Transformative Inquiry 
and Production of Islamic Knowledge 

Zahra A1 Zeera 

Abstract 
Transformative inquiry is proposed in this paper as an alternative 
research method that emerges from the Islamic paradigm and leads 
to the creation of Islamic knowledge on one hand and inner self 
transformation on the other. The emphasis, however, will be 
on transformative research methods based on this union of inner 
experiences of awakening of the soul from inside and unfolding of 
research experiences and knowledge from outside. Before doing that, 
I will shed some light on related issues of conventional and alternative 
paradigms such as positivism and constructivism. Also related issues 
to transformation, such as wholeness and relationships, are discussed. 
Finally, four methods of inquiry, are proposed as transformative 
methods that have the potential for producing Islamic knowledge. 

Being concerned about the knowledge produced by Muslim scholars and 
thousands of graduate students at western universities, I propose using 
research methods that are open, yet rooted in the Islamic paradigm and 
the essence of tuwheed: oneness and unity. The Islamic communities in 
western societies are deprived of knowledge that is genuinely Islamic and 
contemporary at the same time. Apart from some creative and serious work 
produced by Muslim scholars and thinkers in the West, the Islamic 
academic world at western universities is far behind what one would 
expect. Thousands of Muslim students have been registering and 
graduating from universities in North America and Europe for decades, yet 

Zahra A1 Zeera is Director of the Oriental Printing and Publishing Groups, Manama, Bahrain. 
She was a former visiting Professor in Education at the university of Toronto, Canada. 



2 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

their contribution to the advancement of Islamic knowledge is very small. 
The majority of our students are choosing topics for their theses that have 
no relevance to Islamic issues and, therefore, do not contribute to the devel- 
opment and growth of Islamic knowledge. Moreover, by avoiding Islamic 
topics for their research, students are denying the development of their 
inner selves. The result is advanced intellectual development yet immature 
spiritual development, in other words, imbalance between the mind and the 
soul and fragmentation of the self and knowledge produced by that 
person. So positivism in the West created fragmented knowledge through 
its secular and one-dimensional epistemology and quantitative research 
methods. Mainstream professionals and academicians in all fields created 
fragmented knowledge. Despite the fact that their view is a radically 
erroneous one, they form an influential portion of the academic population. 

Their view is erroneous because positivists tend to believe that reality 
is “outside” of themselves, not only objective but also concrete and 
quantifiable. That is, they believe that they can stand totally outside of what 
is real, be neutral toward it, and be able to compartmentalize, measure and 
quantify it. They pride themselves on adopting scientific methods to study, 
control and understand reality. What makes their method scientific, they 
claim, is basically the objective approach to reality. It is their belief that 
what is not quantifiable is less than real, merely subjective. Due to positivist 
indoctrination at universities, Muslim students, like other students are 
following the mainstream as an easy and safe passage to their graduation. 
By doing so, students waste the most precious years of their life doing 
research that neither advances Islamic knowledge nor increases self- 
awareness and awakening of the soul. 

Positivism, with a sharp knife, cuts apart the soul and the mind. What is 
not tangible and visible is not worth researching and studying. It simply 
does not exist for them. So Muslim students are tom between the 
development of the mind and the soul. They are indirectly made to choose 
between the sacred that lies inside them invisible, silent and profound and 
the secular, the aggressive demands of the modem mind. The rationale is 
that they have to be practical and worldly. The more they feel fragmented 
the more they feel the pain of separation with their inner selves. 

Disenchantment with positivism prepared the grounds for the emergence 
of constructivism/ interpretivism. Yet both positivist and constructivist 
paradigms are fragmented, each in its own terms. 

Reality, according to positivism, is objective and exists somewhere 
outside the research. Accordingly knowledge is associated with pure 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 3 

objectivity and absolutism. Constructivism, on the other hand, is 
associated with subjectivity, and reality according to constructivists 
is subjective and socially constructed. So we have gone from one extreme 
to another, either subjective or objective. That is to say, constructivists 
believe that the nature of reality is relative, and therefore there is no 
objective reality out there; nothing is absolute; everything is relative and 
hence this -worldly. Both views are reductionist, although constructivism 
reduces the scope of fragmentation, allowing for more humanistic methods 
of inquiry at the worldly level only. 

It is important at this point to emphasize that a great potential lies in the 
integration of transformative inquiry and an Islamic paradigm that allows 
for the production of Islamic knowledge. It is through an Islamic paradigm 
that researchers can utilize Islamic and ‘tawheedi’ interpretation. 
Transformative inquiry, if used within the Islamic paradigm, can reduce the 
fragmentation of knowledge and self and produce Islamic holistic 
knowledge. My concern is two fold: a) production of holistic Islamic 
knowledge that is suitable for the Muslim community in North America 
and Europe; b) connection of students to their souls and their inner selves 
through methods of transformative inquiry and dialectical thinking. 
By doing so I am hoping that Muslim academicians and scholars will 
contribute to the faded Islamic civilization, and to the world literature and 
knowledge that is both whole and holy. Wholeness can be achieved through 
producing, holistic knowledge and holiness through connecting to one’s 
inner self and acknowledging the sacred inside us. 

The concept of transformation is not a novel one; what is new is 
reclaiming the role of the sacred and the spiritual in the process of research 
and inquiry in the academic arena. There appears to be a current need and 
opportunity within the scholarly domain to explore the spiritual dimension 
of one’s life and work. It is, no doubt, an inquiry that is fraught with 
difficulties, complexities and confusion. I must admit that despite the 
deficiency in the constructivist and interpretivist paradigm, it is through this 
open paradigm that issues related to the heart and the soul started to leak 
out and be acceptable, since the main assumption of constructivist is that 
the nature of reality is relative. Some researchers have taken that to mean 
“everything goes,” as long as it is not restricted by positivism and their 
assumptions of reality. I consider constructivism as the back door of 
transformative inquiry that might lead to studies of spirituality if used in the 
right context. Transformative inquiry, I believe, is a higher stage of 



4 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

development in research methods that emerged naturally and organically 
from the Islamic paradigm. Such an approach to inquiry has also arisen in 
other contexts. As methods are evolving from one level to higher levels, 
transformative research methods might too evolve to higher levels of 
development and be replaced by yet other more comprehensive methods. 

The idea of transformative inquiry is not a novelty for me. I developed 
this idea more than ten years ago in my doctoral thesis, and others have 
proposed transformative and dialectical approaches as well. I believe 
hermeneutics, heuristics, phenomenology, narrative inquiry and other 
qualitative research methods can be categorized as transformative inquiry. 
The idea of integrating qualitative research methods and the Islamic 
paradigm was further developed within the context of the quantum world- 
view. I borrowed from the quantum worldview two major principles of 
Complementarity and Uncertainty to present my ideas of transformative 
research methods through the holistic Islamic worldview. In this section 
the focus is on the concept of transformation and its relationship with 
research methods that I call close and open systems. Closed systems 
such as positivism prevent transformation, while open systems such as 
constructivism have the potential of promoting transformation. However, it 
is argued here that neither system is appropriate for the production of 
Islamic knowledge. This is presented in detail in the coming sections. 

The transformational perspective is holistic and relational, since it 
emphasizes viewing the world from a complementary perspective that 
accommodates and accepts extremes, as they are part of reality. An 
aggressive clash or a peaceful dialogue between extremes opens the 
channels for flow of energy and transformation. An important point in the 
process of transformation is that the researcher adopts a holistic paradigm, 
a paradigm that holds as its basic premise that reality is ideal and relative, 
subjective and objective, spiritual and material. Holding such an open and 
wide perspective encourages interaction and relationships between 
contradictory elements. Transformation gradually leads to transcendence. 
That is to say, we are able to go beyond transformation and transcend to 
higher experiences through reflective research methods. An attempt is 
made here to show that the transformational perspective is rooted in the 
Islamic worldview. 

