Islamic Civilisation as a Global Presence with Special Reference to its Knowledge Culture

The main aim of this article is to discuss the meaning and characteristics of Islamic civilisation and its global presence, particularly in the field of knowledge culture. Since both terms have been contested in contemporary scholarship to the point of their critics denying epistemic legitimacy to the concept of Islamic…

Islam and the Challenge of Diversity and Pluralism: Must Islam Reform Itself?

This article seeks to present a counter view of the Western critique of contemporary Islam with specific reference to its treatment of the problem of diversity and pluralism. The prevailing Western view of Islam’s experience of diversity and pluralism is that it has failed to positively respond to this important…

Economics as Science: Insights from Classical Muslim Classifications of the Sciences

This article seeks to emphasise the need to re-examine the foundational assumptions of modern economics, especially in light of the traditional Islamic idea of economic wisdom and Islamic conception of the science of economics as conceived by Muslim political philosophers. As argued by the philosophers and more generally the epistemologists…

Cultural Pluralism in a Globalised World: Challenges to Peaceful Coexistence

In the following paragraphs I would like to highlight the impact of globalization on cultural pluralism and then the issue of how the resulting cultural pluralism might in turn impact the future pattern of the world order. The thrust of my theme is on emphasising the need to better understand…

Islam and the Three Waves of Globalisation: The Southeast Asian Experience

This article is intended to comment on the civilisational history of Islam in Southeast Asia. The history is explained and accounted for in terms of the three major waves of globalisation that have impacted the region since the arrival of Islam as early as the eleventh century. The first wave,…

Interfaith Dialogue as a New Approach in Islamic Education

I would like to take up the issue of the need to re-examine our traditional approaches to Islamic education. This is in view of certain fundamental changes that are taking place both in the demographic and political maps of Muslim majority countries and in the Muslim perception of Islamic education…