INTRODUCING ScienceOn1, TAWHIDIC-BASED SCIENCE : PERINTIS’S TAKE ON THE ISLAMISATION OF PRESENT-DAY KNOWLEDGE

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the idea of islamisation, its brief history and progress. The idea of islamisation and the islamisation of present-day knowledge are often misunderstood. Some views the idea as unnecessary while some others sceptically doubt its success. Knowledge is not neutral, thus it comes with the worldview of one who propagates it.  ScienceOn1, tawhidic (oneness of God)-based science as Persatuan Saintis Muslim (Muslim Scientist Organisation), PERINTIS’s take on the islamisation of present-day knowledge proposes measures to actualise the idea.  

KEYWORDS : islamisation, knowledge, islamisation of present-day knowledge, worldview

 

1.0        INTRODUCTION

The progress in science and technology plays a significant role in the development of a nation, Muslim and Non-Muslim alike. As science and technology is generally accepted as the product of the west, their philosophy, principles, and concepts, that underlie it are alien to Muslim beliefs. Hence, a dilemma arises whether to wholly embrace or to venture into it with caution. Being Muslims, our engagement with science and technology dated far back into the middle of the seventh century as the Umayyads in Syria began encountering with manuscripts on natural sciences in Greek and Syriac language. Within a century of the ‘Abassid’s rule, which began in 750 A.C. almost all had been translated into Arabic. Henceforth, the appropriation, enrichment and development of sciences began in earnest and moulded into the worldview of Islam. In more specific terms, the “materials” of the various sciences procured by the Muslims from diverse sources during the first three centuries of Islamic history, were gradually integrated and absorbed into the unitary perspective of Islam. [1]

As of today, the Muslim intellectual and scientific heritage remains obscure despite the fact it once set to revolutionize the intellectual tradition of the west on the Andalusian plain. In addition, the Western science and technology assumes the role once played by the former. Realising the crucial role of science and technology, the Muslims today have to tread on the footsteps of the early Muslim scholars and scientists and notably al-Ghazali in his effort at the ‘islamisation’ of the Greek philosophical treatises. In support of the idea, ScienceOn1 can be considered as an attempt by Persatuan Saintis Muslim, PERINTIS (Muslim Scientist Organization), at venturing into the Muslims once trodden field that is ‘islamisation’. Specifically, we hope to bring science and technology into the purview of tawhidic worldview.

2.0       A BRIEF HISTORY OF ISLAMISATION

The idea of islamisation is in fact a revolutionary thought of the modern day. Since the middle of the twentieth century, the Muslims are not able to treat present-day knowledge with justice. Although articles, books, academic papers have been published and debated, however many fail to grasp the intended purpose of islamisation. Confusion has led to losing its real meaning simply because of lack of caution and careful explanation. As a result, its failure is often associated with the idea itself. A number of Muslim contemporary scholars have attempted to highlight the problem of contemporary knowledge but they fell short of providing the solution.

Sir Muhammad Iqbal, for example had long been aware of the weakness and the imbalanced nature of the modern Western civilization. Although he showed concern, he did not provide further explanation and steps for implementation of islamisation. [2] Professor Syed Hussein, on the other hand, opines that one’s interpretation of facts of nature is indirectly influenced by his worldview. He agrees that the Muslims are able to absorb and integrate appropriate elements of other sciences provided he or she has the general idea of the worldview of Islam.[2] His significant contribution in islamisation is ‘The Encounter of Man and Nature’ in Sufi perspective dealing with the crisis of epistemology in Western Civilisation. [3] Likewise, he too does not elaborate islamisation as a conscious, educational and philosophical program. In support of the idea of islamisation, Dr Ja’afar Syeikh Idris debates on the aspects of socio-political of the Muslims but is silent on aspects of thoughts and knowledge. It was only after islamisation has been widely discussed, he proposes among others that knowledge should rest on the solid foundations of Islam, its scope be widened, discover new facts and see old ones in the Islamic worldview. [4]

Notably, Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas defines with clarity the concept, process of islamisation and those aspects that relate to worldview, knowledge and the concept of university. As early as in the 1960s, he debates the idea of islamisation in his well-known study of history of the arrival of Islam and her influence in the Malay culture. Again in 1969, the idea of islamisation is highlighted in ‘Prelimanary Statement on the General Theory of the Islamisation of the Malay Indonesian Archipelago’. He asserts that the islamisation process has completely altered the Malays worldview on truth and existence academically and scientifically. On the occasion of his conferment of professorship of Malay language and literature, he lectures on the role of Islam in building Malay culture and civilization. During the First World Conference of Islamic Education in 1977 at Makkah, he elaborates on the characteristics of knowledge as being shaped by the worldview of any/certain civilization. He clarifies the concept of islamisation of the present-day knowledge, problems of knowledge, purpose and meaning of knowledge, the meaning of education as well as the concept of Islamic university. In ‘Islam and Secularism’ he elaborates on background history of the thought and western Christian civilization, the meaning of secular, secularization and secularism, the concept of Din, fundamentals of Islamic character, the problems of Ummah and islamisation of knowledge. Finally, in 1980 during the Second World Conference of Islamic Education at Islamabad, he espouses on educational system and the characteristic of Arabic language as being scientific. [5]

It was al-Faruqi, who asserts that the ‘malaise of the Ummah’ lies in education. [6] He proposes ‘to recast the whole legacy of human knowledge from the standpoint of Islam’ [7]

3.0       NATURE AND PURPOSE OF ISLAMISATION

Islamisation is in fact an effort to bring about true actualization of ‘ubudiyah, total submission to Allah S.W.T. Islamisation involves a two way process, which are the liberation of and the devolution to one’s fitrah, natural tendency. The Prophet P.B.U.H. set a precedent with respect to these two aspects in his engagement with and transformation of the Arabs of the jahili, pagan society. Islamisation first liberates the mind and then thought through islamisation of language. At the time of the Prophet P.B.U.H. the process was executed through the language of the Qur’an, which redefines the meaning of for example karim, kufr, and illah. In fact, the first five ayah, verses of the Qur’an from Surah, Chapter al-’Alaq (the Clot),

1)      Proclaim! (or Read) in the name of your Lord and Cherisher, who created

2)      Created man, out of a leech-like clot.

3)      Proclaim! And your Lord is Most Bountiful,

4)      He Who taught (the use of) the Pen,

5)      Taught man that which he knew not.[8]

 had transformed the worldview of the Arab society with respect to their theological, metaphysical and epistemological dimensions. In sum, islamisation is the liberation of man                                                                            

i)                    first from magical, mythological, animistic and national, cultural tradition opposed to Islam

ii)                  and then from secular control over his reason and language.[9]   

iii)                and also from subservience to his physical demands which incline towards the secular and injustice to his true self or soul for man as physical being inclines towards forgetfulness of his true nature, becoming ignorant of his true purpose and unjust to it.[10]

4.0       ISLAMISATION OF PRESENT-DAY KNOWLEDGE

The main challenge in the area of islamisation is that of knowledge itself. Knowledge has lost its true objective and become the source of confusion and doubts. The content of education is no longer the true knowledge in fact it is knowledge masqueraded along with confused and harmful values. The concept of western knowledge is a problem, void of direction and true meaning since ‘the present-day or the modern knowledge is founded on, interpreted and projected through the worldview, intellectual vision and psychological perception of the Western culture and civilisation.’ [11] The essential spirit of this culture and civilisation are characterised inter-relatedly by

a)      reliance upon the powers of human reason alone to guide man through life

b)      adherence to the validity of the dualistic vision of reality and truth

c)      affirmation of evanescent aspect of existence projecting a secular worldview

d)     espousal of doctrine of humanism

e)      emulation of the allegedly universal reality of drama and tragedy in the spiritual, or transcendental, or inner life of man, making drama and tragedy real and dominant elements in human nature and existence. [11]

In short, the present-day knowledge is understood and elaborated according to western worldview, which is supported by elements of secularism, dualism, humanism and tragedy.