Reflection helps researchers to transcend their knowledge of themselves, 
bringing them to the knowledge of the unity of the natural and the divine 
Principle, helping them to go beyond realization and experience oneness, 



A1 Zeera: Tmformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 5 

tawheed, that is the ultimate goal of Islam. The importance of reflection lies 
in its unifying nature, that connects the person to her or his experience and 
then transcends that experience to higher levels. Human beings evolve 
pdually through self-realization to realization of the unity of God‘s 
knowledge. Islam is a developmental school of thought that eventually 
transcends the material and rises to the spiritual. 

An understanding of the world hinges on understanding the way 
unconscious energy mobilizes a relationship between self and 
situation. Human knowledge is a direct product of the process through 
which humans engage and act in their world; it expresses a 
relationship between internal and external, subjective and objective. 
Traditionally, social sciences has sought for a knowledge 
emphasizing one or another extreme in this relationship. 
The transformational perspective suggests that it is necessary to 
bridge the gap between these extremes and ground knowledge in 
an understanding of the way the internal worlds of ideas and ideals 
is linked to the external world of matter.’ 

Transformation is stressed in this paper because it indicates a change in 
kind rather than degree. Transformation is defined by Williams as 
“a process theoretically more open to the natural process of human 
development. It has, as its undergirding thought process, the theory of 
dissipative structures and shifts in kind rather than degree, a difference that 
makes a difference a difference.” So transformation indicates inclusive 
change or a reconstruction. Transformation occurs when the system is open 
and has dissipative structures (Prigogine,) where elements, ideas, thoughts 
and feelings flow freely consciously and unconsciously. The theory of 
dissipative structures “is relevant to everyday life-people. It offers a 
scientific model of transformation at every level.”2 

Dissipative Structures and Transformation 
The theory of dissipative structures won the 1977 Nobel prize in chemistry 
for a Belgian physical chemist, Ilya Prigogine. It explains the “irreversible 
processes” in nature: the movement toward higher and higher orders of life. 

Pngogine’s theory resolves the fundamental riddle of how living 
things have been running uphill in the universe that is supposed to be 
running down .... It explains the critical role of stress in transformation 



6 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

and the impetus toward transformation inherent in nature ... A dissipate 
structure might well be described as flowing wholene~s.~ 

Stress and tension play an important role in transformation and in open 
systems or, as termed by Prigogine, “dissipative structures”. Instability is 
the key to transformation. ‘The dissipation of energy creates the potential 
for sudden re~rdering.”~ Ferguson explains how the concept of dissipative 
structures can be seen in human society. 

The greater the instability and variations of the society, the more 
interactions occur. We are transformed through interaction with people, the 
environment, and the situation we are studying. If the research methods we 
are using are open and allow for free and powerful interaction between the 
researcher and participants or the researcher and the situation she or he is 
studying, then transfer of energy is possible and transformation is more 
likely to happen. 

To go back to the concepts of change and transformation, Ferguson 
proposes four ways in which we change when we get new and 
conflicting information. These are: change by exception; incremental 
change; pendulum change; and paradigm change. Change by exception is 
the most limited way of change, where our old belief system remains intact 
but allows for a handful of anomalies. Incremental change occurs bit by bit 
and the individual is not aware of having changed. Pendulum change fails 
to integrate what was right with the old and fails to discriminate the value 
of the new from its overstatements. Pendulum change rejects its own 
experience, going from one kind of half-known to another. Change by these 
three ways does not lead to transformation. The brain cannot deal with 
conflicting bits of information unless it can integrate them or accept them 
through a dialectical way of thinking. 

The fourth way of change suggested by Ferguson is the paradigm change. 
“The paradigm change-transformation is the fourth dimension of change. 
The new perspective, the insight that allows the information to come 
together in a new form of structure. Paradigm change refines and integrates. 
Paradigm change attempts to heal the delusion of either-or, of this- 
~r-that.”~ Thus transformation within dissipative structures happens 
holistically and dialectically. It embraces the individual and the society. 
It touches the individual and the collective consciousness. 

Positivism as a closed System 
Two major paradigms, namely positivism and constructivsm or 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge I 

interpretivism, are reviewed briefly in this section to see how each 
paradigm promotes or prevents transformation. 

The dominant paradigm that has guided educational and psychological 
research for many decades is positivism. As we all know, positivism is 
based on the rationalistic, empiricist philosophy that originated 
with Francis Bacon, John h k e ,  and August Comte. The underlying 
assumptions of positivism include the belief that the social world can be 
studied in the same way as the natural world, that there is a method for 
studying the social world that is value free, and that explanations of causal 
nature can be provided. Guba states that: 

The basic belief system of positivism is rooted in a realist ontology, 
that is, the belief that there exists a reality out there driven by 
immutable natural laws. The business of science is to discover the 
“true” nature of reality and how it “truly” works. 

The ultimate aim of science is to predict and control natural 
phenomena. Once committed to a realist ontology, the positivist is 
constrained to practice an objective epistemology. ... The most 
appropriate methodology is thus empirical experimentalism? 

Positivism, then, rests upon five assumptions summarized by Lincoln & 
Guba. These assumptions are conscious building blocks that prevent 
personal and social transformation through research methods. 

- An ontological assumption of a single, tangible reality “out there” that 
can be broken apart into pieces capable of being studied independently; the 
whole is simply the sum of its parts. 

- An epistemological assumption about the possibility of separation of the 
observer from the observed -the knower from the known. 

- An assumption of the temporal and contextual independence of 
observations, so that what is true at one time and place may, under 
appropriate circumstances (such as sampling) also be true at another time 
and place. 

- An assumption of linear causality; there are no effects without causes 
and no causes without effects. 

- An axiological assumption of value freedom, that is, that the 
methodology guarantees that the results of an inquiry are essentially free 
from the influence of any value system? 

After examining and reflecting on the above positivist assumptions, we 
see that the positivist paradigm and the knowledge produced by it can be 



8 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

regarded as a closed system, detached, artificial, unrealistic, objectivist, 
duelist, manipulative and fragmented. Ontologically researchers, 
consciously or unconsciously cany on a study assuming that there is a 
single, tangible reality out there and that they are capable of getting hold of 
that reality, provided they follow some experimental and, statistical 
protocols, so that they are able to fragment the problem to be manageable 
and thus, to be able to manipulate the situation and eventually control it. 

According to positivism, the more detached the researcher is from the 
data and the more “objective” she or he is in collecting and analyzing the 
data, the more rigorous, valid and reliable the results are considered to be. 
The results, then, can be generalized assuming that problems, situations, 
circumstances are replaceable so results are treated as time-and-context 
free. Some of these generalizations take the form of cause-effect laws. 

So all the limitations imposed by the paradigm on the researcher and 
consequently by the research on the problem, the data and the design 
prevent the positivist paradigm and related research methods from being 
open, and transfornation is hindered. A manipulative system controls 
energy to flow hierarchically and in one direction only. This consciously 
blocks all other directions and prevents a natural flow of energy. 

Transformation, therefore, is prevented because all variables are 
controlled consciously in such a way that transformation does not occur. 
Interaction and openness disturbs the design and violates the rules and 
regulations of pre-designed models and dependent and independent 
variables are interacted and the researcher loses control over the study. 
So transformation is not allowed under the positivist paradigm because 
it causes instability and disturbance to the variables and to the design of 
the study. 

The positivist paradigm and the research methods attached to it are closed 
systems that prevent the flow of energy mainly because of their f i g -  
mented nature. In fragmented, compartmentalized research methods such 
as experimental design, there is no place for interaction. As a matter of fact, 
it is prevented consciously and scientifically by statistical design and 
manipulation of data. 

Therefore, qualities such as single and tangible reality, objectivity, 
control of variables, manipulation of data, cause and effect relationships, all 
connote lack of interaction and fragmentation of the problem studied by the 
researcher. Relationships suffer when there is fragmentation of knowledge, 
manipulation and control, since variables are controlled. Objectivity, for 
example, is an essential pillar in the positivist paradigm and statistical 



A1 Zeera: Transformative hquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 9 

designs. The more detached the researcher is from the “subjects” of 
the study and from the data collected, the better off she or he is, since 
interaction with the data might affect the results. This factor causes severe 
damage in relationships and blocks the flow of energy and hence prevents 
transformation. 

