The Quranic Universal Epistemological Vision Differentiates from the Western Positivist Vision, and This Can Be Illustrated Through Three Basic Systems: The System of the Worldview, the System of Nature and Humanity, and the System of Values and Ethics. These are Summarized as Follows:
1. Worldview:
The worldview in the Western system is based on the idea of inherent reference; meaning that the world is sufficient within itself and does not require any external explanation because it carries the elements of its explanation internally just as it carries the elements of its formation. Thus, the world is one and not two; it is all visible and tangible, and its measure is human. The center of the universe is inherent within it and not beyond it. This means that God does not exist and has no relation to epistemological, ethical, semantic, or aesthetic systems. The world contains within it what is sufficient to explain it, and all these systems are established and developed by returning to this world and this time only.
Additionally, the world is materially coherent and in a constant state of continuous movement. The world is composed either of scattered atoms (according to the mechanical vision of the universe), or a solid, cohesive organic entity (according to the organic vision), or a mixture of both. The world is characterized by complete solid causality, meaning that everything has a material cause (1).
On the other hand, the worldview in the Quranic method is based on the distinction between the worlds of creation and the Creator, God Almighty, and does not combine them. There is a world of differences between Islamic humanity and other humanities. The Islamic conception is based on the principle of duality as the essence of religious experience. This epistemologically leads to the perception of two levels of existence, making it impossible to mix them in conception; there is the divine creative self, and then there is the world of creatures created by that self, among which is a being that the Creator intended to be distinguished to carry to the world the trust entrusted to him. That being is the human.
This conception leads to several branches: one of which is that the human is a moral being, meaning that he is obligated to achieve specific and defined moral values in his behavior. This is an individual responsibility that cannot be borne by one individual for another. This moral conception of the human is based on the assumption of the precedence of the moral principle over experiences. This conception also assumes the precedence of the standard by which behavior is measured in its correctness and wrongness (2).
2. Humanity:
Regarding humanity, we notice that the Western vision reduces humans to the material natural system of which they become an inseparable part. According to the contemporary Western model, the human is a natural (material) being wholly existing within the natural (material) system, living in, from, and upon nature, with no existence outside it, an inseparable part of it, subjected to what all other creatures are subjected to. According to this foundation, human goals are integrated into nature and have no goals independent of or above it according to the natural law that applies to all creatures, which interprets humans in its light through natural laws (3).
The contemporary Western civilization revolves around this natural human, who, according to its reference, only possesses the material side and is composed only of senses and the body, with no requirements except material satisfaction through seeing, hearing, and other devices that meet the needs of this natural view of humanity. All human satisfactions do not go beyond nature, which is capable, according to this material perspective, of fulfilling all his needs. Thus, humans derive their entire value system from nature, which does not go beyond the means and ends of satisfying those needs and providing them in the maximum form that achieves their happiness or, rather, their pleasure.
In contrast, the Quranic universal vision is based on the idea of duality in its perception of humanity. It sees that human nature consists of two elements: the material element and the spiritual element. In material formation, humans are composed of elements of nature: clay, sticky clay, soil, aged mud, and clay formed like pottery. God says: "(The similitude of Jesus) to Allah is like that of Adam; He created him from dust" (Al-Imran: 59), "(He) created you from clay" (Al-An'am: 2), "And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud." (Al-Hijr: 26), "We created men from sticky clay" (As-Saffat: 11), "He created man from clay like [that of] pottery." (Ar-Rahman: 14). As for the spiritual formation, it is the divine breath into these material elements that gave humanity a distinguished existence from the rest of creation. God says: "So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration." (Sad: 72).
In this sense, human nature in Islam is seen as dual, composed of two different realities: one spiritual and heavenly from God, and the other material and earthly, a fistful of clay, and the breath of God Almighty. This combination resulted in a set of qualities, some of which return to the nature of material formation, others to the nature of spiritual formation, and a third to the characteristic of this combination, through which the human nature is realized. Through this combination, coordination between material and spiritual forces in human life, and between the material and spiritual systems in his moral life, and directing behavior and achieving goals are realized (4).
According to this dual nature perception, humans in the Quranic vision always incline to another world other than the one they live in. They see that their perfection and happiness are not in obtaining temporary pleasure or benefit, although necessary for life, but remain temporary and fleeting happiness. They search within themselves for lasting happiness and eternal pleasure, which they feel in their hearts exist in another world, higher and more eternal than the one they live in. Thus, humans in the Quranic vision derive their value system from this world characterized by permanence, eternity, and continuity, which makes them a judge over this constantly changing material world. They live according to divine law: "But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world." (Al-Qasas: 77).
3. Values and Ethics:
Regarding the value and ethical aspect, we notice in the material Western vision the absence of sacredness and purposes from which ethics can derive the standard of its rightness and wrongness and the criteria for the value judgments of mature human behavior. The Western material system does not know sacredness, absolutes, or purposes. The goal of humans from the universe is only the process of accumulation and control. Ethical laws do not exist; there is only utility and pleasure and maximizing production to maximize consumption.
According to this vision, it is difficult to establish any ethical standards in this material epistemological system because reality has no direction, there is no constancy in the universe, facts are separated from value, and all matters are equal. Because of all this, no ethical standards can be established, and no general ethical systems can be founded. Instead, only limited legitimate agreements based on function and result can be established. The only possible ethics are pragmatic ones that take the form of the philosophy of power and dominance for the strong and the philosophy of submission and adaptation for the weak. There are no standards beyond humans, and no way to define injustice and justice (5).
On the other hand, the Quranic vision, based on the existence of one God who rules this universe as its creator and manager, affirms that God is the essence of the standard in this universe. He is the value foundation from which Muslims derive the rules and implications of their ethical behavior and value actions. God represents the supreme value in the value chain for Muslims, to which their value system ends. This divine will determines what everything in existence should be, even in cases where the actual realization does not entail an obligatory task arising from it. Despite this divine essence being absolute and unseen, it is not isolated from what is valuable or susceptible to being confirmed at its expense. If a Muslim were to use the expression of the value of knowledge here, their stance would say: The value of the unseen beyond is that it plays its active role as the source of the formative command, the generator of motivation, or the standard (6).
The Quranic vision also establishes the principle of innocence and purity of humans from sins and misdeeds. Humans are born with a clean slate: "Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it." (Al-Isra: 15). Thus, they are free and individually responsible for their deeds: "Whoever does righteousness – it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it." (Fussilat: 46). No one benefits or harms another: "You do not hold for one another [the power of] benefit or harm" (Saba: 42).
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