Rebuilding the Social Sciences on Islamic Foundations

This talk presents a revolutionary approach to re-establishing the social sciences on the sound foundations of Islamic epistemology. We will critically analyze the secular, Eurocentric origins of modern knowledge and highlights its flaws—tracing them back to the traumatic loss of faith in Christianity in Europe. Drawing from Islamic traditions, particularly the works of Imam Al-Ghazali, Dr. Zaman calls for a comprehensive reform that reintegrates morality, faith, and wisdom into social sciences. The discussion offers a pathway to liberating our minds from the spell of Western thought and reasserting the supremacy of divine knowledge as delivered in the Quran.

1. Rebuilding the Social Science on Islamic Foundations Dr. Asad Zaman

2. Setting up the Problem: Conflicting Claims of Superior Epistemology: Quran vs West

3. The REAL Battleground is KNOWLEDGE Not guns, bombs, and armies – these are secondary. Pre-Islamic era was the Age of Ignorance. The FIRST Wahy to our prophet: Read in the name of thy Lord who created; [He] created the human being from blood clot. Read in the name of thy Lord who taught by the pen: [He] taught the human being what he did not know God gave mankind knowledge, which enlightened the world for over a 1000 years.

4. What Was this knowledge? This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion Say: In the bounty of Allah (Quran) and in His mercy (Deen)-- in that they should rejoice; it is better than that which they gather The knowledge which has been given to us is COMPLETE and PERFECT. It is better than any knowledge which could be created by human beings – it is better than all the knowledge gathered by unbelievers.

5. Historical Evidence of Power of Knowledge Ignorant and backwards Bedouin, at the bottom rank of civilizations, became leaders of the world after acquiring this knowledge. They created a brilliant civilization which enlightened the world for a thousand years. See: What the World Lost Due to the Decline of the Islamic Civilization – Summary of book by Syed Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi http://bit.ly/azrdm

6. BUT our university education teaches us the OPPOSITE! ALL our courses are based on knowledge created by West. There is little or no overlap between our education and the Quran. NATURAL CONCLUSION: Knowledge of Quran is USELESS for our modern lives. Conclusion is UNACCEPTABLE for Muslims. BUT, what is the solution? What HAPPENED to the POWER of the REVOLUTIONARY knowledge given to Muslims DIRECTLY by Allah T’aala??

7. The Noor of the Quran Enlightened the World: God’s complete and perfect message brought mankind out of darkness and ignorance 1450 years ago . This knowledge created a civilization that enlightened the world for a thousand years.

8. European Enlightenment Mankind was in darkness and ignorance until the sun of REASON rose in Europe five centuries ago , ending their dark ages. In the light of reason, Europeans made spectacular progress, creating an advanced civilization of unparalled excellence. They conquered the world, and continue to dominate in wealth and power, due the tremendous power of the knowledge they have created. Image by vwalakte on Freepik

9. How to Reconcile Conflicting Claims? European Solution: Knowledge of Islam was wonderful for its own time. BUT, it is now OBSOLETE. Anyone who wants to progress TODAY must follow the path of the Europeans, and learn their knowledge. But FAITH in Islam says that the Quran is complete and perfect. It can never become obsolete. Conflict between the Head and the Heart: HEAD: Our eyes show us the power of European knowledge. HEART: We feel the power of the message of the Quran.

10. Our Goal: To Assert Confidently the Superiority of The Knowledge Given by God Claim: فَضْلُ كَلَامِ اللَّهِ عَلَى سَائِرِ الْكَلَامِ كَفَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَى خَلْقِهِ The superiority of the words of Allah over all other words is like the superiority of Allah over His creation. Sunan At- Tirmidhi (Hadith No. 2926) Our goal in this lecture is to prove this claim.

11. Apparent Obstacles: Difficulty of Proposed Task

12. We can all see that: The West created a powerful knowledge, which affects our daily lives on a minute by minute basis! Our lives have changed dramatically as a result of Western innovations and technology. The power of Western knowledge is demonstrated by their conquest of the globe, and their continuing domination of the world. Modern University curricula contain no mention of Islamic teachings, even within the Islamic world. This is proof of the irrelevance of the intellectual tradition of the Islamic Civilization to our modern lives.

13. Islamization of Knowledge Project In light of these obstacles, the IoK project, currently being carried out in Islamic Universities throughout the world, aims to MERGE Western knowledge with Islamic knowledge by just putting the two bodies of knowledge together, and smoothing out any conflicts. Two Universities – IIUI and IIUM – were created explicitly for this purpose, to integrate Islamic and Western knowledge. But neither has been very successful. WHY not? Several Preliminary Steps are need to understand the answer.

14. A Conceptual Framework: Co-evolution of Society & Knowledge

15. Co-evolution of Society and Social Theories Societies keep evolving and changing – as everyone can see from their personal experience. Theories about society must necessarily evolve and change, in a corresponding manner.

16. Differentiate between Social and Physical Science Physical Sciences have been enormously successful – they have produce amazing technological progress in all domains of our lives, and continue to progress by leaps and bounds. They are rapidly changing the world beyond recognition. Social Sciences have been an enormous failure. Economic theory is directly responsible for a world where more than a billion live below poverty line, even though it is easily possible to provide for all. Political theory has led to continuous, ongoing wars, brutality, and genocide, supported by expert philosophers and politicians. Environmental Science has led to a climate catastrophe.

17. Understanding the Origins of Social Science Social Science attempts to understand human societies. As societies evolve and change, appropriate social theories co-evolve. However, dominant theories are often false: There is a lag in development of theories. Fighting the Last Battle: theories developed for previous crisis are applied to the present. Power struggles between different classes with different interests govern the adoption of theories. Today, textbooks teach economic theories which are obviously false, but support the interests of the wealthy.

18. Some Critical Insights Dominant theories are often false. Also, evolution of social theories does not represent progress or increased knowledge. This is one way in which social science differs from Physical Science. Our ways of thinking are deeply affected by dominant social theories, which are often false. Thus, to be able to understand social change, we must liberate our minds from grip of false theories. The best way to understand social theories is to understand the historical context which they were created to explain. Keynesian Economics cannot be understood with Great Depression.

19. Insight from Western History: Understanding Western Claims to Superior Knowledge & Civilization

20. Suppression of Knowledge => Dark Ages Emperor Constantine imposes one version of Christianity on Roman Empire. Council of Nicea 325AD in Iznik , Turkey. Trinitarians forge documents and lie, to get their version of Christianity accepted. Arian Heresy (denies Godhood of Christ) rejected and suppressed. ALL thought other than orthodox Christian though rejected. Libraries burnt. DARK AGES OF EUROPE BEGIN.

21. Astonishing Rise of Islam: Due to Thirst for Knowledge Seven Centuries of Astonishing Progress, in all branches of knowledge Compare to three centuries of recent European progress. Ibn-e-Khaldun: Advanced civilizations wallow in luxuries, and are overcome by barbarians. European barbarians re-conquered Spain. Toledo School of translators started translation of thousands of books in Muslim libraries, ending the dark ages of Europe. The light of Islam reached Europe. Renaissance of Europe starts from thirteenth century

22. Influx of Islamic Knowledge into Europe Battle of “Science” and Religion. Incoming knowledge was against Catholic Doctrines. Catholic Church did its best to resist. The Spanish Inquisition burnt people with heretical doctrines. Case of Galileo is famous. Copernicus, a priest … feared church persecution. His close friend and fellow canon, Sculteus , was named a heretic and underwent ten years of trial, imprisonment, and torture in Rome. Copernicus prudently waited until he was on his deathbed, before sending the book for publication — C. K. Raju: Is Science Western in Origin? More Details: http://bit.ly/AZPlag

23. European Renaissance Treasures of Knowledge, millions of books in libraries of Al-Andalus, translated to Latin and other European languages. Catholic Church resists influx of new knowledge. Strong Censorship. Index of Prohibited Books. The Inquistion punishes all heretical thought. Scultetus , Galileo, Bruno, many others.

24. Breakup of Church and Religious Wars Martin Luther published 95 theses attacking Catholic Church in 1517 More than a century of religious warfare between Protestants and Catholics. Massive death and destructions. In some areas, more than a third of the population died. Created general anti-religious mindset in Europe. The impact of religious wars in Europe has had massive influence on the ENTIRE body of knowledge created by Europeans.

25. Trauma of Loss of Faith Something which nearly everyone had believed, turned out to be wrong. How to rebuild the ENTIRE stock of knowledge, starting from ZERO, on CERTAIN foundations? Descartes: “I think, therefore I am”. Start thinking from a position where nothing is known. How can we learn something?

