Ziauddin Sardar Research Articles

Ziauddin Sardar’s Critism of Modern Science

Abstract: The difference between modern Western science and Islamic science has differency from various aspects to produce several problems in the ontological field, axiological field, and epistemological field. A Pakistani-born scholar in the field of science, Ziauddin Sardar came up with an idea and movement to present Islamic science. This paper is written using the analytical-descriptive method, which analyzes and describes the weaknesses and shortcomings of modern western science against the needs of society, especially Muslims. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the problems of modern science and how Ziauddin Sardar's arguments and opinions on modern science. So that this paper produces a breakthrough in the integration of science by Ziauddin Sardar who tries to balance Western science with Islamic science that suits the needs of Muslims, and Islamic science whose scope is broad to all humanity and its civilization.

Emerging Epistemologies: The Changing Fabric of Knowledge in Postnormal Times

Ziauddin Sardar, ed. Emerging Epistemologies: The Changing Fabric of Knowledge in Postnormal Times. London. IIIT and The Centre for Postnormal Policy and Future Studies, London, 2022. 184 pp. ISBN: 978-1-64205-659-4 (hardback); 978-1-56564-602-5 (paperback); 978-1-56564-012-2 (ebook). Ziauddin Sardar’s recently edited book is a collection of articles by several authors on the interesting theme of emerging epistemologies brought about by what he terms “the changing fabric of knowledge in postnormal times.” Apparently driven by an intellectual desire to convey to the whole world the important message that humanity is now living in “postnormal times,” and yet it is still stubbornly clinging to the colonial epistemology, Sardar aptly titled his Introduction “Beyond the Epistemologies of Conquest and Desire.” It is a title that is loaded with messages about the past, at least in the realm of knowledge, beyond which the human mind should now attempt to focus its attention on the understanding of the emerging present.

Islamic Revivalism in Post-normal Times: the Obstruction of More Disenchantment of Islam Throughout Ziauddin Sardar’s Whitewashed Approach Towards Evolution of Integration from Islamization of Knowledge in Higher Education of Muslim Societies

In post-normal times along with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), human society around the world is often considered in the state of contradictory, complex, and chaotic in nature. For Ziauddin Sardar, Muslim societies are living within post-normal times now. Muslims need to deal with so many complex problems of societies. As world citizens, Muslims must contribute to face challenges with all the people of the world hand in hand. Islamic teaching of Unity and Universal brotherhood needs to be implemented when facing all the post-normal challenges. Ziauddin Sardar comes up with the solution to reform in higher educational institutions in Muslim societies. The revivalist movement in higher education in Muslim societies is called ‘Integration of Knowledge’ which is alternative Islamic Revivalism in replace of ‘Islamization of Knowledge’. In the age of Globalization, Sardar urges Muslims to abandon Islamization agenda which is ‘US vs Them’ as Huntington emphasized being the representative of West. Instead, Sardar calls Muslims to embrace Integration of Knowledge agenda as a Cosmopolitan way of Islamic Revivalism. He proposes debate and discussion culture in higher education with all categories of people. This article uses qualitative methodology in which content analysis is adopted. This research finds that Sardar’s approach of Integration of knowledge is effective and beneficial to work with different background of people. However, the more disenchantment of Islam through evolution of Integration from Islamization is visible in Sardar’s approach for higher educational institution in Muslim societies

Islamization of science: Ziauddin sardar's critique of the universality of science

This qualitative research explores Ziauddin Sardar's critique of Western-influenced universal science. It employs a literature study to analyze Sardar's thoughts using various methods. The findings reveal that Islamic science, rooted in ethical principles, offers an alternative to Western science, which often overlooks diverse paradigms and local knowledge systems. While Islamic science excels in addressing region-specific issues, it may struggle with complex problems. In contrast, Western science, considered global, has historically caused environmental challenges by disregarding non-conventional paradigms. Therefore, Islamic science, with its inclusive approach to knowledge, presents a potential solution to the crises stemming from the dominance of Western scientific paradigms.

AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF AL FARUQI'S THEORY OF ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THOMAS KUHN'S PARADIGM SHIFT THEORY

The discourse of Islamization of Knowledge proposed by Ismail Raji al Faruqi (d. 1986), which essentially seeks a paradigm shift from modern science to Islamic science, is increasingly interesting with more evidence being studied, either with an applied model, a comparison, or a critical one. In addition, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), an institution founded by al Faruqi in 1981, which is responsible for realizing real Islamization, continues to grow to this day. These two things prove that al Faruqi's Islamization is one step ahead, when compared to other Islamization initiators such as Sayyed Hossein Nasr, Ziauddin Sardar, Najjar, or even Naquib al Attas. Al Faruqi's Islamization, which is based on a paradigm shift and the scientific community, seems to align with Thomas Kuhn's model of scientific revolution, which also requires a paradigm shift and the scientific community. Therefore, this article aims to examine the Islamization theory proposed by al Faruqi from Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shift perspective. This study is a literature review. The data would be analyzed using content analysis, where the researchers perform an interpretation of the data. The approach used is the philosophy of science approach, which serves to outline the structure of science schemed by al Faruqi and Kuhn. This study concludes that the Islamization of knowledge proclaimed by al Faruqi and his scientific community is certainly a process of shifting the paradigm of Western science to the paradigm of Islamic science. Thus, al Faruqi's Islamization is a scientific revolution.

Ziauddin Sardar: Membangun Epistemologi Islam

The lag behind Muslims from the West led to the emergence of the idea of the Islamization of science, which was initiated by one of them, al-Faruqi. However, this idea received criticism from Ziauddin Sardar. This criticism gave rise to the idea of "Building Epistemology". Therefore, this paper aims to discuss this idea. The problems in this paper are studied using a Literature Review approach. The literature used comes from journal articles that are relevant to the study of the ideas of Building Islamic Epistemology put forward by Ziauddin Sardar. Based on the discussion, it can be concluded that what al-Faruqi offered through efforts to instill Islamic values into science which is formed by western paradigms, concepts, ideologies and perceptions is wrong and has more potential to cause the Westernization of Islam than Islamization.

Martabat Pendekatan Tafsir Mawḍū‘ī dalam Penulisan Tafsir di Era Globalisasi

Al-Tafsīr al-mawḍū‘ī also referred to as thematic tafsīr was introduced by tafsīr experts in the early 1970s. Following that, this interpretation method evolved through many ways pioneered by al-mawḍū‘ī interpretation luminaries such as al-Farmāwī, al-Kūmmī, ‘Abd al-Sattār, Muṣṭafā Muslim, al-Khālidī, Ziauddin Sardar, and others. Although the technique given by these tafsīr figures intends to generate systematic al-mawḍū‘ī tafsīr literature, these approaches can also be applied to address difficulties in the globalization period. Therefore, this study took the initiative to describe the al-mawḍū‘ī interpretation approach of tafsīr scholars and further discuss these approaches in facing the era of globalization. This study collects data from document sources and analyzes them using the content analysis method. According to the findings of the study, al-mawḍū‘ī tafsīr experts apply basic procedures in al-mawḍū‘ī tafsīr by establishing themes, collecting verses, determining the relationship between verses and themes, and summarizing verses and themes. Meanwhile, the al-mawḍū‘ī interpretation approach can be enabled to address social challenges involving issues of faith, social development, and environmental sustainability in the age of globalization. This study has a great impact on the implementation of establishing a more sustainable community and strengthening civil society’s ambitions.

WHEN RELIGION APPROACHES SCIENCE; An Interpretation of Ziauddin Sardar's Integrative Islamic Education Thought

The aspiration of most Muslim intellectuals is how to break the scientific dichotomous dilemma that has been rooted so strongly in the history of Islamic Education. Among those Muslim intellectuals is Ziauddin Sardar. The epistemological construction built by Sardar, to integrate science and religion is to make the Qur'an and Hadith as the basic foundation for the development of Islamic science. Islamic science must fulfil the following requirements, namely tawhid (God's divinity), khalifa (God's guardian), 'worship, 'ilm (knowledge), halal (permissible things), haram (prohibited things), 'adl (social justice), zulm (tyranny), istishlah (public interest), and diya' (waste). Educationally, the process of developing Islamic education for Sardar is to internalise values with the spirit of Islam, namely fulfilling the ideals of the Islamic worldview, such as brotherhood, social justice, proportional use of natural resources

Environmentalism in Modern Islamic Philosophy

Islamic environmentalism is an intellectual movement whose representatives discuss contemporary environmental problems in the language of Islamic theology. This field includes Shariah-based environmental law, environmental activism, and environmental philosophy. This article is an overview of the genealogy of this philosophical trend: key names will be listed and their contributions to the development of this movement will be analyzed. For example, the legacy of Sayyid Hossein Nasr, considered the founding father of Islamic environmentalism, will be examined in detail. The religious and ethical program of this philosophical movement will be analyzed in detail. The categorical apparatus to which Islamic eco-activists, philosophers, and ulema turned as the Islamic environmental agenda expanded will also be examined, such as how the concepts of khalifa, hima, and misan were conceptualized. Philosophers whose writings we will turn to include Iraqi philosopher and jurist Mawil Izzi Dien, British eco-activist Fazlun Khalid, Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Jumaa, and representatives of so-called “Western Islam” Ziauddin Sardar and Tariq Ramadan. The example of Indonesia will be used to examine how Islamic eco-theology has formed the basis of a multilevel environmental policy. The thesis of the fundamental contradiction underlying Islamic environm entalism is put forward. On the one hand, this movement in its present form genetically dates back to the European protest movements of the 1960s and 70s, which opposed the culture of mass consumption, impersonal materialism, and overproduction. On the other hand, an equally important part of the rhetoric of a number of Islamic modernists, including on ecology, is the emphasis on the break with Western neoliberal values. The special role of social media in the promotion of Islamic eco-activism is noted separately.

