A Critique of lslamization of the Sciences

Abstract

I agree that all efforts shouJd be made to deprive Science as much as possible of its present materialistic philosophy because we Muslims today are only dragged into sharing the evils of the struggle between Science and Religion which took place in Europe and in which we never participated. But in so doing we must make sure that we have not committed the same blunder as the Christians did when they sat down to write .. Christian Geography" in the Middle Ages, which precipitated that harsh experience of conflict between Science and Religion and which resulted only in creating a false but sharp dichotomy between the two. It is in view of this that I hereby forward a critique of an article titled "The lslamization of the Sciences: Its Philosophy and Methodology" by Ja'far Shaykh Idris. It is important to realize that most of what Ja'far has written has been said earlier by other scholars. But the eleven-step methodology for Islamization of the Sciences he presented are articulated on certain points or concepts which others have earlier debated and cautioned us against. On "Philosophical Questions" Most of what has been said under this topic in the article seems correct concernjng the components of knowledge-source, capacity. and method; acquired and inborn knowledge and their relationship, and the five listed sources of knowledge. All the statements are theoretical. so the extent to which they could be qualified as "correct" depends largely on how they were used by the author to outline the "procedure for Islamization of the Sciences" to which the second part of the article was dedicated ...