26. Development of Secular Thought: Foundations for Secular Society

27. The Enlightenment: A Desperate Search for Peace Not the Dawn of Reason in the West. Assumption: The cause of wars was conflicting religious dogma. Solution: Reject Religion as basis for building society (the scholastics) Confine Religion to a private belief, and exclude it from public domain Create a society on theoretical foundations based on “reason”. Epistemological Assumption: It is possible to build knowledge (and social science) without prior metaphysical & moral assumptions.

28. Newton as Key Enabler of Enlightenment In an environment where fundamental religious beliefs were called into question, there was a search for certainty. Newton’s Laws of Universal Gravitation had a dramatic impact. They “explained” the motion of all particles, from smallest to largest, from beginning of time to the end. Thus, observations and logic had the potential to explain everything we can see, without recourse to God, or Metaphysical Assumptions about the universe.

29. Four Flaws of Enlightenment Thought Centuries of religious wars were caused by religious differences. Wars can be eliminated by creation of objective knowledge. It is possible to build knowledge without metaphysics & morality. Rational humans will have consensus on this objective knowledge. We can be 100% sure of knowledge built on foundations of observations and logic. To create consensus, we must exclude subjective knowledge of the inner world, and focus on objective knowledge of external reality.

30. Critical: Learning & Using these fundamental flaws in the foundations of European knowledge allows us to counter their superiority claims

31. Consequences Enlightenment Thought

32. The Marginalization of Man Descartes introduces DUALISM, separating the internal world of man from the external physical world. Newton’s Laws now provide a complete description of the external reality, but say nothing about the inner spiritual world of man. The question of interaction remains perplexing and unsolved. Kant theorizes science as a set of laws about external reality, and morality as a set of laws about internal reality. Materialism grows stronger, and inner world is eliminated; thoughts are just fluid secretions of the brain. Man is governed by Math.

33. Building Secular Societies Hobbes: Internal Moral Compass is useless. Natural state of human beings is war of all against all. All-encompassing government, and rule of law is required. Replace Internal compass by external laws. Every individual has their own religion. No collective goal for society. Society is not one body. It is a collection of individuals bound by social contract, which protects their properties. Collective Action is only possible at State-level. Morality is via legislation. States are above morality, since they create it. Intermediate Goals: (Freedom, Wealth): Promoted to Final, since collective agreement is only possible on these goals.

34. Consequences of Rejection of Religion Metaphysics: The Universe has no creator. There is no afterlife, no day of Judgement. Morality: Man is just a kind of an animal. Pursuit of pleasure, power, wealth is the goal of life. Society: We live in a jungle of cut-throat competition. The only social law is survival of the fittest. There is no value-neutral or objective stance. Both existence and denial of God are metaphysical assumptions.

35. Increasing Wars Unconstrained pursuit of power and wealth led to global colonization, conquest and imperialism, accompanied by unparalleled atrocities. More than 100 million deaths, and vastly greater destruction of societies around the globe over the period of colonization. Relatively fewer inter-European conflicts in 19 th century, leading to an illusion of success of secular ideals. World Wars 1 and 2 shattered this illusion, and the status of the social sciences fell to a new low.

36. WW1 => Birth of Positivist Modern Social Sciences

37. Battle of Methodologies (Methodenstreit) Natural Methodology for Social Science: Historical and Qualitative. Alternative, emerging methodology: Empirical and Quantitative. Critical: History is always unique events, and does not lead to natural laws. But this is expected, since human societies evolve and change, and are not subject to mathematical laws.

38. After WW1, attempt to use scientific methods to study human societies. Peter Manicas: The History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences. Logical Positivism: A theory of knowledge which says that science consists of universal truths, and only science provides valid knowledge. The name “social science” deliberately chosen, to borrow the prestige of the Physical sciences for the study of human societies.

39. Triple Disaster of Modern Social Sciences Economics: Massive Inequality, Poverty, Oppression Politics: Machiavellian – no moral foundations. Continuous Wars. Social: Breakup of communities and families, which are fundamental to human happiness. Environmental: Climate catastrophe looms. All this disaster is due to defective social sciences created in aftermath of Enlightenment, and then positivism after WW1.

