METHODOLOGY IN SCIENCES

METHODOLOGY IN SCIENCES

Focus
• Methodology and scientific Methods
• The Inadequacy of Western Methods
• Methodology in Islamic Science
• The Principles of Islamic Methodology
• Importance of Islamic Research Methodology
• Islamization of knowledge
- Knowledge was once Islamized?
- History of Islamization of Knowledge
- Characteristics of Contemporary Knowledge
- Scholars on Islamization of Knowledge
-Methodology of Islamization the Knowledge


Methodology and The Study Scientific Methods

• Methodology is the field of scientific inquiry concerned with the examination of the method used in the study of natural and human phenomena.

• A scientific consists of a number of rules , a researcher must follow in the study of the subject matter of his research.

• Those researchers who apply scientific methods may claim that the knowledge produced by their research is scientific.


• That inquiries must always use methods currently acknowledged by scientific community as scientific, for it is quite legitimate for a researcher to use a new method, never used before, provided he can demonstrate its “soundness”.
• The determination of the soundness of scientific methods is the task of methodology.

• Methodology is thus the field of scientific inquiry into the justification, description and explanation of the rules and procedures which constitute scientific methods.

• As such, methodology is not confined to description of scientific procedures, but involves the analysis of the grounds which justify their use.

• This means that the study of methodology impinges on questions studied under the label of epistemology (the theory of knowledge).


The Inadequacy of Western Methods
• The inadequacy of Western methods by briefly pointing out their cultural specificity:

• 1. Ever since their early formulation in the works of Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes, modern Western methods have had an empiricist bias which culminated in contemporary times in the logical positivistic approach embodied in Western behavioralism.

• 2. Throughout the last centuries, Western scholarship was able to completely eliminate revelation as a source of knowledge, thereby reducing it into the level of mere fiction and myth.

• A Muslim scientists find it impossible to incorporate revelation into social scientific research by relying on modern Western methodology.

Methodology in Islamic Science
• Q : For so long we have succumbed to the notion that modern science has been created by means of a single methodology only (Scientific Method).
• Does the fundamental difference between the Islamic conception of methodology and the modern one (western methodology)?
• A : Yes, that fundamental differences remain.

• The “Scientific Method” was widely practiced in Islamic science is now a well-established fact in the pages of the history of science.

• -Prof. Nasr viewed as an independent scientific and intellectual tradition, is that there is no single method which is used in that science to the exclusion of other methods.

• Islamic science has always sought to apply different methods in accordance with the nature of the subject in question and modes of understanding that subject.

• Muslim scientist, in their cultivation and development of the various sciences, have relied upon every avenue of knowledge open to man, from ratiocination and interpretation of sacred Scriptures to observation and experimentation.

• Even in modern science itself, the idea of a single methodology alone as being responsible for its creation has been demolished by numerous works on methodology of science, which have appeared over the last decade or so.

• Instead, the idea of a pluralistic methodology has now gained wide currency among contemporary historians and philosophers of science.

• Some of them have gone to the extent of even accepting sacred Scriptures as in integral component of this pluralistic methodology.


• The fact is the realization that the creative process which has produced that science is far more complex than what has been popularized as the “Scientific Method”.

• The methodology of science in Islam is based on an epistemology that is fundamentally different from the dominant epistemology of modern science, which so far has remained largely unaffected by this new intellectual development,
• although an increasing number of scientists, historians and philosophers of science have spoken of the need for a new epistemological paradigm that can provide a coherent view of the world revealed by modern science.


• It is true to say that, as an empirical way of knowing things, the scientific method of modern science is hardly distinguishable from the scientific method of Islamic science.


• Also the pluralistic methodology currently accepted by certain segment of the scientific community does not encompass the totality of methodologies of Islamic science.

• Modern science cannot at one and the same time retain its present epistemology logical foundation and adopt revealed sacred Scriptures and intellectual intuition, as this term is traditionally understood, as part and parcel of its methodology, without falling into philosophical contradictions.

• In truth, the acceptance of one necessarily implies the rejection of the other.

• It is the aim of this part to discuss the principles underlying this relationship.

• In the light of these principles, it then becomes transparent why in Islamic science all of these different methods are considered as valid ways and means of knowing nature within their respective domains of applicability.

• These methods are not contradictory, but rather complementary means of realizing the final goal of the Islamic sciences,, which is itself derived from the twin source of Revelation and Intellectual intuition.

