V i w s and Comments Islamization of Knowledge: A Critique The Islamization of knowledge, as envisioned by a1 Fiiriiqi, is a critical, revivalistic response to intellectual modernity.' Its objective is a timeless but it can only be realized by challenging it and engaging Muslim scholars in debate over it. By so doing, we are able to refine the work plan for Islamization. The following critique is therefore presented in the hope that its suggestions will contribute toward an authentic Islamic tespotlse to intellectual modernity. Exposition of Islamization For al Fiitiiqi (1982), the some of the crisis of Muslim society lies in the mdem-Islamic dichotomy of the current educational system. The colonial, and therefore alien, vision still survives and is being dissemi- nated h u g h educational institutions, which are the breeding ground of self-estrangement from Islam. Such early educational reformem as Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Mu4ammad 'Abduh did not realize the harm of modem knowledge, for they assumed that modem subjects are harmless and can only lend sttength to the Muslims. Little did they realize that the alien humanities, social sciences, and indeed the natural sciences as well, w e e facets of an integral view of reality, of life and the world, of history, that is equally alien to that of Islam. (Ibid.) One of his particular concerns is the harmful influence of a university education on a Muslim student whose sentimental attachment to Islam cannot withstand the onslaught of scientific t ~ t h . After four years of alienating influence, his/her Islamic consciousness would be ravaged. The solution to this alienation is to be found in the Islamization of knowledge, anundertalang * that seeks to rebuild the humanities, as well as the social and natural sciences, in order to establish them fitmly on an Islamic basis consistent with Islamic objectives. Every discipline is to be "TeCBSt" to embody the principles of Islam and remolded to incorporate the "relevance" of Islam along a triple axis constitutive of tuwhfd (unity). 'Mohamed (1991) attempted to show that al F-i's Islamization emer ed as a re- sponse to blledual modemity and that it must be situated within the revidst context. Views and Comments 283 Islamization involves the production of Islamically relevant university textbooks for each discipline to be Islamized. After Islam's relevance to each atea of modem thought is established, a creative synthesis can be established by e l i h t i n g , amending, reinterpreting, and adapting its components as dictated by Islam's worldview and values. This process will determine the relevance of Islam. Among contemporary revivalists, few have given such sustained attention as al Fiiriiqi to preparing a twelvestep work plan to indicate how Islamization could be unde-. The fitst step, as proposed by al FMiqi, is to master the modem disciplines. As he was addressing himself to the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (Ba-Yunus 1988), he was dealing with modem educated Muslim professionals who already had some degtee of mastery in their social science disciplines. For them, the Islamic lifestyle was an exi- stential reality that had to be relevant to their professions and to the social science disciplines. This is why he published The Islamization of Knowl- edge, which addresses itself primarily to the infusion of Islamic concepts into the social sciences. As Muslims studying the social sciences became culturally alienated, he claimed, they grew less convinced of Islam as a source of knowledge and more unawm of the Eurocentric and provincial character of the social sciences. In their arrogant display of social science knowledge, they denigrated Islam's rich intellectual heritage as archaic and irrelevant (ibid.). Thus, a1 Fiiriiqi proposed his Islamization with the intent of injecting an Islamic orientation into the social science pmfes- sions and to inculcate pride in the Islamic legacy (Davies 1986).' As al Fiiriiqi was addmising social science scholars trained in western methods, he made the mastery of the modem disciplines the first step of his work plan. The mastery of the Islamic legacy appears only in steps three and four and is achieved h u g h the help of the traditionalist scholar who has to prepare the anthologies from the Islamic legacy. Due to the traditional scholar's ignorance of modem disciplines and subse- quent inability to establish "the specific relevance of the legacy to the modem discipline," it becomes the responsibility of the westem trained Muslim scholar to familiarize the traditional scholar with the modem dis- ciplines. This assumes the mastery of the modem disciplines in steps one and two. Thus, traditional scholm play a subsidiary role iri preparing an- thologies for western trained Muslim scholm. Without these anthologies, a modem Muslim scholar will not have "ready access to the legacy in the area of his speCialization" (al Fiifiqi 1982). However, the chief task of Islamization, as outlined in steps six through eleven, is placed in the hands of a modem scholar who will mhas identified its priority to be the social and behavioral sciences. 