5.0      PROSESS OF IMPLEMENTATION AT THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

    LEVEL

At the educational institution level, Islamisation is implemented via organization of hierarchy of knowledge scheme which includes the reality and existence according to the hierarchy comprising the Creator, the Messengers, man, animals et cetera. Neglecting this aspect will result in chaos and disorder. The challenge, which confronts education, is to determine the exact and true position for every field of knowledge and skill. The consideration should include

i)                    that man is of ruh, spirit and body

ii)                  the position of naqli (revealed) knowledge with respect to aqli (acquired) knowledge

iii)                the obligation between fard ‘ayn, obligation towards the Self and fard kifayah, obligation towards the Society bearing in mind the dynamic nature of fard ‘ayn as ‘it increases according to the spiritual and intellectual abilities as well as social and professional responsibilities of a person’ and the integrative nature of the two.[12]  

As islamisation or dewesternization deals with problem of secularization, al-Attas proposes that first we isolate the key elements, western cultural influence from every discipline of knowledge especially human sciences. As for facts and theories of natural science, they must be interpreted in accordance with Islam by introducing Islamic concepts and principles in the thought and physical actions. Al-Attas proposes that these elements and concepts should replace those alien concepts.  

1) the concept of religion (din)

2) the concept of man (insan)

3) the concept of knowledge (‘ilm and ma’rifah)

4) the concept of wisdom (al-hikmah)

5) the concept of justice (‘adl)

6) the concept of right action (amal as adab)

7) the concept of the university (kuliyyah-jami’ah) [12]

Al-Faruqi opts for replacement of Western and Modern influences in metaphysics and  sciences through mastery of modern discipline, mastery of Islamic legacy and creative synthesis between the two, which some find problematic. The problem lies in the fact that ‘disciplines are not divided into water tight compartments and they arose out within the matrix of a particular worldview and organised hierarchically subordinated to that worldview’.[13] Mastery of Islamic legacy and command of modern science is sufficiently equipped for anyone to embark on Islamisation as viewed by Abu Sulayman.

5.1      ScienceOn1’s Proposed Practical Implementation

Many groups have attempted to translate the idea of islamisation of knowledge into practical action. For one, in the early eighties the effort at Islamisation in school was seen practiced in Maktab Rendah Sains MARA Seremban (Seremban MARA Junior Science College).  The effort is indirectly cited in the paper ‘Islamisasi Pendidikan Di Sekolah : Prospek Dan Masalah’ (Islamisation of Education in School : Prospect And Problem) presented during National Seminar on Islamisation of Education : Meeting The Challenge which was held at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in July 1999.[14] Next, the idea of islamisation is highlighted in ‘Dinamika Kurikulum SRI-SMI : Antara Ideal Dan Realiti (Dynamics of Curriculum SRI-SMI : Between Ideal And Reality) [15] and is then proposed in ‘Model Baru Dan Komponen Utama Dalam Kurikulum Al-Amin’ (New Model and Main Component in Al-Amin’s Curriculum)[16]. Finally, Projek MERKURI (MERKURI Project) clearly states the objectives of islamisation of Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah, KBSR (New Curriculum of Primary School) and Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah, KBSM (Integrated Curriculum of Secondary School), which are to be attained by schools under Pusat Pendidikan Al-Amin (Al-Amin Education Centre).[17] By early 2002, the MERKURI Project committee  successfully documented relevant parts of KBSR and KBSM curriculum in the light of Islamic perspective and were transmitted in respective classes. However, the attempt was met with challenges among others time constraints, change of syllabus and change in medium of instruction. It was then agreed that islamisation of curriculum is to be at the discretion of teachers. All these spirits are supporting the idea of islamisation as proposed by al-Faruqi.

Upon realizing that islamisation has its own philosophical, theological and metaphysical dimensions as examined by Al-Attas, a concerted effort and a well laid out plan of execution is needed from all levels. As a starting point, PERINTIS will support the idea of islamisation of present-day knowledge in schools via ScienceOn1 project by organising the followings :

1)      At the philosophical level : Synthesising, integrating and converging of ideas of islamisation and islamisation of present-day knowledge

2)      At the translational level : Training of writers, instructors or teachers on the idea of islamisation and islamisation of present-day knowledge and what they entail.

3)      At the implementational level : Educating the instructors or teachers on the use of teaching manuals on the islamisation of present-day knowledge

These measures are to ensure all the interested parties will consolidate ideas and efforts in empowering and translating the idea of islamisation of present-day knowledge.

6.0       CONCLUSION

Islamisation of present-day knowledge is a process of description of facts, establishment and expression of meanings (at the individual and societal level) grounded on Islamic metaphysical sources. It is not merely transporting knowledge and Islamic principles within the framework of contemporary knowledge. Therefore, it calls for high knowledge ability that is in depth mastery of Islam as religion, culture and civilization. A re-look at the practices undertaken by various groups at translating the idea of islamisation of present-day knowledge is crucial. It is to avoid failure and in its stead to bear fruitful results. It should be emphasised that,

the task before Muslim intelligentsia, then, is to develop, using the epistemology of Islam, alternative paradigms of knowledge for both natural and social sciences and mould disciplines most relevant to the needs of contemporary societies. [18]  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author would like to acknowledge PERINTIS for the support with regards to ScienceOn1 project and PPAA for providing the venue to implement the idea of islamisation of knowledge.   

REFERENCES

[1]        Seyyed H. Nasr. 1976. The Three Muslim Sages. New York : Cravan Books.

[2]        Ahmad Bazli, Shafie. 2001. Konsep Asal Islamisasi Ilmu (The Original Concept of Islamisation). In ‘Seminar Pendidikan Islam Nasional (National Islamic Education Seminar) . International Islamic University, Malaysia.

[3]       Ziauddin, Sardar. 1985. Islamic Futures : The Shape of Ideas to Come. London and New York : Mansell Publishing Limited. 101.

[4]        Wan Mohd Nor, W.D. 1998. : The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad        Naquib Al-Attas : An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamisation. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC. 309-310.

[5]        Syed Muhammad Naquib, Al-Attas. 1999. The Concept of Education in Islam : A Framework for a Philosophy of Education. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC.

[6]        Ismail Raji, al-Faruqi. 1989. Islamisation of Knowledge. Virginia : International Institute of Islamic Thought.

[7]        Ziauddin, Sardar. 1985. Islamic Futures : The Shape of Ideas to Come. London and New York : Mansell Publishing Limited. 101.

[8]        Yusuf Ali. 1998. Holy Qur’an : Meanings and Commentary. Kansas City : Manar International Corporation.

[9]       Wan Mohd Nor, W.D. 1998. : The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad        Naquib Al-Attas : An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamisation. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC. 309-310.

[10]      Syed Muhammad Naquib, Al-Attas. 1999. The Concept of Education in Islam : A Framework for a Philosophy of Education. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC.

[11]      Syed Muhammad Naquib, Al-Attas. 1993. Islam dan Secularism. Kuala Lumpur : International of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC). 44.

[12]      Wan Mohd Nor, W.D. 1998. : The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad        Naquib Al-Attas : An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamisation. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC. 309-310.

[13]      Ziauddin, Sardar. 1985. Islamic Futures : The Shape of Ideas to Come. London and New York : Mansell Publishing Limited. 101.

[14]      Nor Zalmiah, Jahidin. 1999. Islamisasi Pendidikan Di Sekolah : Prospek Dan Masalah (Islamisation of Education : Proespect and Problem), Jurnal Pendidikan Islam (IPI-ABIM), Kuala Lumpur. 8(4) : 43-54

[15]      Nor Zalmiah, Jahidin. Dinamika Kurikulum SRI-SMI : Antara Ideal dan Realiti (The Dynamics of SRI-SMI Curriculum : Between Ideal and Reality). Retrieved on 12/30/2011 from

http://www.al-amin.edu.my/kk2.pdf

[16]      Saari, S. Model Baru dan Komponen Utama dalam Kurikulum Al-Amin (The New Model and Main Component of Al-Amin Curriculum). Retrieved on 12/39/2011 from

http://www.al-amin.edu.my/kk1.pdf   

[17]     Projek MERKURI. Retrieved on 12/30/2011 from

http://www.al-amin.edu.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=112&Itemid=127

[18]      Ziauddin, Sardar. 1985. Islamic Futures : The Shape of Ideas to Come. London and New York : Mansell Publishing Limited. 101.

Ramadan : Satu Pemukiman Ruhani

Ramadan ialah bulan pemukiman ruhani (spiritual retreat). Manusia yang terdiri dari jasad dan ruh perlu mengimbangi pemakanan untuk kedua-duanya. Jika untuk 11 bulan yang lepas, jasad yang berbentuk fisikal telah dimanjakan dengan pelbagai jenis jamuan yang juga dihasilkan oleh alam fizikal dalam bentuk, rasa serta aroma yang berbeza. Maka dalam Ramadan (untuk 1 bulan) ini, ruh yang yang bersumberkan dari langit berpeluang untuk mendapat sebanyak-banyak makanan yang juga diturunkan dari langit. Al-Qur'an yang diturunkan dalam Ramadan yang kemudian dibaca dan dihayati dengan sepuas-puasnya semasa qiam yang panjang, tilawah atau tadabbur sehingga boleh mewujudkan perhubungan yang akrab dengannya bahkan dengan Sumbernya. Moga-moga ruh/hati yang hidup dengan al-Qur'an ini akan beroleh taqwa ( Al-Baqarah : 183). Ramadan selain dari dikaitkan bulan berpuasa, ia juga dikenali dengan bulan al-Qur'an. Allah SWT menurunkan al-Qur'an di dalamnya sebagai Huda, Bayyinah dan Furqan (Al-Baqarah :185). Siapakah yang selalu menjadi pakar rujuk kita (Huda), siapakan yang menjelaskan kekeliruan atau kekusutan yang kita hadapi (Bayyinah) atau siapakah yang menentukan betul salahnya sesuatu perkara (Furqan)? Jika selama ini al-Qur'an masih tidak berperanan dalam kehidupan kita, selain dari ditilawah, dihafal dan dipertandingkan usaha yang serius, bersungguh-sungguh dan bersistematik perlu digerakkan untuk meramaikan lagi ummah yang mendalami, menghayati dan menjadikan al-Qur'an sebagai Huda, Bayyinah dan Furqan. Usaha ini mestilah selari dengan usaha untuk memahirkan diri dalam bahasa Arab. Dengan memahami bahasa Arab, tidaklah timbul persolan-persolan seperti dalam Ramadan ini mana lebih baik samada membanyakkan tilawah atau memahami maknanya? Setiap tahun, bonus seringkali ditunggu-tunggu oleh penjawat awam atau swasta. Malangnya ramai yang terlepas pandang akan bonus 1000 bulan yang Allah SWT sediakan setiap tahun tanpa gagal (al-Qadr : 3). Siapakah di antara kita yang berlumba-lumba untuk mendapatkan bonus ini? Amatlah malangnya jika Ramadan berlalu, kita menjadi di antara orang yang rugi kerana tidak berpeluang untuk menerima bonus ini! Pada malam yang penuh kemuliaan, malam yang menjadi penentuan serta malam yang padat (kerana turunnya Malaikat yang memenuhi ruang bumi), satu perancangan untuk merebut bonus ini perlu dibuat supaya tidak terlepas peluang. Bebaskan diri kita daripada tuntutan-tuntutan duniawi (dengan beri'tikah) sebaliknya beri/sediakan ruang seluas-luasnya untuk membaja dan menyirami ruh dengan amalan untuk memburu laylat al-qadr. Moga dipertemukan! Kejayaan 'spiritual retreat' ini ialah apabila berlalunya Ramadan, kita tergolong di antara yang mendapat rahmah, maghfirah serta perlepasan dari api neraka. Amin

Persiapan Muslim Inteligensia Kini : Satu Refleksi

Persiapan golongan inteligensia yang paling penting ialah ilmu. Rasulullah SAW dilaporkan bersabda, 'khiyarukum fi'l jahiliyyah, khiyarukum fi'l Islam iza faqihu,' yang bermaksud 'yang paling baik di antara kamu semasa jahiliyyah adalah juga yang paling baik dalam Islam jika dia faham (Islam),'. Istilah fiqh yang dimaksudkan mempunyai erti yang lebih luas seperti 'tafaqquh fi'l-Din,' (at-Taubah :122), memahami Islam seluasnya.

Pemahaman Islam yang luas tidak semestinya bermakna pemahaman yang detail atau terperinci. Ini tidak juga bermakna bahawa pengetahuan terperinci dan penghafalan fakta yang banyak tidak penting. Data dan fakta amat penting untuk perumusan prinsip. Kebolehan dan keupayaan merumus prinsip dari data dan fakta yang betul merupakan kemuncak pemikiran induktif, menjadi kaedah ilmu al-Qur'an yang unik. Tegasnya, kefahaman tidak sinonim dengan pengetahuan 'detail'. Data dan fakta mestilah tidak 'opaque', mereka wajib mengarah kepada prinsip-prinsip di belakangnya.

Jadi, persiapan Muslim Inteligensia kini perlu maju kehadapan dan tidak seharusnya berpusing dalam satu bulatan. Proses kefahaman Islam harus menunjukkan sifat kesegeraan (urgency), kesungguhan dan keteraturan yang seharusnya dan patut membolehkan melahirkan pemikir dan ide-ide sesuai dengan cabaran-cabaran masa kini, setelah lebih 30 tahun kembali kepada Islam.

Kumpulan kajian (usrah) yang merupakan alat penerimaan ilmu Islam paling konsisten bagi sebahagian besar inteligensia Muslim perlu sampai ke hujung silibus pengajiaannya. Silibus pengajiaan mestilah jangan terlalu asas dan mendatar, perlu mengambil kira keperluan-keperluan intelektual ahli yang berkehendakkan gagasan-gagasan penting untuk kehidupan intelektualisme dan profesional masing-masing. Silibus pengajian perlu mengajak ahli meneliti dan mengkaji serta membincangkan dengan kritis dan menyeluruh tasawwur al-Qur'an dan Sunnah Nabawiyyah bukan sekadar memahami 'substance', tetapi juga 'method'. 'Method' yang dimaksudkan ialah cara-cara memahami nas-nas (texts) dalam 'semantic field' dan dalam rangka sosio-sejarah serta dalam tasawwur umum sepadu al-Qur'an dan perjuangan Rasulullah SAW. 'Method' juga bermaksud cara-cara menghubungkan nilai dan kepentingan Islam dengan budaya-budaya lain, baik yang silam mahupun kontemporari.

