called for reform,correction, and re-orientation. It wasevolutionary and not revolutionary. Itwas corrective and reformative. It wasthe first step in the Islamization andreform of the education system (7) asa prelude to Islamization and reformof society (8) . Islamization had to startwith reforming the epistemology andmethodology of each discipline in apro-active, academic, methodological,objective, and practical strategy. Itsvision was objective, universal, andbeneficial knowledge in the context ofa harmonious interaction of humanswith their physical, social, and spiritualenvironment.Immediate goals of the Islamizationstrategy:The Islamization strategy had sixgoals. The first goal was purging fromexisting disciplines of paradigms andconcepts that reflected parochial worldviews in order to achieve universalobjectivity. The second goal wasreconstruction of the paradigms usinguniversal Islamic guidelines. The thirdgoal was re-classifying disciplines toreflect universal tawhidi values. Thefourth goal was reforming researchmethodology to become objective,purposeful, and comprehensive.FIMA YearBook 20093