Ismail al-Faruqi

Ismail al-Faruqi (1921–1986) was a Palestinian-American philosopher of religion who developed the idea of Islamization of knowledge and helped establish the International Institute of Islamic Thought.

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Islamization of knowledge: A program for reorganizing modern disciplines around Islamic principles and integrating them with Islamic intellectual traditions. Al-Faruqi formulated this program as a response to the separation of religious and modern education.
International Institute of Islamic Thought: An organization founded in 1981 to promote research and education grounded in Islamic thought. Al-Faruqi helped establish the institute as a center for advancing Islamization of knowledge.
Lois Lamya al-Faruqi: An American scholar of Islamic art and music who collaborated with Ismail al-Faruqi. She shared his scholarly and institutional work and continued aspects of his intellectual legacy.
Jaffa: A historic port city on the Mediterranean coast, now part of Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel. Al-Faruqi was born in Jaffa before leaving Palestine amid the upheavals of 1948.
Islamic revival: A broad set of movements seeking renewed religious commitment and social influence in Muslim communities. Al-Faruqi’s educational reform proposals formed part of wider twentieth-century efforts to renew Muslim societies.
Tawhid: The Islamic doctrine of God's absolute oneness and uniqueness. Al-Faruqi treated tawhid as the organizing principle for integrating knowledge.
Association of Muslim Social Scientists: A professional organization supporting Muslim scholars in the social sciences. Al-Faruqi helped found the association to strengthen Muslim participation in academic scholarship.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr: An Iranian-American philosopher of religion associated with perennialist interpretations of Islamic thought. His account of Islamic intellectual renewal differs from al-Faruqi’s program of restructuring modern disciplines.
1948 Palestinian exodus: The displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and surrounding events. The events of 1948 reshaped al-Faruqi’s life and forced his departure from Palestine.
Islamic social science: The study of society using concepts and methods informed by Islamic intellectual commitments. His program encouraged scholars to reconsider social-science disciplines through an Islamic worldview.