A. Sources and Basic Principles for Islamization:

a) Quran in Arabic ( Quranan Arabiyya, Quran 12:2, etc. ): Of the 6226 verses in the Quran, over 900 deal with water sciences and engineering, and 1400 with economics ( S. Waqar Husaini, Water Resources Sciences and Engineering in the Quran, and Economics in the Quran ). The key word and its derivatives for Allah occur nearly 2700 times, for rabb ( Nourisher ) 970 times, and personal pronouns for God even more frequently in the Quran! Therefore, no discipline, whether a social or natural science or technology, is and can be dissociated from God Almighty, i.e., from Islamic ideology. This is tawhid ( integration ) which asserts that the "true" principles and laws of all disciplines are the creation ( khalq ), "signs" ( ayat ), Traditions ( sunnah ), and determination ( taqdir ) of God Almighty as explained in the Quran. Secularization of disciplines is kufr -- denial and rejection of God and Islam.

b) The Sunnah/Tradtions of Prophet Muhammad: The Prophet’s Sunnah are in the context of his times and place. However, books of Sunnah like Kitab al-Kharaj ( Book of Taxation ) and Kitab al-Amwaal ( Book of Economics ), dealing with socio-technical sciences and public policies, are either lost or they are forgotten and ignored by Muslims who concentrate on mostly the rituals and personal law!

c) Islamic intellectual legacy: Muslims are ignorant of it though it Islamicized the West which assimilated it most thoroughly in the Middle Ages. It caused the birth and rise of "modernity"! ( Cf, George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, 3 vols. in 5, 1927-48; and the more recent works of other scholars which are also referred to in the publications of Waqar Husaini: Islamic Thought in the Rise and Supremacy of Islamic Technological Culture; Quran for Astronomy and Earth Exploration from Space;

Islamic Science and Public Policies: Lessons from History of Science; and Islamic Environmental Systems Engineering ).

d) Assimilation: Adoption and adaptation of the "truths" discovered by non-Muslims in the West and the East in the pre-Quranic or modern times.

B. Salient Aspects of IISTD Plan of Action:

( See, IISTD brochures and other documents )

The Plan utilizes the fundamental U.S. principles of freedom, diversity, ethnicity and multi-culturalism, and the flexible structure of its higher education system. This Plan must be adapted by individuals and institutions in the secular colleges and universities world-wide also. Its salient aspects include:

* `Ilm, knowledge, is indivisible. The root verb and derivatives of `ilm occur nearly 763 times in the Quran. God never used the dual or plural form of `ilm. There can be no duality such as "religious" and "secular" sciences. "Islamic sciences" include all natural and socio-humanistic sciences, and technology.

* "Modern" knowledge: Its "Islamic" parts, rational ( `aqliyyah ) and value-oriented ( wad`iyyah ) must be recognized and adopted. The early Muslims had Islamized knowledge by accepting the "truths" and rejecting the gods, goddesses, mythology, and false ethics and values of the pre-Quranic Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Hindus and others. Secularization has kafirized knowledge partially; it must be re-Islamized through Islamic metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, etc.

* Make "Discipline-Oriented Islamic Studies" a part of the diversity, ethnic, and multi-cultural programs in U.S. colleges and universities. Muslim intelligentsia must utilize these principles, flexibility of academic structure, and participation of non-Muslims to Islamize knowledge for the benefit of mankind.

* Students should make "Discipline-Oriented Islamic Studies" their First or Second Major, or at least a Minor, ALONG with the secularized Major. The Islamic Major or Minor can be developed through use of the General Education, Elective, and Self-Study courses; in writing Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations; etc.

* Faculty members in all Departments who can pursue Islamization through teaching, research, publications, etc. must be Advisors of undergraduate and graduate students to design their courses and academic programs in "Islamic Discipline-Oriented Studies".

* Muslim and non-Muslim faculty must offer "Islamic Discipline-Oriented Courses" in every specialization BESIDES "traditional courses" in Islamic studies. This requires students' demand, forming consortiums by colleges and universities to offer programs of courses and Summer Institutes, and other arrangements.