The Constructivist Paradigm as an Open System 
Disenchantment with the positivist paradigm and knowledge produced 
through quantitative methods and analyzed statistically led social scientists 
to look for alternative research methods and alternative paradigms. 
Constructivism/Interpretivism is presented here as an alternative paradigm 
that is less rigid than the positivist paradigm and has the potential for 
transformation. Issues related to the above paradigm are now discussed, 
with respect to ontology, epistemology, and methodology. 

The basic assumptions underlying the interpretive paradigm, identified 
by Guba and Lincoln8 are as follows: 

- An ontological assumption of a multiple, constructed and holistic 
reality; realities exist in the form of multiple mental constructions. 

- An epistemological assumption about the knower and the known as 
interactive and inseparable; 

- An assumption of temporal and context dependence; only time- 
and context-bound, working hypotheses and ideographic statements are 
possible. 

- An assumption of causality and that all entities are in a state of mutual 
simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from 
effects; 

An axiological assumption that methodology is necessarily value bound, 
interactive, subjective and based on participants’ views. 

From an ontological point of view, the basic belief system of 
construtivism is rooted in a non-absolotist ontology. Realities exist in the 
form of multiple mental constructions, socially and experientially based, 
dependent in their form and content on the persons who hold them, some 
of which may be in conflict with each other. So perceptions of reality may 
change during the process of the study. Constructivists reject the notion 
that there is an objective reality that can be known, and take the stance that 
the researcher’s goal is to understand the multiple social constructions of 
meaning and knowledge. The value of empathy is emphasized in the 
constructivist and the phenomenological doctrine of verstehen, which 



10 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

undergirds many constructivists inquires. Verstehen, a concept emphasized 
by Dilthey, means to make sense of the world, to understand. 

Epistemologically, the constructivist takes a subjective position. The 
knower and the known are co-created in the process of inquiry. The 
researcher opts for a more personal, interactive mode of data collection. 
Constructivist epistemology has unique qualities that distinguish it 
from positivist epistemology. Developmental perspective, empathy and 
subjectivity are assumptions that uniquely set apart constructivists from 
positivists. 

Constructivist researchers strive to understand phenomena or a situation 
as a whole, looking for the unifying nature of particular settings. 
This holistic approach assumes that the whole is to be understood as a 
complex system that is greater than the sum of its parts. It also assumes that 
a description and understanding of a person’s social environment or an 
organization’s political context is essential for overall understanding of 
what is observed. 

The advantage of qualitative portrayals of holistic settings is that greater 
attention can be given to settings, interdependencies, complexities, 
idiosyncrasies, and context. Deutscher has argued that, despite the totality 
of our personal experiences as living, working human beings, researchers 
have mostly focused their studies solely on parts or fragments of wholes. 

We knew that human behavior was rarely if ever directly influenced 
or explained by an isolated variable; we knew that it was impossible 
to assume that any of such variables were additive (with or without 
weighting); we knew that the complex mathematics of the interaction 
among any set of variables was incomprehensible to us. In effect, 
although we knew they did not exist, we defined them in to being? 

It is no simple task to undertake holistic study, to search for wholes in 
a given situation. The challenge for the participant observer is to seek the 
essence of the life of the participant, to sum up and to find a central 
unifying principle. Understanding and seeking meaning in any situation 
requires a great deal of openness, empathy and patience. Constructivist and 
interpretive studies become particularly useful where one needs to 
understand some special groups, particular problem, or unique situation in 
great depth and where one can identify and analyze complicated cases. 
The more a study aims at individualized outcomes, the greater the 
appropriateness of interpretive research methods. 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 11 

Methodologically the constructivist/interpretive paradigm is hermeneutic 
and dialectic. Individual constructions are elicited and refined hermeneuti- 
cally , and compared and contrasted dialectically, with the aim 
of generating one or a few constructions in which there is substantial 
consensus. lo Multiple perspectives yield interpretations of meanings 
by participants and the researcher, who is considered to be participant 
observer in the study. 

Qualitative methods such as interviews, observations, document- 
review and analysis are 'predominant in a constructivist paradigm. 
These are applied accordingly to the assumption of the social 
construction of reality that, therefore, research can be conducted only 
through interaction between and among the researcher and 
participants.' ' 

The methodological implication of having multiple realities is that 
research questions cannot be definitively established before the study 
begins; rather they will evolve and change as the study progress. 
Qualitative methods are developmental and dynamic. A primary interest of 
a qualitative researcher is describing and understanding this dynamic 
question-formulating process and its holistic effect on participants who are 
providing ideas. In real-world conditions where settings, situations and 
programs are subject to change and redirection, qualitative inquiry replaces 
fixed treatment and controlled experiment with a dynamic process of 
changing and reflecting on the data. Flexible and dynamic research is not 
tied to a single treatment and predetermined goals or outcomes. It focuses 
on the actual process and operations over a period of time. 

The constructivist researcher sets out to understand the situation and 
describe it, making no attempt to manipulate, control or eliminate 
situational variables or any development as it occurs, but accepting the 
complexity of a changing situation. The holistic, dialectical assumptions of 
qualitative research methods allow the researcher to understand multiple 
interrelationships among dimensions that emerge from the data without 
making prior assumptions or specifying hypotheses about the linear or 
correlative relationships. 

The Subjectivity-Objectivity Issue 
The subjectivity-objectivity dilemma is discussed here to challenge the 
myth of objectivity and shed some light on the subjectivity issue and its 
place in transformative inquiry methods. The subjectivity-objectivity issue 



12 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

has been considered a major focal point of the methodological and 
epistemological debate. Subjectivity is often used to signify a form of 
contamination in social and scientific inquiry (Apple, 1990). To be 
subjective is to be biased, allowing one’s values to enter into and prejudice 
the outcome of one’s research. Subjective data imply opinion rather than 
fact, intuition rather than logic, impression rather than confirmation. 

The conventional means for controlling subjectivity and maintaining 
objectivity are the methods of quantitative social science: distance from 
people being studied, operationalizing and statistical measurement, 
manipulation of isolated variables and experimental designs are all means 
used by positivists in their research. Yet the ways in which measures are 
constructed in educational and psychological tests and questionnaires are, 
in fact, no less open to the intrusion of the researcher’s biases than making 
observations in the field or asking questions in interviews. “Numbers 
do not protect against biases, they merely disguise them. All statistical 
data are based on someone’s definition of what to measure and how 
to measure 

Scriven argues that quantitative methods are no more synonymous with 
objectivity than qualitative methods with subjectivity. Objectivity has been 
considered the strength of the scientific method. The primary methods for 
achieving objectivity in science have been conducting blind experiments 
and quantification. Data are gathered through objective tests that are, it is 
said, not dependent on human skill or perception. However, no one doubts 
that tests and questionnaires are designed by human beings and are subject 
to the intrusion of the researcher’s biases, her or his intellectual abilities, 
and other personal or professional qualities. There are many cases of 
unconscious bias or even dishonesty on behalf of the researcher in the 
skillful manipulation of statistics to prove a hypothesis in which the 
researcher antecedently believes. 

