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120131P - CONCEPT PAPER FOR WORK IN EUROPE 2012-2022: RESEARCH PRIORITIES ON EPISTEMOLOGY and THOUGHT

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Paper sent on January 31, 2012 to European associates on 31st January 2012 by Dr Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical City Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Visiting Professor of Epidemiology University of Malaya and University of Brunei Darussalam


SUMMARY
Work in Europe in the next decade will succeed if it is focused on the core mission of knowledge reform and thought reform achieved through research followed by publication, seminars and workshops, and specialized teaching programs. It will have two tracks/targets: (a) Muslim school curricula and intellectual issues of living in a plural society for Muslims settled permanently in Europe and will consume 15% of the effort and resources (b) University epistemological/curriculum reform for all disciplines of knowledge and intellectual issues relating to Islamic solutions for contemporary economic, social, and political dilemmas in the Muslim World these efforts being directed at postgraduate students who are staying in Europe for a short time and will return and work in the Muslim world and will consume 85% of the effort and human and financial resources. The following activities will not have priority rating: (a) solving local community problems arising out of the social, economic, and political marginalization/discrimination of Muslims (b) practical solutions of internal community problems such as social welfare, differences/conflicts (fiqhi and others) (c) dawa and teaching of basics of Islam to Muslims and non-Muslims.
 
1.0 OVERVIEW
1.1 The problems
The paper starts from the assertion that 2 internal factors, a knowledge crisis and a thought crisis, are major causes of ummatic weakness. These 2 factors combine to lead to ummatic malaise manifesting in the religious, social, political, economic, technological, and military dimensions. The knowledge crisis can be resolved by reforming education systems and even more important reforming the epistemology methodology of research in the various disciplines of knowledge so that it conforms to the paradigms of tauhid and objectivity, istiqamat. The disciplines to be covered are: education (pedagogy and andragogy), social sciences and humanities (sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science, historiography, literature etc), natural sciences and technology (medical and health disciplines, engineering, architecture, economics, etc). The thought crisis will be resolved by research that identifies and defines problems of the society and then proposed solutions based on the bird-eye view frame-work of the higher purposes of the Law, maqasid al shari’at.

1.2 The tasks
On the practical level, teaching programs and academic seminars need to be held in many places and involving all Muslim intellectuals to deal with the 2 crises. The academic programs should be certificate, diploma, or master's level programs undertaken in collaboration with universities in Europe or the Muslim World using either the Arabic or the European language mediums. Two types of seminars can be held. General seminars 1-day will introduce the problem and motivate the intellectuals to make contributions. Specialized 1-day seminars will bring together 3-5 specialists in each discipline at a time to present fully written papers on given topics followed by deep and serious discussion after which the authors can revise the papers and have them published online for wide and immediate access with printed versions being made available later. Books and articles written on epistemology and thought in other parts of the world can be made accessible by local intellectuals writing reviews that incorporate commentaries that reflect local problems. These reviews can also be published online for wider access. A measure of success will be the number of seminars held and the total number of online publications. At a later stage text books will have to be developed to translate all the above programs into permanent classroom teaching.

2.0 THE KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION CRISIS
2.1 CRISIS OF KNOWLEDGE
The most important manifestation of the knowledge crisis is dichotomy in the education system: traditional Islamic vs. imported European. Integration of the 2 systems has failed. Secularization of education eliminated the moral dimension and violated the aim of Islamic education to produce an integrated and perfect individual, insan kaamil. The ummatic malaise due to the knowledge crisis that started with the fall of the khilafat rashidah when the authentic ‘ulama were marginalized. Society became ‘secularized’ because the rulers were in one valley and the scholars in another valley. This dichotomy between the sources of Islamic guidance and the political leadership of society eventually led to and nurtured the knowledge crisis we have today.

2.2 THE NEED FOR A NEW KNOWLEDGE STRATEGY
Educational and knowledge reform are a pre requisite for tajdid because tajdiid = idea + action. The vision of the knowledge strategy is an upright balanced person who understands the creator, knows his place, his roles, his rights, and his responsibilities in the cosmic order. The mission of the knowledge strategy is conceptual transformation of the education system from kindergarten to post graduate studies to reflect tauhid, positive moral values, objectivity, universality, and serving the larger causes of humanity.

