Islamic Intellectual Tradition between Perennial and Discursive Knowledge

Abstract

There have been several intellectual discourses and frameworks addressing the philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues relating to the sources of knowledge in Islam in the recent past. Islamization of knowledge championed by Al-Farūqī (1921-1986) and Al-Attas (1931- ) and subsequently contributed to by many other Muslim thinkers like Abu SulaymÉn (1936- ), Al-Al-Wānī (1935- ) etc. was a pinnacle of reviving Islamic intellectual tradition in the contemporary Muslim world. The main objective of this paper is to examine the Islamic intellectual tradition which harmonizes between perennial knowledge (ʿIlm naqlī) and discursive knowledge (ʿIlm ʿaqlī). It is noteworthy to say that, the intellectual redirection and reconstruction of knowledge in the light of Islamic weltanschauung in the recent past have been advocated for by Muslim thinkers. In so doing, the paper makes an attempt to elucidate on the Islamization of contemporary knowledge and contextualization of Islamic intellectual tradition in order to make it relevant to the contemporary needs of the Muslims. The paper identifies that the existing gulf or dichotomy between revealed and acquired knowledge is the core inhibiting factor militating against the revival of Islamic intellectualism in the contemporary Muslim world. It further argues that if Islamic intellectual tradition must be contextualized, the integration between perennial knowledge (ʿIlm naqlī) and discursive knowledge ʿIlm ʿaqlī) is essential. In conclusion, Islamic intellectual tradition does not separate between religious and non-religious knowledge as reflected in the contributions of classical Muslim scholars such as Al-kindī, Al-Khawarizmī, Al-Farābī, Birūnī, Ibn Sīna, Al- GhazzÉlÊ, Al-Shirazī among others. It is thereby recommended that Muslim intellectuals, scholars, researchers and thinkers should take up the challenge of addressing the disintegration between revealed and acquired knowledge especially by harmonizing the aspects together in order to promote development through knowledge to manage self and the knowledge to manage the system as coined by a great Muslim thinker, Sidek Baba as a central focus of contemporary discourse of Islamic intellectual tradition in the era of multifarious challenges.