Qualitative rigor has to do with the quality of observations made by the 
researcher. Therefore instead of focusing on refining and re-refining the 
instrument and limiting it more to fit into the statistical design, emphasis 
must be put on refining the researcher’s professional and ethical qualities. 
That is mainly because she or he is the instrument for gathering 
information and also the means for summarizing, classifying and 
interpreting the data. Underlying assumptions of qditative research 
emphasize the importance of human contact and intensive involvement of 
the researcher in the respondents’ lives. Dialogue and dialectic are major 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of E W c  Knowledge 13 

concepts in the constructivist paradigm and qualitative methodology; 
therefore, the researcher has to find ways of being fair and objective 
without being detached and indifferent. “Distance does not guarantee 
objectivity, it merely guarantees distance.” Guba suggests ‘fairness’ as a 
substitute criterion. Patton suggests the concept of neutrality as a 
substitute for subjectivity. ‘The neutral researcher enters the field with no 
axe to grind, no theory to prove and no predetermined results to support. 
Rather, the researcher’s commitment should be to the principles of the 
constructivist paradigm and its assumption of understanding wholeness 
and the multiple realities of the situation under study.”13 
The constructivist paradigm and interpretive research methods can be 
described, cautiously though, as open systems that possess dissipative 
structures, subjective, dialectic, holistic and interactive. These characteris- 
tics allow for free flow of energy in all directions. Relationship is a key 
concept in dissipative structures and transformational research methods. 

wholeness, Relationships and Transformation 
Two important concepts that allow a system to be open or closed and can 
embrace the rest of the qualities in both paradigms are the concepts of 
wholeness and relationships. Open systems accept the flow of energy in all 
directions and all levels by the interaction between the inquirer (researcher) 
and the inquired into the situation. The flow of conversations and open 
interviews promotes transformation. The fact that, in the constructivist 
paradigm, realities are multiple and researchers are willing to listen to 
other realities and other opinions facilitates the process of personal 
transformation. 

Subjectivity in constructivism encourages open systems that allow 
for free interaction. “The knower and the known are interactive and 
in~eparable.”’~ In the constructivist paradigm there are no causal linkages, 
or cause-and-effect laws. Instead “all entities are in a state of mutual 
simultaneous shaping”, so that it is impossible to distinguish the known 
from the knower. In open systems, control and manipulation are less 
excersized than in closed systems. There is no hierarchy in open systems; 
the elements interact dialectically and human constructs are understood 
dialectically. 

Transformative relationship is a whole that is more than the sum of its 
parts. It is synergistic and holistic. Like a dissipative structure, it is 
open to the world -a celebration and exploration, not a hiding 



14 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

place._To have a transformative relationship you must be open 
and vulnerable. Most people meet only at their peripheries .... 
The transformative relationship is a shared journey toward meaning. 
The process itself is paramount and cannot be compromi~ed.’~ 

Islamic Paradigm and Transformative Inquiry 

Although the constructivist paradigm and interpretive research methods 
have the potential for promoting transformation at certain levels, the 
Islamic paradigm and transformational research methods have the capacity 
for more comprehensive and more coherent transformation that goes 
in harmony with the Islamic belief system. A holistic worldview must, in 
the end, draw all these levels -the personal, the social and the spiritual- 
into one coherent whole. The Divine Principles of wholeness and 
complementarity play a crucial role in creating coherence and integration 
between dichotomies, on both the macrosmic and microcosmic levels. 

The Islamic worldview transcends the dichotomy between mind and 
body, as well as between inner and outer. The creative dialogue between 
mind, matter and soul is the basis for creativity in the universe and is also 
the basis for human creativity. The self experiences no dichotomy between 
the inner and the outer because the two - the inner world of mind and soul, 
the outer world of matter -give rise to each other. 

The Islamic worldview is religious and rational. It is both divine and 
realistic. Islamic epistemology is both religious and rational. What relates 
these conceptual frameworks is divinity and humanity. At all conceptual 
levels there are two threads, a golden thread and a silver thread, which are 
intimately interwoven in this conceptual tapestry to formulate Islamic 
designs and thoughts. 

The golden thread is the divine, the spiritual, the religious, the eternal, the 
constant, the absolute and the ideal toward which individuals strive. The 
silver thread is the human, the material, the rational, the temporary, the 
mutable, the relative and the actual that we live and experience. The 
golden and the silver threads are so intimately interwoven in the Islamic 
tapestry of knowledge and action that any separation between them will 
damage the unity, harmony and coherence of the Islamic designs which 
give this uniqueness to Islamic thoughts. 

What is important here is that these two threads are both working 
together to create one design; the golden thread on the divine and spiritual 
level, the silver thread on the human and material level. Although they are 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 15 

working at different levels, they are working toward one ultimate goal. This 
intermingling between the spiritual and material, between the golden and 
the silver threads eventually ends up as a pure single golden thread, which 
embodies the concept of tawhid -unity and harmony in Islam. 

The fragmented worldview of positivism and quantitative research 
methods that social scientists have adopted for decades increase the 
dichotomy in our consciousness and the knowledge produced through such 
research methods. 

Ever since Plato, the West has stressed the rational and the analytic, 
the rules by which we form thoughts and make decisions ... The cost 
of this has been the overlooking of another side to human knowing 
and experience, what might be called the intuitive side, the side 
that draws on wisdom, imagination, and creativity. In modem 
neurophysiological terms, these two sides of our mental life have been 
spoken of as the right brain/left brain split, and our culture as a 
left-brain culture. Using an equally good metaphor from quantum 
physics, we might speak of this situation as a particlehave split and 
say that our cu€ture has emphasized the particle aspect of the mind.16 

To sum up, transformation in any field and at any level is possible only 
through an open system and dissipative structures. In this paper, the 
positivist paradigm and experimental research methods and statistical 
designs are regarded as closed systems that prevent transformation 
consciously or subconsciously. On the other hand, the constructivist 
paradigm and interpretive inquiry and research methods are considered 
too-open systems, because of their underlying assumptions, which are not 
appropriate for the production of Islamic knowledge. Finally, the Islamic 
paradigm and transformative inquiry and qualitative research methods 
are considered as open systems guided by the Islamic paradigm that 
promote and encourage transformation because of the underlying concept 
of wholeness. 

In the following section I will present four research methods that have 
the potential to be part of transformative inquiry, mainly because of the 
wholeness and openness of the methods and their ability to encompass the 
complexity of the relationships of human beings and the society. In 
addition, complementarity and uncertainty are built-in qualities in 
transformative inquiry. Transformation occurs, I believe, when the system 
is open and has dissipative structures where elements, ideas, thoughts, and 
feelings flow freely, consciously and subconsciously. Phenomenology, 



16 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

hermeneutic, heuristic and narrative inquiry are presented here as open 
systems that allow for transformation, and if integrated with the Islamic 
paradigm, have the potential of producing Islamic knowledge. 

PhenomenoIogy 
Phenomenology is defined as “the systematic investigation of 
subjectivity”.17 Langeveld explains the aims of phenomenology are to 
study the world as it appears to us in and through consciousness. The value 
of a phenomenological study is measured in terms of its power to let us 
come to the understanding of ourselves and understanding of lives of those 
for whom we bear pedagogical responsibility. The phenomenologist views 
human behavior, what people say and do, as a product of how people 
experience and define their world. The task for the phenomenologist 
and for us, the qualitative methodologist, is to capture this process of 
inteqmtation. In brief, the phenomenologist attempts to understand things 
from other people’s points of view. 

A phenomenological system has different sets of premises, and 
consequently demands ethical restraints. The system is premised on rather 
radically different presumptions and assumptions regarding reality, the role 
of the researcher, the interaction and the relationship between the 
researcher and the researched, and the possibility of a value-free science. 
Beginning with the premise that reality is a socially constructed entity, 
the phenomenologist looks in natural contexts for the ways in which 
individuals and groups make sense of their worlds. The collection of those 
intact realities or constructions, and interpretation of how those realities got 
constructed, and the understanding of meaning-making are the main 
features of phenomenologically oriented inquiries. 

At this point I would like to discuss how an open system, like 
phenomenology for example, can act as a two-edged sword. On the one 
hand an open system of inquiry can be considered as mind-and-soul 
liberating because of its openness to accommodate different views from all 
participants in the study. This process is called constructing realities, when 
the phenomenologist listens to participants as they are revealing their 
stories and reconstructing them. That is definitely those participants’ 
realities and nobody else’s, and that is why phenomenology is defined 
as a systematic investigation into subjectivity. The danger lies not in 
constructing those “realities”, but in interpreting them from a relativist 
perspective. It is here that many qualitative methods fail to create holistic 



A1 Zeera: Tramformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 17 

knowledge. However, the problem is not in qualitative methods, phenome- 
nology, or narrative. The problem is in the constructivist/interpritivist 
paradigm that is relativist and whose reality is socially constructed; that is 
to say, there is no belief in an objective reality ‘out there’. 