• Consequently, the different sciences based on these different methods of knowing are also seen to be in complete harmony with each other, and not as conflicting discipline with rival claim to truth
The Principles of Islamic Methodology
• i. The unity of Allah

• - Allah is the One
• - He is who created this universe
• - Sunnatullah (the patterns of Allah)
• - Good and bad only can be determined by God alone in His laws and rulings (syariah)

• ii. The unity of Creation
• a . Cosmic order
- - Allah is the creator of the universe
- - He alone determines the order of the cosmic and universe

- B. Kingdom of Ends
- - Allah created everything with specific measures and purposes .
- - All things in creation serve a purpose.It is never final and only ends in Allah.

• The unity of Truth and Knowledge

- Islam affirms the possibility of acquiring knowledge.
- Revelation is the prime source of knowledge. (al-Quran & Hadith)
- The senses and ‘aql as the tools for gaining knowledge.

• The unity of Life
• a. Vicegerency (al-Khalifah)
- To govern the world as a khalifah of God.
- Fulfill the “amanah” by follow Syariat and serve Him.

- b. Comprehesivenss (Syumul)
- Islam is the way of life ( ibadah, syari’at & akhlaq)

• The unity of Humanity

- All human being were created by the same Creator (Allah)
- No discrimination among them
- All are regarded are equal before the sight of Allah.
- The noblest is the most pious.


Importance of Islamic Research Methodology
Mohammad Rafiduddin :

• argues that Islamic research is response of Islam to the intellectual challenge of the age.

• Such research usually has a double function, either to refute directly or indirectly wrong philosophical ideas that have become prevalent at the time and have begun to have an adverse effect on the faith of Muslims or to affirm the truth of Islam and defend Islamic beliefs by making use of all the right philosophical ideas that are available at the time.

F.R Faridi :

• elaborates on the point by stating that the purpose of Islamic research is the acquisition of knowledge to seek the reality, recognize Allah and promote the good of humanity.

• Imad al-Din Khalil:

• Allah encourages Muslim to have an insight into the reality of their existence and their place in the cosmos.

• The Quran invites man to make use of all his senses to obtain unlimited data and use his reason to register, discriminate, accept or reject data with a view to reaching the truth.

• As far as research methodology is concerned, it can be defined as the “process of validation of statements, proposition and theories”.

• The selection of an appropriate methodology is of great importance since it often influences research result.


Islamization of knowledge (Integration)

• It was this division of scientific approaches into Sayr’i and secular, leading into educational and cultural dualisme in Muslim societies, which prompted the “Islamization of Knowledge” Project.

• The task of integration is by no means an eclectic mixing of classical Islamic and modern Western knowledge,
• but rather a systematic reorientation and restructuring of the entire field of human knowledge in accordance with a new set criteria and categories, derived from and based on the Islamic worldview.
- Knowledge was once Islamized?
• Q : Why do we need to Islamized knowledge today since when the Quran was revealed, all the knowledge had been Islamized?

• A : True, since the revelation of the Quran particularly with the surah al-’Alaq, knowledge was once Islamized but due to passage of time and with infiltration of foreign elements and ideologies into the Muslim world and Muslim minds,
• the Islamic elements had undergone severe changes and been influenced by various elements such as westernization and eventually secularization.

• As a result, the knowledge no longer confirm to the acceptable framework of Islamic worldview and Islamic concept of knowledge.

• This is particularly true with respect to acquired knowledge (fard kifayah) such as physical sciences (physics, chemistry, astronomy etc) and human social sciences (economics, politics, psychology, sociology etc)

• Revealed knowledge Revealed knowledge (ford 'ayn) though as a discipline of knowledge does not require Islamization for they are already Islamic in a sense,

• yet the man or the seeker of knowledge, if he himself is not fully Islamized in body and soul (mind),
• as in the case of the so-called ‘secular-minded’ or 'modernist' or 'liberal' Muslim man (to cite but a few examples) may ultimately project and interpret the fard ayn knowledge in a manner not befitting it and alien to the established Islamic worldview.

E.g - in biology:
• when we study about the creation of human beings, modern biology never leads us to God as the Creator of man but rather gives the credits to "Darwin's Evolution Theory".

E.g - In physics and astronomy,
• it never talks about the creation of the planets, stars, sun and moon and universe that points us to God but rather through the so-called "Big Bang Theory".

E.g. In economics :
• Adam Smith has propagated man as 'economic man' and should behave in a manner ‘to maximize pis profits and minimize his loss' and ‘his self-interest’ is the ultimate goal then he should pursuit as whatever expense.

E.g. In politics :
• Machiavelli for example taught us that ‘the end justifies the means’ which means that if the end is good and noble, whatever ways that one needs to take in order to achieve the noble aim would be all right and justified even at the expense of depriving other people's rights.
• The ethical questions such as oppression,justice, reasonable profit; societal interest etc, never• come to picture.


