1

ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE:

Considering the Concept of “Integration of Science and Religion”
M. Lutfi Mustofa

A. Introduction

The rapid growth of social change is one of many characteristics that can be seen
by the society in this contemporary era of life. This fact, will bring the education world
to an awareness of the need of self-adjusment, structurally or culturally. Eventhough,
adaptation, according to Friere, is a form of a most fragile self defense,1 but this is
needed by the Education world in order to not to lose its context and empiric meaning.
Nevertheless, adaptation is not the only way, because with adaptation only, the
education could not change the world. Because, education, as one of humanization
process, intend human to be the subject. To be the subject in its relationship with the
world, quoting Friere, is “to name”. “To name” is “to act” temporarilly to the world by
creating a culture.2

Within the current of the social change, acceleration of communication

technology, transportation, and information are the most prominent fenomena. In
Ahmed and Donnan’s term, this fenomena is called globalization, 3 because the
borders of culture, time, and teritory of countries and nations are fading away. This
creates a smaller and reachable world. With this condition, globalization has impacts
to human’s life. One of them is the inclination of seeing life in a secular way.
According to Gellner, this happens because the foundation of new science and
technology tends to degrade the role of religion.4 In the context of education, the
opinion that separates science from religion has a strong implication. For instance, this
will create many forms of reductionism toward cognitive, affective, and psycho-motoric

1
Budhy Munawar-Rachman, “Pendidikan Sebagai Proses Transformasi Sosial: Teologi Perlu
Belajar dari Filsafat Paulo Freire”, in Islam Pluralis: Wacana Kesetaraan Kaum Beriman, (Jakarta:
Paramadina, 2001), 373.
2
Ibid. For more about Paulo Freire, look for his three main works: Cultural Action for Freedom,
(1972), Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972), Education for Critical Consciousness (1973) this title
then changed to Education: The Practice of Freedom (1976).
3
Akbar S. Ahmed and Hastings Donnan, “Islam in the Age of Postmodernity”, in Akbar S. Ahmed
and Hastings Donnan, Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity, (New York: Routledge, 1994),1.
 2

domain in education or ontologic, epistemologic, and axiologic aspects in the science

construction.

That is the reason why it is not relevant not to create science and religion
dialectics in our recent history. Because, when every education theory and paradigm is
not able to explain the fenomena around them, in the reality some countries in secular
social-politics are moving “right”. This fenomena, according to Johnson, shows the
mark of the rise of collective consciousness that understands the important role of
religion in social-cultural aspect of a country.5

What matters now is how Islamic education works for the dialectic mixture of
science and religion, visa versa. When both of them show different trends, is it
possible that dialectic comes into practical reality in Islamic university? Is it true that
both of them can ”get along”? If true, how can it works epistemologically and what
kind of instruments are needed? These are the challenges that have to be answered by
Perguruan Tinggi Agama Islam (PTAI)/Islamic university.

B. Religion’s Position in the History of Science Development

The development of science in the end of 16th century had created different
perception for western society than on its first era pioneered by Greek. Because, if
science is “son” of philosophy, so the science tradition in modern western society was
a continuation of ancient Greek tradition.

Thus, according to Wibisono,6 science which is identical with philosophy, still

had the color of myth in its first era. Then, in the times of pre-Socrates philosophers,
philosophy was demythologized and then “science” was being born. From here until
Aristotle, eventhough philosophy developed into a practical teaching, at the times of

4
Ernest Gellner, “Foreword”, in Ahmed and Donnan, Islam, xi.
5
Benton Johnson, Religion and Politics in America: The Last Twenty Years, in Phillipe E.
Hammond (ed.), The Sacred in a Secular Age, (London: University of California Press, 1985),
301-316.
6
Koento Wibisono Siswomiharjo, “Gagasan Strategik tentang Kultur Keilmuan pada Pendidikan
Tinggi,” in Achmad Charis Zubari dkk. (peny.), Aktualisasi Filsafat: Upaya Mengukir Masa
Depan Peradaban, Jurnal Filsafat Edisi Khusus (Yogyakarta: Fakultas Filsafat Universitas Gajah
Mada, 1997), xv.
 3

Augustinus and Thomas Aquinas philosophy had been developed to be alongside

with religion.

