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Presented at the Kaduna State University on August 28, 2025 at 11.30 am Nigerian time. By Professor Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)
1.0 INTRODUCTION:
2.0 PHILOSOPHY vs THEOLOGY:► Islam is an integration of theology (revealed knowledge) and philosophy (rational knowledge). There were controversies in Islamic intellectual history between the revealed and the rational until it was realized that they were integrated.
► The concept of tauhid serves as the basis for integrating revealed and rational knowledge, as all knowledge originates from one Creator.
► Empirical observation and experimentation show that various types of knowledge and phenomena must be integrated.
► Islamic values are universal and are essential in this era, when science and technology have created new challenges for humanity.
3.0 NATURAL PHILOSOPHY RATIONAL BASIS FOR UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE - 1:► European Philosophy is a systematic study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence as an academic discipline. It is concerned with truth vs falsehood, right vs wrong. Its 3 main branches are: epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Philosophy involves asking questions and drawing logical conclusions.
► Theology is an academic discipline that studies the nature of God and religious beliefs. It originated in Christianity and spread to other religions.
► Islam is one unitary system based on the Qur’an and does not dichotomies between theology and philosophy, but has a long history of controversy about it.
► The discipline of ilm al kalam purported to be Islamic theology, was developed to defend the aqidat against the excesses of Greek philosophy and logic.
4.0 NATURAL PHILOSOPHY RATIONAL BASIS FOR UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE - 2:► Urea was first discovered in human urine in 1727. It was synthesized from inorganic materials in 1828. This broke the barrier between the organic and inorganic worlds.
► The discovery of the atom showed that all physical bodies are made of the same building block.
► The discovery of DNA shows a common basis for biological sciences. The same DNA produces different tissues in different parts of the human body, an indication of a higher order.
5.0 IMAGE OF THE EARTH REVOLVING AROUND THE SUN:► The discovery of the interchange of mass and energy unified the two.
► Brain chemistry has enabled the explanation of mental phenomena that were not known to have a physical basis.
► The common phenomenon of anticlockwise revolution: Earth around the Sun, Moon around the Earth, electrons around the nucleus, tawaf around the Kaaba.
7.0 IMAGE OF MUSLIMS MAKING TAWAF AROUND THE KAABA:
► Socrates سقراط (d.399 BC) the father of European philosophy asked a lot of questions, provided few answers and wrote nothing down. He inspired the thinking of philosophers who came after him.
► Plato افلاطون (d. 347 BC) was Socrates’s student. He denied the reality of the material world and taught that the apparent and constantly changing world of concrete objects grasped by the senses was different from the unseen world of abstract objects that was grasped by pure reason.
► Aristotle ارسطو (d. 322 BC) called the first teacher (al mu’allim al awwal) by Muslim philosophers, was Plato’s student who synthesized previous philosophies to create the lexicon and methods of inquiry of today’s European philosophy. His interests were empirical study of physical and biological sciences, logic, and ethics. He had an impact on Christian and Muslim theologians.
9.0 MUSLIM THINKERS INFLUENCED BY REASON - 1:
► Al-Farabi, Abu Nasr Muhammad bin Muhammad Al-Farabi (d. 950 CE) was known as the second teacher (al mu’allim al thaani) following Aristotle. He preserved original texts of Greek philosophy and wrote comments and treatises about them. His epistemology was near that of Plato inclined to rational knowledge.
► Ibn Sina, Abu Ali al Husain Ibn Abdullah Ibn al Hasan ibn Ali (d. 1037 CE) was a physician and a philosopher influenced by Aristotelian philosophy. He was midway between the rationalism of Plato and the empiricism of Aristotle.
10.0 MUSLIM THINKERS INFLUENCED BY REASON - 2:
11.0 MUSLIM SCHOLARS’ REJECTION OF GREEK REASON - 1:► Ibn Rushd, Abū l-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn ʾAḥmad Ibn Rušd. (d. 1198CE) wrote commentaries on Europe. He was closer to the empiricism of Aristotle.
► Fakhruddin AlRazi, Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Umar Ibn al Husayn al Bakri al Tabaristani (d. 1210CE) was a polymath, a philosopher, a pioneer of inductive logic, and a mufassir. In his book Asas al taqdiis fi ilm al kalam has listed 4 alternatives when evidences from aql and naql are apparently contradictory: (a) accept the contradiction, (b) reject both, (c) accept naql and reject aql, (d) accept aql and interpret naql (t’awill). The 4th alternative caused much controversy.
12.0 MUSLIM SCHOLARS’ REJECTION OF GREEK REASON - 2:► Al-Ghazali, Hujjat al Islam Al Mujaddid Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsiyy al-Ġaz(z)ālīy; (d. 1111 CE) wrote The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa), rejecting the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and attacking Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina Al Farabi etc. He disproved their arguments using logical arguments and texts from the wahy. Al Ghazali’s writings impacted European scholars like Thomas Aquinas (who knew Arabic), David Hume, Dante, Moses Ben Maimon.
