Abstract
Islamic science once imparted life and motion to Islamic civilisation and society. It is now confined within the walls of old schools and classical tomes. Having embraced the new sciences and accepted Western behaviourial modes of thinking, some ‘Muslim’ intellectuals have made Islam into an abstract theory fossilised inside traditional forms of mere customs, rites, and rituals. This situation alone provides enough justification to reconstruct the methodology of Islamic sciences; the continuing Islamisation movement makes the attempt even more pertinent.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
See S.J. Eldersveld, et al., ‘Research in Political Behaviour’, in S. Sidney Ulmer (ed.), Introductory Reading in Political Behaviour (Chicago: Rand McNally & Co., 1961);
R.A. Dahl, ‘The Behaviourial Approach in Political Science: Epitaph for a Monument to a Successful Protest’, American Political Science Review 55 (December 1961); David Easton, ‘The Current Meaning of Behaviouralism’, in J.C. Charlesworth (ed.), Contemporary Political Analysis (New York: Free Press, 1967);
Austin Ranney (ed.), Essays on the Behaviourial Study of Politics (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1962).
Neil Riemer, The Revival of Democratic Theory (New York: Appleton Century-Crofts, 1961), p. 1.
David Easton, ‘The Decline of Modern Political Theory’, in James A. Gould and Vincent V. Thursby (eds), Contemporary Political Thought (New York: Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, 1969), p. 308.
This was realised even by those who earlier advocated behaviourial persuasion in politics. See Michael Haas and Henry S. Kariel (eds), Approaches to Political Science (California: Chandler, 1970).
See S.H. Naṣr, Islam and the Plight of Modern Man (London: Longman, 1975); also Science and Civilization in Islam (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1968).
See A.H.A. Nadwi, Religion and Civilization (Lucknow: Academy of Islamic Research, 1970), pp. 62–70.
For their contribution to Muslim philosophy, see M.M. Sharif (ed.), A History of Muslim Philosophy (Weisbaden: Otto Hassarowitz, 1963).
Erwin I.J. Rosenthal, Political Thought in Medieval Islam: An Introductory Outline (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962), p. 16.
Robert Briffault, The Making of Humanity, cited in Muhammad Iqbāl, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore: Muhammad Ashraf, 1971), pp. 129–30.
Marshall B. Clinard, ‘The Sociologist’s Quest for Respectability’, The Sociological Quarterly 7 (1966), pp. 399–412.
Irwin Deutscher, ‘Words and Deeds: Social Science and Social Policy’, Social Problems 13 (1966), p. 241.
See A. Yusuf ‘Alī, The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation, Commentary (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1975), p. 1603.
See, for example, Bernard Crick, In Defence of Politics (London: Pelican Books, 1964), p. 16.
Qamaruddin Khan, The Political Thought of Ibn Taymiyyah (Lahore: Islamic Book Foundation, 1983), p. 29.
Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdūdī, The Islamic Law and Constitution tr. Khurshīd Aḥmad (Lahore: Islamic Publications, 1967), p. 248.
Ismā’īl Rajī al Farūqī, Tawḥīd: Its Implications for Thought and Life (Herndon, Va.: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1982), p. 153.
See David Easton, ‘The New Revolution in Political Science’, The American Political Science Review, 63 (December 1969), pp. 1051–61.
Christian Bay, ‘Politics and Pseudopolitics: A Critical Evaluation of Some Behavioral Literature’, in Heinz Eulau (ed.), Behavioralism in Political Science (New York: Atherton Press, 1969), p. 117.
S.M. Naqīb al-’Aṭṭās, Islam and Secularism (Kuala Lumpur: Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, 1978), pp. 127–8.
See Ziauddin Sardar (ed.), The Touch of Midas (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984).
Sayyid Abul A’lā Mawdūdī, Towards Understanding Islam, tr. Khurshid Aḥmad (London: The Islamic Foundation, 1980), p. 88.
F. Rosenthal, Knowledge Triumphant (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1970). This work is written from an Islamic perspective and contains a mine of information concerning knowledge in Islam and lists 87 definitions as given by various Muslim scholars.
See al-Ghazali , The Book of Knowledge, tr. Nabih A. Faris (Lahore: Ashraf, 1963).
See Muḥsin Mahdī, Ibn Khaldun’s Philosophy of History (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1964);
Franz Rosenthal (ed.), The Muqaddimah (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1996 Abdul Rashid Moten
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Moten, A.R. (1996). Islamic Methodology in Political Science. In: Political Science: An Islamic Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230377578_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230377578_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39553-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37757-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)