The meet of philosophy and religion found its strong foundation when it was
held by moslem philosophers in 9-13th century. On that era, many fields of science
were being born, such as: astronomy, medic, psychology, biology, algebra, geometry, art,
architecture, etc. This development was not only because of the dynamic character in
Helenism tradition, but it was because moslems on that era had scientific spirit and
behavior which was inherited from the teaching of their religion.7 Such as: the spirit to
honour logical thinking and searching of truth, and also the spirit to honour empiric
evidence which was inherited from Prophet Ibrahim As., and Prophet Muhammad
Saw.8

The spirit of science from the moslem on that era, according to Bakar, actually
was born from their awareness of tawhid.9 To moslems, the awareness of God’s
oneness is the most fundamental awareness of religion. Thus, every activities (religious
or cultural) in their lives are breathed by that monotheism principle.

Because of this spirit of tauhid, there is an opinion in Islam that every objective
reality of this universe is a one whole unity. Cosmos, which is consists of physic and
non-phisyc reality, is understood to be related every one and another, and form a
united network through cosmis laws, as a manifestation of oneness of source and
metaphysical origin, Allah SWT. In Islam, the unity of cosmos is an obvious evidence
of Allah’s SWT oneness. 10 Thus, spirit of science in searching of truth is not
something that goes against the teaching of Islam, because it is the unseparated part of
the spirit of tawhid. With this spirit, science becomes one of many instruments that take

7
Osman Bakar, Tauhid dan Sains: Esai-esai tentang Sejarah dan Filsafat Sains Islam, (Bandung:
Pustaka Hidayah, 1994), 12.
8
On many al-Quran verses and Hadits, there are orders for moslems to always think logically and
appreciative toward science, wherever it comes from. There was a story that suggest moslems to
learn to China. This inclusive behaviour that motivate the growth of islam intellectualism which
was thriven on middle age, especially when it met Greek rationality. More in this read
Komaruddin Hidayat, Ketika Agama Menyejarah, in PERTA: Jurnal Kominikasi Perguruan
Tinggi Agama Islam, Vol. V/No.1/2002, (Jakarta: Ditperta Depag RI dan LP2AF, 2002), 26.
9
Osman Bakar, Tauhid, 11-12. Compare with Harun Nasution, Islam Rasional: Gagasan dan
Pemikiran, (Bandung: Mizan, 1996), 43-44.
 4

human to Oneness of Transcendence Reality itself. 11 On the other hand, tawhid

conciousness is a source of science spirit in every fields of moslem’s science.

We can see that the relationship between religion and science in Islam is like
two-sided coins, different but unseparated. The utilizing of ratio and science can not
be separated from faith in Allah The Trancendence, from the teachings, rules, values,
and general principles which were told to humans by revelations.Aside from that,
science in Islam is also developed by inheriting whole human’s culture after
distinguishing right and wrong, good and bad, or haq and bathil. In other words,
science in Islam gives great attention to religion, visa versa. Because science is the way
to understand the unity of cosmos which was told by religion.

That spirit of tawhid and scientific exploration made Islam grew as world
civilization power which was able to bridge and related local civilization fields to
become a worldwide civilization. This was what as said by Nurcholish, that moslem
society was the first humans that changed science from its first characteristics of
parokialistic, nationalistic, and restricted only for certain regions or nations, to
become cosmopolitans and universal.12 This was proved by the reality that there were
many world-class scholars came from Islamic world, and their works influenced and
incited the birth of western modern civilization. Because of that reason, we can
understand Komaruddin 13 statement that said that Greek philosophers and
rational-empiric discourses developed in western society is no other than intelectual
moslem’s important contribution that is admited in science world.14

Nevertheless, due to many complex reasons (which are impossible to be

discussed here) Islamic civilization can not be preserved by moslem society on
mid-century. Science’s spirit and ethos of this generation slowly degrade. Even, in the

10
Look at al-Quran surah al-Anbiya’ (21) verse 22.
11
More on relationship between scientific logic and the Transcendence look at Fritjof Schuon,
Logic and Transcendence, (London: Perenial Books Ltd., 1975)
12
Nurcholish Madjid, Kaki Langit Peradaban Islam, (Jakarta: Paramadina, 1997), 13.
13
Komaruddin Hidayat, Ketika Agama, 26.
14
More on this theme can be found in Mehdi Nakosteen, Kontribusi Islam atas Dunia Intelektual
Barat-Deskripsi Analisis Abad Keemasan Islam, (Surabaya: Risalah Gusti, 1996)
 5

same time this degradation got worser and science tradition then moved from east to
west.