From an Islamic perspective, reality is holistic and one, and from the 
wholeness emerges the absolute and the relative, the permanent and the 
temporal, the good and the evil. Therefore, realities should be interpreted in 
the light of the Islamic essence of tawheed. This is to say socially 
constructed realities have to be understood with reference to what “ought 
to be” and not to what “is.” 

In thinking about reconstructing knowledge that facilitates and creates an 
Islamic epistemology, methods of social studies should be reconstructed 
first. Islamic scholars as well as western scholars have expressed 
disenchantment about scientific research methods. A1 Faruqi 
highlights three major shortcomings that render scientific approaches 
to research inappropriate to Islamic knowledge: (a) the denial of relevance 
to a priori data; (b) false sense of objectivity; (c) personalist 
versus ummatic axiology. He states that 

The western student of human nature and society was not in the mood 
to realize that not ail the pertinent data of human behavior are 
observable by the senses and hence subject to quantification and 
measurement ... Being spiritual, these elements are not isolable, 
separate Erom their natural carriers. Nor are they ever subject to the 
only measurement science knows, the quantitative. Science treated 
them as nonexistent or irrelevant.18 

He discusses an important feature of scientific, western methodology that 
violates a crucial requirement of Islamic methodology, namely unity of 
truth. In addition Al Faruqi explains how empathy and perception of values 
are themselves subjective processes. 

The perception of value is impossible unless the human behavior is 
able to move the observer. Similarly, the observer cannot be moved 
unless he is trained to be affected, and unless he has empathy with the 
object of his experience. The subject’s attitude toward the data studied 
determines the outcome of the study. This is why the humanistic stud- 
ies of western scientists are necessarily “western” and cannot serve as 
models for the study of Muslims or their society.19 



18 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

Finally, perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of Islamic methodol- 
ogy is the principle of the unity of truth. This principle holds that truth is a 
modality of God and is inseparable from Him, that truth is one just as God 
is one. It is hence invalid to seek to establish knowledge of human reality 
without acknowledging what that reality ought to be. Any investigation of 
a human “is” must therefore include its standing as an “ought to be” 
within the realm of possibility. 

An important feature of Islamic methodology and knowledge 
throughout history is its wholeness. A holistic, phenomenological or 
naturalistic methodology no doubt could create integrated, unified 
knowledge that leads to the realization of the unity of truth. By realizing 
and accepting the dialectical concept of tawheed, Muslim scholars are 
challenged to search for truth in contradictory and opposing ideas and 
situations. Studying any problem phenomenologically allows the 
researcher to examine the situation as it reveals itself naturally without a 
priori conditioning. It also allows the researcher to observe the relationship 
between various elements as they interact in a natural setting. By doing so, 
the researcher is in a position to see and experience a “whole” picture, or at 
least as whole as human limitations permit. 

An educationa1 problem, for example, if studied holistically or phenom- 
enologically, reveals the interaction between the individual and the 
situation. Philosophically speaking, the method reveals the interaction 
between human beings and the universe. Scientific approaches, however, 
can not encompass the wholeness of problems. 

The answer to these shortcomings lies, of course, in the phenomenologi- 
cal method, which requires that the observer let the phenomena speak 
for themselves rather than force them into any predetermined ideational 
framework; let the eidetic vision of essence order the data for the 
understanding and be corroborated by them. These essentials of .the 
phenomenological method were known to and meticulously observed by 
the Muslim scholar Abu a1 Rayhan al Biruni (440/1048) in his classical 
study of the religion and culture of India. The methodological principles he 
established were continued in a long tradition of comparative learning and 
writing by Muslims. The phenomenological method was first introduced 
into western philosophy by Edmund Husserl, and into the study of ethics 
and religion by Max SchelerFO 

Al Biruni used phenomenology and other methods of inquiry to study and 
understand India and its complex and rich culture. When he started his 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 19 

study on India in his book, Verification of What is Said on India, (Tahgig 
mci lil-Hind min Maqdatin), Al Biruni was confronted with a difficult task 
of how to understand a civilization with radically different customs, values, 
language and understanding of the world. Al Biruni was recognizing the 
dilemma involved in all interpretations of other civilizations, especially 
when he had his doubts about the reliability of the reports and translations 
that were available. So he created his own multi-methods for studying 
other cultures. Nine centuries ago, Al Biruni used what is called today 
triangulation to gain understanding of Indian civilizations. According to 
Chelkowski, Al Biruni used three methods. First he would let the Hindus 
speak for themselves in their own words. “It was rather a way towards 
truth.” Second, Al Biruni went through the painstaking task of “learning the 
language most suitable for gaining insight into the civilization.”21 

Al Biruni’s choice was Sanskrit. He chose Sanskrit to be able to read and 
analyze the written documents and to understand the roots of the culture. 
He wanted to know the “ought to be” from the Hindu perspective. The third 
method used by Al Biruni was the comparative method, in “his comparison 
of Hindu with Greek ideas, and secondly, with Sufi and Christian 
concepts ... he wanted to emphasize the common humanity of the Hindus to 
bring their learning into the same kind of fruitful relationship with Islamic 
thought as Greek thought had already attained.”22 

By analyzing the multiple methods used by Al Biruni in his studies of a 
different civilization and culture, we realize that he used qualitative 
research methods in his phenomenological approach. He used three major 
techniques for collecting the data for his study. First, he interviewed Hindus 
and allowed them to reveal their stories or to “construct their realities”. 
Second, he studied the language of the religious text to be able to read and 
understand the belief system from the written text so that he was able to 
interpret what is said by people as they construct their realities, what 
“is” with what “ought to be” as it is written in the books of religion. So 
interpretation is done in the context of that civilization. 

Thirdly, Al Biruni used comparative study methods to compare and 
contrast to understand the similarities and differences. So Al Biruni 
employed interviewing, participant observation, document analysis 
and comparative methods for his phenomenological study. This is an 
illustration of how constructivist/interpretive and phenomenological 
methods can be used effectively if guided by an Islamic worldview, a 
worldview that is holistic and open and does not allow for a priori 



20 The American Journd of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

misconception. The emphasis is always on the worldview because it is the 
root and the base for all other elements that constitute any civilization. 
No matter how powerful any methodology is, if it is based on a 
fragmented paradigm or worldview, that methodology is doomed to be 
fragmented and reductionist. 

It is this all-embracing emphasis on the unity of science and religion, 
knowledge and values, physics and metaphysics, which gives Islamic 
science its unique character. And it is its insistence on multiplicity of 
methods which gives it a characteristic style with synthesis as its main 
feature... As such, Islamic science is subjectively objective, that is, it 
seeks subjective goals within an objective framework.23 

Hermeneutics 
Any inquiry regarded from an Islamic perspective ought to be 
multi-dimensional and multi-leveled. No issue, no matter how small, is 
one-dimensional. Accordingly, a multi-dimensional problem cannot be 
understood and analyzed if multi-dimensional methods are not used. 
Researchers have to be open and flexible to operate within different inquiry 
methods to be able to capture the complexity of the phenomena under 
study. Both phenomenology and heuristic inquiry deal with personal, 
subjective experiences of the participants or the phenomena under study. 
“Hermeneutics itself is a very old type of text study that was originally 
confined to theological documents. The word simply means ‘interpretation’. 
Over time, the strategies of hermeneutics have undergone various 
 reformation^."^^ 

Hermeneutics is much older than phenomenology, essentially a form of 
exegesis. It was developed for examination of biblical texts. It is defined in 
dictionaries as “the art and science of interpretation”. “Martin Heidegger 
and then Paul Ricoeur masterfully appropriated hermeneutics for the social 
sciences by suggesting that human actions can be understood and 
interpreted, the same way a written text appears to the reader.”25 Accepting 
the idea of “reading society as a text’ as suggested by R. H. Brown26, we 
can use hermeneutics as an effective tool for understanding the complexity 
of the society and the collective action of human beings in certain situa- 
tions. 

The notion of text is a good paradigm for human asctiog. [because] 
human action is in many ways a quasi-text. Even more like a text, of 
which the meaning has been freed from the initial conditions of its 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 21 

productiog, action, like a text, is an open work, addressed to an 
indefinite series of possible  reader^".^' 

Hermeneutics, therefor, deals with social issues and the collective 
consciousness. Social issues are as important as personal issues if not more, 
because they touch the lives of many people. Islam addresses social issues 
in the Divine Book and emphasizes on concept of ummah fthe concept of 
Islamic community and nation). 

The social order is the heart of the society, and stands prior to the 
personal. Indeed, Islam views the personal as a necessary prerequisite 
for societal and regards human character as warped if it rests with the 
personal and does not transcend it to the societalF8 

Hermeneutics is more interested in the social than the individual 
meaning of actions. “Unlike phenomenology, hermeneutics is not 
concerned with the experienced intention of the individual, but takes action 
as an access through which to interpret the larger social context of meaning 
within which it is embedded” (Anastoos, 1987, p. 15). However, like 
phenomenology, hermeneutics involves an attempt to describes and study 
meaningful phenomena in a systematic, sincere and passionate manner. 
Passionate, because the researcher cannot distance herself or himself from 
the phenomena under study, whether engaged in hermeneutic, heuristic 
or phenomenological inquiry. Within a hermeneutic approach, the 
relationship between the knower and the known may be a close mutual 
relationship of respect and empathy. 

Reflection on Personal Experiences 
and Connection to the Self 
It is through methods like heuristic and narrative inquiry that this paper 
contributes, I hope, to the paradigm shift in contemporary Islamic literature. 
By that, I mean the inclusion of personal experiences as the base for 
discovering and revealing stories or events in the past and the way those 
events have participated in knowledge acquisition and knowledge 
production. Reflection on personal experiences allows one to realize the 
hidden meanings of events which otherwise go unnoticed. By reflecting, we 
are able to deconstruct what outsiders and strangers to our culture have 
documented as facts and reconstruct our experiences in the light of the 
current situation and the new knowledge we acquire. 



22 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

Starting with our selves, I believe, is crucial for both students and 
scholars. If the aim is to contribute to the creation of Islamic knowledge, 
as most contemporary Muslim scholars advocate, then an examination of 
the inner soul is essential. In personal experiences are hidden stones of the 
soul, stones that touch the core; we know they are not only important but 
sacred too. We treasure those experiences because we know they are real, 
and only we know that. 

Islamic knowledge is used in this paper to mean knowledge that is based 
on an Islamic paradigm and emerges from Islamic epistemology and 
Islamic methodology. So both graduate students and scholars are able to 
create and produce knowledge that is appropriate for Islamic communities 
and addresses their concerns and their problems. Production of Islamic 
knowledge is a major concern of this paper; reflection on personal 
experiences provides researchers with an immediate, real and original 
source of knowledge which has been neglected and down-played by 
positivists for too long. 

I started the journey, which I wrote in detail in my book Islamic 
Epistemology: Wholeness and Holiness in Education, reluctantly; thinking 
this undertaking is personal and not academic or professional. I felt uncom- 
fortable, at first, stumbling in the darkness of the subconscious. Gradually, 
I started seeing a glimpse of light here and there. Then suddenly I was in an 
open plane with a blue sky flooded with sunshine. In a moment of 
realization, I saw the tapestry of my life in front of me. I saw the golden 
thread of spirituality and Love woven in that tapestry from one end to the 
other. I realized the conflict between the intellectual and spiritual sides of 
my being, and I perceived the conflict between the East and the West inside 
me and in my society. Working my way through the conflict and the 
struggle, I reached a stage of reconciliation in myself and hoped that it 
would happen in the society too. Through dialogue, conversation with the 
‘other,’ we can reach a peaceful stage of reconciliation. 

Ever since, I have started writing on the notions of the Islamic paradigm 
and have tried to interweave it into my teaching and my theories of 
learning and teaching. Education became more meaningful for me and my 
students at the university when it was pursued from an Islamic, holistic 
perspective. Being introduced to the Islamic paradigm and Islamic episte- 
mology in evaluation and research methods courses, my students started 
analyzing and understanding theories of psychology, sociology and 
education from that perspective. Their exposure to Islamic epistemology 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 23 

affected all their university comes. They were set on journeys of self- 
exploration and reflection. 

One way of regaining our wholeness and holiness in education is through 
connecting to our inner self through our intimate experiences. Retelling 
those experiences, however, allows us to reconstruct them and evaluate 
them in a different light. Reconstruction of experiences, I believe, 
facilitates transformation that should be the aim of education. Therefore, 
this paper aims at integrating the personal and the professional; the 
intellectual and the spiriW, the inner and the outer, so as to fulfill the 
thesis of wholeness and holiness in education. 

My aim is to encourage Muslim students in North America and Europe 
to reflect on their personal experiences, to find the golden thread in their 
lives, the spiritual, acknowledge it and utilize it in their personal and 
professional lives. I want to encourage becoming whole, and 
acknowledging the Sacred that is inside every one, and making it part of our 
daily living. The moment of realizing the Sacred and acknowledging it will 
be a turning point in lives, and inevitably their study will take an Islamic 
turn. No matter what they are studying -science, technology, sociology, 
psychology or astronomy- when they start analyzing theories on those 
fields from an Islamic perspective, the spiritual and the sacred permeate 
naturally and profoundly. 

Although personal experiences are basically ‘personal‘, when we as 
human beings reflect on them and share them with others, we realize to 
what extent our personal experiences are intermingled and interconnected 
with the ‘other’ and with the experiences of the society. We start to see the 
common grounds we share with others, and how similar or different our 
experiences are. By sharing our personal experiences we also realize how 
unique each individual‘s experiences are. Reflection on my personal 
experiences helped me first realize, then develop my dialectical thinking 
which helped me in going back and forth between my intellectual and 
spiritual experiences, between the East and the West, and between the 
experiences of the society and community and my personal stories. 

In the process of reflecting and narrating my personal stories, I learned 
how to construct and reconstruct past experiences in the light of new 
knowledge. I realized that we human beings make meaning out of our 
experiences, and that is an essential part of being human. We pass through 
many experiences, but if we do not reflect on them and reconstruct the 
meaning in these experiences (and we usually do not), they pass our 



24 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

consciousness and are stored in the subconscious until an event triggers 
them and brings them to life. Polanyi says, 

As human beings, we must inevitably see the universe from a center 
lying within us and speak it in terms of a human language shaped by 
the exigencies of human intercourse. Any attempt to rigorously 
eliminate our human perspective from our picture of the world must 
lead to absurdity.29 

If we do not value our experiences that are deep within ourselves, we will 
always feel estranged and alien to ourselves. And as Oscar Wilde rightly 
said, denial of our experiences will be like the denial of the soul. We as 
spiritual beings know what denial of the soul means. We know the pain of 
separation that is caused by denial of the soul. 

Research and thinking are always based on personal concerns. Even 
when the issues that preoccupy us, as researchers, are mainly social, 
political, spiritual, or affect humanity in general, there are always highly 
personal reasons why these more universal issues mean so much to us. 

Through narrating my stories to myself and reflecting on them, I came 
to an awareness of the importance of narrative inquiry as a research method 
that enables us as writers and researchers to shed some light on our personal 
experiences. By doing so we reconstruct our experiences and create 
meanings that help us understand, value and appreciate those experiences 
or reject them consciously and try to deal with them at the conscious level. 
What is certainly true is that we trust certain methods of research and 
reflection because they make sense to us, because they shed light on issues 
that are personally important to us, possibly even because they lend 
themselves naturally to researching and reconstructing personal 
experiences. For reflection on personal experiences, I relied on narrative 
inquiry as a profound method. 

It might BE worth reminding the reader that the major theme of this paper 
is to promote an alternative holistic paradigm for developing holistic 
education that leads eventually to the production of Islamic knowledge, 
an education that addresses the personal as an essential part of the 
professional as one whole entity. As Morgan (1983) tates: 

There is a contribution of knowledge if the researcher can identify 
generic process or patterns through which human beings construct 
and make sense of their realities._This evidence generated by the 
interpretive researcher is much more likely to be of an evocative rather 
than comprehensive kind, to be sustained, rejected or refined through 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 25 

future studies. The conclusion of one study merely provides a starting 
point in a continuing cycle of inquiry?" 

