One of the most critical issues facing the Umma is achieving intellectual and academic independence in social sciences, moving away from the dominant Eurocentric perspectives that are often positivistic, materialistic, modern, or postmodern. In this CIK Talk, Prof. Recep Şentürk, a leading Muslim intellectual and institution builder, discussed how the Umma can leverage its rich intellectual heritage to offer new alternatives to modern Eurocentric social sciences.
 
Prof. Şentürk introduced the concept of multiplexity and explored its potential to critique the reductionist ontologies rooted in positivism and idealism in the social sciences.

Dr. Recep Şentürk

Professor Recep Şentürk is the Dean of the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. He was the former Founding President of Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul (2017–2021). Dr. Şentürk holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University’s Department of Sociology and specializes in Civilization Studies, Sociology, and Islamic Studies with a focus on social networks, human rights, and modernization in the Muslim world. 
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He served as a researcher at the Center for Islamic Studies (İSAM) in Istanbul, and as Founding Director of the Alliance of Civilizations Institute. He is Head of the International Ibn Khaldun Society, and has a seat on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals. Among his books are, in English: Narrative Social Structure: Hadith Transmission Network 610-1505; and in Turkish: Open Civilization: Towards a Multi- Civilizational Society and World; Ibn Khaldun: Contemporary Readings; Malcolm X: Struggle for Human Rights; and Social Memory: Hadith Transmission Network 610-1505. Dr. Şentürk’s work has been translated to Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish.