THE MODEL OF ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

Abstract

The article examines the model of Islamization of Knowledge implemented at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The purpose of this model is to integrate contemporary fields of knowledge with the Islamic worldview and value system, thereby enabling students to develop both in religious studies and in the humanities. The theoretical foundations of the model were formulated by Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, and AbdulHamid AbuSulayman. Among these scholars, AbuSulayman played a particularly significant role as the founding dean of the Faculty of Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences at IIUM, where he operationalized the concept of Islamization through the dual-degree structure. At the faculty, students pursue a major and a minor, typically combining Islamic studies with one of the social or human sciences. This approach cultivates broad intellectual horizons, moral development, and the capacity to understand the psychosocial and cognitive identity of the Muslim ummah. The curriculum incorporates integrative courses, while academic departments focus on adapting their respective disciplines - such as psychology, sociology, and political science - to an Islamic paradigm. The model also directs research activities according to Islamic values and local cultural paradigms, thereby addressing epistemological gaps between secular and Islamic knowledge traditions. Islamization of knowledge is understood not merely as the renewal of religious disciplines, but as a comprehensive re-examination of philosophy, law, economics, and the humanities from an Islamic perspective. The IIUM experience demonstrates that institutions of higher education serve not only as centres of knowledge transmission but also as spaces for moral formation and cultural cultivation. The model implemented at IIUM reveals the intellectual and moral potential of Muslim youth while enhancing their competitiveness in both religious and secular domains. This experience may be regarded as a valuable theoretical and practical contribution to the development of higher Islamic education in other Muslim countries.