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46No. 293 | May 2025The Function of Islamic EpistemologyIslamic epistemology should be equally dynamic and adaptive to population trends with relevant methods, validity, scope, opinions, justified beliefs, and other aspects.These projections also show convincingly that the religious communities constitute the largest single constituency in the world, but their divisive nature prevents them from having any influence in the international multilateral organizations. They remain part of civil society and not of political society. Their leaders are closest to the emotions, feelings, intentions, and thoughts of the believers. Muslim societies should make every effort to reach out to this civil society constituency through all possible means, e.g., education, culture, arts, cinema, social media %u2013 to mention only a few.The Role of Neo-Colonialism as A Subset of Neo-ImperialismNeo-colonialism has become the new means to violate national sovereignty and to interfere in the domestic affairs of nation-states, which often result in local or regional wars that are proxy in nature. Neo-colonialism has been accompanied by the imposition of Western secularism and the marginalization of religions. Civil society has the people%u2019s power to mobilize the masses on the ground against wars and other hostile acts. The will of the people is one for peace, security, and coexistence. Peace is the only option, and religious leaders are best positioned to articulate the temperament of the people. Neo-colonialism fosters poverty, injustice, oppression, exploitation, foreign domination, and imposition of social restrictions on Muslims. Such abject conditions breed extremism and violence, from which imperialism and Zionism recruit proxies. The eradication of such conditions will prevent violence, extremism, and terrorism. From an Islamic perspective, unity has a threefold nature: unity of Muslims, unity of people of the book, and unity of humanity. The unity of Muslims is part of the larger unity of the people of the book, within the largest possible unity of humanity. Unity is indivisible.International attention should focus its priorities on children, youth, women, the environment, and socio-economic development to promote peace, dialogue, understanding, and environmental protection within the larger context of the eradication of poverty, in which 500 million people suffer from hunger. Youth should be educated to identify and solve problems, to network with global youth, to counter Western cultural neo-imperialism, and to heighten Islamic consciousness. The target age group should ideally be 14-35 years. To advance Islamic civilization, they have to cater to the basic material needs of people such as food, water, shelter, clothing, medicines, and transport. Spirituality caters to needs such as education, knowledge, literature, arts, philosophical ideas, faith, ideology, adoration, ethics, and moral principles. Islamic epistemology should encapsulate both the material and spiritual needs, with spirituality having precedence over materiality as confirmation of the basic Islamic principle of fitra or pure natural state. In the process of growing up, human beings are distracted by materialism, which dilutes their purity. Hence, the need to perform hajj in order to restore one%u2019s purity as a preparation to be in the ultimate Divine presence.The Way ForwardMuslims can unite to advance modern civilization on the basis of Islam%u2019s intangible assets of imaan and iq%u2019ra by its thinkers developing the new economic model and new social state model, from which the people can benefit materially and spiritually. These twin models should incorporate environmental protection, peaceful use of nuclear power, peaceful resolution of disputes, prevention of terrorism through education and identity, ideological tolerance, end to weapons of mass destruction, end to violence as a sacred cult, security in Islam, development of the Islamic world, and Islamic media and ethics. Social media should be used for societal change to transmit the culture of knowledge and values through families and individuals. It should advocate dialogue amongst cultures and civilizations. It should encourage thinkers to think deeply about the Quran in an effort to unite Muslim hearts.