Editorial 
Vision of AJISS: Back to Basics 

When the International Institute of Islamic Thought and the Association 
of Muslim Social Scientists decided to launch AJ/SS sixteen years ago, they 
had a shared vision of the condition of the Ummah, the crises facing it, and 
the resolution of those crises. These were the three challenges that inspired 
the work of HIT and AMSS the last two decades. As we write the editorial 
for the first issue of the seventeenth volume of AJ/SS, we recall those chal-
lenges and that vision of Islam and discover that they are still deeply rele-
vant today. 

The first challenge was to understand Islam and then interpret that under-
standing. Today, more than ever before, Islam is considered a great reli-
gion, an egalitarian faith, and a holistic way of life by Muslims and oth-
ers. More and more people are realizing the extent to which Islamic values 
and the Shari'ah, which are just and universal in character, may contribute 
to solving the problems of contemporary civilization. They also recognize 
that Islamic guidance, which integrates revelation and reason, answers eter-
nal questions about living righteously on earth and establishing a just and 
rational 'umriin (civilization). 

Both HIT and AMSS believe that Muslim scholars and intellectuals will 
serve Islam and humanity if they articulate a comprehensive worldview 
premised on Islamic ontology, epistemology, and methodology. This 
worldview will enable Muslims to institutionalize and observe Islamic 
ideals and central principles such as tawhid, 'umriin and tazkiyah , enable 
non-Muslims to interpret life, nature, and human phenomena, and have suf-
ficient elements shared between them to facilitate a universal discourse that 
can bring the fruits of Islam to all humanity. 

The second challenge concerned diagnosing the contemporary condition 
of the Muslim Ummah. Despite the Islamic values and principles that it 
possesses and the human and natural resources it enjoys, the Ummah has 
been in decline for several centuries. Muslims have been subjected to 
incomparable defeats and humiliation. In today's global media they are 



vi The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 17:l 

stereotyped as terrorists, fanatical, and backward. Although many Muslims 
have adopted Western models in the realms of politics, economics, and 
education, striving to realize the material fruits of Western modernity; how-
ever, in the bargain, they have lost many of the virtues of an Islamic model. 

These Muslims lack vision; intellectual poverty and anarchy color their 
performance. Revival and reform in the Muslim world have been attempt-
ed but unfortunately most of these efforts have dealt with symptoms not 
causes. No doubt, external forces did not allow Muslims much opportuni-
ty to realize the intellectual challenges and concerns of the time; however, 
what aggravated the situation even further is that Islamic projects con-
cerned with reform did not fully comprehend the problems of Muslim men-
tality (thought processes and culture), which developed during periods of 
backwardness. Many of these reform projects are also ignorant about the 
sunan (laws) of social change. 

Thus we arrive at the third challenge: prescribing solutions and remedies. 
The need to revive the Islamic civilizational project, which is comprehen-
sive and integrated, is inescapable. Muslim activists, scholars, and politi-
cians need to work hard complementing each other's efforts and covering 
all fields of activity and issues simultaneously. The American Journal of 
Islamic Social Science (AJISS), sponsored by HIT and AMSS, was envis-
aged to be a forum of serious study and dialogue among intellectuals and 
scholars regarding only one aspect of that project, namely, Islamic method-
ology as a way of thinking, research, and practice. Its task was to revive 
Islamic thought, providing a clear vision that in tum facilitates efforts on 
other fronts regarding not only the needs of Muslims, but also that of all 
humanity. 

A main feature of Islamic discourse during most of the 20th century has 
been Islam's regaining its identity as a civilization. This task was directed 
at the Islamic self: in one sense a historical search, in another a defensive 
reaction. Toward the end of the century transmitting Islamic ideals and val-
ues became obviously another important task that complemented the 
first. This mission-oriented task was directed toward the non-Muslim other, 
which required an added- not alternative - discourse of openness, flex-
ibility, and reconciliation. These two tasks: maintaining Islamic identity of 
the self, with its unique and special qualities, and transmitting Islamic 
ideals and values, are a religious duty as well as a human need. Together 
they pave the way for the Ummah to actualize its international presence. 



Editorial vii 

Revival of Islamic thought might be a direct responsibility of the Muslim 
intellectual elite but the realization of this project demands the involvement 
of the whole Ummah. For this reason, interaction with the issues that con-
cern the Muslims should always be present on the Muslim scholars' agen-
da. We have to acknowledge that reviving Islamic thought is contingent on 
the ability of the Muslim intellectual elite to constitute itself on the basis of 
valid assumptions, appropriate methodology, and prioritized research pro-
grams. This process of development and change has proven to be slow, as 
has been the transfer of its effect to new generations of Muslim scholars and 
researchers. But we need not despair. When we look back and assess what 
happened, we find a modest accumulation of experience. Circumstances 
may come to provoke a dramatic, swift change and precipitate a complete 

. paradigm shift. 
AJ/SS has served admirably as a forum that articulates this vision and fine 

tunes many of its elements. Research papers, articles, and discussions pub-
lished in AJ/SS since its inception have accumulated a considerable amount 
of quality literature that will be essential to shape the future of lslamization 
of knowledge. 

I encourage our readers to make use of this past research and suggest spe-
cific projects on how to better distribute its benefits and develop its ideas 
and practices. 

Fathi Malkawi 
Associate Editor