ISMAIL RAJI AL FARUQI "ISLAMIZATION OF SCIENCE"

 ISMAIL RAJI AL-FARUQI

Ismail Raji al-Faruqi was born on January 1, 1921 AD in Jaffa which is located in Palestine, and he died on May 24, 1986 AD.[1] His father's name is Abdul Huda Al-Faruqi, a qadi (judge) who is respected in the country of Palestine, someone who is also regarded as a figure who obeys religion; this is from his father, in addition to his education at the local mosque, Faruqi received religious education well, education is right for a child. Palestinian children in general. At that time, Palestine was still peaceful and peaceful under the authority of the Arab government in Damascus, even though it was also under British colonial rule. Until finally the Jewish nation arrived, established its settlement, and slowly began to undermine and begin to dominate.[2] Palestine began to be in turmoil.

Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi is a figure who greatly admired his homeland, Palestine before the area was occupied by Israel. Therefore, when his homeland was occupied by Israel, he was an active mob and strongly opposed the presence of the Zionists. He loudly voiced that the state of Israel must be dissolved immediately and the Palestinian people have the right to fight and defend their homeland to the death.[3] Much of Faruqi's education and experience were obtained and pursued in Western countries even though he was born in a Muslim country (Palestine). This happened because the conflict between Israel and Palestine at that time was at the peak of tension, the friction between the two was continuously heating up and making the situation less conducive on Palestinian land.

He also went through his basic education at the College Des Frese, Lebanon from 1926 to 1936, with an introduction to French. Furthermore, Faruqi continued his tertiary education at The American University, Beirut, and pursued a philosophy major until he finally obtained a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in 1941.[4] Exactly a year after he completed his studies, namely in 1942, Faruqi was appointed as a government employee (PNS) or the Registrar of Cooperative Societies under the auspices of the British government and stationed in Jerusalem. He also showed good performance at that time and as a reward, Faruqi was appointed governor of the Galilee region, Palestine in 1945 at a relatively young age of 24 years. However, fate befell Faruqi, namely in 1948 war broke out between Palestine and the Israeli-Jews, and the Jewish troops succeeded in controlling 77% of the holy areas of Palestine including Galilee, Faruqi's territory. As a result, the Palestinian villages that were in Faruqi's hands were taken away and the inhabitants were forced to flee, including Faruqi himself.[5]

However, having power taken from Faruqi's hands was a blessing in itself. He then moved from the world of power politics to the academic world, Faruqi continued his master's level education at the Indiana University Graduate School Of Arts and Sciences in 1948, and he earned an MA (Master of Art) degree in philosophy in 1949. Not satisfied with During his MA degree at Indiana University, Faruqi was also accepted into the Philosophy department at Harvard University and earned his second MA degree in 1951. Then Faruqi decided to return to Indiana University, and submitted his thesis entitled Justifying the Good: Metaphysics and Epistemology Of Value to the philosophy department and obtained his Ph.D. in September 1952.

Based on this educational history, it can be concluded that Faruqi is strong in the field of classical philosophy and thoughts on western traditions. Then Faruqi tried to go to Cairo, he stayed there while studying Islam at al-Azhar for 4 years, from 1954 to 1958. Not long after that he then continued his journey to North America, where he was appointed to be a visiting professor related to the field of Islamic studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies, while also being a student at McGill from 1959 to 1961 studying material on Christianity and Judaism. Only after that, Faruqi was able to start his professional career as a teacher. He was a professor at the Central Institute for Islamic Research in Karachi from 1961 to 1963. The following year, he returned to America and was a visiting professor of the history of religion at the University of Chicago. Then in 1964, Faruqi obtained a patent position as an extraordinary professor in the department of religion at Syracuse University. But it didn't stop there, Faruqi also moved to Temple University in 1968 to become a professor in the field of Islamic Studies and Islamic History, and it was this position that he occupied until he finally died in 1986.[6]

 

RAJI AL FARUQI'S THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ISLAMIZATION OF SCIENCE

Faruqi's way of thinking is based on the pattern of Islamization, he is very persistent in voicing about how to synthesize two different scientific fields (Western and Islamic). He was the initiator of international Islamization after he got inspiration from someone named Syed Naquid Al-Attas.[7] This starts from the problems that are happening among Muslims themselves who are considered consumers of Western knowledge to the practical political problems of secularism. It seems as if Muslims are greedy for Western knowledge so they pick up anything that comes from the West without thinking twice, the West is a symbol of prosperity and stability. Dar they immediately plagiarized without thinking. Yet if it is re-digested or contemplated in-depth, actually the Western mindset or orientation towards the West like this is closely related to attitudes against Islamic teachings themselves, such as colonialism; because it is necessary, admittedly, that such an advanced Western civilization was not followed by good values, especially in the world of education. Western education tends to impose the rights of the countries they colonize; Ideological colonialism, be it socialist, capitalist, communist, or even liberalist ideologies, were all forced to be implemented in colonized countries, including Islamic countries.[8]

As mentioned in the world of education, however, the success of Western education cannot be adapted to Islamic education. Duplication of Western education and application in Islamic education will not guarantee the achievement of Islamic goals in all fields there are will lead to de-Islamization and demoralization.[9] Something that is not taught in Islam at all.