284 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:2 eventually assess critically the modem discipline (step six) and the Islamic legacy (step seven). Furthermore, he/she is to undertake the all- important task of creative analysis and synthesis of the modem dis- ciplines and the Islamic legacy (step ten). The task of assessing the Islamic legacy's contribution in each field of human activity must therefore fall upon the shoulders of the experts in that activity. They am the monitors of M h h needs in that field and they are the masters of the modem dis- cipline studying that activity. Certainly, they should be assisted by the experts in the legacy in order to guarantee the most ade- quate and correct understanding of it possible. @id.) Since a modem scholar is schooled in scholarly research, he/she is able to analyze, criticize, and initiate alternative paradigms in a language that can be understood by the modem mind. Al FGriiqi had faith in this type of training for the creative synthesis and for the preparation of Islamized university textbooks. A traditionalist scholar is not equipped for this task, for hdshe is trained not to assimilate critically but to imitate. And since traditional subjects am presented ahistorically, the great clas- sical Muslim figures are viewed as the final authorities ( M m g i e 1989).3 Critique of Islamization As the first step in a1 Fiiriiqi's work plan is mastery of the modem disciplines, we need to question whether the sequence of steps posited by his work plan is Since al FMqi was addressing western trained Muslim scholars, it would appear that he had little choice but to make mastery of the modem disciplines the first step. By entrusting a western trained Muslim scholar with the task of developing a creative synthesis between the Islamic legacy and a modem discipline, a1 F=qi not only limits a traditional scholar's role but also the full impact of the Islamic legacy, which should be the starting point for Islamization. How ie critiques the traditional system of education (dir al 'ufim) and argues that the 2 s to storing and recollecting information is bound to "induce a passive and receptive, rather than a creative, mind." 'Although we do not fully agree with his work plan, we accept the reality of an edu- cational dichotomy. Islam does not conflict with established facts, but with the secular worldview under g the social sciences. And herein lies the essential dichotomy. For causal relatias conflicts with the Islamic view of an individual'sfitrah (bate spiri- tuality) and thus the ability of his/her umsciousnes to transcend materid conditions. example, the cru P Marxist view that one's consciousnes is predetermined by material Views and Comments 285 can psychology, for example, be Islamized without investigating the cor- responding content of psychology in the Islamic legacy? The basis for an Islamic psychology should have been worked out from the Islamic legacy before d g the value and the validity of modern p~ychology.~ The method of working first from the modem discipline has led to the production of apologetic literatme. This genre, with its typically d e fensive pastUte with respect to westem cultural imperialism, takes g m t pains to prove that what is progressive in the West was taught by Islam fifteen centuries ago. This encourages a sense of self-glorification of the past. What is urgently needed is a critical understanding of the Islamic heritage in order to appreciate its variant legal, philosophical, Sufistic, and theological po6itions.6 It is precisely this apologetic attitude to mod- emity that caused many nineteenth-century revivalist and modemist scholm to attempt a superficial synthesis between Islam and democracy, Islam and socialism, or Islam and evolution. Much of this syncretism is not even based on a proper investigation into the Islamic legacy. The same goes for the many attempts at Islamization of the social sciences. An authentic Islamic response to modem knowledge must make the Qur'an and the Islamic legacy its point of departure. No Islamic assess- ment of any modem discipline is likely to come about without it. To begin with the modem disciplines is to be content with half measures in an attempt at integration. Modem disciplines are embedded in westem secular epistemological paradigms,' and their Islamization cannot be realized unless they are integrated into Islamic epistemological frame- works derived from the Islamic legacy. In fact, al FZrijqi's Islamization pmess seeks to Islamize a body of knowledge that has non-Islamic elements. This presupposes that it is a non-Islamic domain of knowledge and, therefore, one that has to be critically examined, purified of its secular elements, and reccmstituted with Islamic elements. The point of departure o u t l i d by a1 FWqi is "from" a condition that is un-Islamic "to" one that is Islamic. Thus, the modem discipline as such is not refuted 'For a comparative anal of variant pe tives concerning human aahve in the Islamic legacy and the ~ ~ i p k s of an= psychohgy, see Mahamed (1986). %mith (1957) illustrates this kind of apologetic approach to modernity by citing an atticle h t h e al Azharjournal. He argues that instead of urging Muslims to action on the basis of Islamic teaching, the editor apologetically attempts to show the superiurity of Islam to the West. 