Philosophy as an activity that can be counted as logic, which by Aristotle was

poietic science, practical science (in normative meaning like ethics and politic), and
theoritic science, began to reducted.

It is indeed that teoritic science was viewed as the most significant which by
the founding father of empirism was divide into physics, mathematics, and first
philosophy (metaphysic). But, moslem scholars on that time gave attention only for
metaphysics. Even on this field, moslems was facing a great polemics. They became
tired and absolutely left this field.

On the other hand, in west, pioneered by Renaissance (15th century) and

aufklarung (18th century) greek philosophy lernt by western scholars from moslem
philosphers entered a new phase, got progressive, and modern. In the “touch” of
Copernicus, Galilei Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Kant, etc philosophy had given broad
and deep influence for the development of western civilization.

As what was happened to Islamic world, Greek philosophic thought had

helped the west to to find the meaning of freedom in humanity. With that freedom,
especially in thinking, the west that was far from civilization in 10th century , began to
experienced the important process of humanization. However, because of traumatic
experience towards church, that did not give rooms for logical thinking outside bible,
western people aimed this freedom toward secularism. According to Koento,15 that
was a life of human freedom from colony and sub colony of religion and church.16

This kind of philosophy that moved toward secularism, not only cause the
religion to be abandoned, but also, on its radical concequences, even doubted the

15
Koento, Gagasan Strategik, xvii.
16
More explanation about “secular” and its difference with secularism and secularization
can be found on many works, such as: Faisal Ismail, Percikan Pemikiran Islam,
(Yogyakarta: Bina Usaha, 1984); Nurcholis Madjid, Islam, Kemodernan dan
keindonesiaan, (Bandung: Mizan, 1987); Paul M. Van Buren, The Secular Meaning of
the Gospel Based on an Analysis of its Languange, (London: Billing and Sons Ltd., 1965)
or Harvey Cox, The Secular City, (London: Billing Sons Ltd., 1985)etc.
 6

existance of God. In this context, an obvious indication can be seen on Friederich

Nietzsche’s statement that said, “God is dead”. 17 When the time comes, this
phenomenon will create a world without God, or without religion. Or at least religion
will be regarded as personal matter.

Because of this reason, it is not a surprise if philosophy and religion stand on

their own, each one develop based on its own fundament and direction of thinking.
This differentiate process, then, continued with the banishment of philosophy from
branches of science, each with their own methodology develop their own speciality
intensively.

Started with the detachment of physics and mathematics pioneered by

Copernicus (1473-1543), Versalinus (1514-1564) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727),
science was ripped from its roots of philosophy. This development especially reached
its definitive form when Auguste Comte (1798-1857) with his grand theory, said that
human’s mind development and society will reach their peak in positive phase, after
they pass teologic and metaphysic phase. The meaning of positive here is the truth
must be concrete, exact, accurate, and has function.

With this kind of development, science in western world move remotely from
every knowledge that in their opinion are not concrete, inmeasureable, and
speculative. With this point of view, not only philosophy became uninteresting in
western science, but religion was also viewed out-of-date even unhistoric and necglected.
At this point, science development then created a new different western perception
from when the paradigm was first planted by its pioneers.

Up to 20th century, western science “revolution” was still happening. Many

inventions rearranged previous established theories, but this development still can not
move differentiation and de-religion-ism of science which became the characteristic
of the so-called modern era.. On one side, western’s opinion and ethics has grew
optimism toward science to rise life vitality, but on the other side, pesimism of its

17
God is Dead means when humans kill their self potentials, then they
become”God-killer”, so that they are alienated from the real God. In western world, “God
is Dead” means the loss of christian’s spirituality.
 7

negative impact was getting real. This pesimism was not only haunting the consumers,
but also the western society as the main producer.

