Islamic Epistemologies, Decolonial Pedagogy, and Many Ways of Knowing

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores how Islamic epistemologies—particularly al-Ghazzālī’s integrative philosophy—can inform decolonial pedagogy, curriculum, and educational research. Through the shared project The Art of Knowing, three papers examine how intuitive, relational, and ethical ways of knowing challenge dominant Western paradigms. The session features a theorization of Islamic educational philosophy, a curricular model using Hayy ibn Yaqẓān aligned with Indigenous storywork, and classroom-based research analyzing students’ enactments of epistemic openness. In addition to presenting these frameworks, the symposium actively engages the audience in pedagogical activities and collaborative analysis of classroom interactions. Together, the session foregrounds spiritual discernment, epistemic plurality, and relational inquiry as essential for cognitive justice and curricular transformation, positioning classrooms as sites of ethical and epistemological renewal.

Sub Unit

• Division B - Curriculum Studies / Division B - Section 6: De/Colonization and Transformative Curriculum Studies

Chair

• Ananda M. Marin, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• Toward an Integrative Islamic Philosophy of Education: Ghazzali, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, and the Ethics of Knowing - Arshad Imtiaz Ali, The George Washington University

• Pedagogical Possibilities of Muslim Science Epistemologies and Storywork Curriculum - Ebtissam Oraby, The George Washington University

• A Multimodal (and Ghazallian) Analysis of Epistemic Openness in a Storywork Based Elementary Science Classroom - Samuel Burmester, University of California - Santa Cruz

Session Organizer

• Samuel Burmester, University of California - Santa Cruz

Discussant

• Ananda M. Marin, University of California - Los Angeles