Editorial

Abstract

The first decade of the 15th century Hijrah is over. It saw the establishment
of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and was marked
by the development of cooperation and collaboration between various Islamic
organizations and institutions around the world. The results have been most
encouraging. This collaboration has contributed toward the initiation of an
era of discussions and debates on the Islamization of knowledge and the
development of a methodology for the reconstruction of Islamic thought.
Among the consequences has been the unfolding of various intellectual forums.
One such intellectual forum for the last five years has been the American
Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS) published jointly by the IIIT and
the Association for Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). We are greatly encouraged
by its steadily increasing circulation and by the enhanced participation
of social scientists as well as lay scholars.
'AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, now Rector of the International Islamic
University (IIU). Malaysia, continues to send us his inspiring selection and
commentary of Qur'anic verses as the "Guiding Light:'
In this issue, for the first time, we are induding a paper by Taha Jabir
al 'Alwani, the President of the IDT and author of several scholarly titles
in Arabic. This paper is the English rendering of his lecture delivered in
Rabat, Morocco at a conference held under the aegis of the Islamic Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). He sketches a brief
argument for establishing an Islamic alternative in thought and knowledge,
not only for the benefit of Muslims, but for the common good of humanity.
Another first is the paper by Eric Winkel, a multi-lingual political scientist
of the faculty of IIU Malaysia, who provjdes us with an analysis of Habermas
and Foucault. This paper entitled "Remembering Islam . . . " brings
these postwar leaders of the Frankfurt school of anarchist and radical critique
into the discussion of the Islamic paradigm. Winkel explains the
characterization of Habermas and Foucault of existing epistemologies as "pernicious,
pervasive and truth distorting," and shows how their own vision of
the possible future world is extremely restricted and inadequate. He suggests
that we remember that Islam, as the divine guidance of Allah, provides the
basis for a truly emancipatory meta critique.
Moving from philosophical issues to the more concrete, Ausaf Ali's paper
on " . . . Islamization of Social and Behavioral Sciences" argues for a moral ...