'Substance' tanpa 'method' adalah jumud, beku; tidak berupatya membawa prinsip dan nilai Islam ke ruang dan waktu yang berbeza dengan yang asal. 'Substance' sahaja tanpa 'method' akan membuahkan pengulangan; penting dalam ibadah ritual tetapi melemahkan dalam hal-ehwal keilmuan, sosio-ekonomi, politik dan sebagainya. 'Method' juga tanpa 'substance' yang memadai, akan merosakkan. Tragedi masa dulu dan kini ialah keterperangkapan dengan 'method' (dan sedikit 'substance') tanpa 'substance' yang benar dan adil. 'Method' tanpa 'substance' yang memadai akan membuahkan fanatisme; fanatisme akan menghasilkan kezaliman.

Silibus pengajian inteligensia Muslim dalam usrah, atas sifatnya yang informal, tidak meminta banyak input dari ahli. Ini amat merugikan kerana golongan inteligensia adalah golongan penting. Mereka harus diminta berusaha lebih gigih untuk membaca dan mengumpul bahan-bahan yang lebih tinggi mengenai dasar-dasar Islam, perjalanan sejarah, dan liku-liku warisan pemikiran dan peradabannya. Tulisan-tulisan mengenai usul al-fiqh al-mazhab, kalam, falsafah, dan tasawuf mesti dibincangkan dalam konteks sejarah dan masyarakat pemikir serta diukur dengan tasawwur normatif sepadu. Perkara-perkara ini hendaklah dibincang seperti kuliah akademik yang serius.

Usrah, atas dasar sifatnya yang informal itu, perbincangan dan pengajian ilmu dalam usrah berupa tidak 'rigorous' atau tidak ilmiah. Metodologi ilmiah usrah lebih bercorak sehala, bacaan teks pilihan dengan perbincangan yang sepontan tanpa pemikiran-dalam, dan tanpa 'follow up' terhadap isu-isu yang timbul semasa perbincangan. Selain bidang shari'ah, tulisan-tulisan pemikir-pemikir islam dalam bidang kalam, falsafah, dan tasawuf tinggi tidak dimasukkan dalam silibus termasuk peneliti efektif tentang usul al-fiqh.

Dicadangkan agar silibus dan kaedah usrah serta tujuannya diperkemaskan agar terbitlah satu sikap 'urgency' di kalangan ahli untuk benar-benar mengkaji dan menggunakan hasilnya untuk kehidupan profesional. Usrah mesti dijadikan majlis ilmu serius dan bermakna di mana segala isu-isu dibincangkan dengan semangat akademik jujur dengan persiapan sepatutnya. Tujuan majlis ilmu kita ialah untuk melahirkan inteligensia yang mampu memahami dan membantu menyelesaikan masalah manusia melalui tata-nilai dan cita-cita Islam.

Bahan-bahan tambahan untuk mengukuhkan lagi silibus usrah :
i. Major Themes of the Qur'an
ii. History of Muslim Philosophy
iii. Ulum al-Qur'an
iv. Risalah oleh Al-Shafi'i
v. Early Development of Islamic jurisprudence
vi. Book of Knowledge
vii. Muqaddimah
viii. Reconstruction of Religious Thought
ix. Science and Civilization
x. Legal Philosophy of al-Shatibi
dan lain-lain.

Di petik dari 'Rihlah Ilmiah : Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud' dengan sedikit pengolahan.

Wacana Ilmiah : Senibina Ilmu dalam Islam

PERINTIS (Persatuan Saintis Muslim Malaysia) merakamkan ucapan penghargaan kepada Prof Datuk Dr Osman Bakar, Timbalan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) kerana sudi untuk berkongsi pemikiran dalam Wacana Ilmiah yang diadakan pada 7 Mac 2012. Acara ini adalah anjuran bersama dengan Fakulti Teknologi dan Sumber Maklumat (FTSM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia di Dewan Multimedia kepunyaan fakulti.

Para peserta berpeluang untuk mendengar dari seorang yang sangat berwibawa tentang subjek ini di mana bukunya yang terkenal 'Pengkelasan Ilmu dalam Islam' telah mempunyai sekitar 400 petikan sehingga kini. Beberapa soalan yang sangat mencabar dari peserta mempunyai daya tarikan yang cukup bagi lebih kurang 75 hadirin untuk terus duduk sehingga akhir. Para hadirin telah diajukan dengan beberapa isu yang sangat penting, diantaranya ialah:

• Klasifikasi ilmu sebagai satu mercu tanda dalam sejarah keintelektualan Islam
• Gambaran menyeluruh sejarah klasifikasi ilmu dalam Islam
• Mengapa klasifikasi ilmu penting untuk minda Islam?
• Bila dan mengapa pengkelasan ilmu berhenti sebagai aktiviti intelektual dalam
tamadun Islam?
• Relevannya idea Islam tentang klasifikasi ilmu kepada dunia kontemporari
• Keperluan untuk menghidupkan semula tradisi Islam dalam mengklasifikasi ilmu

Melihat kepada keadaan kekeliruan, kesilapan, tiada aturan, tidak terarah serta kurang ketepatan rmatlamat dalam pencarian ilmu hari ini, terdapat keperluan serius untuk mengkategori dan mengklasifikasikan ilmu.

1) Usaha untuk mengkategorikan ilmu kepada ilmu yang bermanafaat dan tidak bermanafaat adalah penting kerana ilmu dibentuk menurut kepercayaan atau pandangan alam penerajunya, lebih tepat lagi ia tidak bersifat neutral disamping skopnya begitu luas. Ini dilakukan supaya kita terselamat dari menerima apa sahaja ilmu atau maklumat yang mendatang disamping berwaspada terhadap pemikiran yang menyeleweng atau memudaratkan.

2) Kewujudan pelbagai bidang atau disiplin ilmu yang bermanafaat memerlukan klasifikasi yang tepat berdasarkan pendekatan Islam supaya keutamaan dapat diberikan berdasarkan :

a) sains wahyu (ulum naqliyah) dan sains rasional (ulum aqliyah)
b) fard 'ayn dan fard kifayah
c) ilmu Shari'ah dan ilmu bukan Shari'ah
d) ilmu yang dipuji (mahmudah) dan ilmu yang dicela (mazmumah)

Klasifikasi ilmu dapat menentukan keseimbangan dan keharmonian, kesatuan berasaskan tawhid serta memelihara pandangan alam Islam. Klasifikasi ilmu juga menentukan supaya tidak berlebihan terhadap ilmu yang bukan keutamaan.

3) Hari ini ramai yang terperangkap dengan pengkhususan dalam sesuatu disiplin, tidak sebagaimana ilmuan Islam terdahulu yang bersifat multi disiplin disamping ensaiklopedik. Sebagai pembaikan (adalah agak mustahil untuk mencontohi sepenuhnya disebabkan faktor epistemologi, metodologi bahkan matlamat itu sendiri sudah tersasar), disarankan supaya berusaha untuk sekurang-kurangnya mengenal atau lebih baik lagi mendalami disiplin yang berdekatan atau berkaitan.

Dengan penekanan yang diberi dalam aspek ini, adalah diharapkan akan wujud satu kurikulum pendidikan yang dapat mengekalkan keseimbangan harmoni diantara keperluan yang berkekalan dan keperluan yang berubah-ubah bagi sesebuah masyarakat.

Falsafah Pendidikan Pusat Pendidikan Al-Amin

Satu usaha pendidikan yang menyeluruh dan berterusan lagi dinamik dengan berteraskan al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah bagi membangun potensi insan sebagai ‘abid dan khalifah yang dapat menegakkan satu tamadun yang sejahtera di dunia dan seterusnya mencapai kebahagiaan di akhirat.

