The Faqīh as Engineer

Following a brief discussion on the differences between science and technology as well as engineering’s main characteristics, I explore fiqh’s epistemological features. The upshot of my discussion is that although Muslim scholars like Farabi and Ghazzali consciously placed fiqhin the category of “a...

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Autor principal: Ali Paya
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2016
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/7aff1bc1200845f180f7e52649b5273b
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:7aff1bc1200845f180f7e52649b5273b2021-12-02T17:46:23ZThe Faqīh as Engineer10.35632/ajis.v33i1.2452690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/7aff1bc1200845f180f7e52649b5273b2016-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/245https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Following a brief discussion on the differences between science and technology as well as engineering’s main characteristics, I explore fiqh’s epistemological features. The upshot of my discussion is that although Muslim scholars like Farabi and Ghazzali consciously placed fiqhin the category of “applied sciences,” it seems that many of the fuqahā’ and other Muslim (or even non-Muslim)s cholars have not fully appreciated the significance of this point.T he result, as I argue, has been epistemic confusion on the part ofm any fuqahā’and perhaps other Muslim scholars. It has generally been assumed that fiqhhas the (immediate) aim of acquiring knowledge and discovering objective truth about reality, and that by doing so it can fulfill its other purpose: dealing with practical issues. I shall argue that this misconception has contributed to some unfortunate consequences. Equating a faqīh, who is a practical problem-solver par excellence (i.e., an engineer), with an ‘ālim (a man of knowledge) has helped the fuqahā’ further consolidatet heir dominant position in the ecosystem of Islamic culture. In turn,t his has paved the way for the dominance of instrumentalistic/p ragmatic approaches, in contrast to truth-oriented activities, in tra-d itional centers of learning in Muslim societies. Ali PayaInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleFiqh, Engineering, Science, Knowledge claims, Pragmatic measures, Correspondence truthIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 33, Iss 1 (2016)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Fiqh, Engineering, Science, Knowledge claims, Pragmatic measures, Correspondence truth
Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Fiqh, Engineering, Science, Knowledge claims, Pragmatic measures, Correspondence truth
Islam
BP1-253
Ali Paya
The Faqīh as Engineer
description Following a brief discussion on the differences between science and technology as well as engineering’s main characteristics, I explore fiqh’s epistemological features. The upshot of my discussion is that although Muslim scholars like Farabi and Ghazzali consciously placed fiqhin the category of “applied sciences,” it seems that many of the fuqahā’ and other Muslim (or even non-Muslim)s cholars have not fully appreciated the significance of this point.T he result, as I argue, has been epistemic confusion on the part ofm any fuqahā’and perhaps other Muslim scholars. It has generally been assumed that fiqhhas the (immediate) aim of acquiring knowledge and discovering objective truth about reality, and that by doing so it can fulfill its other purpose: dealing with practical issues. I shall argue that this misconception has contributed to some unfortunate consequences. Equating a faqīh, who is a practical problem-solver par excellence (i.e., an engineer), with an ‘ālim (a man of knowledge) has helped the fuqahā’ further consolidatet heir dominant position in the ecosystem of Islamic culture. In turn,t his has paved the way for the dominance of instrumentalistic/p ragmatic approaches, in contrast to truth-oriented activities, in tra-d itional centers of learning in Muslim societies.
format article
author Ali Paya
author_facet Ali Paya
author_sort Ali Paya
title The Faqīh as Engineer
title_short The Faqīh as Engineer
title_full The Faqīh as Engineer
title_fullStr The Faqīh as Engineer
title_full_unstemmed The Faqīh as Engineer
title_sort faqīh as engineer
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2016
url https://doaj.org/article/7aff1bc1200845f180f7e52649b5273b
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