Islam as Method

Research output

Complete citation

Poljarević, Emin. “Islam as Method.” Philosophy and Society 35, no. 3 (2024): 465–484. https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2403465P.

Overview

This essay develops “Islam as Method” as a multidimensional framework for scholarship, ethical engagement, and liberatory practice. Islam is treated not simply as an object of academic study but as an ontological and ethical orientation grounded in divine unity and commitments to justice, dignity, and excellence. Drawing on contemporary Muslim thinkers including Shabbir Akhtar, Taha Abdurrahmane, and Khaled Abou El Fadl, the article argues that Islamic ethical traditions can support intellectual and cultural autonomy beyond dominant Euro-American secular and liberal frameworks. The approach recognises diversity within Islamic traditions while identifying shared ethical resources for collective action and cross-cultural dialogue. Its principal contribution is to connect epistemic autonomy with moral responsibility, showing how Muslim scholarship can be both critically rigorous and normatively situated.

Research question or central concern

What would it mean to treat Islam as a method of inquiry and ethical orientation rather than merely an object of study?

Main argument, approach, and contribution

The essay offers a constructive philosophical framework grounded in tawḥīd and Islamic ethics. It argues that situated Muslim inquiry can challenge epistemic dependence while remaining plural, dialogical, and accountable.

Keywords

Islam as Method; Islamic ethics; epistemic autonomy; Muslim subjectivity; justice; dignity; liberation

Links

• DOI / publisher page
• Open-access or repository record

Related publications

• Islam as Method: Decolonizing Inquiry and the Ethical Horizon of Liberation
• A Phenomenological Approach to the Study of Lived Islam and Muslimness
• The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Muslim Liberation Theologies