'The modem disciplines are not valw free, but are embedded w i t h western secular and epistemological paradigms. The secular tendencies that acyqxmy them hold that religion is irrelevant to academic pursuits and, therefore, a Musllm secularist would want to relegate feltsion to the private domain. Thus, al.F&fiqi's Islamb+on, m its typical revivahsttraditioa, waotsto infuse Islamic concepts mto modem disciplmes so that Islam can be more relevant and more meaningful to M u s h living in tbe contemporary world. 286 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 1 1 :2 but is Islamized; it is not replaced by an altemative Islamic discipline but is modified to be more in congruence with the Islamic outlook This approach is understandable, due to the type of audience that al Fiiriiqi was trying to reach, but whether his work plan is conducive to an authen- tic Islamic response to modem knowledge is another question. As pointed out earlier, the conflicting philosophies underlying modem and Islamic disciplines may result in an Islamization that amounts to no more than casting an Islamic veneer over modem disciplines. What is needed is an independent approach to a given discipline. Although psy- chology as a discipline may not have existed in the Islamic legacy under the same name, but it has a corresponding content within the Islamic legacy. Thus, there is no teason why a legacy-derived Islamic psychology cannot be formdated." This is an important step for assessing the value and validity of a modem discipline from an independent Islamic point of view. In this way, the Islamic discipline will be enriched by the modem discipline without the latter conflicting with the Islamic outlook. It theEfore appears that al Firiiqi's restrictive procedure of making the madem disciplines his point of departure is not conducive to creating alternative Islamic social science disciplines. The subsequent exclusion of traditional scholars from the process of creative synthesis, a major side effect, ignom the fact that alternative Islamic paradigms and the recon- struction of Islamic disciplines can only emerge out of those very traditional Islamic disciplines. Then, and only then, can university text- books eflect a more authentic Islamic response to m~demity!~ To be sute, such an authentic Islamic response must have its point of departure in the Islamic legacy, which has its own views of Gad and humanity, society and history. No independent or critical Islamic evalua- tion is possible without a corresponding content of the discipline in the legacy. Moteover, without first monstructing the Islamic discipline out of the legacy, the so-called creative synthesis will amount to a superficial, apologetic, and a syncretistic p d u c t that is not Islamically authentic. There is a need to study the legacy in order to develop Islamic social science disciplines. These can be enriched by recasting them according % the discipline or the framework for the discipline is develo open a wide amm to assess the value and validity of modem psycho p"4 ogy. 9An example of the Islamization of know1 e attempted by IlIT is Ahmed (1986). As booEan exploratory exercise, one would have liked to obtain some h i i into Islamic anthropological pritlciles according to such scholats BS al B i i - and l'tm Khalh . In- stead, the book has two paas. The first and major part is essentially an exposition and partial analysis of western anthropology. The second part deals with Islamic anthropology. Ahmed clauns that them is a richhe e of Islamic antluopolojy that preceded western anthropology, but only nine pages are % oted to an exposition of Islamic anthropology! it would leave 'dent of IlIT, al FMiqi wrote the book's 9 mad. Although Ahmed says that his Views and Comments 287 to the modem system of categorization, thereby making them intelligible to a westem educated person and relevant to the modem world. This can be done, provided that the relevance is determined by seeking the rele- vance of the modem discipline for Islam, and not the relevance of the Islamic legacy to the discipline. Sank (1985) s t a b that al FiKiqi is putting the cart before the horse, for “it is not Islam that needs to be made relevant to modem knowledge,” but modem knowledge that needs to be made relevant to Islam. Thus, the mastery of the Islamic legacy be- comes imperative as the fi& step of Islamization. Al Fiiriiqi’s Islamization serves a functional role of providing imme diate relief from the anguish experienced by western trained Muslim graduates. But his pragmatic work plan does not represent a convincing Islamic response to intellectual modernity, for it does not deal with the fundamental problem. To paper over the cracks of secularism through a taint of Islamization is to be mentally chained to the West. Such mental imprisonment is bound to weaken the Islamic self-image, which is in need of self-determination. In this regard, Rahman (1982) stab: The most important and urgent thing to do . . . is to disengage from the west and to cultivate an independent but unde&ancting attitude toward it. . . because it is the source of much of the social change occutring thtoughout the world So long as Muslims re- main mentally locked with the west in one way or the other, they will not be able to act independently and autanomously. This is precisely