#44: Islamic Worldview vs Modern Worldview | Dr. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui

Islamic Worldview vs Modern Worldview | ft. Dr. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui | The Prometheans

What lens are you using to see the world — and does it hold up to scrutiny?

In this profound and wide-ranging conversation, Ali Zaka sits down with Dr. Carl Sharif El-Tobgui — Associate Professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies at Brandeis University, PhD from McGill, and one of the most rigorous Muslim intellectuals engaging Islam and modernity today — for a deep philosophical exploration of worldview, its architecture, and what's at stake when two civilizational frameworks collide.

Dr. El-Tobgui begins by unpacking what a worldview actually is — not merely a set of beliefs, but the invisible grammar through which we interpret all of reality. Like a native language, our worldview is so deeply absorbed from our environment that we rarely notice it — until it's challenged.

From there, the conversation methodically walks through the seven pillars of any complete worldview:

🔹 Ontology — What is the nature of reality and existence?

🔹 Theology — Is there a God, and what is His relationship to the world?

🔹 Epistemology — How do we know what we know? What counts as valid knowledge?

🔹 Ethics & Morality — Where do moral values come from? Are they objective or constructed?

🔹 Anthropology — What is the human being? What is our nature, dignity, and purpose?

🔹 Teleology — Does existence have a direction, a goal, a final end?

🔹 Economics — How should resources, wealth, and labor be organized and distributed?

Dr. El-Tobgui then traces the historical origins of the modern worldview — from the Enlightenment's dethroning of revelation, through scientific materialism, secularism, and postmodernity — showing how each shift reshaped humanity's answers to these foundational questions.

The conversation culminates in a direct, intellectually honest comparison between the Islamic and modern worldviews across every dimension — not as a culture war, but as a civilizational dialogue rooted in reason, revelation, and a genuine search for truth.

Whether you're a student of philosophy, a practicing Muslim navigating modernity, or simply a curious mind asking life's deepest questions — this episode will sharpen your thinking and challenge your assumptions.

🔗 Dr. El-Tobgui's free course "Islam and LGBT: Gender, Sex & Morality in the Modern Age" (45 lectures, 33 hours) is available at learn.sapienceinstitute.org