Chapter 1- Philosophy of

Knowledge
Management & Islam
By Prof Dr Mohamad Fauzan Noordin
Human beings are ordered to read as a mechanism in seeking knowledge. It should be done in the Name of Lord,
the Creator, the Most Generous who has taught by the pen, and has taught Man. The command is not just to
collect knowledge and information, but also direct man to organise, plan and manage properly the knowledge
given to him
The chapter is divided into 4
sections
1.0 2.0 3.0 Knowledge 4.0
Introduction Knowledge & & Wisdom from Knowledge
Wisdom from Other Management
Muslim Philosophers Components
Philosophers
 1.0
Introduction
This chapter highlighted on….

Fundamental of Conceptual of
Knowledge knowledge and
Management wisdom

Discussion on
vital component
of knowledge
management
Fundamental of knowledge management

Doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources.

Focuses on organizing and making available important knowledge,

wherever and whenever it is needed.

The concept of intellectual capital.

An important thing within the organization.

 Conceptual of knowledge and wisdom
Wisdom is enhanced by knowledge and the ability to acquire knowledge
effectively.

Knowledge is often considered to be "externally generated" = It comes from

outside sources, such as books, classroom lectures, videos, etc.

Wisdom is come primarily from "internal sources" = One's own introspective

thinking, analysis, and judgment.

Wisdom cannot be acquired and applied without knowledge,

but knowledge is not necessarily guided or enhanced by wisdom

Vital component of knowledge management

1. People / Effective User of Knowledge

2. Methodologies / Processes / Strategic Plan

3. Technology / Knowledge
2.0 Knowledge &
Wisdom from
Muslim
Philosophers
● In islam, knowledge is known as ‘ilm and wisdom is known as hikmah
● To human, power of knowledge surpases the benefit of wealth

Saidina Ali mentioned on the

knowledge power in Nahju al
Balaghah (1989)
“..Knowledge is better than
superior wealth because it
protects you and you have to
guard wealth. Wealth decreases
when spending while knowledge
increases the more you make
use of it..”
“Knowledge is anything
that has "the prophet
said"..."narrated to
us.." and anything
besides that are
whispers from saithan”
(Salim,
n.d.)
As mentioned by Imam al-Syafi'i,
Knowledge other than Al-Quran,
Hadith and fiqh is a distraction,
 Knowledge & Wisdom in Al Qur’an

“He gives wisdom to whom

“Allah will exalt those of you
who believe, and those who
are given knowledge, in high
degrees, and Allah is aware
of what you do”
(Surah Al-Mujadilah :11)
He wills, and whoever has
been given wisdom has
certainly been given much
good. And none will
remember except those of
understanding”
(Surah Al-Baqarah :269)
 Knowledge & Wisdom in Hadith
Abu Darda’ radiyallahu ‘anhu
reported:
“The scholars are the successors of
the prophets. Verily, the prophets
do not pass on gold and silver
coins, but rather they only impart
knowledge”
(The Prophet Muhammad ‫)ﷺ‬
Ibnu Mas’ud radliyallahu ‘anhu
reported:
“Envy is permitted only in two
cases: A man whom Allah gives
wealth, and he disposes of it
rightfully, and a man to whom Allah
gives knowledge (wisdom) which
he applies and teaches it”
(The Prophet Muhammad ‫)ﷺ‬
3.0 Knowledge &
Wisdom from
other
Philosophers
As shown in Figure below by Bellinger, Castro, & Mills, 2004 shows that knowledge has
transition. It originates from the data, analyzed to become information, interpreted to be
valued as knowledge and finally wisdom.

Connectedness

Wisdom People with rich knowledge

can’t
Data makeassimilation
wise decision
at the
Understanding principles
without
lowest level
wisdom.
of the
Wisdom
knowledge
is a
Knowledge god
hierarchy,
gifted. Wisdom
opens is not to
acquired
understanding
from experience
relations and
in
Understanding patterns
understanding
order to see the in whole
a knowledge
picture
Information field.
of the patterns in knowledge

Understanding relations
Data Understanding
 A knowledge hierarchy or transition can be understood as a journey of knowledgeable insan
or people (Noordin, 2009) illustrated in below:

Yield

Merciful + compassion
Wisdom

Predictability When a person arrives at the

Knowledge level of wisdom, the person
would have the characteristics
of merciful and compassionate
Pattern
Information to other human beings.

Unfiltered
Data

Learning Experience
 Data – Information – Knowledge – Wisdom (DIKW) on Knowledge Management

Show the progression

transforming data to
information then
knowledge and finally
wisdom,
as well as the activities
involved to ultimately
create shared
understanding,
throughout the
organization and manage
decision risk

Source :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIKW_pyramid#Graphical_representation
4.0 Knowledge
Management
Component
Hardware and software
have often defined
Information and
Communication
Technology.
 Component of Knowledge Management
People
(Knowledgeable person / Effective user of knowledge)

Methodologies
(Processes / Strategic Plan)

Technologysoftware Technologyhardware
(Knowledge) (Knowledge)
The additional of peopleware and heartware components as a vital
inclusion in ICT and knowledge management (Noordin, Othman, & Zakaria, 2011).

Km Implementation

Organization
Peopleware
Peopleware
Heartwar
Heartwar e
e

Software Hardware
Best
knowledge Peopleware
Workers = (knowledgeable + Heartware

workers)

Without these two components, the journey of knowledge management implementation could be
very challenging.

Cooperation from the knowledgeable workers, directly and indirectly must be secured in
implementing the initiative of knowledge management.
 In an organization,
knowledge and knowledgeable workers are important assets.

CEO CFO Business Analyst IT Consultant

● Thus, top management in the organization must have a strategic plan on how to win
the heartware of their knowledgeable workers (peopleware) in order to secure their
maximum cooperation to drive the organization to the top rank of the economy world
and with a competitive advantage.
Most companies implementing a knowledge management initiative without proper
plan, failed to proceed until the end. This failed attempt leads to bad reputation and
wasting the monetary budget and resources.
Conclusion
 Knowledge management & Islam
• Knowledge Management is Broad process of locating, organizing and
transferring, up to the information usage in sharing and networking
• For Moslem, it is obligatory to pursue knowledge, to cultivate the
various branches of knowledge and then to construct a suitable model
of knowledge management in helping Mankind to become effective
users of knowledge
 Knowledge management & Islam (Cont’)
Human beings are able to manage knowledge for themselves, they will be
able to recognize the greatness of Allah, the Creator of the universe as He
said in AlQur’an,
Surah Fusshilat : 53
“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until
it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient
concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?”
...
Knowledge management (KM) is an important research area and is a sub-field in various
disciplines. KM can be embedded in Economy, Science, Technology, Human Science and many
more, which require techniques to manage them for easy access at the right time and the right
place.

Moreover, the vital components in knowledge management must include peopleware and
heartware in order to implement it successfully.