what we suggesting. An independent response to modem knowledge cannot come about by following the Islamization work plan. There is a need to disengage from the West and to tum to the Islamic legacy so that Islamic disciplines can be developed first. Rahman even goes so far as to suggest the reconsttuction of the Islamic sciences. Needless to say, this effort assumes the mastery of the Islamic legacy. It seems that a1 FWqi is cantent with infusing Islamic concepts into modem secular disciplines. If by this is meant the grafting of Islamic elements onto a body of existing knowledge, while leaving its philo- sophical foundations intact, then we have to disagree. Manzoor (1986) shares al FiKiqi’s insights into the dichotomous edu- cational system and the perpetual erosion of Islamic identity in the uni- versities, yet he is boldly critical of al FWqi’s Islamization: To call for the Islamization of secularized disciplines is indeed to be content with half-measures. Islamizing disciplines that are infused with a materialistic metaphysics and secularistic ethics is 288 The American J o d of Islamic social sci- 11:2 tantamount to plastic surgery, a cosmefic epistemological face lift and nothing more. If it may accomplish anything at all, it would be the perpetuation of secular and Islamic knowledge. Moreover, the task of Islamizing so many disciplines, specially if you follow al FiWiqi's scheme in its execution . . . is hardly likely to harvest anything beyond a few half-baked monographs. For us, genuine Islamization entails the elaboration of earlier c o d - tuted Islamic umceptual frameworks to umvincingly meet the challenges of intellectual modernity. These frameworks must emerge, first of all, from the Islamic legacy before the relevance of the modem discipline in question can be determined for them. Another important argument of Islamization is articulated by Rahman. He views Islamization as a reformist approach to education that accepts "modem secular education as it has developed genedy speaking in the West" and then attempts to Islamize or to inform it with key Islamic con- cepts (Rahman 1982). This Islamization has two distinct goals: to mold the students' character with Islamic values and to enable students of modem education to "imbue their "pective fields of leaming at higher levels, using an Islamic perspective to ttansfonn, where necessary, both the umknt and orientation of these fields" (ibid.). Rahman opines that these two goals rn interconnected, for the molding of an Islamic charac- ter is inevitably undertaken at the primary level of education." But the argument is that if nothing is done to imbue higher leaming with an Islamic orientation, then young students who reach the higher levels of education are bound to be secularized. Moreover, the effort to inculcate an Islamic character in young students is not likely to succeed "if the higher fields of leaming remain completely secular." In the West, reli- gious indoctrination of young impressionable students is bound to lead to disillusionment among those who grow up in a completely secular world. In most cases, these children grow up to be more secular than their parents. Rahman argues that this is also true for the Muslim child, al- though he/she is more subject to social constraint from deviation. Rahman is therefore skeptical of an Islamization that does not entail a full investigation of what Islamic educational reform means. He argues that Muslims have for the past century been inCreaSingly awrn of "the dichotomy of education" and the need to reform traditional education and to integrate old knowledge with modem knowledge, but that all efforts ''AACcarding to Ba-Yunus (1983, al F W i did not emphasize children's education, as he was primarily concerned with university level education. The American Islamic Coll e in Chicago proved to be ineffective because it depended on feeder Islamic & tbat were not given any attention. Views and Comments 289 at integration have been "largely unfruitful" (ibid). Genuine integration can only come about if there are first class minds who can interpret the old in terms of the new as regards substance and turn the new in the service of the old as regards ideals. This then must be followed by the writing of new text books on theology, ethics and so forth." @id) But this integration can only occur if historical Islam is distinguished from normative Islam. Furthermore normative Islam, as rooted in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, must become the criteria to assess the value and validity of the Islamic legacy, which is a product of historical Islam: If the spark for the modernization of the old Islamic learning and for the Islamization of the new is to arise, then the original thrust of Islam-of the Qur'an and Muhammad-must be clearly m- Nted so that the conformities and the deformities of historical Islam may be clearly judged by it." @id) The Islamic legacy must be subject to critical scrutiny on the basis of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. However, those who know this legacy, the upholdes of Islamic learning, are supposed to be in the best position to assess it. Moreover, they should be rtqonsible for Islamizing modem secular disciplines. There is no possibility of genuine integration