Multiplexity: A New Key to the Structure of Islamic Sciences

Multiplexity or “marātib al-’ulūm”, this paper argues, is the key to understanding and reviving the structure of Islamic disciplines. At the macro level, various Islamic disciplines use different methods. At the micro level, prominent scholars master several methods and employ the distinct method of each discipline in their works. This goes against the expectation that there should be only a single philosophical or scientific method to be used across all disciplines and throughout all the works of a particular scholar. How do we approach this diversity and plurality of methods in the system as a whole and also in the thought of individual scholars? Is it indecision, contradiction or there is a latent structure behind this seemingly puzzling and confusing appearance? T his paper adopts the latter view and argues that the seemingly unrelated and even contradictory methods scholars use in different Islamic disciplines constitute a coherent epistemological and methodological system. The works of great Muslim polyhistors throughout history testify for this argument.