Editorial

Abstract

This special issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences on
Ismail al Faruqi is prepared to honor the memory and contribution of Professor
Ismail al Faruqi to the academia, the history of Islamic thought,
and the development of the Muslim community (Ummah). Providing a
perspective twenty-five years after Professor al Faruqi’s death, it provides
thought-provoking papers relating of the person, mission, and intellectual
jihad initiated by Professor al Faruqi.
Ismail Raji al Faruqi (1921–1986) was a great scholar of Islam in modern
times. His scholarship covered a broad spectrum of Islamic studies: the
study of religion, Islamic thought, approaches to knowledge, history, culture,
education, interfaith dialogue, aesthetics, ethics, politics, economics,
science, and gender issues. He had indeed an encyclopedic knowledge, a
rare person among contemporary Muslim scholars.
Ismail al-Faruqi laid the foundation for a new interpretation and analysis
of the quintessence of tawhid and its relevance in various dimensions
of human life and thought. He also made unique contributions to the study
of Islam and its relevance to the contemporary age. In fact, many of his
unique contributions to Islamic scholarship remain especially relevant today
and have been carried on and extended by many of his former.
Professor al Faruqi was a founder of “the school of Islamization of
knowledge,” which has been incorporated at several international Islamic
universities. His school of thought, academic approach, and practice is also
being applied by hundreds of his students who are teaching and doing research
at different universities in all continents.
This special issue of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences,
revisits the intellectual legacy and continuing influence of Professor Ismail
al Faruqi since his death ...