We have to be taught to take our own experiences seriously. I am 
convinced that hidden in our lives are springs that, if tapped at the right 
time, can quench the thirst to discover the source for our struggle, pain and 
conflict. 

By reflecting on personal experiences, I also want to encourage students 
and scholars to follow the golden thread of their spiritual experience and to 
bring to life the wholeness and holiness of their Islamic identity, or lack of 
identity for that matter. Muslim students can contribute actively in 
deconstructing, constructing and reconstructing Islamic knowledge not 
only by choosing topics related to the Islamic ummah but, more 
importantly, by using research methods that are rooted in the Islamic 
paradigm and interpreting their studies from an Islamic perspective and 
within an Islamic paradigm. For the purpose of this paper two research 
methods are presented as having the potential for reflection on personal 
experiences, heuristic research and narrative inquiry. 

Heuristic Research 
Heuristic Research is another type of inquiry that I categorize as an open 
system and that has the potential for transformation both of the research 
and the researcher. I focus in this section on the approach used by 
Moustakas. The nature and the underlying assumptions of heuristic 
research are such that it engages the researcher in an intense relationship 
and transformation is only a natural process of such inquiry. As researchers, 
we always choose the methods that are more appropriate for the nature of 
the questions that are asked. Moustakas focuses on transformation of the 
self during the processes of the research. The importance of heuristic 
research lies in its ability to engage the researcher in intense relationship 
with the phenomena she or he is studying. The phenomena under study in 
such inquiry is usually a deep personal experience that had or still has a 
great effect on the researcher, an experience that touched deeper corners of 
herhis being. Moustakas defines heuristic research as 

The process of internal search through which one discovers the nature 
and meaning of experiences and develops methods and procedures for 
further investigation and analysis ... Heuristic processes incorporate 
creative self-processes and self-discoveries. In such a method not only 



26 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

is knowledge extended but the self of the researcher is 
illuminated.31 

It is this illumination and awakening of the soul that I would like to 
emphasize in the academic world and in this book. Research can be empty, 
cold and dispassionate if it does not touch the core inside us. Heuristic 
inquiry involves self-search and self-discovery and self-dialogue. The 
intensity of the experience reflects the importance of that experience to the 
awakening of the soul. Because of the autobiographical nature of the 
heuristic inquiry, the researcher is set on a journey to the inner self. When 
she or he is touched by the meeting of the soul, nothing can be the same 
again; it is here that transformation occurs. Experiences take different 
directions and deeper meaning. The Heuristic research demands the total 
and undivided presence of the whole person-body, mind and soul, to enter 
this intense experience and "to risk the opening of wounds and passionate 
concerns and to undergo the personal transformation that exists as a 
possibility in every heuristic journey."32 

Heuristic inquiry is a method that has the potential for engaging 
researchers in soul searching and the discovery of the inner self. The 
ultimate aim, however, is transformation from divided mind, body and soul 
to a whole person who accepts herbs  intellectual as well as herbs 
spiritual experiences as one unified whole. Moustakas suggests six stages 
that a researcher passes through to accomplish a heuristic research: 
1) Identifying the focus of inquiry; 2) self-dialogue; 3) tacit-knowing; 4) 
intuition; 5) in-dwelling; 6) focusing (pp. 15-25). Then he identifies the 
phases of heuristic research: 1) initial engagement; 2) immersion: 
3) inculcation; 4) illumination; 5) explication; 6) creative ~ynthesis.3~ 

The conscious aspect of the individual consists of transformed 
unconscious energy. Transformation occurs as energy moves from 
unconscious side of the person to the conscious side. Another way of 
appreciating the significance of this process and the importance of 
the unconscious in social life, stems from the realization that 
transformation lies at the basis of meaningful actiob. Meaningful 
experiences involve the discovery of capacities and potential in self 
and situations that have previously remained hidden.34 

What is important thus in any research is the positive energy produced by 
such transformation ard realization for reconstructing of the self and the 
situation under study. Without such transformatioil, education remains a 



A1 Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 27 

meaningless process that has no real effect on students, teachers and 
society in general. The choice of methodology determines to what extent 
the researcher is aware of the importance of her/his study and the 
knowledge that will be produced by such methodology. Being ready and 
prepared to go through the pain of creating and discovering also reflects the 
maturity of the researcher and the work that is going to be produced. The 
transformational perspective focuses on creating a dialogue between the 
extremes in life: the internal and the external, the subjective and the 
objective. The problem of the social researcher, as Morgan states, is thus 
"one of finding an appropriate means of linking one's self to the situation 
being re~earched."~~ Therefore, to fulfill the thesis of this paper, which is 
promoting production of Islamic knowledge, it is important to suggest 
paradigms and methods that are appropriate for developing Islamic 
knowledge. Methods that help researchers in the transformation process 
and in relating their inner self to the situation under study. 

What are important in any methodology used are not only the techniques 
and protocols of that inquiry but more importantly, the paradigm that 
regulates and affects the interpretation of the constructed meanings. What 
makes any research Islamic or non-Islamic, however, is not the research 
method only, but the paradigm that leads the interpretation. Any Islamic 
interpretation cannot be called so if it is not rooted in the Islamic, holistic 
paradigm where the Divine Principles of the One and the Absolute are in 
the center. 

Narrative and Autobiography 
We are coming to realize the power of rhetoric and narrative and dialogue 
for understanding ourselves and others: The telling of stories or songs of 
experiences, if you will, signals the return of the inquirer as a morally 
and emotionally engaged knower. We are obligated to explore how 
acknowledging and celebrating this engagement furthers our efforts to 
interpret ourselves to ourselves.36 

Narrative inquiry is another complementary method in the multi-method 
approach to research that has gained momentum over the last two decades; 
interested readers may refer to the following authors on narrative as an 
inquiry: F. Connelly and D. Clandinin (1989); D. Clandinin and F. 
Connelly (1996); J. Mezirow (1990)D. Furlong (1994); D. Thomas (1995). 
Narrative inquiry, like several other qLdlitative research methods, has the 
potential to create holistic knowledge if rooted in a holistic paradigm. 



28 The American Journd of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

However, if narrative is rooted in one-dimensional paradigms like the 
interpretivist/constructivist, where the nature of reality is relative and there 
is no absolute, objective reality, or guided by idealists/positivists, where the 
nature of reality is absolute and singular even if applied to temporary and 
daily-life situations, then knowledge produced by narrative is 
one- dimensional and does not contribute to production of holistic 
knowledge. Since reality is both relative and absolute, this-worldly and 
otherworldly, subjective and objective, it is only common sense that 
methodologies employed to understand and interpret this complex reality 
must be of sufficient power and sophistication to understand these com- 
plexities. No one methodology has yet been discovered that is able to do 
so. Therefore, multiple methods, for the present time, may construe a trust- 
worthy approach to use. 

Research and thinking are always based on personal concerns. Even 
when the issues that preoccupy us are mainly social, political or spiritual or 
affect humanity in general, there are always highly personal reasons why 
these more universal issues mean so much to us. What is certainly true is 
that we researchers trust certain methods of research and reflection because 
they have made sense to us, because they have shed light on issues that are 
personally important to us, possibly even because they are related to impor- 
tant events of childhood. Stories prove that much more is hidden in our 
lives than we at first realize. We have to learn to take our own experience 
seriously. My reflection on personal experiences has persuaded me that, 
hidden in our lives, are resources for understanding and interpretation. 
Contact with our own life story is for us a way to self-discovery, self-dia- 
logue and self-knowledge, and beyond that an entry to our soul and our 
spirituality. No matter what the internal phenomena is that we are trying to 
understand, as long as it is inside us and we risk opening old wounds, that 
journey puts us in touch with our real self, our soul. 

