Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology through an Islamic Lens: A Tawhid-Based Reformulation of Objectivity and Knowledge
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29240/ajis.v10i2.14561Keywords:
Islamic Lens, Islamic Epistemology, Sandra Harding, Standpoint Epistemology, TawhidAbstract
Standpoint epistemology, as articulated by Sandra Harding, challenges the claim of neutrality in modern science by situating knowledge within social relations of power. This framework emphasizes the epistemic significance of marginalized social positions as critical sites for revealing structural bias in knowledge production. Despite its extensive discussion within secular feminist theory and philosophy of science, standpoint epistemology has rarely been examined through Islamic epistemological frameworks. This study aims to critically examine Sandra Harding’s standpoint epistemology through the perspective of Islamic epistemology grounded in the principle of tawhid (divine unity). The research employs qualitative conceptual analysis using philosophical-critical methods, examining Harding’s major works in dialogue with the epistemological thought of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas to assess their underlying assumptions, limitations, and epistemic implications. This article makes a conceptual contribution by proposing a tawhid-based reformulation of knowledge that offers a theologically grounded alternative to relativistic epistemic frameworks while retaining the ethical and critical insights of feminist standpoint epistemology.
Downloads
References
Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. Islam and Secularism. ISTAC, 1993.
Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam. International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 1995.
Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. The Concept of Education In Islam. ISTAC (International Institue of Islam Thought and Civilization), 1980.
Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. Tinjauan Ringkas Peri Ilmu Dan Pandangan Alam. In Himpunan Risalah. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malysia, 2015.
Amin, Samir. Eurocentrism. Monthly Review Press, 1989.
Antony, Louise. “Quine as Feminist: Te Radical Import of Naturalized Epistemology.” In A Mind of One’s Own: Feminist Essays on Reason and Objectivity, edited by Louise Antony and C. Witt. Westview Press, 1993.
Arifullah, Mohammad. “Hegemoni Epistemologi Tradisional Dalam Wacana Kritis Feminisme Kontemporer.” Kafa`ah: Journal of Gender Studies 5, no. 1 (2015): 1. https://doi.org/10.15548/jk.v5i1.111.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Routledge, 1991.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Duke University Press, 2019.
Febriyarni, Busra, Lukman Asha, and Fakhruddin Fakhruddin. “Development of the Islamic Religious Education Curriculum at PTU as Strengthening Multicultural Islam.” AJIS: Academic Journal of Islamic Studies 9, no. 1 (2024): 250–63. https://doi.org/10.29240/ajis.v9i1.7871.
Frye, Marilyn. The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory. The Crossing Press, 1983.
Gurung, Lina. “Feminist Standpoint Theory: Conceptualization and Utility.” Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology 14 (2020): 106–15. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v14i0.27357.
Gurung, Lina. “Feminist Standpoint Theory: Conceptualization and Utility.” Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology 14, no. 1 (2020): 106–15. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v14i0.27357.
Hadi, Sofian, Ari Ashari, and Syamsuddin Arif. “Mendudukkan Kembali Makna Ilmu Dan Sains Dalam Islam.” Tasyfiyah: Jurnal Pemikiran Islam 4, no. 1 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.21111/tasfiyah.v4i1.3963.
Haraway, Donna. Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium.FemaleMan©_Meets_OncoMouseTM: Feminism and Technoscience. Routledge, 1997.
Haraway, Donna. “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective.” Feminist Studies 14, no. 3 (1988): 575–99.
Harding, S. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women’s Lives. Cornell University Press, 1991.
Harding, Sandra. The Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader: Intellectual and Political Controversies. Routledge, 2004.
Harding, Sandra. The Science Question in Feminism. Cornell University Press, 1986. https://doi.org/10.2307/1575733.
Harding, Sandra. The Science Question in Feminism. Cornell University Press, 1986.
Harding, Sandra. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women’s Lives. Cornell University Press, 1991.
Hartsock, Nancy. “Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism.” In Discovering Reality: Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, edited by Sandra Harding and Merrill B. Hintikka. Reidel Publishing Co, 1983.
Hartsock, Nancy. Money, Sex, And Power: Toward Feminst Historical Materialism. Norteastern University Press, 1985.
Hartsock, Nancy C. M. The Feminist Standpoint Revisited and Other Essays. Westview Press, 1998.
Harun, Makmur Haji. “The Concept of Arabic Absorption Patterns in Indonesian and Malay Language.” AJIS: Academic Journal of Islamic Studies 4, no. 2 (2019): 151–80. https://doi.org/10.29240/ajis.v4i2.968.
Hekman, Susan. The Material of Knowledge: Feminist Disclosures. Indiana University Press, 2010.
Hekman, Susan. “Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society 22, no. 2 (1997): 341–65.
Hekman, Susan. “Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society 22, no. 2 (1997): 341–65.
Hidayatullah, Elit Ave, and Syamsuddin Arif. “Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas’ Exposition on the Concept of Ethics.” Afkar 24, no. 1 (2022): 409–46. https://doi.org/10.22452/afkar.vol24no1.12.
Hooks, Bell. Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism. Pluto Press, 1982.
Irawati, Dini, Nanat Fatah Natsir, and Erni Haryanti. “Positivisme, Pospositivisme, Teori Kritis, Dan Konstruktivisme Dalam Perspektif ‘Epistemologi Islam.’” JIIP - Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Pendidikan 4, no. 8 (2021): 870–80. https://doi.org/10.54371/jiip.v4i8.358.
Jameson, Frederic. “History and Class Consciousness as an ‘Unfinished Project’.” Rethinking Marxism 1, no. 1 (1988): 49–72.
John, D, W Richard, Rachel Bowlby, et al. Lyn Pykett, Reading Fin de Siecle Fictions Steven Connor, Charles Dickens. n.d.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nadaa Afifah Silmi, Syamsuddin Arif
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
