Islam and Epistemology

Abstract

On February 27, 1999, the International Institute of Islamic Thought 0 hosted a symposium titled “Islam and Epistemology.” The seminar invited many scholars and philosophers to discuss Mehdi Ha’iri Yazdi’s book, The Principles of Epistemology in Islamic Philosophy.‘ The mpe of the presentation and discussion was not limited to the contents of the book. Indeed, the book was used as 8 launching pad for discussions on issues related to epistemology, Islamic sciences, Islamic philosophy, the tensions between reason and nxelation, and the differences between the legalistic approach and the philosophical approach. It also raised interesting debates about the similarities and differences between Westem-secular and humanist- social sciences and the theocentric discourses of Muslims. The seminar also doubled as the Second Conference of the Contemporary Islamic Philosophers. Two doctoml students, myself from Georgetown University and Ejaz Akram from Catholic University, organized the first conference in May 1998, at which time we called for a new discourse? We argued that contemporary Islamic philosophy had become too engaged with writing and rewriting the history of medieval Islamic philosophy without actually doing philosophy. So we invited Muslim intellectuals and philosophers to reflect on the present and advance discourses that will enlighten and improve the present human condition. We argued that Islamic philosophers should play the role of social critics and public intellectuals and assist in thinking of old ideas in new terms and new ideas in old terms. This seminar, in a similar vein, was designed to point the attention of Islamic thinkers toward the need for an empowering and transformative epistemology for contemporary Muslims? At the seminar, five speakem, each from a different backgmund, made formal presentations. Over 35 students of Islamic philosophy came to the seminar from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York & and California. Each presentation sought to explore the relationship ...