2.3 REFORM OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Modern research is based on the empirical method that unfortunately has Euro-centric biases. There is no contradiction among sources of knowledge: wahy, ‘aql, and kaun. The Qur’anic provides guiding principles for knowledge and building civilization. Muslims taught the empirical methodology to Europeans in the 15th and 6th centuries but forgot it during the era of decline. It is now coming back to them in a new context that reflects the European and not the Islamic world view. Muslims accept the empirical methods but reject concepts added by Europeans that reflect the European and the Muslim world view. A tauhidi universal, objective and unbiased methodology must replace the Euro-centric and philosophically biased context but not the practical experimental methods. The precepts of tauhidi science are: unity of knowledge, comprehensiveness; causality as the basis for human action, limitation of human knowledge, constant and fixed natural laws, harmony between the seen and the unseen, 3 sources of knowledge (wahy, aql, & empirical observation; khilafat; moral accountability; creation and existence have a purpose, truth is both absolute and relative, human free will is the basis of accountability, and tawakkul.

2.4 REFORM OF DISCIPLINES OF KNOWLEDGE
Reform has to start with reforming the epistemology, methodology, and corpus of knowledge of each discipline. It must be pro-active, academic, methodological, objective, and practical. Its vision is objective, universal, and beneficial knowledge in the context of a harmonious interaction of humans with their physical, social, and spiritual environment. Its practical mission is transformation of the paradigms, methodologies, and uses of disciplines of knowledge to conform to tauhid. Its immediate goals are: (a) reforming paradigms of existing disciplines to change them from parochiality to universal objectivity, (b) reconstruction of the paradigms using Islamic universal guidelines, (c) re-classifying disciplines to reflect universal tauhidi values, (d) reforming research methodology to become objective, purposeful, and comprehensive (e) growth of knowledge by research, and (f) inculcating morally correct application of knowledge. The Qur’an gives general principles that establish objectivity and protect against biased research methodology. It creates a world-view that encourages research to extend the frontiers of knowledge and its use for the benefit of the whole universe. Scientists are encouraged to work within these Qur’anic parameters to expand the frontiers of knowledge through research, basic and applied.

2.5 PRACTICAL STEPS / TASKS OF THE REFORM PROCESS:
The first step is a good grounding in Islamic methodological sciences of usul al fiqh, ulum al Qur’an, ulum al hadith, and 'uluum al llughat. This is followed by reading the Qur’an and sunnat with understanding of the changing time-space dimensions. This is followed by clarification of basic epistemological issues and relations: wahy and aql, ghaib and shahada, ‘ilm and iman. This is followed by an Islamic critique of basic paradigms, basic assumptions, and basic concepts of various disciplines using criteria of Islamic methodology and Islamic epistemology. Islamic reviews of existing text-books and teaching materials are then undertaken to identify deviations from the tauhidi episteme and the Islamic methodology. The initial output of the reform process will be Islamic introductions to disciplines, muqaddimat al ‘uluum, establishing basic Islamic principles and paradigms that determine and regulate the methodology, content, and teaching of disciplines. This parallels Ibn Khaldun’s Introduction to History, muqaddimat presented generalizing and methodological concepts on historical events. Publication and testing of new text-books and other teaching materials is a necessary step towards reform by putting into the hands of teachers and students reformed material. Developing applied knowledge in science and technology from basic knowledge will be the last stage of the reform process. This is because in the end it is science and technology that actually lead to changes in society.

3.0 THE THOUGHT CRISIS

3.1 THOUGHT FAILURE

Thought failure in the ummah could manifests as intellectual stagnation, syncretism, lack of vision, superficiality, rituality, esoterism, sterile argumentation, and use of un-Islamic intellectual tools. Intellectual stagnation is suppression of the freedom of thought, closure of ijtihad, blind following, taqlid, and fanaticism for a madh’hab. Syncretism, talfiq, is juxtaposition of ideas that are incompatible without attempting to analyze them critically to arrive at a synthesis or favor one of them, tarjiih. There is lack of vision as a guide vision for the present and the future, ru'uyat mustaqbaliyyat. Superficiality, satahiyyat, is concern with minor inconsequential issues. False outward manifestations of religious rituals, shakliyaat, with a dead core is common. Esoteric sects, al firaq al batiniyyat, claim to have secret agendas or knowledge exposed to a select few and are a cause of social disruption. Sterile arguments, jadal, lead to no purpose or goal of practical utility. Intellectual analysis using un-islamic terminology and concepts compounds the intellectual confusion.

