Beyond the Positivist Paradigm in Higher Education: Towards an Integrative Epistemology of Science and Meaning

This article examines the epistemological boundaries created by the absolutization of scientific positivism in modern education systems from both the Islamic intellectual tradition and a universal education perspective. According to the 2024-2025 UNESCO reports, only 18% of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) is on track to be achieved, and the global education system is facing a profound learning crisis. This crisis stems not only from access and resource problems but also from the neglect of the meaning and purpose dimensions of education. The study demonstrates how scientism constrains universal education systems through the concepts of "shroud of thought" and "epistemological matrix," and proposes a concrete pedagogical approach within the framework of the A+B (Wisdom) formulation that combines scientific data (A) with metaphysical meaning (B). The Tawhidic Epistemology Congress organized at IIUM in 2025, the Maarif Model implemented in Turkey in 2024-2025, the holistic approach in UNESCO's 2030 Education Agenda, and OECD's calls for value-based education are initiatives from different cultural contexts that point to a common problem: the necessity of addressing not only the cognitive and economic but also the spiritual, ethical, and existential dimensions of education. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative conceptual analysis and meta-synthesis methods; selected sources have undergone systematic filtering and thematic analysis.