Civilizational Approach and its Indicators according to the perspective of International Institute of Islamic Thought

The title is an article by Hamid Parsania and Habibollah Babaei published in “The Journal of Studies of Muslim Contemporary Thought”, Volume 6, Issue 11, Summer and Autumn 2020, Pages 69-103. The following is an excerpt from its abstract.

Muslim Ummah’s identity and thought

The International Institute of Islamic Thought began its work in the United States in the 1980s as a pioneer in the Islamization of Knowledge project. They believed that the Muslim Ummah was already in a crisis of identity and thought, and that it was due to the domination of the western and secular educational system over the world.

Islamic civilization and reqirements

In order to restore the identity and personality of the Islamic Ummah, Islamic civilization must be revived once again through the Islamization of knowledge with a civilizational approach. According to the theory of Emad al-Din Khalil, one of the thinkers of the International Institute of Civilization, nine main characteristics influencing the formation of Islamic civilization have been recreated in a way that shows the civilizational approach in the creation of a new Islamic civilization.

Scope of the civilizational approach

The civilizational approach in this view is applicable to various subjects and includes characteristics that will play a role in the reconstruction of contemporary Islamic civilization. In addition to highlighting the positive points of the civilizational approach of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, some critiques have been noted such as lack of serious involvement in theoretical discussions on the nature of civilization, crude and positivist understanding of modern science, weakness in deep methodological discussions and Little mastery of the philosophical heritage of the Islamic world, lack of deep attention to the fundamental issues and foundations of civilized thought, and the danger of drowning in postmodern and relativist ideas.