Traces of Orientalism in the Construction of Modern Islamic Science
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54437/urwatulwutsqo.v15i01.2747Keywords:
Orientalism; Modern Islamic Studies; Critical Reading;Abstract
This study examines traces of Orientalism in the construction of modern Islamic scholarship as an epistemological issue in contemporary Islamic studies. The main focus of the study is to identify how categories of knowledge, standards of truth, and scholarly authority regarding Islam are formed, institutionalised, and reproduced in modern academic traditions. The research uses a qualitative method based on a literature study with a historical-critical approach to academic texts from three traditions: classical Orientalists, post-Orientalist thinkers, and Muslim scholars. The data are analysed comparatively to trace patterns of continuity and transformation of epistemic categories used in Islamic studies. The results show that modern Islamic studies operate within the framework of epistemic categories such as objectivity, historicism, textual criticism, and scientific methodology rooted in Western scientific traditions. Islamic scientific traditions tend to gain academic legitimacy to the extent that they can be translated or harmonised with these categories. The dominance of Orientalism is therefore not only a historical legacy but also works structurally through the university system, curriculum, and mechanisms of publication and global scientific legitimacy. This study contributes by systematically mapping these epistemic mechanisms, thereby expanding the analysis of Orientalism from the level of discourse representation to the level of operational structures in contemporary academic practice
Downloads
References
Afandi, A. J. (2025). The Three Phases Of Islamic Studies In The West: A Critical Examination Of Orientalist, Missionary, And Colonial Legacies. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Reseach, 1(5), 79–94. https://ojssulthan.com/ijmr/article/view/483
Ali, M. (2025). Indonesian Post-Orientalist Study of Islam. Studia Islamika, 32(1), 43–73. https://doi.org/10.36712/sdi.v32i1.45297
Al-Shuqairat, H. R., Al-Maani, A.-A. R. M., & Aldajah, M. N. (2025). Islamic Historiography and Modernity: A Systematic Literature Review on the Evolution of Muslim Societies in the Postcolonial Era. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 15(1), 240–260. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.151.14
Anggraina, Y. A., Usman, & Zulfadli. (2025). Integrasi Wahyu dan Akal dalam epistemology Islam: Studi Literatur Berbasis Al Qur’an dan Pemikiran Filsus Muslim. Inklusi: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam Dan Filsafat, 1(02), 99–108. https://glonus.org/index.php/inklusi/article/view/209
Atha, N. M. (2019). Reaktualisasi Konsep Integrasi Ilmu Ibnu Khaldun Dalam Pendidikan Islam Modern. Al Qalam: Jurnal Ilmiah Keagamaan Dan Kemasyarakatan, 13(1), 103–138. https://doi.org/10.35931/aq.v0i0.135
Badarussyamsi, B. (2016). Islam Di Mata Orientalisme Klasik Dan Orientalisme Kontemporer. TAJDID: Jurnal Ilmu Ushuluddin, 15(1), 17–40. https://doi.org/10.30631/tjd.v15i1.6
Cahya, E., & Wardati. (2025). Orientalisme Dan Studi Islam: Antara Bias Epistemologis Dan Kontribusi Akademik. Jurnal Penelitian Multidisiplin Terpadu, 9(12). https://sejurnal.com/pub/index.php/jpmt/article/view/10909
Deka, O. A. (2025). Recontextualizing Ibn Khaldun: A Meta-Theoretical Study of Khaldunian Thought. PhD diss., Université d’Ottawa. University of Ottawa.
Hadi, S., Irawan, D., & Harwansyah, I. (2025). Membaca Ulang Orientalisme: Akar Historis dan Respons Intelektual Muslim: Revisiting Orientalism: Historical Roots and Muslim Intellectual Responses. Journal of Islamic and Occidental Studies, 3(1), 91–110. (-). https://doi.org/10.21111/jios.v3i1.61
Humairah, S., Tanggareng, T., & Farhah, U. (2025). Studi Hadis di Kalangan Orientalis (Studi atas Pandangan Ignaz Goldziher dan Joseph Schacht): Hadith Studies among Orientalists (A Study of the Views of Ignaz Goldziher and Joseph Schacht). SETYAKI : Jurnal Studi Keagamaan Islam, 3(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.59966/setyaki.v3i1.1538
Kasim, M. Y. (2021). Reformulating Islamic Epistemology: Solution to The Crisis of Modern Science, Technology and The Impact of Globalization. Ar-Raniry: International Journal of Islamic Studies, 8(1), 31–47. https://doi.org/10.22373/jar.v8i1.9790
Makki, M. (2019). Epistemologi Pendidikan Islam: Memutus Dominasi Barat terhadap Pendidikan Islam. Al-Musannif, 1(2), 110–124. https://doi.org/10.56324/al-musannif.v1i2.26
Masrufah, M., Sholihah, U., & Rahman, M. (2025). Integrasi Konsep Ta’dib Dalam Pengembangan Teori Pembelajaran: Perspektif Pemikiran Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas. Jurnal Studi Pendidikan Agama Islam, 1(1), 25–34. https://jurnalalkhairat.org/ojs/index.php/jspai/article/view/925
Montasir, P., Muhammad Arsyad, La Patuju, La Ode. (2021). Epistemologi Pergerakan Intelektual Dari Masa Ke Masa: Sebuah Ulasan Komparatif. Penerbit Adab.
Mudzakkir, A., Syamsudduha, S., Half, A., & Suarni, S. (2024). History of the Development of Orientalism: Its Influence on the Modern Islamic World. Journal of Indonesian Islamic Studies, 4(1), 51–58. https://doi.org/10.24256/jiis.v4i1.6145
Nabil, A., Rahman, A., Lumpur, K., Malaysia, Pengajian, F., & Islam, K. (2025). Hamka’s Reformist Epistemology: Modernist Genealogies, Hermeneutical Strategies, and the Making of Islamic Renewal in the Malay-Indonesian World Article history This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). KURIOSITAS: Media Komunikasi Sosial dan Keagamaan, 18. https://doi.org/10.35905/kur.v18i2.12840
Oldac, Y. I. (2022). Global science and the muslim world: Overview of muslim-majority country contributions to global science. Scientometrics, 127(11), 6231–6255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04517-0
Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 168–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353
Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. Penguin Books.
Saidin, M. I. S., & Rashid, N. Z. (2022). Orientalism and the Globalised Muslim world: Decolonizing “Exotic” Narratives of Eurocentrism in the Era of Post-Colonial Studies. Intellectual Discourse, 30(2). https://doi.org/10.31436/id.v30i2.1894
Sehlikoglu, S. (2025). Genealogy, critique, and decolonisation: Ibn Khaldun and moving beyond filling the gaps. Open Research Europe, 4, 14. https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.16148.2
Yunus, B. M. (2025). Decolonizing Tafsir: A Critical Reassessment of Orientalist Methodologies in Contemporary Qur’anic Studies. Journal of Qur’anic and Hadith Studies, 1(1), 1–18. https://www.journal.islamicateinstitute.co.id/index.php/jqhs/article/view/881
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Hidir Amin, Hamdanah Hamdanah, Mazrur Mazrur
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
