Islamic Social Sciences Methodology:  An Integrated Framework

Habib Ahmed

doi:10.35516/Hum.2026.10349

Authors

Habib Ahmed Department of Islamic Banking (Honorary Professor), University of Jordan, Jordan, Durham University Business School, Durham University, United Kingdom. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5954-3638

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2026.10349

Keywords:

Islamic social sciences, Islamic methodologies and theories, Islamic history and legacy, scientific theory, scientific empirical analysis.

Abstract

Objectives: The paper aims to develop an integrated methodological framework for Islamic social sciences by combining elements from Islamic methodologies and legacies with Western theoretical concepts and empirical methods to produce beneficial knowledge.

Methods: The paper is a conceptual research that builds an Islamic social science methodology by integrating the methodological concepts and methods from both Islamic discourses and Western scientific approaches. After presenting the foundational principles based on the existing literature, the paper develops a five-phase integrated methodological framework for Islamic social sciences.

Results: The Islamic social science methodological framework constitutes five phases. First, idea generation and selection of research topic. Second, developing a normative theory by using the values and principles of Sharia, heritage and relevant concepts from Western theoretical constructs. Third, the theoretical inferences are tested against the practice using qualitative, quantitative and mixed scientific methods of collecting and analysing data and information. Fourth, identifying the gaps between theory and practice. Finally, using an iterative process to reduce the divergences by reframing the theoretical constructs and/or changing the practices by applying suitable policies.

Conclusions: The knowledge produced by Islamic social science methodology should be beneficial to help build moral societies and enhance human welfare. The integrated methodology uses revelation and reason to carry out normative and positive analyses iteratively to produce beneficial Islamic social science knowledge. Knowledge creation must also be a dynamic ‘becoming process’ and evolve as the social realities, structures, and problems change over time.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AbuSulayman, A. (1985). Islamization of knowledge with special reference to political science. American Journal of Islam and Society, 2(2), 263–289.

AbuSulayman, A. H. (1993). Towards an Islamic theory of international relations: New directions for Islamic methodology and thought. International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Ahmad, A. B. (2000). In quest of truth Salman al-Farisi. Darussalam.

Ahmed, H. (2025). Islamic normative legal theory: Framework and applications. Journal of Law and Religion, 40(1). (Forthcoming).

Al-Faruqi, I. (1982). Islamization of knowledge: General principles and work plan. International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Al-Alwani, T. J. (1995). The Islamization of knowledge: Yesterday and today. American Journal of Islam and Society, 12(1), 81–101.

al-Ṣaḥib, M.-E., & Hamasha, O. E. (2021). The extent of adherence to the scientific approach in the appeals of contemporaries in the Ḥadīth of Al-Ṣaḥīḥayn. Dirasat: Shari’a and Law Sciences, 48(1), 32–49.

Arif, M. (1987). The Islamization of knowledge and some methodological issues in paradigm building: The general case of social science with a special focus on economics. American Journal of Islam and Society, 4(1), 51–71.

Bernhard, A. (2020, December 7). How modern mathematics emerged from a lost Islamic library. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201204-lost-islamic-library-maths

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social science research: Principles, methods, and practices (Textbooks Collection, Book 3). http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

Bloom, J. M. (2001). Paper before print: The history and impact of paper in the Islamic world. Yale University Press.

Burnett, C. (2006). The semantics of Indian numerals in Arabic, Greek and Latin. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 34(1–2), 15–30.

Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. (2019). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis: Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Routledge.

Çolak, Z., & Mumcu, H. Y. (2023). The birth of modernity: The influence of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 16(2), 523–539.

Davies, M. W. (1991). Rethinking knowledge: ‘Islamization’ and the future. Futures, 23(3), 231–247.

Dien, M. I. (2004). Islamic law: From foundations to contemporary practice. University of Notre Dame Press.

Dubin, R. (1983). Theory building in applied areas. In M. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 17–39). John Wiley.

Falagas, M. E., Zarkadoulia, E. A., & Samonis, G. (2006). Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today. FASEB Journal, 20, 1581–1586.

Faruqi, Y. M. (2009). Islamic science: The golden age of Islam and the need for discourse between Islam and modern science in contemporary societies. In B. Matthews & T. Gibbons (Eds.), The process of research in education (pp. 62–77). Shannon Research Press.

El Fadl, K. A. (2015). The epistemology of the truth in modern Islam. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 41(4–5), 473–486.

Furlow, C. A. (1996). The Islamization of knowledge: Philosophy, legitimation, and politics. Social Epistemology, 10(3–4), 259–271.

Ghamari‐Tabrizi, B. (1996). Is Islamic science possible? Social Epistemology, 10(3–4), 317–330.

Hallaq, W. B. (2004). A history of Islamic legal theories: An introduction to Sunni usul al-fiqh. Cambridge University Press.

Haneef, M. A. (2011). Islamization of knowledge after thirty: Going back to the basics. American Journal of Islam and Society, 28(3), 75–91.

Heinrichs, W. (2002). Qawāʾid as a genre of legal literature. In B. G. Weiss (Ed.), Studies in Islamic legal theory (pp. 365–384). Brill.

Huff, T. E. (1996). Can scientific knowledge be Islamized? Social Epistemology, 10(3–4), 305–316.

Hussain, S. (1993). Islamic science: The making of formal intellectual discipline. American Journal of Islam and Society, 10(3), 305–311.

