From Streamlining to Mainstreaming “Islamization of Knowledge”

Abstract

Founded in 1983, the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) has been a laboratory of “Islamization of Human Knowledge” (IoK). Looking at theoretical models and practical applications of IIUM, this article unfolds the passage from a generation of faculty who established the “IoK” paradigm in order to streamline it, to a new generation that seeks to mainstream it. The aim is to show that this transition has been made possible due to the employment of Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah, and yet, despite this possibility, this shift is and will continue to be, accompanied with some contradictions, tensions, and shortages. This article concludes by highlighting three points: the extent to which IIUM succeeded in producing professionally-trained versus Islamically-oriented graduates; the level of success IoK mainstreaming has had using the Maqāṣidic approach; and, finally, how the implementation of the IoK paradigm may be impeding pluralism.