250727P - ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE AND ITS RELEVANCE TO INTEGRATIVE PEDAGOGY

Presented at a one-day symposium on integrative approaches to teaching science and humanities in tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria via Zoom at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, on July 27, 2025. By Omar Hasan K Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard), Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Riyadh

1.0 RE-INTEGRATION OF WAHY INTO EPISTEMOLOGY - 1:

• ‘Ilm ‘naqli is revealed and transmitted knowledge whose recognized source is the Qur’an and sunnat; other alleged sources are not unanimously accepted.
• ‘Ilm ‘aqli is rational knowledge based on human intellect, human observation, and experimentation. Historically, there was a time when ilm aqli was based on logical reasoning without empirical observation and experimentation. This has now reversed, and ‘ilm aqli is mostly the same as empirical knowledge, ‘ilm tajriibi. The question is why reason out phenomena deductively when you can observe them inductively. In practice, deduction makes hypotheses that are tested experimentally, and the intellect is necessary to interpret experimental findings.

2.0 RE-INTEGRATION OF WAHY INTO EPISTEMOLOGY - 2:

• There is no essential contradiction between transmitted knowledge (‘ilm naqli) and rational empirical knowledge (‘ilm ‘aqli). Any apparent contradictions are either due to incorrect empirical observations or due to human intellectual deficiency in understanding ‘ilm naqli.
• There has been confusion about what source of knowledge to use. ‘Ilm naqli is used exclusively in matters of ethics and morality. ‘Ilm ‘aqli is used to answer questions of an empirical nature but requires the guidance of ‘ilm naqli regarding fundamentals like objectivity (istiqamat), ethics (akhlaq), and purposiveness (gha’iyyat).
• We are going to see next how this integrated epistemology solves the problem of duality in Muslim education.

3.0 CRISIS OF DUALITY IN MUSLIM KNOWLEDGE  AND  EDUCATION  - 1:

• Traditional Muslim Education: Sciences (natural and social) declined with the general decline after the early Abbasid era. A traditional education system based on ‘ilm naqli (Qur’an, sunnat, fiqh, siirat, language) continued unchanged in its curricula to this day.
• Surviving institutions of traditional education: Azhar in Cairo, Qarawiyin in Fez, Qairawan/Zeytouna in Tunis, Dar al Uloom in South Asia, Pondok/Pesantren in Southeast Asia, Madrasat in the Middle East.
• Institutions of traditional education that disappeared: Nizamiya of Baghdad, Nishapur, Balkh, Herat, and Isfahan; Timbuktu University in West Africa; University of Cordoba in Andalusia; Ottoman Madrasahs, etc.

4.0 CRISIS OF DUALITY IN MUSLIM KNOWLEDGE  AND  EDUCATION  - 2:

• Modern secular European education was introduced by colonial rulers who marginalized/neglected the traditional Muslim education system as well as its graduates and set up a European system. This became the second encounter between Muslims and Greek epistemology. It presented a world-view different from that of Muslim society.
• Crisis of duality in knowledge and thought: The crisis was due to 2 systems of education with different and contradictory world views and epistemologies. The educated elite of the ummah was bifurcated by education systems. Neither group had the integrated knowledge needed to solve the complex problems of the ummat. Those who studied in both systems were even more confused.
• The consequence of the education crisis was intellectual schizophrenia, intellectual stagnation, intellectual dependence, lack of innovation, social decline, and weakness (political, economic, military, etc.).

5.0 INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK) AT INSTITUTIONAL LEVELS - 1:

• World Muslim Education Conferences: The first World Conference on Muslim Education, held in Makka in 1977, and a meeting of intellectuals in Logano in 1979, recognized duality as the main problem of Muslim education. Follow-up conferences expanded the theme: Islamabad 1400 H/1980 M, Dhakka in 1401 H/1981 M, Jakarta in 1402 H/1982 MD, Cairo in 1985 M, and Cape Town in September 1996. The last conference focused on writing teaching materials for integrated curricula.
• Research Institutions on integration of knowledge were set up: (a) IIIT in Virginia, USA, pioneered by Dr Ismail Faruqi, Dr Abdulhamid AbuSulayman, Dr Taha Jabir Alwani, Dr Ahmad Totonji, Dr Jamal Barzanji, Dr Hisham AlTalib and others. (b) Islamic Education Academy in Cambridge was pioneered by Prof Ali Ashraf and many others.

