Levels of Knowledge and Interculturation:
Implications for Development and for the Islamization of Knowledge

Mazen Hashem

Abstract

The paper develops a classificatory scheme of knowledge output: the philosophy level, the theory level, the model level, and the application level.  I will use this scheme to illuminate on four, seemingly unrelated, issues:  1) While development is frequently seen as a mechanical process of low level structuration or culturation, this paper argues that it involves philosophical dimensions too.  2) Development involves drawing on the products of “advanced” nations.  Using the suggested scheme shows that this is possible only at the lower levels of knowledge.  3) Sustained development requires first a theoretical base built along the lines of the Islamization of Knowledge logic.  And 4) The concept of the Islamization of Knowledge is misinterpreted by casual readers as an out-right rejection of modern “scientific” output.  This paper argues that the Islamization of Knowledge is a digestive process that calls for the interaction of world cultures guided by a specific philosophical prism.

Read the paper: Levels of Knowledge and Interculturation

Tagged: Tawhidi_Paradigm, إسلامية المعرفة, المنظور التوحيدي