Fethullah Gülen's Style of Integrated Islamic Education: Can it Be Realized?

Abstract

This research is motivated by education in most Muslim countries which is still underdeveloped and there is still a dichotomy between Islamic education and secular education. As a result, generations of Muslims experience obstacles in contributing to the development of world civilization in which Muslims should reflect the Islamic principles of "rahmatan lil 'alamin". This is because Islamic education does not adapt to the progress and competition of the times. Fethullah Gülen's educational epistemological thinking tries to provide a solution to this problem by trying to eliminate educational dichotomies by creating an integrated Islamic education system. The aim of this research is to find out in depth the epistemology of Islamic education from Fethullah Gülen's perspective and its implementation in integrative Islamic education. The results of this research are: 1) The essence of Gülen's Islamic education epistemology is wisdom, namely being able to combine useful knowledge along with its practice in everyday life; 2) The source of Islamic education epistemology comes from the five senses, reason, and reliable reports (news) originating from other people or Allah's apostles; 3) The aim of Islamic education is to create human beings who are able to master scientific, social and religious knowledge and apply it in life in order to create a world of peace and global progress; 4) The integrated Islamic education model according to Fethullah Gülen is similar to the integration model of neo-modernism, namely combining Islamic traditions with the modernity of civilization.