Syed Naquib al- Attas’s PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE

1. SyedNaquib al-Attas’s PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWLEDGE

2. His Concept of Knowledge • fard ayn – The absolute nature of knowledge pertaining to God and spiritual realities and moral truths. • fard kifayah – It includes natural, physical and applied sciences.

3. His Views on Contemporary Knowledge • Western origin – rationalism, dualism, secular ideologies, humanism doctrine and the tragedy concept. • The proper use of terms influences people’s thinking. • The concept of ta’dib in Islamic education. • Phases of Islamization before and after Hamzah Fansuri • Before – fiqh • After – tasawwufand kalam

4. Islamization of Knowledge • al-Attas (1978) : “The liberation of [hu]man first from magical, mythological, animistic, national-cultural tradition, and then from secular control over his reason and language.” • Islamization of Knowledge: • → Free from godless Western elements. • → Key concepts are instilled with Islamic elements and concepts. • Integration of knowledge – intellectual + revealed • “Dewesternization of Knowledge”

5. Islamization of Individuals • The Islamization of Knowledge applies not only to the field of knowledge; it also implies the Islamization of mind, soul, and its effect on life.

6. His Contributions to Malay Literature

7. According to him, Islamic literature isscientific, rational and intellectual in nature. • Rangkaian Ruba’iyyat (1959) and Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised Among the Malays (1963) • The Mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri • Categorization of Malay literature and periodization of its literary history.

8. Al-Attas highlights the role of HamzahFansuri who is arguably the originator of modern Malay literature. Fansuri emphasizes rationalism and Islamic mysticism (tasawwuf). • HamzahFansuriis arguably the first man to use the Malay language in creative writing.

9. Al-Qur’an has Islamized the Arabic language and transformed it to be more scientific. • “The narrative of language can be depicted as a thin veil in various colours that can always be placed in the front view of the observer, whether the observation is about the physical or an metaphysical world. Therefore, the colour and the design, the characteristics and the shape of the world that being observed will be influenced by the thin veil of language.” – al-Attas

10. Islamization of Malay words: • Phonemes derived from Arabic script. • IbnKhaldun’s analysis – the influence of the Arabic language unto the Berber language. • 16th century onwards, the Javanese language has been alongside the Malay language in various significant fields of human activities.

11. REFERENCES Rahmah Ahmad H. Osman. (2006). Islamic literature and sastera Islami: A conceptual comparison. Intellectual Discourse, 14(1), 71-87. Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal. (n.d.). Rausyanfikir: Preliminary analysis on Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas thoughts with special reference to his Islam dalam Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Melayu. Rausyanfikir. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from http://rausyanfikir.com/2009/08/preliminary-analysis-on-syed-muhammad.html Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud. (2005). Falsafah dan amalan pendidikan Islam Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas: Satu huraian konsep asli Islamisasi. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Universiti Malaya. Md Salleh Yaapar. (2009). Institutionalization of “Islamization of Knowledge” in Malaysia: Present Problems and Future Prospect. Draft paper presented at the 2nd FOCUS Meeting, Ampang, Malaysia.

12. Al-Attas’ PHILOSOPHY OF ISLAMIC SCIENCE

13. Science =ta’wil or symbolic interpretation of the experimental things Science and Qur’anic interpretations are the same in the sense that: (a) Science - obvious meanings and ambiguous meanings (b) Qur’an - muhkamat and mutashabihat

14. Muhkamat verses: need no further explanation - halal and haram - punishments - inheritance, etc. Mutashabihat verses: need more explanation - attributes of Allah - the true nature of His Throne - judgment and life after death “(God) Most Gracious is firmly established on the throne (of authority).” (20: 5)

15. Reinterpretation of Islam does not require modern Western scientific approach. Islamic science takes Al-Qur’an as the major method of interpretation. [3] Reality Permanent Changeable Modern sciences need to be obtained, but we must be bound to the foundation of the Islamic framework. Our life is all about reviving awareness of Allah s.w.t. – (amrbilma’rufwanahyanil-munkar).

16. Al-Attas’s main argument stands out: Muslims need to seriously engage Islam in reflecting upon science. Our pursuit of science can never be separated from the broader human missions outlined by Islam. These mission are : Allah is our final destination. : Our souls need to be always aware that we belong to Him. In understanding the creations and sciences of nature, we need to understand Allah’s “signs and symbols in the book of nature”.

17. Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam “We are not unaware of the fact that not all of Western science and technology are necessarily unpleasant to religion; but this does not mean we have to uncritically accept the scientific and philosophical theories that go along with the science and technology, and the science and technology themselves, without first understanding their implications and testing the validity of the values that accompany these theories….” –al-Attas =He does not reject the modern sciences outright. He rather proposes thetesting of the validation of modern, Western theories for Muslims to have quality knowledge

18. ACHIEVEMENTS

19. [1] Senior founder of National University Malaysia (UKM). [2] Won international recognition as the scholar of Islamic and Malay Civilizations. [3] The founding director of theInternational Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC). [4] Appointed by King Hussein a member of Royal Academy of Jordan. [5] A great Muslim calligrapher. [6] Planned and designed ISTAC’s buildings, masjid, auditorium And the landscape.