But in the last half of 20th century, science ethics with its point of view began to
to face a new trend that gave more attention to spiritual world. John Naisbitt and
Patricia Aburdence, in Megatrend 2000 mentioned this fenomena with term : New Age.
An era that try to convince many people that the best way of solving social and
personal problems--which has become parts of Western’s culture crissis that pushed
the birth of New Age--is only when there are lots of people that have reach The Higher
Consciousness.18 By that mean, according to Amin Abdullah, modernism with its tight
differentiation character on every fields of life will be out-of-date.19

C. The N eed of Philosophy of Science to Step Out from Differentiation

Problem
Science has brought many progression in human’s life. With technology as its
main product, humans have created “second realm”, so that their lives is no longer
goes within nature rhytm and cycle. With science and technology, humans are able to
create their future in their own way. In other words, today’s humans can not freed
themselves from technology.20 Even, in many ways, technology seems to “involve”
on matters that were considered as God’s zone.

While problems like poverty, famine, and illiteracy are still survive in social
reality. Whereas justice and honesty became rarities, and truth is easy to be distorted.
This facts of humanity are not going along with the “dream” of science (das sollen),
because at first, science and technolgy were meant to be an effort of human liberation,
and as a helping hand in facing their problems. This discrepancy happened, because
posivistic ideas tend to eliminate whole understanding obtained reflexively, especially
obtained from a comprehension of faith. Aside, there is a trend to separate physical
with non-physical world, material and non-material world, mundane and hereafter.21

18
Budhy Munawar Rachman, Islam Pluralis, 99.
19
Amin Abdullah, Reintegrasi Epistomologi, 51.
20
Achmad Charris Zubair, “Landasan Aksiologi Ilmu Pengetahuan,” seminar paper for Fakultas
Filsafat UGM, Yogyakarta, Oktober 1997, 7.
21
Ibid.
 8

With this kind of trend, on a philosophic way, science and technology has brought
humans to a fake truth, not the real truth. The development of science and technology
also has brought alienation to human’s mind dimension. Humans began to loose
contact with their own selves, with other humans, with the nature, and anything
transcendence.

Because of that, efforts and thoughts are needed to assert philosophy of

science in the development of science and technology. This reposition is meant as a
medium in perfecting the understanding of truth. That way, the function of religion is
not only for ritual-ceremonial, but also as the peak of human’s discovery in searching
of the real truth. This is the duty of philosophy of science. In other words, philosophy
of science is not meant to create a new school of science that can not appreciate or admit
the truth beyond mundane dimension. This will help human to erase their hesitation to
choose between rationalism or religion, and between scientific or religious. Because,
in the perspective of philosophy of science that “dilematic” problem like that is not
supposed to happen.

Awareness that comes from comprehension of philosophy will bring us to a

phenomenon of the growth of a new spiritual understanding. Human will begin to
realize that what they have learnt from science and technology is just one side from
life reality that is richer. There are many parts of life that can not be explained with
science and technology. The indicator is the presence of epistologic polemic that
always questions science’s legitimacy, validity, supremacy, and quality. With today’s
science, humans are still tangled with basic problems such as: “metron”,
“Heraklitos-Permenides Problems” (singular-plural, permanent-alteration), Kant’s
problem about “das Ding an sich” and “Radio Pura”.22 These facts occurred because
humans with their science have lost spiritualism in their existance. Nasr in Islam and the
Pligh of Modern Man said that humans are on the margin of their existance because they

22
A.M.W. Pranarka, Pendekatan Multi Interdisiplin Sebuah Refleksi Kefilsafatan, seminar paper
for Fakultas Filsafat UGM, Yogyakarta, Oktober 1997,5.
 9

have made science and technology as God, move far away from the center. While they
leave revelation-based religion-understanding and live on secularism.23

When modernism with its positivity puts positive science more dominan than
others, religion becomes placed on a lowest structure. In this certain place where its
position and function are not significant, it becomes initial difficulties of science to
explain reality in humans’ life. Because of this reason, in Islam, a restructurization of
science is absolutely needed. Religion must be put back as paradigm of science,
because religion is the one who will take humans to the truth of divinity. Religion is
looked as a principle that can give alternative solutions to solve every rational concept.
The reason is simple, there are many things beyond our mind’s abilities, and beyond
our daily experience, and these are the truth.