without the primary tole of traditional scholars. Rahman (ibid.) states that "it is the upholders of Islamic learning who have to bear the responsibility of Islamizing secular knowledge by their creative intellectual efforts." Thus, Rahman is not opposed to Islamization in principle, but rather disagrees with a1 Fiiriiqi's work plan, for it builds bridges but does not move toward genuine integration. True Islamization cannot be realized unless Muslims fulfill certain pl.econditions: However, to resume what I was saying about the Muslims' aim of Islamizing the several fields of learning, this aim cannot be really fulfilled unless Muslims effectively perform the intellectual "While al Pmqi seems to have seen the need to K i d bridges to fill the gap between modem disciplines and the Islamic leg , Rahmau sees no point in this kind of reform. Genuine refom involves creating minds able to inte t the le h terms of intellectual modernity. Modem disciplines must serve the i s of Scholars must master the legacy before reinterpletlng it and before mmstmcting Islamic sciences. "Rahman wants to create rht Class minds that can sssesshistorical Islam Bccorditlg to the Qur'an and Sunnah. If this canna be achieved, no integration is possible, 290 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:2 task of elaborating on Islamic metaphysics on the basis of the Qur'an. An overall world view of Islam first, if provisionally at- tempted, [must be constructed] if various specific fields of intel- lectual endeavor are to cohere as informed by Islam. (Ibid.) Contemporary Islamization attempts have been matted by an apolo- g&c attitude precisely because these conditions have not been fulfilled (ibid.)." Furthermore, creative traditional scholats must begin to =on- sttuct some of the nuclear Islamic sciences, even though this presupposes a critical attitude to the Islamic legacy itself. A critical attitude is essen- tial, for the Islamic legacy is not a monolithic system but rather contains variant petspectives that often emerge out of conflicting This critical attitude must be based on the Qur'an. Such nuclear Islamic sciences as thmlogy, law, and philosophy must be monstructed, not discarded, for they provide "continuity to the intellectual and spiritual being of the community" (Rahman 1982). This means that a "hiSt0;ically systematic study of the development of Islamic disciplines" must be undertaken. Mom attention has been given by Muslim scholars to the history of Islamic literature than to a historical study of this litemttm. The point is that all of this must finally be judged according to the criterion of the Qur'an itself (ibid.). Thus, unlike a1 Fiiriiqi, Rahman calls for a radical critique of the Islamic legacy with the Qur'an as the cri- terion." He wants us to question the extent to which the Islamic legacy is in confotmity with the Qur'an, because not everything in the Islamic legacy is necessarily Islamic (Rahman 1988).16 "A to Rahmau (1982), in contemporary times the= have been attem ts to imrest = o w w e with Islamic values: and economics or anipsy- chology, which have been the themes of several conferences and seminars held in Saudi Arabia and Patdstan. Unfortumtely, although they contain valuable insights, they have been "esedaUy marred by an apologetic attitude." ''The fact of Qcttinal conflict, first among the early jkqnhd' and later among the mutoAaUim-n in the eighth century, clearly dqroves the rival claims of infallibility. These umflicthg claims are rooted in conflidlng iategetationS which must be dis- thguiskd from the Qur'an itself. 1 5 ~ t h ~ aI PW includes a critid crssessnent of the legacy (step seven) in the w t o f t h e z * a n and the s- he does not make it, as does a prerequisite for a critical rssessnent of modean disciplines. In fact, a critial assessment of modern disciplines is precededby it in step six of the work plan. "Rahman Calls for a reexamination of the Islamic legacy. It must be determind if the teachings of Ibn al 'Arabi, al W, and al Gha&i confarm to the Qur'an. These were all great men, yet they differed ami sometimes disagreed. The Islamic legacy is not a monolithic system having one standard viewpoint, for there are conflicting schools of thought (Rebmrm 1982). Rnhmnn argues that although Islamic philosophy was rejected Views and Comments 291 Rahman suggests that one has the right to criticize those assumptions of western thinkers that appear to be incompatible with Islamic prin- ciples. He also maintainS, however, that this be done with the Muslim thinkeB of the Islamic legacy. Thus, Islamization must presuppose a cri- tique of the Islamic txdtion, for without a critical look at the legacy, one cannot develop an Islamic critical response to intellectual modemity: I have, then, submitted that unless we have examined our tra- dition very well, in the light of the the Qur’an, we cannot proceed further with Islamic thought. This is because we must have certain criteria to go by and criteria must obviously come initially from the wan. First, we must examine our own Islamic tradition and then critically study the body of knowledge created by modernity.” (Ibid) The sense of practicality that dmve al FGrtiqi to undertake the Islami- zation of modem secular disciplines is