Science, Methods in Science, and Contributions of Muslim Scientists to the Development of Science: Analysis of Nidhal Guessoum's Thought

This study aims to find out how information literacy which is part of library science becomes an ability to understand the integration between science and Islam and its implementation in life. This type of research is descriptive with literature review data sources. Meanwhile, this literature review was carried out in four stages consisting of: (a) focusing on the problem to be studied; (b) connecting literature with problems in a balanced way; (c) include clear research statements based on the methodology in the literature; and (d) critically analyze and evaluate the literature reviewed based on the research discussion. Based on the results of a study of religion and science in a book by Nidhal Goesseoum, it shows that Nidhal Guessoum chose at least 4 Muslim scientists to be the main characters, namely Seyyed Hoessin Nasr, Ziauddin Sardar, Abdussalam and al Faruqi, who classify each other as dialectics in chapters 3 and 4 Considering that the philosophy and theoretical foundations as well as the formulas used by science are sourced from the Qur'an and Hadith, it is concluded that science is not contrary to Islam

Будущее приватности сквозь призму теории постнормальности


 
 
 The theory of postnormal times by Ziauddin Sardar is an attempt to explain the social processes occurring when traditional models, theories, and paradigms seem powerless in the face of looming challenges. Postnormal times are an intermediate period when old ideas, theories, and practices are dying and new ones have not yet been formed, and the whole world seems to be plunged into uncertainty and chaos. Privacy is one of the areas where the situation is considered to be already postnormal. Therefore, the article attempts to outline the current state and prospects related to privacy and personal data protection, based on the methodology developed within the theory of postnormal times.
 Complexity, chaos, and contradictions are the main forces propelling postnormal times. All of them are very perceptible in the sphere of privacy. In particular, the outcomes of the major current strategies for the legal protection of personal data are ambiguous and controversial. It relates to the consent of the data subject as one of the main legal grounds for personal data processing, as well as the use of data anonymization and pseudonymization techniques, or the introduction of mechanisms of external risk assessment. In addition, it is argued that in the present world there is a fundamental contradiction between privacy and underlying trends in business and governance, the causes of which are revealed by applying Lawrence Lessig’s theory of four regulators.
 
 
 
 Under such conditions, traditional ways of responding to challenges – turning back, increasing control and complexity of measures – not only contribute to normalization, but drive the system even further into a state of postnormalcy. It is accompanied by the exacerbation of identified critical contradictions and revealing of the new ones that increases the likelihood of collapse of the existing system of privacy protection in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and promote innovative approaches which include both reforms in the field of privacy regulation and efforts to change the external environment.
 
 
 
 
 

Interview Natalya Seitakhmetova with professor Ziauddin Sardar (London, UK)

Ziauddin Sardar is a British-Pakistani scholar, award-winning writer, cultural critic and public intellectual who special-izes in Muslim thought, the future of Islam, fu-turology and science and cultural relations. The author and editor of more than 50 books, Prospect magazine has named him as one of Britain’s top 100 public intellectuals and The Indepen-dent newspaper calls him: “Britain’s own Muslim polymath”.

A Study of “Tradition” in Ziauddin Sardar’s “Surviving Postmodernism” and Paul Gilroy’s “Not a Story to Pass On: Living Memory and the Slave Sublime”

This article is concerned with the study of ‘Tradition’ in Ziauddin Sardar’s essay“Surviving Postmodernism (1997)” and Paul Gilroy’s “Not a Story to Pass On: Living Memory and the Slave Sublime (1993)” which discuss on non-Western culture and black cultural production respectively. Both essays have entailed the issue of ‘tradition’ and the problem with tradition in Western society is that being traditional is to become parochial and regressive by ignoring the progress of modernity whereas in the eastern society it is a way of moving ahead protecting cultural values with proper refinement. In this regard, this article purports to excavate the ground of tradition in both societies. The nub of these two essays is that tradition is not the exact opposite of modernity and progress, it is rather a force to bridge past and present in an innovative way and a medium to trace back the history and heritage of any community. Sardar sees power in tradition to survive postmodernism and Gilroy finds tradition in black cultural production a potency to revisit African roots. In both culture, spiritual civilization is the basis of their activities, which inhere force to defuse fragmentation caused by material civilization. The researcher has studied ‘tradition’ as a tool of analyzing the two essays under scrutiny.