6.0 INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK) AT INSTITUTIONAL LEVELS - 2:

• Public Islamic universities to teach integrated curricula were set up in Kuala Lumpur in 1983, Islamabad in 1980, Kushtia Bangladesh in 1986, Niger in 1986, Uganda in 1988. These were followed by many private ones all over the World mostly in the 2000s.
• Private Islamic universities proliferated in Muslim majority and Muslim minority countries. They held the lofty goal of an integrated education system but could not achieve much in the short term because of lack of suitable curricula and teaching materials.
• Integrated Muslim schools are found in South Africa, the UK, the USA, Australia, etc. They have been successful in creating an Islamic cultural and social environment in the school, but they suffer from the same problem as Islamic universities due to a lack of integrated curricula and teaching materials.

7.0 INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK) AT DISCIPLINE LEVEL - 1:

• The effort to produce integrated curricula and teaching materials lagged 20-30 years behind the establishment of integrated institutions.
• IOK has to start with existing disciplines and cannot succeed if it starts from tabula rasa. Each discipline has developed its unique basic concepts, epistemology, paradigms, methodology, and corpus of knowledge. 
• Each professor or lecturer must start with their discipline and within that discipline, the course that he/she teach.

8.0 INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK) AT DISCIPLINE LEVEL - 2: Practical Steps

• A short course on the essence of methodological sciences of usul al fiqh, ilm al tafsir, and ilm al hadith.
• Review books and articles written about IOK in the discipline or similar disciplines.
• In view of the above, summarize and critique the main epistemological, methodological, and conceptual paradigms of the discipline.
• Review existing teaching materials from the i.epistemological point of view and identify what to remove, change, or add.
• Prepare a course outline if one does not exist one making sure to include an i.epistemological dimension.

9.0 INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK) AT DISåCIPLINE LEVEL - 2: Practical Steps, con’t.

• Prepare an extensive bibliography using both general and integrated sources.
• Submit a book proposal and a research grant application.
• Either singly or in a team (preferably), start writing the units of the teaching material.

10.0 MOVEMENT OF REACTIVE INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE WEST:

• Realisation that knowledge that solves actual societal problems is multi-disciplinary. Knowledge cannot be compartmentalized.
• Intra-disciplinary integration: within a single academic discipline.
• Inter-disciplinary integration: from 2 different disciplines, for example, the interdisciplinary journal of education.
• Multi-disciplinary integration: from several disciplines, e.g. multi-disciplinary journal of educational research.
• Trans-disciplinary integration: several disciplines addressing a single problem, e.g. transdisciplinary journal of management.

11.0 Tauhid Al Rubuubiyyat is the Basis for Fixed Physical and Social:

• Tauhid al rubuubiyyat is the basis for fixed and constant laws (sunan) that make the world predictable and enable the development of science and technology.
• The laws or sunan are signs of Allah in the universe because they are constant and universal.
• The sunan may be physical. 

• الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ . الرحمن ٤ 
• وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمُ اللَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ النَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ (37) وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ الْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ (38) وَالْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَالْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ (39) لَا الشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِي لَهَا أَن تُدْرِكَ الْقَمَرَ وَلَا اللَّيْلُ سَابِقُ النَّهَارِ ۚ وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ . ياسين ٣٧-٤٠ 

12.0 Tauhid Al Rubuubiyyat is the Basis for Fixed Physical and Social, con’t.:

• The sunan may be social. 

• سُنَّةَ ٱللَّهِ فِى ٱلَّذِينَ خَلَوْاْ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَن تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ ٱللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا. أحزاب ٦٢ 
• سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَن تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا. فتح ٢٣ 
• نَّةَ مَن قَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا ۖ وَلَا تَجِدُ لِسُنَّتِنَا تَحْوِيلًا. الاسراء ٧٧

• Humans obey the physical laws involuntarily, but they can disobey the social laws because Allah gave them the intellectual ability to make choices and that is why they are rewarded and punished.

13.0 Aqidat Al Tauhid is the Islamic World-View, Tasawwur Islami, that Underlies Islamic Civilisation - 1:

• Tawhid is the oneness of the creator-God that implies the oneness of the created universe.
• The testament of tauhid is 'there is no god but one God, la ilaha illa al llaahu, ' which consists of a negation followed by an affirmation. 
• Tauhid encapsulates the Islamic worldview and is the basis of Islamic culture and civilization.
• Tawhid is an intellectual challenge since the concept of one God above and beyond humans and the whole universe is an intellectual and abstract reality that can be only grasped at the highest levels of intellectual competence.
• Tauhid provides an integrating framework for the whole universe, in whose absence there would be irreconcilable contradictions.