► Ibn Rushd responded to Al Ghazali’s attack on Greek philosophy in a book Tahatuf al Tahatuf (incoherence of the incoherence), arguing that reason cannot contradict wahy because they are two different methods of reaching the truth and ‘truth cannot contradict truth’. Ibn Rushd argued that if wahy and ‘aql contradict, wahy must be interpreted allegorically (ta’awil) by the people of intellect (ulu al albaab) [3:7].
13.0 ILM NAQLI vs ILM AQLI: PURPORTED CONTRADICTION - 1:► Ibn Taymiyah, Sheikh al Islam Taqī ad-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328 CE). His name is from the female side of his family named after Taymiyah famous for her scholarship and piety. He refuted Aristotelian philosophy. He authored Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wa al-naql (Removing Conflict between Reason and Revelation) also called Al-Muwāfaqa (Harmony). He used logical arguments and textual evidence to prove that clear ‘aqli (sariih al ma ‘aquul) agrees with correctly transmitted naqli (sahih al manquul).
► Lack of contradiction between ‘aql and naql underlies the movement of integration of epistemology (i.epistemology) and integration of knowledge (IOK).
14.0 ILM NAQLI vs ILM AQLI: PURPORTED CONTRADICTION - 2:► Intellectual battles arose between the Muslim philosophers and the traditionalists. Abu Hamid al Ghazzali, who studied and admired philosophy, later turned against it and wrote Tahafut al Falasifah (incoherence of the philosophers) with a rejoinder by Ibn Rushd, the grandson of Tahafut al Tahafut (incoherence of the incoherent).
► Greek ideas influenced the intellectual debate about ‘aql and naql, and many Muslim scholars wrote about the contradiction between ‘aql and naql. A common thread was giving ‘aql more prominence than it deserved vis-à-vis naql.
► Fakhr Alddiin Al Razi and other philosophers developed the general rule (al qanun al kulli), to handle purported contradictions between ‘aql and naql. Al Razi, in his book Asas al taqdiis fi ilm al kalam listed 4 alternatives when evidence from ‘aql and naql are ‘apparently’ contradictory.
► The 4 alternatives:
- combine them (jam’u bainahuma) – impossible,
- reject both (radduhuma) – not realistic,
- accept naql and reject ‘aql - not accepted because ‘aql is necessary to understand naql. Rejecting ‘aql means also rejection of naql,
- accept ‘aql and re-interpret naql (t’awiil) – This is the only alternative.
IBN TAYMIYAH:
16.0 IBN TAYMIYAH’S ARGUMENTS AGAINST CONTRADICTION - 2:► Ibn Taymiyah rejected the contradiction in his major work ‘Rejection of the contradiction between aql and naql dar’u taarudh al aql wa al naql. The main purpose of the book was to reject the general rule Ibn Taymiyah used rational arguments supported by Qur’an to reject contradiction between ‘aql and naql.
► Ibn Taymiyyah like others in his times looked at ‘ilm aqli mainly as rational knowledge so his arguments are difficult to follow by those in our generation where data-driven empirical knowledge is the main expression of ‘ilm aqli.
17.0 THE ESSENCE OF TAUHID:► The book has a lot of relevant digressions that are difficult to follow for those of our generation who did not experience the philosophical battles in the era of ilm al kalam.
► The conclusion of Ibn Taymiyah was that clear aql (sariih al ma’aquul) does not contradict correct naql (sahih al manqul).
► We can reach the same conclusion from the tauhidi paradigm: all knowledge (‘aqli and naqli) is from the same Creator God, so it cannot be contradictory.
18.0 TAUHID AL RUBUBIYYAT:► The essence of Allah is one. As humans, we cannot reach or understand the essence of Allah. We can only deal with the names (asmaa) and attributes (sifaat).
► Part of the creed is belief in the names and attributes of God. They testify to and help humans understand the power and majesty of the creator.
► The human should, however, not delve into the details of the mechanisms, kaifa, because those are above human intellect and understanding.
► The names of Allah are to be used for Him and Him alone. Humans cannot attribute any of the names to themselves. This includes prophets and the righteous.
► The sifaat are for Allah alone, and no human or any other creation can have the same attributes. It is a crime to think that Allah’s attributes are similar to human attributes.
► The concept of rubuubiyyat is the assertion that there is a creator and sustainer of the universe and all its contents.
► The creator cannot be created and has neither a beginning nor an end.
► The concept of auto-creation, existence without a creator, is untenable because it leads to the logical absurdity of an object 'existing' before it existed.
