I had a very interesting discussion earlier today. Someone called me to ask why I organise events / circles / usrah that focus almost totally on “Western” ideas. The phrase used was “konsep Barat yang terlampau” (extreme Western concepts?). Why do I not bring in Islamic concept.
I have two problems with this statement.
First, what is “extreme Western concepts”?.
Secondly, since when do we separate things into Islamic and Western? Is this not the basis of secularism? Labelling one chapter of knowledge as Islamic, while the other as “Western”?
Then it dawned onto me that the guy was actually talking about the references I use. I prefer to use texts produced by the likes of the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Adam Smith Institute. Rather than quoting Hayek and Smith, he preferred if I quote from some Arabic names.
What an idiotic argument!!!
I refuse to divide knowledge into Islamic and Western. I refuse to be secular.
If Arabic words are taken to be more Islamic than “Western” ones, it would be extremely easy to fool us Muslims. If I quote from an Arab name like Ibn Waraq, would he believe me more?
And, Arab / Malay names, qualifications in Islamic studies or knowledge of Islam are not necessarily indications of piety / taqwa. Some Muslims, under the guise of their previous education in Islamic studies, are far more evil than the crooks and thieves out there. At least when thieves steal, they do not use religious arguments to justfify the theft. But some Muslims shamelessly use their knowledge of Islam to justify their evil deeds.
Filed under: Misc
You remind me of the `islamization of knowledege’.
Can unislamic knowledge be baptised?
Hmm…actually Ismail Faruqi did propose the idea of “Islamization of knowledge” (I have the book), although it was not his intention to be secular and “divide” into anything.
As for Ibn Warraq, well…thats not even his real name. He’s hiding somewhere in the United States currently, I believe.
- MENJ
‘hikmah adalah sesuatu yg hilang pada muslim, maka sesiapa yg menjumpainya maka kutiplah ia… ‘
Can “knowledge” be classified into Islamic and non-Islamic?
For example, is knowledge of blackmagic un-Islamic? Where did that knowledge originate from? If something ultimately comes from Allah, dare we say that it is still “un-Islamic”?
I have read Faruqi’s book and am not convinced.
It is useless to divide knowledge into abstract categorizations. It is the way knowledge is used that matters. Not its nature.
Please, firstly, the silamization of knowledge idea was not originally ismail faruqi’s. he took it (or pirated it) from syed naquib al-attas, after the latter had sent him in good faith the paper (which amount to a book) on it to be published. what he meant when he says islamization of knowledge is that for some type of knowledge, its islamiy (English: islamic) spirit has been taken out of it, e.g. the teaching of science at school and the reference to religious discipline as non-science subjects. he proposes in his Prolegomena of the Metaphysics of Islam and Islam and Secularism and his books on Islamic education, that just as it is possible to de-islamised knowledge, it is also possible to islamised knowledge.
secondly, yes there is such thing as islamic and non-islamic knowledge. the originator of all knowledge, the good and the bad is Allah, but out of respect we dont say such thing implicitly nor in public. Allah however teaches us that there are two things in this world, the good and the bad and He teaches us on how to avoid those things that bring us despair. This is quite clearly taught in basic aqidah textbooks…
while it is OK to read, quote and refer to other non-Muslims idea, this remains within the requirement of the fiqh governing such matters. yes if it is hikmah (wisdom), take it even if it is from a non-believers, but you must understand what constitutes a wisdom. if the idea contravenes the Divine guidance, that cannot be called a wisdom.
not all that glitters are gold.
Anak Alam said: if the idea contravenes the Divine guidance, that cannot be called a wisdom.
I agree wth your statement. But I have issue with those who assume that for something to be “Islamic”, it must contain Arabic words.
western,secular,english or whatever are just the adjectives given to categorize the knowledge under one roof.Its not really accurate. I believe that the exact word for it is ‘Jahiliyyah’ becoz it can be defined as any knowledge, belief or action that is not islamic. A good Muslim is the one who can differentiate between Jahiliyyah and Islam. How can you differentiate it if you did not investigate them?–>