To be free from dicotomy in their life, modern humans need to integrate

values and meanings which are combined with science.24 For this need, there is only
one subject that can teach and offer those values, religion. It is not hyperbolic because
religion is indeed a source of meanings and values which is important and can be
translated to development.25

Integrative view like this is due to a posivistical science that tend to reduct
nature reality, including human as a living creature. For instance, in cosmology,
science always put it away from its spiritual elements such as: God, angels, soul, etc.
Universe is considered created without creator, and is arranged by an autunomous law
of nature, steady and can not be changed by outside powers. Science’s opinion about
humans, which by religion viewed as creautures with soul, mind, spirit, etc., is just
viewed as physical creatures with complicated nerves system, who have no souls as

23
M. Amin Syukur, Menggugat Tasawuf: Sufisme dan Tanggung Jawab Sosial Abad 21,
(Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 1999), 112.
24
Fritjof Capra, The Turning Point: Science, Socienty and Rising Culture, (London: Fontana
Paperbacks, 1985), 118-119.
25
Azizan Baharuddin, “Thinking Science in the Muslim World: Integrating Science and Religion
for Development, paper International Confrence on Religion and Science in the Post-Colonial
World”. (Yogyakarta: Universitas Gajah Mada, 2-5 Januari, 2003), 1.
 10

immaterial substance. Here, humans do not have speciality, as what was given by
philosophy as microcosmos; or by religion, as God representatives on earth.26

In Golshani’s opinion, neglection of science’s limitation and refusal of

philosophy and religion in science is naivete. To him, science can not be separated with
values, scientific works are filled with philosophic and religious opinions, and
metaphysic has an important role almost at all scientific activities levels. In other
words, according to Goshani, it is too simple to think that philosophic and ideologic
commitment will never be a part of science structure.27

Moreover, Golshani said the opinion that views scientific activities to be free
from values is just a myth. This is based on following reasons:

1. Scientific acitivity is a goal that aiming effort. This means some values has roles as
guidance. For instance, the searching of truth is a value that becomes principle that
aim many scientists
2. All scientific activities include some value judgements :
Some ethics like honesty, justice, and integrity function as quality supervision
mechanism on scientific efforts.
Value judgement is able to form scientist’s research or their theories options.
For instance, Einstein and Heisenberg emphasize on their simplicity of physic’s
theories. While Dirac emphasize on the beauty of the theories. The pragmatic
consideration is many people’s criteria for theories’ options.28

D. Closing

From above discussion, we can conclude that through philosophic arguments

and latest inventions of science, the dicotomy opinion about science and religion must
be corrected. Because, latest discovery on Quantum, for instance, at least has
destroyed materialists’ assumption that the world is only material. Whereas, quantum

26
Mulyadi Kartanegara, Ketika Sains Bertemu Filsafat san Agama, on jounal Relief, Vol.1, No.1,
Januari 2003(Yogyakarata: Universitas Gajah Nada, 2003), 66.
27
Mehdi Golshani, “Science and the Sacred: Sacred Science vs. Secular Science, paper
International Confrence on Religion and Science in the Post-Colonial World”. (Yogyakarta:
Universitas Gajah Mada, 2-5 January, 2003), 8.
28
Ibid., 8-9.
 11

physics has prove that physical element in an atom, is very unsignificant compared
with its non-material element, which is the most extensive part of atoms that build
this universe.29 This means, science, that view the world and its contents is physical
and ca only be understood with observation of sensory perception is not completely
true. On the contrary, with the latest inventions and discoveries on science and the
development of philosophy theories, religion is slowly but sure begin to show the
truth of itself. Because of this reason, religion and science certainly must have
functional and dialectic relationship in an understandable framework that can be
understood by human’s logic. This is because science that is based on observation of
sensory perception, philosophy that based on logic, and religion that based on
revelation is tend to complement each other.

Wallahu a’lam bi al-shawab

29
Mulyadhi Kartanegara, Menembus Batas Waktu Panorama Filsafat Islam, (Bandung: Mizan,
2002), 162-163.