14. Aqidat Al Tauhid is the Islamic World-View, Tasawwur Islami, that Underlies Islamic Civilisation - 2:

• Tawhid is the basis for physical and social laws that govern science, technology, and society. The perfection, order, and harmony of the universe and the human body are empirical proof of the oneness of the creator.
• Tawhid, as belief in one creator and sustainer, gives purpose and a sense of direction to human civilization.
• Belief in twuhid guarantees eventual entry into paradise with a short stay in hell as punishment for unforgiven major sins.
• Tauhid has implications for our daily life based on issuing from one creator: brotherhood and equality, physical laws of science and technology, social laws, economic organization, and political organization.

15.0 PURPOSIVENESS (غائية):

• Each discovery leads to another automatically, and every new innovation is accepted without questioning; nobody wants to be left behind.
• No overall vision of where we are going. Technology has become an automaton that cannot be stopped as long as it generates revenue for the owners.
• The Qur’anic term ‘abath = no wisdom, play.
• Building an elevated place to sit and make fun of those passing Surat Al Shuara: 128.

• اتبنون بكل ربع آية تعبثون. سورة الشعراء ١٢٨

• Humans were created for a purpose and wisdom Surat Muminuun: 115.

• افحسبتم انما خلقناكم عبثا. سورة المؤمنون ١١٥

16.0 BLIND FOLLOWING TAQLIID (تقليد):

Social media and commercials force people to get the latest gadgets and the latest applications without first asking the question whether they need them: just following the crowd.

Blind following of the forefathers... Baqara: 170-171

• اذا قيل لهم اتبعوا ما انزل الله قالوا بل نتبع ما الفينا عليه آباؤنا.... البقرة ١٧٠-١٧١

• The followers will deny the followers… Baqara: 166-167.

• اذ تبرآ الذين اتبعوآ من الذين اتبعوآ وراؤا العذاب... البقرة ١٦٦-١٦٧

• Blind obedience of the elites Surah Ahzab: 67.

• انا  اطعنا ساداتنا وكبراءنا فاضلونا السبيل. سورة الأحزاب ٦٧

17.0 THE LOWLY CONCRETE vs THE HIGHER CONCEPTUAL THINKING:

• Enhanced imagery will encourage concrete thinking and discourage abstract thinking, which is an essential part of tafakkur/tadabbur al Qur’an.
• Thinking about Allah’s creation. Al Imran 190-191. 

• ان في خلق السماوات والأرض واختلاف الليبل والنهار لآيات لاولي الالباب الذين يذكرون الله قياما وقعودا وعلي جنوبهم ويتفكرون في خلق السماوات والأرض ربنا ما خلقت هذا باطلاا  سبحانك فقنا عذاب النار. ال عمران ١٩٠-١٩١

• Iitikaaf and qiyam al layl have their impact because they decrease environmental sensory input to allow the mind to think of higher things.
• Concern with the concrete and imagery is reaching extremes in the 4th industrial revolution because people prefer virtual reality to the beauty of Allah’s creation in humans, animals, plants, and the earth.

18.0 VIRTUAL VS CONCRETE REALITY:

• Non-believers asked for virtual evidence instead of concrete evidence of Allah’s majesty before their eyes.
• Banu Israil asked Musa to show them Allah before they could believe. Surat Baqara 55. 

• وإذ قلتم يا موسي لن نؤمن لك حتي نري الله جهرة فاخذتكم الصاعقة وانتم تنظرون. البقرة ٥٥.

• Non-believers challenge the Prophet to bring angels down as a tribe. Surat al Isra 92. 

• او تسقط السماء كما زعمت علينا كسفا او تاتي بالله والملائكة قبيلا. الاسراء ٩٢.

• Prophet is but a human messenger with the intellectual miracle of Islam. Surah Isra: 93. 

• او يكون لك بيت من زخرف او ترقي في السماء ولن نؤمن لرقيك حتي تنزل علينا كتابا نقفرؤه قل سبحان ربي هل كنت الا بشرا رسولا. آلاسراء ٩٣.

19.0 PASTIME (لهو) vs SERIOUSNESS:

• Robots and other forms of technology perform jobs that humans used to perform, creating a lot of leisure time. This time should be spent in ibadat, but is misguided.
• The current culture emphasizes fun and pastime to waste time: games and all sorts of entertainment.
• The lowly life on earth, which is play and pastime, but real life is that of the hereafter, Ankabut: 64. 

