The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990 V 

EDITORIAL 

In this issue we have included the opening address of TW Jabir Al- 
‘Alww- which was delivered at the First AMSS History Conference with 
the theme of “Strategies for an Islamic Perspective on History and Historical 
Writing,” that was held on Dhu a1 Qiaah 1-2, 14WMay 26-27, 1990. 
Al- ‘Alwini states that the collapse of Marxism all Over the world is a logical 
conclusion of the philosophies which circulated in the West with a stamp 
of undeserved academic authority and universality. 

Western thought, he says, will explain the fall of Marxism by trying to 
revive philosophies removed from Marxism and condemning Marxism as 
being opposed to human nature, antithetical to freedom and democracy, and 
opposed to the natural flow of history. But the alternatives to be projected 
will not be essentially any different. Therefore, Al- ‘Alwh- warns, the glee 
we witness in the W s t  at the collapse of Marxism will be short-lived because 
before too long the shortcomings of Westem thought will become more ap- 
parent. What is needed for removing the suffering of mankind is a com- 
prehensive alternate philosophy that presents a realistic and satisfactory in- 
terpmtion of history, an overall conception of life, mankind, and the universe. 

Al-‘Alwh- argues that the Qur’anic interpretation of time, life, the 
universe, mankind, history, and good and evil provides contemporary humanity 
with a philosophical and civilizational alternative that is capable of leading 
mankind out of the present crisis. 

It is in this context that the contributions of MISS become relevant. Our 
writers are engaged in providing a critique of the Wstern disciplines and 
then highlighting the features oftheir Islamized versions. Abdul Rashid Moten 
attempts a contrast between the Western mode of political inquiry and the 
Islamic alternative. This underscores the Eact that the methodology and 
epistemology of Wtern political science is built mund the seemhgly limitless 
power of natural sciences. Moten exposes the subjective and ideological nature 
of political science in its own epistemic landscape from real life situations. 
He concludes that the instrumentalist conception of political community and 
the final packaging of knowledge are all colored with the social, cultural, 
and historical experience of Western Christianity, which is also, paradoxical- 
ly, materialistic and secular to the core. By identifying reason and revelation 
as the twin sources of knowledge, Islamic political thought is associated with 
such Qur‘anic concepts as TmW, Khi€ii@z, ‘Ibuduh, Ml, and the like. 



vi The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 7, No. 2, 1990 

Mahmud Dhaouadi examines the roots of subjectivity in contemporary 
social sciences. He discusses the roots of ideological bias in Western social 
sciences and shows haw positivism and empiricism are either not interested 
in the study of phenomena which do not fall within the range of the human 
senses or categorically dismiss their very existence. Ibn Khaldun's epistemology 
is shown as fundamentally different from what the Western social scientists 
have been practicing. The mind of the author of the Mzq&iimah is shown 
to have been shaped by the Islamic epistemological outlook, in its attempt 
to understand sociological phenomena, which views man not as a mere animal 
but as a thinking being who moves deliberately toward good. Ibn Khaldun's 
presentation of reason and revelation as a harmonious whole sets him apart 
from as well as above and beyond the modern positivist-empiricist social 
scientists. 

Coming to our legacy, Louay Safi attempts to trace the development of 
principles of Islamic jurisprudence and gives an assessment of the impact 
of Shari'ah on society. He argues that the law ceased to grow by the sixth 
century of Islam as a result of the development of classical legal theory and 
more specifically after the doctrine of infallibility of ijma' (juristic consen- 
sus) was articulated. 

Boualem Bendjilali and Farid B. %her discuss the role of a Muslim single 
seller as a zero efficiency loss monopolist from an Islamic perspective. In 
an I s l w c  economy there may exist a single seller of a particular commodi- 
ty. The monopolist is expected to sacrifice a part of his or her awn profit 
in favor of the welfare of the poor and needy of society. The paper formulates 
the objective function of the monopolist. It also derives the necessary o p  
timal conditions for maximization. 

We have a review article and a conference address in addition to three 
book reviews and three reports of conferences held in the United States and 
Malaysia. Our ZZZTAMSS Newsbulletin regularly provides news about seminars 
and confkrences. We would welcome reports of academic conferences held 
on Islam and Muslims for publication in MZSS. 

We continue to publish abstracts of dissertations done on Islam and 
Muslims in recent months. We have announced three IJIT dissertation awards 
of $500 each beginning this year for dissertations completed during 1989-90. 
The three dissertations selected for these awards will be chosen from among 
those submitted from around the world. This, we hope, will encourage scholars 
and allow us both to identify potential Muslim social scientists ,h different 
parts of the world and to staxgthen their continuous bonds with the Amencun 
Journal of Zslamic Social Sciences. 

Sayyid M. Syeed