* Islamic organizations and professional associations must make "Islamization of ALL Knowledge, Education, and Careers" their primary goal, and explain and popularize this Action Plan.

( Rational ) Discipline, and Discipline-Oriented Islamic Studies:

( Abbreviations: GE, General Education; IGE, Islamic General

Education; STS, Science, Technology, and Society; EVIST,

Ethics and Values in Science and Technology; MHS, Medical

and Health Sciences; BME, Bio-Medical Ethics; etc. )

* An under-graduate would utilize the required GE/General Education and Elective courses, and take Self-Study courses to develop a Second Major in Discipline-Oriented Islamic Studies comprising "IGE/Islamic General Education", and an Islamic specialization.

* IGE/Islamic General Education, part of Secular GE requirements:

* a course or two in Quranic Arabic;

* a course in the Quran with explanations by Muhammad Asad;

* a course in Hadith/Sunnah using generic books like Kitab al-Kharaj ( Book of

Taxation ), Kitab al-Amwal ( Book of Economics ), besides the popular ones which deal mostly with rituals and civil matters like those of Bukhari, Muslim, etc.

* courses in Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Law, Islamic History, Islamic Sociology, etc., through respective Departments, taken as Self-Study courses through instructors who teach similar secular courses, or by other arrangements.

* Specialized Islamic "Discipline-Oriented" courses:

* Economics Major: After an IGE course, "Introduction to Islamic Economics" similar to secular "Economics 1", one would take ( Self-Study ) courses like "Islamic Public Finance", "Islamic Labor Economics", etc., after the similar secular courses on "Public Finance", "Labor Economics", etc.

* Natural Sciences and Engineering Majors: After taking the GE courses on History of Science and Technology, Philosophy of Science, etc., and writing Term Papers from Islamic perspectives, students must take ( Self-Study ) courses on History of Islamic Science, History of Islamic Technology, Philosophy of Islamic Science, etc. Advanced secular/Western courses are offered by colleges and universities in "EVIST/ Ethics and Values in Science & Technology", "STS/ Science, Technology, and Society", etc. Similar ( Self-Study ) courses must be taken in Islamic EVIST and Islamic STS through the same instructors who DO NOT have to know the Islamic perspectives!

* MHS/Medical and Health Sciences Majors: Students with GE and IGE backgrounds must develop a Second Major in Islamic BME/ Bio-Medical Ethics. This requires specialized courses in Philosophy of Islamic Medicine, History of Islamic Medicine,

and Programs in Islamic-EVIST and STS vis-a-vis MHS.

* Creating "Consortiums" of colleges and universities to offer Islamic GE and Discipline-Oriented courses and Major Programs: Students from any geographical area would take courses with transferable credits, reducing the need for Self-Study courses.

Legal Studies Program, Law School, Harvard University, MA:

( See, "Newsletter of ILSP". ILSP Director, Dr. Frank Vogel, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Assistant Professor of Islamic Legal Studies.

E-mail: ilsp@law.harvard.edu Website: www.law.harvard.edu/Programs/ILSP )

ILSP has faculty, students, fellows, visiting scholars, an Islamic and Middle Eastern Law collection, lecture series, workshops, etc.

Richard Voliva, under-graduate with a double major in economics and Arabic, was a summer 1998 intern with Al-Mal Kuwaiti Company. Living in the student dormitory, University of Kuwait, he did research on Islamic endowments and innovative instruments for contemporary use, for his Senior Thesis on Islamic banking.

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Please promote IISTD Action Plan through e-mail and other means of communication.

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Please send your tax-deductable donations to:

IISTD/Institute of Islamic Sciences, Technology and Development.

Account # 510000655-09729-03458, Bank of America

( 1512 South Stelling Road, Cupertino, CA 95014 U.S.A. )

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Excerpt from: Islamization of Knowledge and Higher Education,

IISTD Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1, Zul-Qidah 1419/February 1999.

( Editor, Prof. S. Waqar Ahmed Husaini, IISTD President, and

Visiting Scholar, Stanford University, CA, 1986-continued )