Ibn Ashur, M. A. (2006). Treatise on Maqasid al-Shariah. International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Ibn Khaldun. (2015). The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history (F. Rosenthal, Trans.; N. J. Dawood, Abridged). Princeton University Press.

International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). (1989). Islamization of knowledge: General principles and work plan. International Institute of Islamic Thought.

Islam, A. (2011). The contribution of Muslims to science during the Middle Abbasid period (750–945). Revelation and Science, 1(1), 39–56.

Jaber, S. M. S. (2024). Fundamental rules related to what is forbidden: A contemporary applied fundamentalist study. Dirasat: Shari’a and Law Sciences, 51(4), 43–57.

Kamali, M. H. (2003). Principles of Islamic jurisprudence. The Islamic Texts Society.

Kamali, M. H. (2008). Shari’ah law: An introduction. Oneworld Publications.

Kamali, M. H. (2011). Maqasid al-Shari’ah and ijtihad as instruments of civilisational renewal: A methodological perspective. ICR Journal, 2(2), 245–271.

Laldin, M. A. (2006). Introduction to Shariah and Islamic jurisprudence. Cert Publications.

Laldin, M. A. (2020). Ethics in the light of Maqasid al-Shari’ah: A case study of Islamic economics and finance. In A. Mirakhor, Z. Iqbal, & S. K. Sadr (Eds.), Handbook of ethics of Islamic economics and finance (pp. 21–47). de Gruyter GmbH.

Laldin, M. A., Bouheraoua, S., Ansary, R., Khir, A. F. A., Ali, M. M., & Mustafa, M. M. (2013). Islamic legal maxims and their applications in Islamic finance. International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA).

Lawrence, B. B. (2015). Introduction to the 2005 edition. In Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah (pp. 9–33). Princeton University Press.

Lynham, S. (2002). The general method of applied theory building research. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(3), 221–241.

Masud, M. K. (1995). Shatibi's philosophy of Islamic law. Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University Islamabad.

Moon, K., & Blackman, D. (2014). A guide to understanding social science research for natural scientists. Conservation Biology, 28(5), 1167–1177.

Musa, K. (2014). Legal maxims as a genre of Islamic law. Islamic Law and Society, 21(4), 325–365.

Namazi, R. (2017). The Qur’an, reason, and revelation: Islamic revelation and its relationship with reason and philosophy. Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, 43(3), 403–429.

Nasr, S. H. (1994). The Islamic worldview and modern science. MAAS Journal of Islamic Sciences, 10(2), 33–50.

Noor, E. (2023). Sirah of Muhammad, Volume 9: Battle of the trench. Islamic Academy of Coventry.

Okoli, C. (2023). Inductive, abductive and deductive theorising. International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 16(3), 302–315.

Peirce, C. S. (1998). The essential Peirce, Volume 2: Selected philosophical writings, 1893–1913 (The Peirce Edition Project, Eds.). Indiana University Press.

Rabb, I. A. (2010). Islamic legal maxims as substantive canons of construction: Ḥudūd avoidance in cases of doubt. Islamic Law and Society, 17, 63–125.

Ragab, I. A. (1993). Islamic perspectives on theory building in the social sciences. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 10(1), 1–22.

Ragab, I. A. (1999). On the methodology of Islamizing the social sciences. Intellectual Discourse, 7(1), 27–52.

Rahman, F. (1988). Islamization of knowledge: A response. American Journal of Islam and Society, 5(1), 3–11.

Rahman, F. (1995). Islamic methodology in history. Islamic Research Institute.

Rawnsley, M. M. (1998). Ontology, epistemology, and methodology: A clarification. Nursing Science Quarterly, 11(1), 2–4.

Reiter, B. (2020). Fuzzy epistemology: Decolonizing the social sciences. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 50, 103–118.

Renima, A., Tiliouine, H., & Estes, R. J. (2016). The Islamic Golden Age: A story of the triumph of the Islamic civilization. In T. Habib & R. J. Estes (Eds.), The state of social progress of Islamic societies (pp. 25–52). Springer.

Rosenthal, F. (1970). Knowledge triumphant: The concept of knowledge in medieval Islam. E. J. Brill.

Safi, L. (1993). The quest for an Islamic methodology: The Islamization of knowledge project in its second decade. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 10(1), 23–48.

Saliba, G. (2007). Islamic science and the making of the European Renaissance. The MIT Press.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students (5th ed.). Pearson Education Ltd.

Sætre, A. S., & Van de Ven, A. H. (2021). Generating theory by abduction. Academy of Management Review, 46(4), 684–701.

Stenberg, L. (1996). Seyyed Hussain Nasr and Ziauddin Sardar on Islam and science: Marginalization or modernization of religious tradition. Social Epistemology, 10(3–4), 273–287.

Walter, M. (2013). The nature of social science research. In M. Walter (Ed.), Social research methods: An Australian perspective. Oxford University Press.

Zacky, M. F. M., & Moniruzzaman, M. (2024). ‘Islamic epistemology’ in a modern context: Anatomy of an evolving debate. Social Epistemology, 38(4), 511–525.

Zahraa, M. (2003). Unique Islamic law methodology and the validity of modern legal and social science research methods for Islamic research. Arab Law Quarterly, 18(3–4), 215–249.