Three Meanings of Islamic Science: Toward Operationalizing Islamization of Science

Abstract

The twin historical and philosophical meanings of Islamic science are to be integrated into a third op- erative, programmatic meaning pertaining to the systemic reapplication of Islamic cognitive and ethi- cal values to science and technology in the contem- porary world. This will involve critical integration of the scientific endeavor into the conceptual framework of the Islamic worldview, and the concomitant expli- cation of the cognitive, methodological, and axiologi- cal implications of such integration for present and future scientific research. This operative redefinition of Islamic science will render it into a new over-arch- ing ‘paradigm’ or ‘research program’ pregnant with novel methodological and empirical implications (and hence, novel discoveries) for remanifesting the Islamic worldview in everyday individual and societal life through the vision and practice of a non-Western, au- thentically Islamic science and technology geared first and foremost toward identifying and solving the true problems and satisfying the real needs of the Ummah.