A Critique of lslamization of the Sciences

Abstract

I agree that all efforts shouJd be made to deprive Science as much aspossible of its present materialistic philosophy because we Muslims today are only dragged into sharing the evils of the struggle between Science andReligion 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 sameblunder as the Christians did when they sat down to write .. ChristianGeography" in the Middle Ages, which precipitated that harsh experienceof conflict between Science and Religion and which resulted only in creatinga false but sharp dichotomy between the two. It is in view of this that I herebyforward a critique of an article titled "The lslamization of the Sciences: ItsPhilosophy and Methodology" by Ja'far Shaykh Idris.It is important to realize that most of what Ja'far has written has beensaid earlier by other scholars. But the eleven-step methodology for Islamizationof the Sciences he presented are articulated on certain points or conceptswhich others have earlier debated and cautioned us against.On "Philosophical Questions"Most of what has been said under this topic in the article seems correctconcernjng the components of knowledge-source, capacity. and method;acquired and inborn knowledge and their relationship, and the five listedsources of knowledge. All the statements are theoretical. so the extent towhich they could be qualified as "correct" depends largely on how they wereused by the author to outline the "procedure for Islamization of the Sciences"to which the second part of the article was dedicated ...