40. Rebuilding Social Science on Islamic Foundations

41. What is the MOST Valuable Kind of Knowledge? West: Scientific Knowledge. The Quran: The Reason for the Creation of the Universe. The Purpose of Human Life. The Criterion for Success. On Secular Grounds: What is the best way to lead our infinitely precious lives? Economics & Politics Answer: Pursuit of pleasure, power, wealth. Happiness Research: Source of long run happiness is character and social relationships. Loving and Being Loved.

42. Epistemology: Theory of Knowledge Julie Reuben: Making of the Modern University: Intellectual Transformation and the Marginalization of Morality. For a summary, see: http://bit.ly/AZmme Knowledge encompassed spiritual, emotional, rational truths. BUT, in early 20 th Century definition of knowledge was changed. SCIENCE was the only source of valid knowledge. All other types were just ignorance and superstition, not worthy of the name “KNOWLEDGE”!! Hassan Spiker: Islamic Philosophy & Epistemology. Abandonment of character development as goal of education. Replacement by purely technical education.

43. Homo Economicus: Cold, Cruel, Callous Karacuka and Zaman: The Empirical Evidence Against Utility Maximization https://ssrn.com/abstract=2033641 Science is study of external world, not of our subjective internal reality. Western social science is built on a hugely defective theory of nature of human beings. This provides us with the foundations to rebuild the entire body of social sciences.

44. Human Behavior: Foundation of Social Science Islamic Theories of Human behavior are now emerging. Islamic Psychology Foundation: http://isip.foundation

45. Start by How Our Identity is Shaped Learn Who You Are: bit.ly/ Azwya Three Mega-Events which shape our thoughts: bit.ly/AZbgt4 Human experience is subjective, and therefore not scientific. This experience is the greatest source of knowledge in our personal lives, and yet not part of the Western curriculum. Understanding and shaping this experience has been the central concern of Islamic Civilization, and vast portions of our intellectual heritage are concerned with this.

46. Recep Şentürk : Ontology/Epistemology/Methodology Islamic God, Life-After Death, Judgment Rational Behavior: Success on day of Judgement Epistemology: Behavior Theory based on heart, soul, spirit. Methodology: Spiritual Progress, Nafs -e: Ammara , Lawwama , Mutma’innah - ABM Neoclassical Reject all unobservables Rational behavior: Maximize pleasure, power, profits. Epistemology: Only revealed preference can be observed. Methodology: Humans are robots subject to mathematical laws.

47. Uloom-ul-Umran: Islamic Alternative to WSS Study of Social Change, based on methodology of Ibne-Khaldun Key driver of change is community, united by common identity. For details of how this methodology differs from the one currently in use in Western social sciences, see: http://bit.ly/AZUUU

48. Some critical differences Study of deep (unobservable) factors which drive process of social change. ONE of the key drivers are communities with shared goals. Study the co-evolution of social change and theories of change. Theories drive and shape change, so human beings can control process of social change by using the right theories. 3-Dimensional Methodology for study of society: Positive, Normative, and Transformative. http://bit.ly/AZ3DIE

49. Concluding Remarks The Central Battleground is that of Knowledge. Colonization of Minds, created by Western Education, trains us into believing that Western Wisdom is superior to the Quran. The Quran provides complete and sufficient guidance for our modern problems. We need to rebuild the stock of knowledge on Islamic foundations.

50. Ending Dua اللهم أرنا الحق حقًا وارزقنا اتباعه، وأرنا الباطل باطلًا وارزقنا اجتنابه O Allah, show us the truth as truth and provide us with the ability to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and provide us with the ability to avoid it. سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise; I bear witness that there is no deity except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.

51. Links to Relevant Materials These Slides: http://bit.ly/BuildSS Improving Our Educational Systems Part 1 : http://bit.ly/AZbIES1 Improving Our Educational Systems Part 2: http://bit.ly/AZbIES2 Rebuilding the Social Sciences Part 1: http://bit.ly/AZbRSS1 Rebuilding the Social Sciences Part 2: http://bit.ly/AZbRSS2 Original URDU talks in Bhawalpur Improving Our Educational Systems: http://bit.ly/AZuIES Rebuilding the Social Sciences: http://bit.ly/AZuRSS For a list of all conference talks in 2022, see: http://bit.ly/AZtalks2022