The Dead Weight That Is Hindering the Islamisation of Knowledge

Abstract

This article posits that two factors made Islamisation of knowledge (IoK) movement less effective in achieving the objective of Islamising the philosophies of the sciences to permit the emergence of novel approaches compatible with the Islamic worldview of tawhid. First, the theorists of the movement outlined how knowledge could be Islamised, but they did not lay down the foundations of an innovative intellectual project; and second, the way the project was designed attached its success to institutional support. Therefore, the IoK movement must be revitalised by a new generation of scholars who will focus on synthesising the existing IoK literature and building on it, rediscovering past Islamic scholarly heritage, asking new questions for reshaping the sciences so to produce paradigms, analytical, methodological and interpretive tools compatible with the vision of Islam, and training a critical mass of young scholars to sustain the IoK movement.