Prophetic social sciences: toward an Isl amic-based t ransformative social sciences

This article discusses of one of the most important type of social sciences developed in Indonesian context. In the midst of debate between Western secular social sciences and Islamic social sciences, Kuntowijoyo offered a genuine yet critical formula of social sciences. The formula called Ilmu Sosial Profetik(ISP) attempted to build a bridge between secular social science and Islamic inclination of social science. This article describes the position of ISP in the context of critical position of Muslim social scientists on the hegemony and domination of Orientalist tendency in studying Islam. At the end, the author offers a conclusion that ISP can actually be regarded as Islamic-based transformative science that can be further developed for a genuine indigenous theory of social sciences from the Third World.