American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies 111 Tolentine Hall, Villanova University, Villanova, PA 19085 Dhu al Qa'dah 3-4, 1411/May 17-18, 1991

Abstract

The eighth annual meeting of the American Council for the Study of
Islamic Societies was held at Villanova University on May 17-18, 1991. The
meeting featured a number of important sessions, ranging in theme from
the Islamization of Knowledge to women and the Gulf war.
The session on the Islamization of Knowledge was chaired by Charles
Butterworth of the University of Maryland, and included the following: 1)
Mona Abul-Fadl of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon,
VA, who spoke on "The Islamization of Knowledge Interpreted: A Muslim
Intellectual Response to Modernity"; 2) Tamara Sann of St. John Fisher College
in Rochester, NY, who addressed the theme of"Islamic Historicism in Context";
and 3) Theodore P. Wright, Jr., of SUNY, Albany, NY, who discussed "The
Islamization of Knowledge in Pakistan." Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi' of Hartford
Seminary in Hartford, CT, was the discussant.
Abul-Fadl started the session by discussing some of the salient features
of the Islamization of Knowledge- its history, major themes, and its relationship
to modernity. She observed that there is no inherent contradiction between
the Enlightenment and Modernity project and the Islamization of Knowledge
plan. In a sense, the lslamization of Knowledge is essentially philosophical
in nature and, as such, it can sum the substantial achievements of Islamic
civilization as well as the contributions of the Western world. Moreover, she
stre sed the need for developing a sound methodology that accounts for the
intellectual achievements of humanity. As such, the Islamization of Knowledge ...