• وما هذخ الحياة الدنيا الا لهو ولعبوان الدار الآخرة لهي الحيوان لو كانو يعلمون. العنكبوت:٦٤.

20.0 LOSS OF BALANCE (توازن):

• Humans are so engrossed in virtual reality that they have lost the natural balance that Allah enjoined for their lives as individuals or as families.
• Balance in dealing with wealth. Surat al Furqan: 68. 

• والذين اذا انفقوا لم يسرفوا ولم يقتروا وكان بين ذلك قواما الفرقان ٦٧.

• Balance in the rights of the body and the family: the story of Salman and Abudardau was the background to this hadith. Bukhari 1968. 

• ان لربك عليك حقا ولنفسك عليك حقا ولاهلك عليك حقا فاعط كل ذي حق حقه. رواه البخاري ١٩٦٨.

• Loss of emotional balance. Artificial emotions of happiness and anger can be caused by the virtual reality, with anxiety and depression being more common than elation and happiness.

21.0 LOSS OF EQUILIBRIUM (اعتدال):

• We live in a culture of extremes with a loss of equilibrium.
• We are supposed to be a community of the middle (moderation). Surat Baqara 143. 

• وكذلك جعلناكم امة وسطا لتكونوا شهداء علي الناس ويكون الرسول عليكم شهيدا. البقرة ١٤٣.

• Seek the equilibrium of moderation between the earth and the hereafter, do good, and do not do evil. Surat Qisas: 77. 

• وابتغي فيما آتاك الله الدار الآخرة ولا تنسي نصيبك من الدنيا واحسن كما احسن الناس اليك ولا تبغي الفساد في الأرض ان الله لا يحب المفسدين. القصص٧٧  

22.0 LOSS OF PUSH BACK, ACTION-REACTION  (تدافع):

• Voices of protest against the current culture do not find a medium. The social and other media are powerful and overwhelming. There is no corrective mechanism to save civilization.
• Reaction/pushback against evil. Surat Baqara: 25. 

• .ولولا دفع الناس بعضهم ببعض لفسدت الأرض. البقرة ٢٥.

23.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 1:

• The process of textbook preparation should start with general epistemology and curriculum reform seminars to raise awareness of the problem of duality and to propose epistemological and curricular reform as the needed solution.
• These should be followed by specific seminars with discipline experts to explore IOK issues in each discipline.
• Specific working groups should then be set up for each discipline of knowledge.

24.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 2:

• The discipline groups should produce integrated course outlines. 
• Available reference and resource material for each course should be collected.
• Then, a book should be designed and structured for each course (title, units, sections, and chapters).
• Each chapter should be structured as: learning objectives, detailed outlines (headings and sub-headings), key words, the main text, Islamic input, glossary, index, case studies, texts from Islamic sources (Qur’an, sunnat, other books), illustrations (pictures and drawings), chapter summary, review (questions, tests, exercises), and assignments.

25.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 3:

• An editorial board should be set up for each book, consisting of a chief editor and 1-2 co-editors in addition to chapter authors, advisors, and consultants. 
• The board will allocate 1-2 chapters to each writer.
• Regular workshops have to be held for chapter writers and editors to review the written material, preferably once every 1-2 months.
• The chapters written must be tested by being used as classroom notes for university students, and feedback will be provided, and we will meet regularly to monitor progress.
• It is difficult to find specialized references on Islamic aspects of the various disciplines. We have therefore designated two libraries, one in Virginia (English references) and one in Amman (Arabic references), to help writers get the references that they need.

26.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 4:

• External discipline experts should review the manuscripts.
• The final versions should undergo serious editing and proofreading.
• A special style sheet has been prepared to guide authors, reviewers, and editors.
• It is envisaged that the book will be 150-300 pages and will be published as an e-book with a few printed copies for libraries. A royalty will be paid to the authors.

27.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS:

28.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS, con’t. 1

29.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS, con’t. 2

30.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS, con’t. 3

31.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS, con’t. 3

32.0 THE BALANCE SHEET OF THE IOK MOVEMENT:

• The main achievement of IOK is the setting up of integrated schools and universities all over the world. This has been accompanied by the production of integrated curricula and integrated teaching materials. In the areas of banking, finance, and food, integration has been achieved by setting up working institutions.
• The remaining challenge is inadequate research to develop the concept of IOK and to move from adding Islamic values to existing knowledge or subtracting non-Islamic ones to creating new integrated or Islamised knowledge to become creators and innovators and not consumers of knowledge by others.

Thank you!