Latar Belakang
Usaha Pusat Pendidikan Al-Amin (PPAA) dalam menyemak serta menambah baik Kurikulum Ulum Naqliyah adalah bertolak dari kesedaran bahawa pandangan alam Islam mesti diberi nafas yang segar untuk melahirkan kefahaman, pengamalan, penghayatan Islam dan seterusnya melahirkan kecintaan serta ‘izzah kepada Islam. Kehidupan yang sejahtera adalah bertolak dari perlaksanaan prinsip dan konsep yang terkandung dalam al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah disamping bergerak selari dengan prinsip-prinsip murni sejagat yang diterima oleh semua masyarakat yang bertamadun. Islam mesti dilihat sebagai sesuatu yang dinamik untuk membimbing dan mencorakkan kehidupan di dunia dengan memberi kesejahteraan kepada ruh, aqal, jasmani, emosi, kemasyarakatan, persekitaran serta mahkluk lain. Kejelasan dan natijah dari semua ini diharap akan membuahkan kehidupan yang sejahtera di dunia dan selanjutnya akan memperolehi kebahagiaan di Akhirah.

Peranan Penyataan Falsafah Pendidikan
Falsafah pendidikan bertindak sebagai penyaring yang utama dalam usaha menentukan tujuan-tujuan pendidikan. Tiga unsur utama dalam pembentukan falsafah pendidikan adalah pelajar, ilmu, dan kaedah pembelajaran. Justeru, konsep manusia, epistemologi, dan methodologi mengambil kedudukan yang sentral dalam memfomulasikan sesuatu falsafah pendidikan disamping halatuju yang dipilih.

Falsafah dibentuk berdasarkan hakikat-hakikat yang melingkungi manusia dan alam. Kewujudan falsafah adalah penting untuk membantu menterjemahkan peranan pendidikan dalam ruang lingkup hakikat tersebut. Dalam erti kata lain, falsasah akan menggariskan ilmu dan/atau maklumat yang ingin disampaikan, ruang lingkup atau kaedah ianya disampaikan dan tujuan ianya disampaikan.

Penyataan Falsafah Pendidikan

Falsafah Pendidikan Islam Nasional

Pendidikan Islam adalah suatu usaha berterusan untuk menyampaikan ilmu, kemahiran dan penghayatan Islam berdasarkan al Qur’an dan al Sunnah bagi membentuk sikap, kemahiran, keperibadian dan pandangan hidup sebagai hamba Allah yang mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk membangun diri, masyarakat, alam sekitar dan Negara ke arah mencapai kebaikan di dunia dan kesejahteraan abadi di akhirat.

Falsafah Pendidikan IKRAM-MUSLEH
Proses pendidikan yang berteraskan tauhid bagi membina dan melahirkan insan rabbani yang berilmu, beriman dan berakhlak mulia serta berkemampuan membentuk kehidupan diri, masyarakat, negara dan dunia sebagaimana yang dituntut oleh al-Quran dan al-Sunnah melalui satu sistem yang seimbang, bersepadu, menyeluruh dan berterusan.

Falsafah Pendidikan PPAA
Satu usaha pendidikan yang menyeluruh dan berterusan lagi dinamik dengan berteraskan al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah bagi membangun potensi insan sebagai ‘abid dan khalifah yang dapat menegakkan satu tamadun yang sejahtera di dunia dan seterusnya mencapai kebahagiaan di akhirat.

Penjelasan Falsafah PPAA

usaha – perbuatan secara sedar dan menjadi pilihan

menyeluruh – i. Luar dan dalam bilik darjah
ii. Meliputi seluruh aspek dan bidang ilmu
iii. Mengembangkan seluruh potensi insan – ‘aql, ruh, badan, emosi dan sosial (JERIS).
iv. Pertanggungjawaban oleh semua – pengurusan, guru, kakitangan,
ibubapa dan rakan sebaya.

berterusan – di sekolah (di dalam dan di luar bilik darjah), di rumah, pasca sekolah

dinamik – selari dengan perkembangan dan keperluan semasa, khususnya yang melibatkan fiqh mu’asir tanpa menggadaikan prinsip dan matlamat.

prinsip dan konsep – yang membentuk pandangan alam Islam (yang menjangkau dunia dan akhirah) serta dasar/asas rangkakerja Islam

seluruh potensi insan – ada keseimbangan dalam pembinaan dan perkembangan insan serta ilmu.

‘abd – pengabdian diri kepada Allah SWT

khalifah – sebagai wakil yang diamanahkan (melalui bidang/kepakaran masing-masing) untuk mentadbir alam dan Ummah.

tamadun yang sejahtera – kefahaman dan penghayatan Islam sebagai cara hidup yang dijelmakan dalam bentuk tamadun yang dimanifestasikan oleh prinsip, dasar, dan struktur dalam pendidikan, politik, kemasyarakatan, perundangan, ekonomi dan kewangan, keusahawan, kesenian, sains dan teknologi, pembangunan (islah), kesusasteraan, penyelidikan, pengurusan dan pentadbiran, alam sekitar, dll.

kebahagiaan di Akhirah – mendapat rahmat dari Allah SWT dengan balasan syurga dan paling utama mendapat rahmat untuk melihat Allah SWT.

Pengukuhan Falsafah Ilmu dan Pendidikan dalam Islam dalam Menghadapi Cabaran Semasa ; Ringkasan

Pembentang : Dr Mohd Farid Shahran

i) Ilmu hari ini tidak berada pada kedudukan yang sebenar.
ii) Ilmu yang dicari dijadikan sebagai alat untuk mendapatkan sesuatu (knowledge is power),
iii) Ilmu tidak lagi dijadikan sebagai matlamat i.e. untuk mencari keredhaan Allah SWT atau menjadi insan salih (knowledge is virtue).
iv) Falsafah telah dikecilkan skopnya dan tidak lagi dianggap sebagai 'the mother of all sciences'.
v) Sains juga sudah tidak bersifat inklusif sebagaimana kurikulum yang terdapat pada zaman kegemilangan Islam. Hari ini sains juga diwarnai oleh budaya potivisme dan empirisme yang melampau disamping mengiktiraf pancaindera dan aqal sebagai sumber ilmu semata-mata. Maka wujudlah pertentangan antara agama dan sains, wahyu dan aqal.
vi) Untuk melahirkan semula Ibn Sina, al-Biruni, al-Ghazali dan Ibn Rush (multidisiplinary scholars - ahli teologi, falsafah dan saintis), krisis ilmu perlu ditangani.

