“Relevantization” of Ulum al-Millah and Its Contribution to Islamization of Human Knowledge•

This paper discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of the “relevantization” of Ulum al-Millah (Islamic Sciences) in the context of the reformation of education in the Muslim world, and in relation to the discourse on methods and approaches to Ulum al-Millah in the Islamisation of Human Knowledge (IOHK) project. The paper identifies three problematic issues on the current discourse on relevantisation: the meaning of “relevantisation”; the essence of the desired renewal; and its implications for the method of understanding Ulum al-Millah. It argues that the process of relevantisation should begin with the reconstruction of a meaningful history of Ulum al-Millah whereby classification of knowledge is used as a tool to bring the diverse sciences into a unified cultural framework based on Qur’anic ideals and values. In support of this argument, the paper examines and discusses comparable efforts by Muslim scholars in the past, with emphasis on Ibn Khaldun, whose theory regarding the correlation between stages of civilisational and scientific developments may be a useful tool for strategising the relevantisation of Ulum al-Millah in the contemporary world, where the dominance of modernistic and secular humanistic ideas poses a special challenge to Muslims. The paper then discusses the influence of these past scholars on the deliberations and development of the IOHK project, and the role of IOHK in the relevantisation of Ulum al-Millah. It concludes with the reminder that the process of relevantisation, which involves the continual exegetical interpretation of the sources of Islamic knowledge, would be meaningful only if it focused on the systematization of values.