Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way

There is a strong commonality between Islam and the humanities and social sciences in the sense that both encompass heterogeneous aspects of human life and its conditions and experiences. However, divergence between these two entities is palpable, as the conventional humanities and social sciences l...

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Main Author:	Hasan, Md. Mahmudul
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English English
Published:	2017
Subjects:	H Social Sciences (General) H62 Study and teaching. Research H71 General works
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/1/markfield%20presentation%20final_facing%20the%20challenges%20of%20the%20humanities%20and%20social%20sciences.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/2/invitation%20letter_Markfield_Mahmud.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/4/ministry%20approval_kelulusanOTR_R2623.pdf

id	iium-57514
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-575142017-07-07T03:41:59Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/ Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way Hasan, Md. Mahmudul H Social Sciences (General) H62 Study and teaching. Research H71 General works There is a strong commonality between Islam and the humanities and social sciences in the sense that both encompass heterogeneous aspects of human life and its conditions and experiences. However, divergence between these two entities is palpable, as the conventional humanities and social sciences look at life from a secular perspective. Some disciplines of the humanities and social sciences also concern the origin of life, its purposes on earth and its final destination. If answers to such questions and associated life lessons are derived from Humanistic concepts and secular knowledge systems, and the worldview based on divine revelation is ignored, the inevitable consequences of the “pursuit of [such] knowledge” will be “a deviation from the truth.” Given the dominance of secular and colonialist philosophies in the humanities and social sciences, they influence in a very subtle and complex way the worldview, attitudes, beliefs, and even values of their recipients. Thus, since the incursion of the modern, western knowledge system in the Muslim world in the colonial period, education in Muslim societies has undergone a paradigm shift, as a result of which most graduates maintain a western orientation in the style and delivery of their academic practices as well as in the various dimensions of their socio-cultural life. As there is much in western education which Muslims can accept without any qualms, it also promotes aspects which they are morally and religiously obligated to reject. However, as regards western philosophies and ideas contained in the humanities and social sciences, Muslims are polarized. One group uncritically accepts the entire bulk of the humanities and social sciences, while the other rejects outright western sciences in their totality. Both these mutually exclusive approaches among Muslims, especially to the humanities and social sciences, are deleterious and debilitating. Based on this observation, this paper will discuss ways of facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences in such a Muslim academic setting as International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). It will also dilate upon the imperatives of the (Islamic) scholars of the humanities and social sciences for facing their challenges successfully. 2017-07-03 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/1/markfield%20presentation%20final_facing%20the%20challenges%20of%20the%20humanities%20and%20social%20sciences.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/2/invitation%20letter_Markfield_Mahmud.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/4/ministry%20approval_kelulusanOTR_R2623.pdf Hasan, Md. Mahmudul (2017) Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way. In: Talk at The Markfield Institute of Higher Education (MIHE) 2017, 3rd July 2017, Leicestershire, UK. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English English
topic	H Social Sciences (General) H62 Study and teaching. Research H71 General works
spellingShingle	H Social Sciences (General) H62 Study and teaching. Research H71 General works Hasan, Md. Mahmudul Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
description	There is a strong commonality between Islam and the humanities and social sciences in the sense that both encompass heterogeneous aspects of human life and its conditions and experiences. However, divergence between these two entities is palpable, as the conventional humanities and social sciences look at life from a secular perspective. Some disciplines of the humanities and social sciences also concern the origin of life, its purposes on earth and its final destination. If answers to such questions and associated life lessons are derived from Humanistic concepts and secular knowledge systems, and the worldview based on divine revelation is ignored, the inevitable consequences of the “pursuit of [such] knowledge” will be “a deviation from the truth.” Given the dominance of secular and colonialist philosophies in the humanities and social sciences, they influence in a very subtle and complex way the worldview, attitudes, beliefs, and even values of their recipients. Thus, since the incursion of the modern, western knowledge system in the Muslim world in the colonial period, education in Muslim societies has undergone a paradigm shift, as a result of which most graduates maintain a western orientation in the style and delivery of their academic practices as well as in the various dimensions of their socio-cultural life. As there is much in western education which Muslims can accept without any qualms, it also promotes aspects which they are morally and religiously obligated to reject. However, as regards western philosophies and ideas contained in the humanities and social sciences, Muslims are polarized. One group uncritically accepts the entire bulk of the humanities and social sciences, while the other rejects outright western sciences in their totality. Both these mutually exclusive approaches among Muslims, especially to the humanities and social sciences, are deleterious and debilitating. Based on this observation, this paper will discuss ways of facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences in such a Muslim academic setting as International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). It will also dilate upon the imperatives of the (Islamic) scholars of the humanities and social sciences for facing their challenges successfully.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Hasan, Md. Mahmudul
author_facet	Hasan, Md. Mahmudul
author_sort	Hasan, Md. Mahmudul
title	Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
title_short	Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
title_full	Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
title_fullStr	Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
title_full_unstemmed	Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way
title_sort	facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the iium way
publishDate	2017
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/1/markfield%20presentation%20final_facing%20the%20challenges%20of%20the%20humanities%20and%20social%20sciences.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/2/invitation%20letter_Markfield_Mahmud.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57514/4/ministry%20approval_kelulusanOTR_R2623.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:18Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:18Z
_version_	1777411900021145600

Facing the challenges of the humanities and social sciences: the IIUM Way

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