Unity of Knowledge

This project will focus on articulating the Islamic paradigm of knowledge and developing both Qur’anic and Sunnah methodology of understanding Islamic intellectual heritage. The researchers will identify the key concepts related to knowledge generation and knowledge dissemination. In knowledge generation there will be an exploration of different themes and topics as well as research key concepts. Knowledge dissemination will be part of IIIT’s publications and contributions.

This project examines the Islamic roots of value based education and provides a conceptual and theoretical frameworks for AEMS initiative that is grounded in Quranic messages and teachings of the prophet (PBUH). It is led by various IIIT scholars in multiple countries.

• Summary of Discussions
• Flyer
• Background Paper
• The Reform of Muslim Education and the Quest for Intellectual Renewal – Datuk Seri Anwer Ibrahim
• Synthesizing Paper

This volume, one of the most important and timely publications of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), represents the latest effort by scholars associated with the organization to formulate an educational program for Muslims. Ziauddin Sardar and Jeremy Henzell-Thomas revise and update the attempts by Ismail Faruqi and fellow founders of IIIT in the 1980s to address the crisis of education faced then by Muslim societies. That is appropriate, for the crisis has not disappeared with the passage of time. If anything, it has become greater and now encompasses Muslims worldwide—not just those in Muslim societies. And, as the authors of this volume note repeatedly, it has captured the attention of educators in the US, UK, and most other European nations.

Integrating knowledge and education has become a major issue in Malaysia in the context of globalization. This study develops a teacher-centered Qur’anic methodology based on the integration of acquired (‘aqlī) and revealed (naqlī) knowledge as regards content, as well as the integration of teachers’ role in a teaching-learning process designed to empower students to manage “self” and “system.” It further investigates the existing curriculum and institutional efforts to integrate these two types of knowledge, students’ understanding of the integrated knowledge and its learning process, as well as how the teachers and lecturers understand this integrated knowledge and apply it to their teaching methods. Data collected through interviews and surveys of participating school students and teachers, as well as university students and lecturers, revealed several issues that need to be addressed.

“Language is the basic tool through which we learn, teach, adapt to change and advance knowledge. It is an inseparable part of how we articulate our worldview, how we conceive ourselves as individuals and societies, shape our perceptions of the world around us, and engage with the world to change it. Yet, language is full of ambiguity and a fertile ground for misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Language is the preeminent tool of culture; and like culture, language has a history, layered like a vast archaeological site, the repository of acquired meaning.”