Civilization, Islam and science: The Journal of Islamic Civilization (1967–1973) and its challenge to secular philosophy of science
Turkish Studies, vol.27, no.3, pp.500-525, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 27 Issue: 3
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.1080/14683849.2025.2558591
- Journal Name: Turkish Studies
- Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- Page Numbers: pp.500-525
- Keywords: Civilization, Cold War Islam, decoloniality, Islamic civilization, science
- Eskisehir Osmangazi University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
This article examines the Journal of Islamic Civilization (İslam Medeniyeti), a prominent Islamic periodical from Turkey during the 1960s and 1970s. It argues that science constituted a significant arena of contestation within Islam-based civilizationist discourse, and demonstrates how the journal critiqued Western modernity and Turkish modernization by underscoring the purported religious foundations of civilization and science. Advocating that scientific practice is a social process shaped by principles and values inherent to a given civilization, journal's contributors contended that Westernization in educational and scientific conduct resulted in an inability to sustain scientific and technological productivity, albeit without proposing substantial practical alternatives.