Beyond the Post Normal

The essay argues for an exploration of alternative worldviews and a search for a different set of categories. It proposes that the classic ‘for a Sociology of India’ debate draw upon Ziauddin Sardar’s essays on the post normal society. Sardar explores a sociology of complexity, chaos and contradiction, thus calling for an epistemic examination of the relation between science and society, which in turn anticipates a set of thought experiments on the future of the Anthropocene.

Considering the Moral Value of the Verse of Riba (Al-Baqarah [2]:275-281) and the Practice of Bank Interest in the 21st Century; Comparative Study of Abdullah Saeed and Ziauddin Sardar

The problem of the practice of riba and bank interest among Qur’anic reviewers, especially those with contextualist views, has never ended. Even there are different opinions among contextualists. This study focuses on analyzing the thoughts and interpretation between Abdullah Saeed and Ziauddin Sardar in addressing riba in Q.S Al-Baqarah: 275-281. This research is qualitative research with a literature research footing. The research method is analytical descriptive. The content analysis uses the muqaran approach from Abdul Mustaqim’s perspective, which aims to further elaborate on how to interpret riba in the series of verses and how the concepts of riba and bank interest according to them. Used in the analysis, the practice of riba which forbidden according to Saeed is, occurred pre-Islamic because it resulted in injustice, pressure, and economic exploitation. Hile bank interest is not included in riba because there is an agreement between the two parties regarding interest rates, laws that regulate, and there is no multiplication. On N contrary, Sardar forbids all kinds of riba practices, including bank interest. N this case, the writer agreed with Saeed, at the same time, offers a synthesis that there is an element of maslah at - the hifz as - aspect in debt receivables through banks, even though they contain interest rates. This is based on the consumptive and productive receivables, both for individuals and institutions, to maintain and develop the business.

Hypernormal Films for Postnormal Times: The Documentary Dance of Adam Curtis

Since the early 1990s, documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis has created landmark, multi-episode series for the BBC that explore the emotional and social impact of change in dominant forms of power, communication and control. Together, his ambitious visual essays compose a secret history of technology-driven modernity, as a managerial model of radical individualism governed by data-gathering and surveillance replaces traditional mass politics. This process, which Curtis calls “hypernormalisation,” has affinities with the conception of “postnormal times” developed by Ziauddin Sardar. However, the two visions differ in significant ways, while Curtis’s analysis shows signs of evolving as flaws emerge in the stable systems his work foregrounds.

Imagination and the Future University

Abstract This essay argues that thinking about university futures requires not only practices of critique and desire, but practices of rigorous and reflexive imagination. Building on Bill Sharpe's three horizons framework, it argues that debates about university futures are dominated by horizon 1 thinking (critique of the current situation) and horizon 3 thinking (normative aspirations toward desirable futures) but that there is limited exploration of horizon 2 (the emerging possibilities that may create radical disruption). The article draws on futures and anticipation studies, in particular Ziauddin Sardar and John Sweeney's “postnormal menagerie,” to model a set of imaginative inquiries into the blind spots, blank spots, and different forms of ignorance through which highly divergent university futures might be explored. It concludes by proposing two scenarios for university futures—the “Campus of the Sky” and the “Pirate University”—as sites of generative experimentation and further research, and with a call for a radical diversification of participation in dialogues about the future of the university.

White Skin and the Black Mask™

White Skin and the Black Mask™

A Conversation with Zia Sardar

These are excerpts of a conversation with Ziauddin Sardar in early 2020. Zia gives his definition of postnormal times: how it describes the rapid nature of change, and how it describes the changing nature of change itself. He confronts the inevitability of postnormality given the erosion of trust in politics, and in the spread of fake news and disinformation. It is a characterization of the “hanging between,” the period in between the end of one paradigm and the emergence of another. Given that, it is our obligation to consider the unthought, to drop our assumptions and precepts from the past to navigate to desirable futures. Postnormal times theory is also a theory of change that incorporates the pace of change and resulting complexity, contradictions, and chaos. Unsurprisingly, Zia criticizes postmodernism and distances postnormal analysis from it in no uncertain terms. It is uncertain how long the transition may be to a new paradigm, a new normal, perhaps centuries, but the fact remains, we cannot control postnormal times, simply navigate them.

Statement of Retraction: Ziauddin Sardar: Explaining Islam to the West

Statement of Retraction: Ziauddin Sardar: Explaining Islam to the West