► Belief in the oneness of the creator-God, tauhid al rubuubiyyat, is inborn. Any normal human being will innately and instinctively know that there is one creator for the universe.
► Tauhid al rubuubiyyat is a logical imperative. The harmonious and well-coordinated universe can't have more than one creator. No two creators could agree so perfectly without any contradiction – Surat Anbiya: 22.
► لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا ۚ فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَرْشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
► Tauhid al rubuubiyat also explains the harmonious interactions in the ecosystem, the food chains, and the food webs.
19.0 TAUHID AL ULUHIYYAT:
► Tauhid al uluuhiyyat implies worship of one God alone. Nothing else can be associated with Him in worship.
► Tauhid al uluhiyyat is a logical consequence of tauhid al rubuubiyyat.
► The purpose of the creation of the universe is the worship of God, which is an expression of gratitude to the creator.
► وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ. الذاريات: 56.
20.0 TAUHID AL ULUHIYYAT: Con’t.:► All creations involuntarily worship God; it is only humans who sometimes disobey because they were given free will that is misused.
► أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالطَّيْرُ صَافَّاتٍ كُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهُ وَتَسْبِيحَهُ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَفْعَلُونَ [النور: 41].
► تُسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمَاوَاتُ السَّبْعُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ وَإِنْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَكِنْ لَا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا [الإسراء: 44].
► Kufr, denial of God, is ungratefulness of Allah’s great gift of life and all that supports it.
► لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ وَلَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِي لَشَدِيدٌ. إبراهيم ٧
21.0 Tauhid Al Rubuubiyyat is the Basis for Fixed Physical and Social:► Shirk, associating God with anything else in worship, is an unforgivable sin.
► Shirk is the cause of religious and social anarchy. Shirk arises from not following the dictates of tauhid al uluhiyyat and following other ‘gods’, which leads to social chaos because these ‘gods’ do not have a uniform social law.
► 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
22.0 Tauhid Al Rubuubiyyat is the Basis for Fixed Physica 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
► سُنَّةَ مَن قَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِن رُّسُلِنَا ۖ وَلَا تَجِدُ لِسُنَّتِنَا تَحْوِيلًا. الاسراء ٧٧
23.0 ‘Aqidat Al Tauhid is the Islamic World-View, Tasawwur Islami, that Underlies Islamic Civilisation - 1:► 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.
24.0 ‘Aqidat Al Tauhid is the Islamic World-View, Tasawwur Islami, that Underlies Islamic Civilisation - 2:► Tauhid 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, consists of a negation followed by an affirmation.
► Tauhid encapsulates the Islamic worldview and is the basis of Islamic culture and civilization.
► Tauhid is an intellectual challenge since the concept of one God above and beyond human 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.
25.0 MOVEMENT OF REACTIVE INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE WEST:► Tauhid 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.
► Tauhid, as belief in one creator and sustainer, gives purpose and a sense of direction to human civilization.
► Belief in tauhid 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.
26.0 PURPOSIVENESS (غائية):► 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.
► Each discovery leads to another automatically and every new innovation is accepted without questioning; nobody wants to be left behind.
► No overall vision 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
27.0 BLIND FOLLOWING TAQLIID (تقليد):
► Social media and the commercials force people to get the latest gadget 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 followed will deny the followers… Baqara: 166-167
► اذ تبرآ الذين اتبعوآ من الذين اتبعوآ وراؤا العذاب... البقرة ١٦٦-١٦٧
► Blind obedience of the elites Surat Ahzab: 67.
► انا اطعنا ساداتنا وكبراءنا فاضلونا السبيل. سورة الأحزاب ٦٧
28.0 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
29.0 VIRTUAL VS CONCRETE REALITY:► Iitikaaf and qiyam al layl have their impact because they decrease environmental sensory input to allows 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.
► 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. Surat 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 .
30.0 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.
31.0 LOSS OF BALANCE (توازن):
► Humans are so engrossed in virtual reality that they have lost the natural balance that Allah enjoined for their life 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: story of Salman and Abudardau was background to this hadith. Bukhari 1968.
► ان لربك عليك حقا ولنفسك عليك حقا ولاهلك عليك حقا فاعط كل ذي حق حقه. رواه البخاري ١٩٦٨.
32.0 LOSS OF EQUILIBRIUM (اعتدال):► 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.
► We live in a culture of extremes with 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
33.0 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.
34.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 1:
35.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 2:► 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.
36.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 3:► 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, Sunnah, other books), illustrations (pictures and drawings), chapter summary, review (questions, tests, exercises), and assignments.
37.0 PROCESS OF TEXTBOOK WRITING - 4:► 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 and 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.
38.0 BOOK COVERS FROM EAST AFRICAN TEACHING MATERIALS PROJECTS:► 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.
Thank you!► 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.