Association Of Muslim Social Scientists Research Articles

Editorial Note

In this issue we have a collection of very interesting articles. There is thelead article written by the late Professor Ismail al Faruqi, founding Presidentof the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Reston, Virginia, and thefirst President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists in 1972. Thesetwo organizations, which are separate but work together as partners in Muslimscholarship in North America, are the sponsors of this journal.Dr. al Faruqi's contribution on the important question of world theologyintroduces a four-part presentation on aspects of the Islamization of Knowledge.Well-grounded in this field of knowledge and coming from a background whichclearly made him one of the few Muslim scholars capable of engaging in ameaningful dialogue with Western thinkers on their own ground, Professoral-Faruqi identifies the main areas of discourse and then offers a critical Islamicperspective on the problem.Following his article are two position papers on pressing current issues.The first is the piece written by S. Abdullah Schleifer, an American Muslimcurrently working and living in Cairo, Egypt. A prominent journalist withmany years of experience in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world,Schleifer looks at the needs, feasibility and limitations of an independent IslamicNews Agency. This piece is provocative and provides food for thought to thoseMuslims who are interested in the current debate on the New InternationalInformation Order (NIIO). The second paper deals with the operations ofmodern financial markets for stocks and bonds and its relevance to an Islamiceconomy. Written by Professor Raquib uz-Wan, it focuses on a very importantissue in the current discussion on Islamic economics.We regret to announce that Dr. Musa O.A. Abdul, a member of our AdvisoryEditorial Board has passed away due to natural causes. Students andfaculty of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and all others who came to knowhis work in Islamic studies will always benefit, inshallah, from his inspiringdevotion to the cause of Islam.We hope that this issue will continue the steady improvement in the qualityof this journal. We are determined, insha' Allah, to raise the quality of productionand the quality of scholarship in this journal. For this and other relatedreasons we call on all scholars who are interested in the Muslim World tosend in their comments and suggestions. Contributions are welcome fromall over the world ...

In Memoriam

Think not of those who are slain in God’s way as Dead. Nay, theylive, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord;Holy Qur’an III:169
 The Muslim World and the academic community in the United Stateswere shocked on the nineteenth day of Ramadan (Tuesday, May 27, 1986)when news reached them that Professor Ismail al Faruqi and his belovedwife, Lamya’, were assassinated by an intruder who broke into their homein Wyncote. Pennsylvania. This couple, whose dedication to the Islamicmessage is widely known among scholars and others working in the Muslimcommunity, played an important role in the dissemination of correctknowledge about Islam in the United States.A Palestinian by origin, Professor al Faruqi was born on January 21,1921.He attended elementary and secondary school in his native land of Palestineduring the British Mandate. After obtaining a first degree in Philosophyat the American University in Beirut, he served as the last Palestinian governorof Galilee during 1945-1948. After the creation of Israel, he migratedto the United States where he did graduate studies at Harvard and atIndiana University. His intellectual development later led him to al-Azharand McGill University.During his early years in the United States, Professor al Faruqi engagedin research on the Arab experience. One of his first books dealt with this.In the 1960s when the Muslim student population began to swell significantlyand a Muslim Student Association was formed by some dedicated youngMuslims who wanted to retain their cultural identity in the face of strongWestern cultural influences, Professor a1 Faruqi became one of thecounsellors to these young men and women searching for roots and tryingnot to be seduced from the sirat ul-Mustuqim (the path of righteousness).This involvement with the MSA was destined to be a lifelong engagement.During this period he addressed many MSA gatherings and attended manyseminars organized by the student leadership.As the number of Muslim professionals increased, Professor al-Faruqiand others began to think about Muslim professional organizations. Oneof these groups that received the attention of al Faruqi was the Associationof Muslim Social Scientists, which was founded in 1972. The founderselected al Faruqi as the first president. This organization soon emerged asthe primary intellectual vehicle in the social sciences for those Muslim scholarsand graduate students working in the American universities and colleges whowere committed to developing contemporary intellectual thought within theparadigm of Islam.By the late 1970s, Professor al-Faruqi, who had by this time earned aninternational reputation among young Muslims around the world, beganto work with the MSA and AMSS intellectual leaders on the idea of settingup an Islamic college or university. Thinking along this line led to two importantdevelopments in his life. The first was the founding of the AmericanIslamic College in Chicago which he headed but resigned from just before ...

The Conceptual Framework for an Action Plan for the Islamization of Knowledge

It is an admitted fact that the stagnation and the crisis of thought in the Islamic Ummah is one of the most important reasons for its backwardness and for the malaise of its contemporary civilization. It is also an admitted fact that a reform of the methodology of the Islamic Thought on the one hand, and Islamization of social sciences and humanities, and of knowledge on the other, are greatly needed if we wish to overcome the crisis of thought and move into the modern life.We will need this new orientation, if we want to benefit from what the humanity has achieved in terms of knowledge and the progress of civilization up till now, and to interact with it from the Islamic perspective in order to realize the Islamic goals of human life and civilization. Ever since the importance of the reform in Islamic thought was crystallized in the minds of the Muslim youth who had awareness and commitment to Islam and had knowledge of the scientific and academic achievements of the western world, and ever since these youth established The Association of Muslim Social Scientists thirteen years ago, and finally since the establishment of the International Institute of Islamic Thought five years ago, as an independent academic institution fully dedicated to function as a backbone to serve the message of Islam, the idea of reform of the Islamic thought and Islamization of knowledge and of social sciences and humanities has gained acceptance, and efforts have been made to realize that goal. It will be noticed that in view of the focus of concern and action, of course a politically motivated concern to achieve strength and power to defend and combat, concentration has been on disciplines of education and economics. In order to achieve these reforms in a realistic way and on a solid foundation, the plan to be adopted should be based on a comprehensive knowledge of Islamic methodology. It should concentrate on reformation of thought that is related to the behavioral sciences which are considered as the main base for social sciences from which other social sciences are ...