Batusangkar International Conference I, 15-16 October 2016 55 INTEGRATING ISLAMIC AND MODERN KNOWLEDGE— PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS AND THEIR PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Shaikh Abdul Mabud Associate Professor Sultan Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies Universiti Brunei Darussalam shaikh.mabud@gmail.com A. Concept of Knowledge in Islam s the Islamic religion encompasses all aspects of human life here and in the hereafter, all types of knowledge pertaining to human life comes under the purview of religion. The fact that the same word, ‘ilm is used for knowledge for both acquired knowledge and revealed knowledge shows that there is an organic relationship between the two. This interconnection among all types of knowledge is provided by the concept of tawḥīd that is, Islamic monotheism or the concept of unity that seamlessly binds all types of knowledge into a unified whole and connects it to the One who is the source of Knowledge. The word ‘ilm in the Qur’ān is used in a broad sense and includes a broad spectrum of knowledge, that is the knowledge of both the visible and the invisible worlds and God is the Knower of both (‘ālim al-ghayb wa al-shahādah). Although ‘ilm signifies all types of knowledge, not all of them are of the same status. To acquire the knowledge of the Qur’ān is not of the same status as the knowledge of painting, for example, even though the acquisition of the latter may be useful. A branch of religious science that deals with the knowledge of God (ma‘rifatullāh) is of a higher status than the knowledge of say weaving even though this is undoubtedly a useful skill. The acquisition of the former is loftier than the acquisition of the latter, because the more the importance of the object, the higher the status of its knowledge. It would be wrong to say that there is no difference between the status of specifically religious sciences (such as the Qur’ān and Hadīth) and that of the natural sciences even if the knowledge of the latter might be used for beneficial purposes. A