a) Perbetulkan sikap terhadap ilmu - wujudkan keghairahan dalam mencari ilmu supaya ilmu boleh diterajui oleh Muslim semula.
b) Perbetulkan adab terhadap ilmu dan ilmuan. Ledakan maklumat hari ini bukanlah ilmu sebenar sekiranya ia tidak memberi makna atau kesan kepada penerima untuk menghasilkan tindakan yang positif. Manakala ilmuan dihormati dan diletakkan ditempat yang sebenar supaya dapat memutuskan 'the vicious circle' i.e. kehilangan adab->kecelaruan ilmu->pemimpin yang corrupt->.
c) Budaya ilmu diwujudkan iaitu satu keadaan di mana ilmu dianggap sebagai keutamaan tertinggi dan setiap lapisan masyarakat terlibat secara lansung atau tidak lansung dengan aktiviti-aktiviti yang berkait dengan ilmu pengetahuan.
d) Perbetulkan maqasid ilmu (alat atau matlamat) dan nisbah ilmu (intensive and extensive i.e. specialise in one or certain areas and at the same time make an effort to know other areas in general) - jangan sampai excessive in one area atau wujud dualisma eg. saintis atau the other sebolehnya saintis cum the other.
e) Ilmu dituntut kerana fadhilatnya bukan kerana kuasa yang akan diperolehinya (knowledge is virue vs knowlegde is power).
f) Sistem Pendidikan mesti mewujudkan kesepaduan ilmu yang sebenar ( satu usaha yang serius i.e. tidak sekadar memasukkan al-qur'an dan al-hadith tetapi mesti disertai dengan tasawwurnya sekali). Kesepaduan antara fard 'ayn dan fard kifayah (rujuk d).
g) Bentuk pendidikan juga must go beyond the system i.e. bolehkah SP kita menilai pelajar bersandarkan aqal dan akhlaq i.e.jika akhlaq gagal disekat kenaikannya.
h) Biografi Ibn Sina - jadikan bahan perbincangan untuk membentuk pemuda-pemuda yang betul sikap dan ghairah terhadap ilmu.
i) Saranan : Hidupkan budaya Wacana Ilmiah ini samada berbentuk multidisciplinary atau/dan multiracial/religion.

Reformist Ideas and Muslim Intellectuals : The demands of the Real World

All reformist work must start with recognition of the world as it is. We must see and understand the world as it exists and not as we would like it to be. Only when we appreciate the true dimensions of contemporary reality, can we contemplate reforms that will create the world we want.

Most Muslim scholars and professionals view the world not as it is but as a rosy-hued mirage which is largely a figment of their own minds. They cannot see that their disciplines are an arena of power politics, where objectivity and neutrality are rhetorical rationales for control, and integrity is simply another name for expedient self-interest. The world of intellectual disciplines, natural or social sciences, is not a world of dispassionate rationality, Platonic pursuit of truth or moral virtuosity. It is a world where ideational and ideological battles are fought and where thought and tradition are divided and demarcated for domination and control. In this game, the Muslim scholar, scientist, economist is very much an outsider: unless he understands and appreciates this, his attempts to islamize this or that discipline will not only fail to usher in any reforms, but can, indeed will, surrender even more intellectual territory to the ideational universe of western civilization.

There are three aspects of contemporary reality that ought to be appreciated by anybody engaged in islamization efforts or working on legal, social and economic reforms in Muslim society. The first aspect is the most obvious, and perhaps the most [painful. Muslim thought is completely marginalized in the modern world. As it has made no input into the philosophical and intellectual pool of contemporary knowledge, it should harbour no illusions that it will be accepted on equal terms by and allowed to participate in the global knowledge industry. The corollary of this is that Muslim people are also totally marginalized and, despite an illusion of independence, are dependent on the dominant civilization, an even more painful fact. That Muslim people will be allowed to determine their own destiny cannot be taken for granted in a world where the umma has a dependent status.

This aspect of contemporary reality has a direct bearing both on reform movements and the islamization debate. Any country wishing to introduce the Shariah will face systematic opposition from the industrialized countries, as was so obviously the case with Sudan. Any discipline that Muslim scholars may islamize, if it is of any significance and presents a threat tot he dominant discipline, will be simply co-opted.

The second stark feature of our time is interconnection and interdependence. In the modern world everything is connected to everything else and is dependent upon developments in other spheres. Things do not exist in isolation; problems cannot be removed as it were from this interconnected, interlocking reality and tackled in isolation. In such a world, it makes little sense, as Parvez Manzoor ponts out in his introduction, to establish the Sahriah without introducitng social, economic and educational reforms. Or as Muhammad Arif argues, introducing Islamic banking without doing anything about the unequal distribution of resources, would not solve much. Economics is intrinsically linked to land reform, which is linked to politics And politics itself is linked to science, technology, medicine, social formation and so on. Reform or islamization, therefore, cannot be undertaken in isolation. The enterprise can succeed only if it is systematically tackled on a number of different fronts, when disciplines are allowed to merge and cross-fertilize, when a new universe of disciplines, geared to the needs of the Muslim people and culture and subordinated to the world-view of Islam, emerges. The present disciplinary structure, as I have noted elsewhere, has evolved in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the western civilization it is a direct response to its needs and world-view. Its boundaries are artificially maintained by the intellectual power and rigour that this civilization commands.

The third feature of our world is that diversity is the essence of survival. Contrary to Darwinian myth, it is not the fittest who survive, but those who use plurality of means. Monocultures dominate, isolate, alienate, decimate and finally bore themselves to death with uniformity. The analogy is most clearly demonstrated in agriculture: too heavy a reliance on a single crop ends in famine, monoculture has a limited future. But a multiplicity of crops produce abundance. Similarly, pluralistic societies have a higher chance of cultural survival and normally thrive.

What does this mean in terms of reform and islamization? It means that monolithic approaches to reform are doomed. The zeal of the righteous and the fanaticism of the revolutionary end in tyranny. All revolutions in history, even the one carried out in the name of Islam, end by replacing one tyranny with another. Iran is a shining example. Reform has to evolve, and be attempted, consistently and constantly, by a number of different means and methods. A reformist is not a revolutionary; he/she is not foolish enough to believe that the world can be put right by a single act of political violence. Changes can be brought about and reforms introduced only by the methodology of the Prophet: by consistent and planned work, step by step, allowing time for adjusting to change, taking stock of the changing situation, occasionally side-stepping for strategic reasons, with unshaking will and determination. Any other method is pure euphoria, a day dram of a card-carrying imbecile.

For islamization, the diversity of modern reality has a special significance. It means that if islamized disciplines become an appendage of western disciplines, they will be co-opted and swallowed up by the monolith. As such, they, like the dominant disciplines themselves, will have no real future. But if the islamized disciplines develop independently of western disciplines, they have a real chance of flourishing in themselves and genuinely enriching the western ones. On this basis, Islamic economics , supposedly the most islamized of contemporary disciplines, has nowhere to go!

Once we have moved into the world as it is, we can begin to shed the fallacies that have enveloped our thought and action. The prime illusion we must abandon is that we can solve our problems by borrowing from others, or tacking them in isolation, or that every Muslim country is an independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant sovereign state. It is the indigenous and the whole that is the key to our intellectual and physical survival in the modern world. Only when Muslim countries begin to see themselves as a civilization and start relying on their indigenous capabilities and intellectual heritage can the umma solve its pressing problems and present a viable challenge to the dominant civilizations. Contemporary reality demands that the Muslim umma, the many and varied nation-states, act a single, autonomous civilization. Only by presenting a civilization front can the umma halt the advance of western civilization at its boundaries and undertake meaningful reforms within it. An individual state seeking to adopt the Shariah would thereofre have the protection and support of the entire Muslim world. Isolationism is out says the stark reality of our time. The same goes for parochialism and sectarianism.

Nothing has forced the Muslim world into subjugation and borrowed solutions more than parochialism and sectarianism. On the physical level, ethnic and sectarian identities have been overblown and turned into civil strife and national conflicts. Those who seek to assert their ethnic identity at the expense of unity are planting the seeds of their own destruction. Those who suppress or persecute ethnic minorities in the name of a national majority, are mortgaging their future. Ethnic diversity is a source of cultural strength for Muslim societies. The motto of our time, we can read out there in the real world, is live and let live.

Parochialism is a widespread feature of Muslim thought. Narrow adherence to fiqh (classical jurisprudence), to the dictates of this or that school of thought, whether it has any contemporary relevance or not, is one manifestation of this parochialism. The real world takes no account of the glories of bygone ages, rulings of historic times, outmoded thought and ideas. Its message is simple: adapt or perish. Muslim people have been on the verge of physical, cultural and intellectual extinction simply because they have allowed parochialism and petty traditionalism to rule their minds. We must break free from the ghetto mentality.