3.2 UNRESOLVED ISSUES FROM THE PAST
Thought failure is responsible for the following issues that started in the past and are not yet resolved up to today. These issues are still causes of controversy when they should not be. They are also a cause of failure of Muslims to face the challenges of modern society. The role of human free will, qadriyyat, versus that of pre-determination, al jabriyah, in human actions is still not fully understood. Acceptance of repentance, taubah, or faith, iman, for persons who commit major sins is still being debated when the texts are clear on it. Discussions of the essence of Allah, dhaat al llaah, and attributes of Allah, sifaat al llaah, are still leading many astray when it is clear that human intellect can not grasp the nature of Allah and should not be engaged in such an endeavor. Many still do not understand the scope of knowledge through reason, ‘aql, and that of transmitted knowledge, naql, as well as the relation between the two. There are still many who do not understand pre-determination, qadar, and causality, sababiyyat, and how they interact in human actions. There is also a lot of confusion about the relation of the Muslim with the others. Literal reading and understanding of the text, nass, without consideration of spatio-temporal changes and leading to various forms of extremism.

3.3 UNRESOLVED CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Thought failure is also responsible for the following major contemporary intellectual issues still unresolved. The woman; her nature, role, rights, and responsibilities; are still being debated. Plurality of opinion and practice is a cause of unnecessary controversy. Leadership, imamat, its qualifications, selection, roles, and scope of responsibility are not fully defined. Shura is presented as theoretical concept but its practical application is not properly worked out. Application of Islamic teachings to today’s realities: economy, education, politics, and international relations are still being discussed.

3.4 FIQH AS THE CAUSE AND AS THE SOLUTION
Problems of thought in the past were mainly centered on misunderstanding ‘aqidat. Fortunately most of these ‘aqidat issues were either resolved or are no longer a major cause of controversy being discussed in a marginal way but still persisting Few Muslim intellectuals today are aware of qadriyyat, jabriyyat, maturdiyyat,  ‘ash’ariyyat, ittihadiyyat,  hululiyat, jahmiyyat, kilaabiyyat, druze, khawarij, mu’utazilat, ruwandiyyat, baatiniyyat, dahriyyah, & marji’at. The persisting problems arise from a narrow and literal understanding of the shari’at and differences on fiqh have divided the ummat in the recent past on many issues. If the cause is fiqh the solution will also be found in fiqh. We need to re-look at society from a general bird eye view using the higher purposes of the Law, maqasid al shari’at then we will be able to make some progress. The shari’at was revealed to fulfill 5 higher purposes: religion, hifdh al ddiin; life, hifdh al nafs; progency, hifdh al nasl; intellect, hifdh al ‘aql; and resources, hifdh al maal.


4.0 ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
4.1 OFFICES AND REPRESENTATIVES
Conservation and wise use of limited financial resources dictate that we avoid costly offices that require rent and salaries. We can have a few anchor offices in strategic cities to provide a point of personal contact. Most of the work should be done through academic representatives who should preferably be academic staff at universities with access to facilities such as an office, telecommunication, and libraries etc. We can pay them a small allowance to cover their expenses and they can help gather intellectuals and organize meetings and other programs for them using university venues or if not available rented space outside. We need at least one representative in each country but for bigger countries we can have representatives at a regional level. Physical offices can be organized in London (for the UK, Ireland, and Nordic countries), Brussels (for BENELUX countries and France), Frankfurt/Berlin for Germany and Central Europe, Sarajevo for Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. The main function of these offices is (a) to provide research resources in the form of books and journals with concentration on online work (b) provide logistics for academic seminars and teaching programs that can be held at rented premises for the time being.   

4.2 BUDGETING 
As far as possible academic activities should be self financing but where this is not feasible especially at the beginning subsidies should be provided. Teaching programs should charge tuition and reasonable registration fees should be charged for seminars and workshops. Manpower costs should be minimized by employing a high-caliber director of each regional office on a part-time basis and relying on part time work of students to run the administrative work of each office.