DIROSAT: Journal of Education, Social Sciences & Humanities
Vol. 4 No. 4 (2026): Innovation in Education and Social Sciences Research

Reconstructing the Bayani, Burhani, and Irfani Paradigms as an Islamic Epistemological Critique of Scientism.

Dicky Syahar Mubarak (Magister Aqidah dan Filsafat Islam Universitas Darussalam Ponorogo, Indonesia)
Mohammad Muslih (Magister Aqidah dan Filsafat Islam Universitas Darussalam Ponorogo, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
02 Oct 2026

Abstract

Contemporary scholarly discourse is dominated by scientism—the epistemological claim that empirical science is the sole legitimate source of knowledge, while revelation, intuition, and spiritual experience are relegated to the margins of the meaningful cognitive realm. This dominance has engendered reductionism, the dehumanization of science, and the marginalization of religious knowledge—issues that have been criticized from within the Western philosophy of science tradition itself by thinkers such as Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Paul Feyerabend, albeit without offering a positive alternative epistemological structure. This study aims to reconstruct the epistemological trilogy of *bayani* (textual/linguistic), *burhani* (rational/demonstrative), and *irfani* (intuitive/spiritual)—formulated by Mohammed Abed al-Jabiri—to serve as the basis for an Islamic epistemological critique of scientism and to propose a more holistic alternative paradigm. Employing a qualitative, descriptive-analytical library research methodology, the study examines primary and secondary sources regarding Western philosophy of science and Islamic epistemology. The findings indicate that these three structures of reason—*bayani* as a normative-textual control, *burhani* as a logical-rational control, and *irfani* as a realm of spiritual experience—can be reconstructed in an integrative and complementary manner to critique and transcend the monolithic claims of scientism, without succumbing to the extreme relativism associated with Feyerabend. This research contributes to the decolonization of the epistemology of knowledge and strengthens the philosophical foundation for the development of contemporary Islamic philosophy of science and the integration of religious and secular knowledge.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

i

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Social Sciences Other

Description

Focus DIROSAT: Journal of Education, Social Sciences & Humanities is an open-access online scientific journal. It publishes original scientific outputs and aimed at spreading the research results conducted by academicians, researchers, and practitioners in the field of Education, Social Sciences & ...