This means thinking imaginatively, boldly and universally. Islam is a universal world-view: it transcends all cultural boundaries and is not limited and confined by a single parochial outlook. This is stating the obvious; but the significance of this truism is seldom appreciated. For example, if Islam is a universal world-view, an economic system based on its principle should also be universal. Islamic economics therefore is a universal economics, not Muslim economics. Thus western economics, which is based on a particular culture and parochial (Eurocentric) outlook, should be an appendage to it, and not vice versa. This means, further, that Islamic economics has to be based on its own axiomatic structure, and not be derivative of western economic thought and its institutional apparatus. However, to develop an entire economic structure from first principles is so formidable that no Muslim economist has had the courage to undertake the exercise. And what is true of economics is also true of other social sciences as well as science.

A universalist world-view, by its very nature, must be dynamic and constantly absorbing change. The real world is changing rapidly; indeed, it is changing at a rate unparalleled in history the rate of change is itself changing! Under such circumstances, we cannot rely on static or pre-modernist formulations of the Shariah. Yet this is the spectacle that we are faced with: obscurantist rulings are dragged out from history as though they were eternal principles and forced into circumstances where they clearly do not belong. We must gain a fresh insight into the Shariah based on the factors that confront us. (1)
Why is it that most Muslim scholars fail to understand the dynamics of the real world? Perhaps it has something to do with the traditional nature of their education. Possibly it has something to do with their westernized thought and outlook which militates against breaking free from the dominant civilization. It could even be that they do not want to see We found our fathers on a course and by their footsteps we are guided (The Quran 43:22). Whatever the reason for the present sate of Muslim scholars, the real world demands a totally new kind of thinker.

In a given period of history, a civilization is judged by its dominant thought, by the prevalent trends in its cultural life as expressed in politics and morality, science and technology, economics and business, arts and crafts. Intellectuals are the voice of this thought and the pulse of the prevalent trends; they are also their instigators, their critics and their bodyguards. A civilization, a country, a community, cannot exist without intellectuals and a constant stream of new ideas. They cannot exist without constant criticism and self-criticism, without those who formulate it and express it. They cannot exist without a body of devoted people whose sole concern in life is ideas and their significance. Indeed, a society without intellectuals is like a body without a head. And that precisely is the position of the contemporary Muslim world.

The Muslim world today Is totally devoid of intellectuals. There are plenty of academics and bureaucrats, professionals and researchers, even a modicum of scientists and technologists but intellectuals are conspicuous only by their total absence. This is partly because traditional societies, drawing their sustenance as they do from classical and historic scholars, and anti-intellectual. Many of the dominant modes of thought in Muslim societies, like Sufism, are aggressively anti-intellectual. A society dominated by taqlid (blind imitation), both of its own past and western civilization, cannot tolerate intellectuals. The acute absence of intellectuals in Muslim societies is also explained by the fact that the few who do exist have let their constituency down: they are much more concerned with fashionable ideologies like Marxism, secularism, westernization than with the physical, intellectual and spiritual needs of the community.

But who are the intellectuals, anyway? And why are they important? A simple definition would be that an intellectual is someone who gets excited by ideas. In his classic study, Intellectuals in Developing Societies, Syed Hussein Alatas defines an intellectual as a person who is engaged in thinking about ideas and non-material problems using the faculty of reason (2). This is a somewhat misleading definition: for while an intellectual may or may not think directly about material problems, all his thought ahs a bearing on the material world. In defining the Muslim intellectual, we must first point out that we are not discussing a creature who inhabits western sociology where, over the last hundred years, his/her social meaning has shifted and changed a number of times. Neither are we talking in the French sense of the term where intellectuals are that section of the educated class which aspires to political power, either directly or by seeking the influence and companionship of the countrys political rulers.

Muslim intellectuals are interested in abstract ideas as well as specifics, the real world demands both. Unlike Socrates, they are not interested in ideas for ideas sake, they search for ideas that lead to reform; but like Socrates, they seek propagation of thought, criticism and a questioning attitude, a goal for which they would eagerly lay down their lives. They move in a world not of total doubt and confusion, but within a world-view well defined by conceptual and ethical parameters. They seek not power but reforms. They do not have acquisitive and analytical minds only but also critical, imaginative and creative minds. They engage and transform.

Intellectuals are important because they do the work that other segments of society either do not know exist or are not equipped to handle, they tackle the problems which cannot be managed by specialists, academics and professionals. As Alatas points out, to lack intellectuals is to lack leadership in the following areas of thinking: (1) the posing of problems; (2) the definition of problems, (3) the analysis of problems; (4) the solutions of problems. Even the posing of problems is in itself an intellectual problem. A society without effective intellectuals will not be in a position to raise problems (3)

Intellectuals are therefore the only group of people in a society who are capable of moving away from the narrow confines of specialism or professionalism to see problems in their holistic and real perspective. Alatas also points out that the area of intellectual activity cannot follow any demarcation laid down by any particular discipline and is therefore transdisciplinary. Moreover, the intellectual attitude cannot be created by formal and discipline-orientated training in terms of syllabus and fixed number of years of study; the object of the intellectual activity is always related to the wider context of life and thought, penetrating into fundamental values and commitments; the intellectual pursuit is not a profession and therefore not subject to the sort of factors which determine the emergence and development of professions; and the intellectual interest involves the past, the present and the future. (4)

Intellectuals are the only group in any society which systematically and continuously, in sharp contrast to the specialist and the profession, try to see things in wider perspectives, in terms of their interrelations, interactions and totality. This is why intellectuals have always been at the forefront of new synthesis and thought. Most of the major changes and reforms in western civilization, for example, have been brought about by intellectuals. The Enlightenment, which laid the foundation of modern science and thought, was a purely intellectual movement. The intellectuals who conceived and perfected the Enlightenment, Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Diderot and Voltaire, are still widely read today and have a profound influence. The European Reformation too was the work of intellectuals. Without the thinking and writing of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, around whom people rallied in breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, it is difficult to believe that the Reformation could have taken place. And what better evidence of the importance of intellectuals and their powerful influence can one give than by simply pointing out that the Soviet Union rules in the name of a single intellectual, Karl Marx, who spent most of his life in libraries and whose works over the past century have been studied by countless other intllectuals. In turn Dad Kapital did not spring spontaneously from Marxs head; what he was doing in libraries across Europe was absorbing the thinking of many other intellectuals of previous generations. There is perhaps no more poignant example of how an intellectual who was influenced by other intellectuals finally reaches down even to the most remote peasant. All this simply by way of example.

In Muslim civilization the role of the intellectual is even more important, considering that the words read, ponder and reflect are some of the most oft repeated exhortations of the Quran, itself the Noble Reading. At its zenith, Muslim civilization was a civilization of intellectuals: manes like al-Farabi, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Biruni, al-Razi, al-Masudi, Abdul Wafa, Omar Khayyam come so easily to mind because they dominated entire spans of centuries. And when Muslim civilization faced a crisis, and no one was capable of defining its nature, discovering its cause or assuming the responsibility of formulating a solution, it was rescued by a single intellectual: al-Ghazali. Indeed, without the intellectuals Muslim civilization in history is inconceivable. And, there cannot be a living, dynamic, thriving Muslim civilization of the future without a body of critical and creative intellectuals. At a time when the Muslim world is engulfed in parochialism and sectarianism, when imitation and blind following is the norm, when kindness and tolerance are under retreat everywhere, when the globe is culturally and intellectually dominated by jingoist and chauvinist western logic and social grammar, the umma needs its intellectuals as it has never needed them before.

