The Islamic perspective on social work: A conceptual framework

Abstract

For social workers in the Muslim world, authentization of social work implied the integration of Islamic religious knowledge with current practice theories. But the latter, still clinging to a 19th-century positivist/empiricist epistemology, hampered the inclusion of religious concepts in professional practice. In time, however, certain theoretical breakthroughs (Sorokin’s integralism, Maslow’s transpersonal psychology, the Islamization of knowledge movement, and the spirituality in social work movement) helped overcome that barrier. This article describes the formative development of the conceptual framework of the Islamic perspective on social work, benefiting from insights gleaned from these revolutionary theoretical advances. This article then suggests systematic procedures to guide both social work research and practice based on that framework.