Responses and Intellectual Criticism from Contemporary Muslims Regarding the Idea of the Islamisation of Science

Abstract

Islamisation of science is one of the intellectual responses by Muslims to the development of modern science, which is not entirely free from the influence of Western worldviews, values and philosophical assumptions. This project has developed primarily through the thinking of a number of Muslim intellectuals, such as Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, who have sought to re-establish the relationship between science and the Islamic worldview. However, this idea has subsequently elicited various responses and criticisms from contemporary Muslim intellectuals. This study aims to analyse the responses and criticisms of contemporary Muslim intellectuals towards the idea of the Islamisation of science, as well as to identify the direction of development of this line of thought in the face of modernity. This study employs a qualitative method using a literature review approach. The findings indicate that criticism of the Islamisation of science does not necessarily imply a rejection of the relationship between Islam and science. But criticism encourages an evaluation of the concept of Islamisation so that it does not merely stop at efforts to incorporate Islamic values into the products of modern science, but also addresses the epistemological, worldview, methodological, purpose and practical aspects of science.