obvious. Rahman, however, posits that such an Islamization is futile without a prior critical assessment of the Islamic tradition on the basis of the Qur’anic criterion. The issue we wish to raise with regard to this insistence of returning to the original thrust of the Qur’an is: While it is significant that the Qur’an be made the criterion for critical assessment, he seems to forget that it is subject to human interpetation. Who is to judge what is Islamic in the legacy? While it is meritorious to adopt a critical attitude to the legacy, one cannot escape the inevitable human bias brought to bear in d g it. While we agree that the Qur’an should be the ultimate criterion, we cannot escape the element of subjectivity in its interpretationL* Rahman appears to overlook the reality of this hermeneutical dilemma. While it is humanly impossible to tead into the legacy without preconceived notions, this does not mean that a) interpetations cannot be as heretical by Muslim orthodoxy. phhophml * thought has impinged quite heavily on oahodoxreligious thought. Thus there is a need to examine the fairness of the orthodox judgment and the extent to which its criteria amfoxmsto the critexia of the Qur’au “Rahmrm argues that Muslims must first ju%e their own traditian to deteIlnine what is right and what is wmng. Onl aftex doing ths c811 the judge the western tradition. hem is no m e c w way of L i n g westem ~ p & e s , dth- (Me can super- ficially deteanine aspects of agmment or disegreeanent. However, thts will not amouat to creative know1 e, for that c a n d y be xheved by be’ imbued withthe Qur’anic attihde that f-% mi for judging both the westem 3 the Islamic traditions. “For e le, N a s would want to int t the le y in tern of Sufism, ‘Abduh would Tit froma modern scientifiiTE, and L would do so in terms of the &= Qur’an’s social thrust. We do not imply that the element of subjectivity is inherently evil, only that we should admit to itsbeaaing on the Qur’an’s heapretation. 292 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 11:2 made, b) that variant interpretations of the Qur’an or apparently con- flicting schools undermine the reality of the Islamic legacy, or that c) the d t y of an Islamic worldview is questionable. To be sure, the Islamic legacy is not a monolithic system. While it is cormt that the Islamic legacy should be viewed on the basis of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, one cannot ignore the particular bias from which the Qur’an is being ap- proached. However, such an inevitability does not always make the inter- pretation invalid, which, in any case, may be used to validate a particular tendency that may claim to have its mots in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Conclusion Al Rriiqi’s excessive exposure to the disease of modernity, mther than an attempt to work toward alternative Islamic disciplines, is chamc- teristic of the revivalist reaction to the West. Davies (1986) stab: This plan for the Islamizatian of knowledge has [a] cleat percep- tion, has a clear sense of the problems. But it offers a remedy which is determined by overexpofllre to the disease . . . should not an intemalized Islamic petspective create its own disciplines of knowledge and structure the relationships between sphem of knowledge according to its own requirements? This accords fully with Rahman’s call to disengage from the West in order to develop an indepeadent and understanding attitude toward it. A critical approach to the legacy is imperative, not only for the recon- struction of Islamic sciences but also for coflstructing Islamic social sciences out of it. Although the social sciences are young disciplines in the West, they play a significant tole in shaping views of humanity and society, religion, and history. While the social scientific approach can play an important role in investigating social manifestations of the Islamic tradition, its support for the relativization of moral values in an essentially western liberal society is a serious limitation. Muslim social scientists ought to investigate the Qur’an’s psychological, sociological, and his- torical insights, as it has its own view of human nature, the rise and fall of nations, and of those who sow corruption on the earth. They should bring these insights to bear upon their support for stable socioethical values in society and upon a critical analysis of the legacy, as well as in their critique of western society and its disciplines. In this way, they can lend support to the struggle to maintain stable ethical values in society. Notwithstanding these criticisms, al Fiiriiqi’s significant contribution to educational reform must be acknowledged. The foregoing arguments Views and Comments 293 are intended not only to stimulate ideas for the revision of the Islami- zation work plan, but also for developing an altemative and more au- thentic Islamic tesponse to intellectual modernity. References Abul-Fadl, Mona. "Contrasting Epistemics." The American Journal of AbiiSulaymZn, 'AbduUJam-d, ed. The Islamization of Knowledge. Hem- Ahmed, S. Toward Islamic Anthropology. Hemdon, VA: IIIT, 1986. A1 Attas, S. M. N. Islam, Secularism, and the Philosophy of the Future. London: Mansell, 1985. An-, M. A. 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