ABSTRACT
Religion has been thought of as a hindrance to the growth of scientific and critical inquiry since the clash between the church and modern science beginning with the age of Galileo. As such and with the increasing secularization of the West, religion was relegated to the backseat in Western civilization. The notion that there is a conflict between science and religion in the West has been imported to other worldviews/civilizations, including Islam, hence leading to the divide between religious and secular education, something unknown in the early Islamic tradition. The Qur’an is known for challenging minds by encouraging its readers to reflect upon the human body, human personality, and other creations in the universe, and especially the natural world which is a precursor to empirical science. Therefore the Islamic faith is not regarded as a hindrance but rather a catalyst for scientific development as testified by Islamic history. In this sense a holistic and integrated Islamic religious education is of “this” world and also of the “other” and is thus a necessity.
