Decolonization of knowledge is not a call to reject modernity or retreat into an imagined pre-colonial past, rather, it is an intellectual project aimed at reclaiming Islamic perspectives by grounding contemporary thought in divine revelation. It engages with the contemporary contexts through the rich, argumentative tradition of Islamic scholarship.
This was emphasized by Dr. Ovamir Anjum, a renowned scholar and the Imam Khattab Chair of Islamic Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Toledo, United States at an interactive workshop titled ‘Decolonization of knowledge: A Muslim Perspective’ at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Islamabad.
The workshop explored conceptual, pedagogical, and institutional dimensions of decolonizing knowledge. It particularly focused on higher education, religious discourse, and intellectual engagement with recently developed paradigms. Academics, researchers, and students from diverse disciplines and backgrounds participated in this in-depth dialogue on how Islamic epistemology can meaningfully interact with contemporary challenges without being subsumed by Western-centric secular frameworks.
Dr. Anjum noted that while colonial legacies continue to shape global knowledge systems, decolonization does not imply disengagement from the present. He argued that Muslims cannot simply “roll back” to a pre-colonial era, as modern values, institutions, and languages are now deeply embedded in lived realities. Instead, he stressed the need to stand firmly within the Ummatic intellectual tradition and move forward, bringing its depth and moral coherence to bear on modern questions. Critiquing prevailing Western decolonial and postmodern approaches, he cautioned that rejecting absolute truth leads to fragmentation and incoherence. In contrast, Islamic decolonization, he explained, must remain anchored in revelation to retain moral clarity and intellectual consistency. He emphasized that the central antagonism in Islam is not class, gender, or power as framed by secular theories but the moral distinction between belief and unbelief, which shapes an entirely different worldview.
Addressing concerns about working within “colonized” institutions such as modern universities, Dr. Anjum maintained that no structure is entirely closed to truth. Drawing on the prophetic example, he highlighted how Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) utilized the language, customs, and virtues of pre-Islamic Arabia to convey the message of Tawheed. He added that fitrah, or natural human disposition toward truth, always retains the capacity to reassert itself within any system. On question of tradition and progress, Dr. Anjum argued that “tradition” is often a modern construct used to marginalize Islamic thought.