Much of the desolation of the contemporary Muslim panorama is the result of the almost total absence of vigorously independent and devoted intellectuals. There are, however, indications that intellectuals who are true to the world-view of Islam are coming to the fore; but their number is below the critical mass for take-off. However, if the Islamic movement ideologues, who dominate the reformist scene and the islamization debate, could change a few of their character traits the number of genuine Muslim intellectuals would swell beyond the critical mass and they could begin to make their presence felt both in Muslim society and contemporary Muslim thought.

Three basic features of these ideologues suppress thought and hinder the emergence of the genuine intellectual. The first is their marked tendency to dominate and control: they feel they have a monopoly on reason and judgement. This stems from their belief in their innate superiority and presumed righteousness; which itself is a result of a narrow-minded and blinkered outlook. Movement ideologues are shunned and avoided by many young thinkers and intellectuals because of their tendency to argue from authority and to dominate and control the activities of non-movement groups and societies.

A second and related trait is the guru mentality. This attitude reveals itself in the dictum that the mentor, the teacher or the spiritual leader, is always right, even when he is blatantly in error, and experience has shown him to be wrong. Even the Prophet, when it was pointed out to him that cross-pollination brings beneficial results, corrected himself. The guru mentality plays a great part in subverting critical and analytical faculties as well as the use of imagination. Many devotees would rather edit and translate poor works of the master than produce original scholarship of their own. And as the guru is beyond criticism, his mistakes and fallacious arguments are perpetually repeated.

The third, and related trait, of the movement ideologues, is their inability to take criticism. Most movement scholars regard criticism of their work in terms of personal attack; as a result they either isolate their critics or seek revenge. When faced with arguments, the stock responses are: How can I be wrong? I have been working on this problem for ten years; or You are not an economist, or a specialist in the field; you do not know, I know; or You are trying to discredit me and spread fitna (sedition, strife). Admitting error is a virtue, a strength, not a weakness; this is how knowledge is advanced. Entrenching oneself in an increasingly untenable and irrational position, and defending ones weakness as a matter of honour, is destructive both for the individual concerned and for the contemporary Muslim scholarly tradition. Masasbh, criticism, and self-criticism, must become a cornerstone of Muslim intellectual endeavour.

In addition, the body of Muslim scholars have to modify a few of their characteristics, too. Prime among these is the over-the-top trust and reliance on expertise, Islamic or otherwise. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the contemporary scholarly and academic landscape, that is beyond the comprehension of a good intellectual. It is true that contemporary knowledge is so vast, and, in certain areas, so deep that it is beyond the capabilities of a single individual to master. But one does not have to understand all aspects of every discipline. Moreover, once the jargon, which is designed to mystify the outsiders, is stripped away one finds a methodology and a thought process which can be mastered by anyone who is determined to understand it. In this respect, the true intellectual is a polymath: his basic tool is a sharp mind and a transdisciplinary methodology which can lay bare any discipline, any subject, any segment of human knowledge. Quite often the best and most devastating criticism of issues within a discipline comes from intellectuals outside the discipline. Expertise is a shroud behind which professionals hide their shortcomings. The more shallow and intellectually shambolic the foundations of a discipline the more it is defended by a priesthood of experts. (5) You are not an expert, a scientist, an economist, a sociologist, a heart-specialist, and therefore you do not understand is the last ditch defence of a poor professional.

Muslim scholars and ideologues, who aim to become true intellectuals, and participate in the genuine introduction of reforms and evolution of strategies for change need to penetrate the shell of disciplinary expertise. As I stated earlier, and as modern ecology teaches and western science is rediscovering, nothing in nature behaves as an isolated system. Everything is connected to everything else: in the real world an all-pervasive principle of interconnectiveness is in operation. There is therefore no such thing as pure physics or economics devoid of social, political, cultural, environmental and spiritual concerns. As a purveyor of ideas, a true intellectual ought to have mastery of more than one discipline. And as Islam also permeates every sphere of life, we cannot allow Islamic studies to become the sole preserve of experts. By definition, a Muslim intellectual must appreciate and understand the major elements of the world-view, culture, history, and thought of Islam. But a self-respecting Muslim intellectual would go much further: he/she would aim to become a truly interdisciplinary scholar. (6)

And this brings me to the second reason why Muslim intellectuals have to break disciplinary boundaries. Contemporary Muslim thought is not about re-inventing the wheel; where there is a great deal to be discovered and rediscovered, from the perspective of Islam, there is an equal amount of knowledge that we can draw upon and synthesize with the world-view of Islam. But synthesis is not an easy task; it is not a question of mixing this with that. AS Parvez Manzoor has pointed out, synthesis is presented in the Hegelian scheme as conciliation of two antitheses. And this is exactly how both the Muslim and western civilizations have perceived each other in history: as two real and irreconcilable antitheses. Any facile amalgamation of two traditions requires knowledge of the real world. A strong dominant intellectual tradition cannot be synthesized with a weak, ineffectual one; it would simply be co-opted. Synthesis therefore is a hazardous exercise; at the very least it requires knowledge of more than one discipline. Many problems in the whole question of the islamization of disciplines arise, as I have pointed out in Islamic Futures: The Shape of Ideas to Come and Merryl Wyn Davies has shown in Knowing One Another: Shaping an Islamic Anthropology, (8) from the fact that Muslim scholars try to cast disciplines based on western axioms and intellectual heritage in Islamic moulds. These problems arise mainly form their inability to synthesize for synthesis involves axiomatic analysis and examination and raising of fundamental questions. And only true synthesis can make proper use of existing knowledge and generate new ideas and pragmatic solutions.

All this requires the re-emergence, and in a way this is what I have been arguing for throughout this essay, or the classical polymath. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals must become the counterparts of the polymaths who shaped Muslim civilization at its zenith. Muslim civilization of the classical period was remarkable for the number of polymaths it produces. (9) The motives and driving force behind polymathy were not based on just a deep love and respect for knowledge but also on a paradigm which emphasized the interconnection between the sacred and the profane, physics and metaphysics, thought and reality, and pointed out that the material universe was not inferior to the spiritual, that both as manifestations of Allahs bounty and mercy, were the vast creation of God from the mystics ecstasy to the mothers love to the flight of an arrow, the circumference of the earth, the plague that destroys and entire nation, the sting of mosquito, the nature of madness, the beauty of justice, the metaphysical yearning of man were all equally valid and could not be deprived of eternal values and human concern. Methodologies, deeply rooted in the conceptual and ethical parameters of Islam were the essence of enquiry. And classical polymaths were masters of methodology. It was this paradigm that the polymaths used to syntehesize the learning of earlier civilizations, transforming it totally for synthesis always produces something entirely new which is like neither one nor the other of the original components and integrating it completely with the world-view of Islam. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals have to rediscover this paradigm and develop into the kind of polymaths who can perform the great synthesis that is needed.

In a world that is shaped and controlled by another civilization, the real task facing the Mulsim umma is the creation of an intellectual space which is a genuine embodiment of the world-view and culture of Islam. Without this intellectual space, reformist ideas and programmes will bear no fruit. Muslim civilization has a dire need of genuine intellectuals; unless Muslims societies cultivate the barren lands of today intellectual vacuum, the ummas marginalized existence will be institutionalized. The real world offers us no choice but to start our homework immediately.

The article is from Abdullah Omar Naseef (Editor), Today’s Problems, Tomorrow’s Solutions: Future Thoughts on the Structure of Muslim Society, Mansell, London, 1988.