Seeking knowledge within the self or seeking the meaning of one’s life 
can be the hardest riddle or koan of all. Each of us is unique and the 
journey inward leads us through the blind spots of our own vision. Yet, we 
know the way; we have come from there.37 

Narrative inquiry, if practiced within an Islamic paradigm, can illuminate 
the soul and awaken the inner self because of its inherited qualities of 
intimacy and courage. Such inquiry involves the difficult task of entering 
one’s own soul and subconscious. Yet doing so empowers us with the 
courage to create and reconstruct our personal experiences and to go 



Al Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of Islamic Knowledge 29 

beyond the pain and the hurt, and transforms the pain to higher qualities of 
acceptance, understanding and submission to God's will. Narrative inquiry 
can be the first step in the long spiritual journey, where we are in 
continuous dialogue with our inner self, God and the "other". 

Conclusion 
To sum up, education has been suffering from unidimensionality at all 
levels for a long time in schools and at universities in the East and the West. 
Being scientific and rational is the key word for success in schooling and in 
life in general. The human being is regarded as mind and body only, and 
that is reflected on the education system. Intellectuality and rationality are 
reinforced and encouraged, while spirituality and intuition are downplayed 
and ignored. The ultimate goal of life is being reduced to achieving 
worldly and material objectives. The goal of purifying the soul to attain the 
ultimate truth and the hereafter is being ignored in education and in the life 
generally. 

This paper is an attempt to bring back wholeness and holiness to 
education through transformative inquiry that leads to an Islamic theory of 
knowledge as a first step in producing Islamic knowledge that is based on 
the Islamic paradigm and emerges from Islamic epistemology. Being a 
teacher for a long time in school and at the university encourages me to 
address philosophical issues at a practical level that allows students to look 
at the roots of the knowledge they are acquiring and the knowledge they are 
producing later in graduate schools and as researchers. Fragmentation of 
knowledge and therefore of the self exists in all circles consciously and/or 
subconsciously. Philosophical questions are an essential part that exists 
within us from an early age. If they are not addressed at that early age, then 
we are planting the seeds of fragmentation. So education has to be rooted 
in philosophical issues and students should be aware of that philosophical 
base to be able to see the roots of what they are learning. Without such 
awareness, what students learn does not exceed their academic records and 
the celebration of their graduation. The transformational perspective is 
proposed in this paper as a means of creating Islamic knowledge, a 
knowledge that is meaningful to Muslim students and scholars, because 
transformation lies at the basis of meaningful action as Morgan says. 
Transformation has been proved to be of irreversible flow upward in the 
scale of being. 



30 The American Journal of EIam~c Social Sciences 18.2 

What is intriguing to me is that both Sader al Mutalheen Al Shirazi, who 
is known also as Mulla Sadra, the 16th century Muslim philosopher, and 
the 20th century Belgian physical chemist, Ilya Prigogine, the winner of the 
Noble prize in 1977 for his theory of dissipative structures and the 
"irreversible processes", reached the same conclusion, one from a 
philosophical perspective and the other from a purely scientific perspective. 
Prigogine (1980) explains in detail his theory of dissipative structures and 
how living things have been running uphill in the universe. He also explains 
the inherent transformative nature of living things and the movement to a 
more complex and perfect thing. The paradox in this theory is an intriguing 
one. The more coherent the structure, the more unstable it is. This very 
instability is the key to transformation. The dissipation of energy, as 
Prigogine demonstrated mathematically, creates the potential of sudden 
reordering. 

Mulla Sadra, on the other hand, explains the process of transformation 
and perfection of body-soul complex as follows: 

Movement-in-substance is not universal change or flux without 
direction, the product of conflict between two equally powerful 
principles, or a reflection of the non-being of the world of nature when 
measured against the world of permanent forms. It is rather the 
natural beings' innate desire to become more perfect, which directs 
this ceaseless self renewal, self origination, or self-emergence into a 
perpetual and irreversible flow upward in the scale of being - from the 
simplest elements to the human body-soul complex and the heavenly 
body-soul complex, both of which participate in the general 
instability, origination, and passing of being that characteristics the 
entire corporal world. The human body-soul complex and the 
heavenly body-soul complex are not moved externally by the 
intelligences. Their movement is an extension of the process of 
self-reflection. Having reached the highest rank of order of substance 
in the corporal world, they are now prepared, and still moved by their 
innate desire, to flow upward and transform themselves into pure 
intelligen~e.~~ 

This topic opens new avenues for researchers and scholars to look into 
transformation in more depth and to relate philosophical concepts and 
scientific research of applied sciences to understand in a practical way the 
relationship of the microcosm and the macrocosm. 



At Zeera: Transformative Inquiry and Production of EIamic Knowledge 31 

Notes 
1. 
2. 

3. Ibid., 164. 
4. Ibid., 164. 
5. Ibid., 72. 
6. E. Guba, Naturalistic Evaluation. New Directions for Program Evaluation, (1987), 

p. 19. 
7. E. Guba & Y. Lincoln, Effective Evaluation, (Jossey-Bass, 1985), p.28. 
8. bid. 
9. I. Deutscher, Words and deeds: Social Science and Social Policy, (Chicago: 

Markham, 1976). In W. Filstead (Ed.), Qualitative Methodology, p 33. 
10. E. Guba, Naturalistic Evaluation. New Directions for Program Evaluation, (1987). 

p. 27. 
11. E. Guba & Y. Lincoln,. Effective Evaluation, (Jossey-Bass, 1985). 
12. M. Scriven, New Frontiers of Evaluation. (Evaluation Practice,1975), p. 27. 
13. Patton, 1990, p. 108. 
14. E. Guba, & Y. Lincoln, Effective evaluation, (Jossey-Bass, 1985), p. 137. 
15. M. Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our 

Time, (New York: Tarcher INC, 19871, p. 394. 
16. D. Zohar, The Quantum SelJ (New York William Morrow and Company, Inc., 

1990), p. 72. 
17. Bullington and Karlson, 1984, p. 51. 
18. Al Faruqi, I, Islamizing the social sciences. In I .  Al Faruqi & A Nasif (Eds.),Social 

and Natural Sciences: The Islamic Perspectives, (Jeddah King Abdul Aziz 
University, 1981), p. 11. 

White and McSwain, 1983, p. 297. 
M. Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our 
Time, (New York Tarcher INC, 1987), p. 163. 

19. bid., p. 12. 
20. Al-Faruqi, I. R, The cultural atlas of Islam, (New York MacMillan, 1987), p. xii. 
21. P. Chelkowski, (Ed.), The Scholar and the Saint Studies in Commemoration of 

Abul Rayham a1 Biruni and Jalal a1 Pinal Rumi, (New York University Press 
1975), 75. 

22. Ibid., 78. 
23. Z. Sardar, Explorations in Islamic Sciences, (Mansell Publishing, Ltd., 1989), 

24. R. Tesch, Qualitative Research: Analysis type and soffware tools. (New York 
Falmer Press, 1990, p. 68. 

25. bid., p. 37 
26. R. H. Brown, Society as text, (The University of Chicago Press, 1987). 
27. Ricouer,l%l, p. 160. 
28. Al Faruqi, I. R, Tawhid: Its relevance for thought and life, (Polygraphic Press, 

29. M. Polyani, Personal knowledge towards a post-critical philosophy, (The University 

p. 94. 

1983), p. 99. 

of Chicago Press, 1958), p. 3. 



32 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 18.2 

30. G. Morgan, Beyond method: Strategies for social research. (Beverly 
Hills Sage 1983), p. 398. 

31. C. Moustakas, Heuristic research Design, methodology and application, (Sage 
Publications., 1990), p. 11. 

32. Ibid., 11. 
33. G. Morgan, Beyond method: Strategies for Social Research, (Beverly Hills: Sage., 

34. Ibid.. 295. 
35. Inid., 298. 
36. L. Heshusius, & K. Ballad, K.. From Positivism to Interpretivism and Beyond, 

37. Furlong, 1997, p. 9. 
38. M. Mahdi, The New Wisdom: Synthesis of Philosophy and Mysticism, 

(Encyclopedia Britannica, 1987), p. 30. 

1983), p. 27-34. 

(New York & London: College Press, Columbia University, 1990), p. 158.