IDE ACADEMY 2021-2022 | LECTURE NOTES | 15 OCTOBER 2021

• In Islamic history, Usul is referred to as a grand methodology that brings general (kulli) basic principles together and instructs the integration of the constants with variables, the revealed knowledge with reason, and religion with life.
• An independent branch of science should have its own definition, subject, and method. In addition, every branch of science should have its theories, concepts, terms, and relation with other sciences. This is how the Usul of every science has originated.
• Knowledge in our culture is a value-laden concept.  It is not just data or information that we access.
• In the early centuries, especially in the formation stage of Islamic science, the concept of science was identified with different fields of specialization. Each branch of science has used the concept of science to denote itself i.e. each branch defines and identifies itself with science as one and the same.
• However, it is not possible to limit the concept of science/ knowledge to a specific field. There is a comprehensive conception of knowledge, especially what the Quran teaches us, that encompasses all fields.
• In our sermons, there are many verses that we often mention to explain the virtue of Islamic science. However, none of these verses are related to Islamic science.
• قل هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُون Say: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know? [Quran 39:9]
• إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ العلماء Those truly fear Allah among His Servants who have knowledge [Quran  35:28]
• When we examine these and other similar verses in their context, we notice that these verses deal with the universe (creation) and are related to fields such as zoology.
• Contrary to popular belief, none of the Quranic verses that describe the virtue of knowledge, and the attribute of scholars deal with Tafsir (Quran exegesis), Hadith, Fiqh, and Kalam (Islamic theology). Quran endorses a comprehensive conception of knowledge. This comprehensive conception of knowledge does not distinguish between creation (Takwin)  and revelation (Tenzil), revelation and legislation, legislation and responsibility, responsibility and action.
• Abandoning this comprehensive conception of knowledge, excluding the knowledge that informs us about human beings and nature, and reducing the concept of knowledge to just Tafsir (Quran exegesis), Hadith, Fiqh, and Kalam (Islamic theology) is one of the biggest breaking points in Islamic civilization, hence this must be overcome.
• It is definitely wrong to divide knowledge into Religious, Islamic, and Sharia. If we do not recognize the sciences that study human beings and nature as religious, we are abandoning the comprehensive conception of knowledge taught to us by the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
• Based on the title of his book called Ihya Ulum Al-Din (the Revival of the Religious Sciences), it is suggested that Ghazali divided the sciences into two: religious and non-religious. However, this is fallacious reasoning. In contrast, Ghazali assessed the sciences in Ihya Ulum Al-Din: “Rational sciences are like food, revealed sciences are like medicine.”
• The comprehensive conception of knowledge stipulated under the Qur'an commends us to learn the sciences that examine human beings, revelation, and nature, by giving them equal value as per the principle of Tawhid (Islamic monotheism). In this framework, therefore, the concept of Islamic sciences can be employed to refer to revelation-oriented knowledge.
• However, as Seyyed Hussein Nasr mentioned at the beginning of his book titled An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, Muslims have abandoned studying nature and treating it as a science for two centuries and have left the study of the universe to others. The effect of the madrasa system can be cited as the reason for this deviation.
• Ghazali in the prologue of Ihya Ulum Al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) stated that sciences will die. Sciences die when they lose their function, cease to provide the individual with self-awareness, identity, and personality, are alienated from reality, and no more grant continuity to civilization.
• Ghazali made the following assessment about the death of sciences. 'The sciences have died, and only three things remain. The first one is; the fatwas of the government, from which the Qadis (judges) are also benefited, he called these scholars, who give these fatawa (legal verdict) that ignore the essence/spirit of the ruling and deal only with the form, as Ulema-u Muteressimin (official scholars). The second one is the debate made among scholars to show their superiority over each other and the third one is the fancy sermons.
• In this regard, for science/ knowledge to be alive, it should not only have its own specific terms, concepts, subject, purpose, and methodology but also be functional and beneficial. Science should also nurture the individual's self, identity, and personality, solve problems, purify morality, and enable the establishment and continuity of civilization and prosperity.
• There is not only a division of sciences/knowledge but also a level of sciences/ knowledge. This hierarchy has given rise to the classification of science/ knowledge as general and specific sciences. 
• In the epilogue of his books such as Mizan al-Amal, Miyar al-Ilm fi fan al-Mantiq, and Mustafa, Ghazali elaborated his thoughts on the philosophy of science.
• In his book titled Mizan al Amal, Ghazali gives the following advice to a student of science/ knowledge:
• 'The student of science/knowledge should not attempt to learn all the branches of science at once. He should put them in order of priority and start with the most important one. He should not pass to the other science unless he masters the science he is studying. Because learning knowledge/science is subject to a mandatory sequence of order. Some science/ knowledge paves the way for the other. The successful student of science/ knowledge is the one who complies with this order.’
• 'The student should not omit any science that will lead to the general (kulli) science and should have a basic knowledge (perspective) about every science. He should learn the purpose and method of each and every science.
• Since every science is interrelated and complementary, Specialization should be understood as having a general (kulli) conception of all sciences and possessing deep knowledge in one of them. Due to their ignorance, people devoid of a comprehensive conception of knowledge become hostile to other fields of science.
• In his book titled Meratib al Ulum, Ibn Hazm elaborated on the interconnection of sciences and noted that all sciences are interrelated. They are all in need of each other.