Muhammad Mubarak as quoted by Amrullah Ahmad stated that the characteristics of the Western education system, especially in the 18-19th century were marked by isolation from religion, secularism, materialism, denial of revelation, and neglect of ethical values ​​and replaced it with an attitude called pragmatic.[10] Meanwhile, Islamic education is just the opposite. Related to this, Ismail Raji al-Faruqi has also acknowledged that the methodology and materials taught in the Islamic world are indeed plagiarized from the West. But unfortunately, the results that were picked later were things that were far from expectations, after being traced without processing, the materials and methods did not contain insights like insights that can revive the Western nation itself. It turns out that the same materials and methods do not necessarily have the same impact on two different actors. Even what is there, the material and methodology are empty and have a bad influence that leads students to de-Islamization.[11]

This condition, Faruqi later referred to as malaise, is a condition in which Muslims are far from the lowest rung of the ladder. the fact that the Muslims have been defeated, and slaughtered. All aspects of his life are really at the bottom of the ladder, whether it's politics, the economy, or even education, all of them are losing. Especially in the field of religion and culture, Muslims are increasingly misled by foreign propaganda that refers to the Western tradition, so unwittingly it leads to the destruction of the nation's culture and Islamic teachings themselves. Schools that voluntarily deify the Western curriculum and implement it, must be acknowledged that this is precisely what has led Muslims to gaps among Muslims themselves. Islam is getting worse and worse, at the bottom of the ladder. Based on all of this, Ismail Raji al-Faruqi began to pioneer the Islamization of Knowledge movement, a movement that was expected to be a solution to the malaise of Muslims. The Islamization of Science according to Faruqi himself is a process of Islamizing various scientific disciplines by reinserting modern scientific disciplines into Islamic Knowledge and Knowledge, which of course has been preceded by a critical study of both knowledge systems in Islam and the West. In this case, the Islamization of knowledge can be said as an effort to build a paradigm based on Islamic values, both from an ontological, epistemological, and axiological aspect.

Raji al-Faruqi used to refer to the term Islamization of knowledge in English as the Islamization of knowledge (IOK) and this term is the most popular, whereas in Arabic it is commonly referred to as Al-Islamiyat al ma'rifat with the meaning that all disciplines must convert to Islam.[12] The Islamization of science can also be interpreted as an activity of criticizing and reviewing the results of the ijtihad of scholars, including the results of non-Muslim ijtihad in the field of science through verification so that later it is found about the relevant certainty or not, theories, findings, views, and so on with the context of its time, as well as trying to explore and find new alternatives if the results of previous studies are declared irrelevant to today's context. Thus the Islamization of knowledge is not a complete rejection of Western products. The Islamization of science is more about efforts or steps to ascertain whether Western products, as well as the products of Islamic thought itself, are still relevant or not if they have collided with the current reality. If it is not relevant then look for alternatives to meet the reality.

 

---

[1] Ramayulis & Samsul Nizar, Ensiklopedi Tokoh Pendidikan Islam, Mengenal Tokoh Pendidikan Islam di Dunia Islam dan Indonesia (Ciputat: Quantum Teaching, 2005), 107.

[2] Muhsin Muhammad Shaleh, Tanah Palestina dan Rakyatnya (Medan: Pustaka Hanan, 2013), 49.

[3] Ismail Raji Al Faruqi & Louis Lamya al-Faruqi, Atlas Budaya Islam: Menjelajah Khazanah Peradaban Gemilang (Bandung: Mizan, 2002), 6.

[4] Herry Mohammed, Tokoh-Tokoh Islam Yang Berpengaruh Abad 20 (Jakarta: Gema Insani, 2006), 209.

[5] Muhsinin Muhammed, Tanah Palestina dan Rakyatnya, 50-51.

[6] Jhon L. Esposito – Jhon O Voll, Tokoh-Tokoh Kunci Gerakan Islam Kontemporer (Jakarta: Raja Grafindo, 2002), 2.

[7] Budiman Prastyo, “Stages Of Islamization Of Sciences According To Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi As Unity Of Scinces Efforts And Implementation In The Practicel Guidence Of Chemistry”, Unnes Science Education Jurnal 7 (2018): 28.

[8] Abu Muhammad Iqbal, Pemikiran Pendidikan Islam Gagasan-gagasan Besar Para Ilmuan Muslim (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2015), 633.

[9]  Ismail Raji Al-Faruqi, Islamisasi Pengetahuan (Bandung: Pustaka,1984.

[10] Abu Muhammad Iqbal, Pemikiran Pendidikan Islam.., 634.

[11] Ismail Raji Al Faruqi, Islamisasi Pengetahuan., 1.

[12] Hasan Baharun, Metodologi Studi Islam, Percikan Pemikiran Tokoh Dalam membumikan Agama (Yogyakarta: Ar Ruzz Media, 2011), 111.