History of Islamization of Knowledge

• (1) lslamization of Pre-lslamic Knawledge

• As have been mentioned above, with the revelation of al-Quran, the knowledge of pre-Islamic was Islamized in the sense that al-Quran projects a new worldview alien to the prevailing' worldview of the musyrikun, attacking their fundamental beliefs which they have inherited from the forefather generation after generation.

• Al-Quran also introduced new meaning and concept to Arabic terms, which though might have already in existence during the Jahiliyyah period but connoted different meanings altogether.

• Certain words, as noted by Prof. al-Attas conveyed different concept and gain more important value that the others - contrary to the practice of the Jahiliyyah- such the word 'taqwa' (piety) is regarded as the most virtuous act and status from the sight of God in contrast to hilm (forbearance/gentleness) and muruah (dignity) which occupied the highest virtuous act in the Jahiliyyah era, though undoubtedly still important in Islam, but not superior than that of 'taqwa'..

• (2) Islamization of Greek Knowledge

• During the glorious days of Islamic Civilization, the knowledge from other civilizations such as •that of Greek (Hellenistic), Indians and perhaps Chinese too, have not only been translated into Arabic or other Muslim languages such as Persian and Urdu but also transformed totally to fit in within Islamic metaphysical framework or worldview.

• The process which had been conducted to a great extent by scholars like al-Farabi, al-Kindi, Ibn Rushd Ibn Sina and others, in the words of Prof. Nasr, involved the "digestion and integration, the expulsion of something which cannot be accepted, which is not in accord with that particular worldview of Islam".

• This process is what Islamization of knowledge is all about

• (3) Islamization of Contemporary Knowledge

• Similarly, in the case of the Western Civilization, the Latin West took the knowledge from Islam and transformed them into the part and parcel of Christian worldview by rejecting certain aspects of Islamic sciences which never took hold within the Christian citadel.

• In the beginning it was a process, which we could perhaps call 'Christianization' of knowledge or 'Westernization' of knowledge.

• Only later when the French and Industrial Revolution began in 17th century, knowledge and science started to be separated from the Christian Church, in a process what is termed as 'secularization' process.

• Consequently, the predominant knowledge of today or what sometimes people term as present day knowledge or contemporary knowledge is a kind of knowledge that has undergone the process of 'secularization'.

• As such the knowledge is sometimes called 'secular knowledge' too apart from popularly termed as the 'Western knowledge'.

- Characteristics of Contemporary Knowledge

• What is wrong with the present Western or secular knowledge?

• The present knowledge has certain characteristics. that do not conform to the Islamic worldview, for that reason they need to be Islamized as the following:

- reliance upon the powers of human reason alone to guide man through life therefore the other means of acquiring knowledge such intuition (which includes Revelation) is not acceptable;
- adherence to the validity of dualistic vision of reality and truth;
- affirmation and projection of a secular worldview
- espousal of the doctrine of humanism
- Scholars on Islamization of Knowledge
• There are many modem Muslim scholars who talked or discussed the problems of knowledge in the Muslim Ummah and some of them directly or otherwise mentioned about the need for an Is1amization of Knowledge :
- Muhammad IqbaI
- Fazlur Rahman,
- Syed Muhammad Naquib ai-Atlas,
- Ismail Raji al-Faruqi
- Sayyed Hossein Nasr
- Jaafar Sheik:Idris, etc.

• But only two of them. Prof. al-Atlas and Prof. al-Faruqi who came up with a very length and elaborative discussion on the concept of Islamization of Knowledge.


Methodology of Islamization the Knowledge

• All scholars generally agree that basically in order to Islamize knowledge:

• the first and foremost we need to Islamize the seeker of knowledge first, i.e. the man himself,

• only later then the respective discipline of sciences or knowledge (such as physics, biology, chemistry, psychology Sociology etc.) would possible be Islamized.

• As always reiterated by Prof. al-Attas that knowledge is not something outside yourself, but knowledge is something inside you which stems from the meaning of knowledge itself that is 'the arrival in the soul of the meaning (of the object of knowledge).

• In other words, the soul (in this case the mind) that first needs be Islamized failing which no matter how much the discipline of knowledge is Islamized, yet the understanding, interpretation of the knowledge is still not Islamic for it originates from unIslamic or secular mind of the man.

• Honestly, we have to admit that due to colonialism, many Muslim minds have been secularized as such they could not discern between what are knowledge that conform to the Islamic worldview and what are not

• For these kinds of people, their minds need to be Islamized first by restructuring and remoulding them to be in accordance with the Islamic metaphysical and philosophical framework or worldview.

• See also :

• The Methodological Basis of the Hierarchy of the Scinences

• Islamization of Knowledge : Problems, Principles and Prospective
(Ismail Raji al-Faruqi)
• Islam and the Philosophy of Science
(Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas)


• Wassalam