Concluding Remarks and Suggestions – Islam and Secularism

In the foregoing pages, including those of chapters II, III and IV of the book, I have attempted to elucidate certain key concepts pertaining to the nature and purpose of knowledge from the Islamic viewpoint, and to demonstrate the fundamental nature of their mutual interrelation and interdependence. These key concepts must form the essential elements of the Islamic system of education. They are:

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 (hikmah); 5. The concept of justice (‘adl); 6. The concept of right action (‘amal as adab); 7. The concept of the university (kulliyyah-jami’ah).

In terms of practical application, the first refers to the purpose of seeking knowledge and involvement in the process of education; the second to the scope; the third to the content; the fourth to the criteria in relation to the second and the third; the fifth to the deployment in relation to the fourth; the sixth to the method in relation to the first down to the fifth; and the seventh to the form of implementation in relation to all that precedes it.

In elucidating the key concepts pertaining to the nature and purpose of knowledge, and in demonstrating the fundamental nature of their mutual interrelation and interdependence, we have in this and the previous chapters touched briefly but significantly upon the origin, structure, methods and validity of knowledge in the context of Islam. Indeed, the problem of knowledge is the recurrent theme of this book, and although we stated in a previous note that in this chapter we are concerned not so much with a philosophical or epistemological definition of knowledge, but more with its general classification designed to be descriptive of a system of order and discipline that describes the Islamic educational system, it nevertheless is important to understand what the Islamic epistemological context involves and implies. Since we have said that all knowledge comes from God and is interpreted by the soul through its spiritual and physical faculties, it follows that the most suitable epistemological definition would be that knowledge, with reference to God as being its origin, is the arrival (wujud) in the soul of the meaning (ma’na) of a thing or an object of knowledge; and that with reference to the soul as being its interpreter, knowledge is the arrival (wujud) of the soul at the meaning of a thing or an object of knowledge.

The World of Nature, as depicted in the Holy Qur’an, is like a Great Book; and every detail therein, encompassing the farthest horizons and our very selves, is like a word in that Great Book that speaks to man about its Creator. The word as it really is is a sign, a symbol; and to know it as it really is is to know what it stands for, what it symbolizes, what it means. To study the word as word, regarding it as if it had an independent reality of its own, is to miss the real point of studying it, for regarded as such it is no longer a sign or a symbol, as it is being made to point to itself, which is not what it really is. So in like manner, the study of Nature, of any thing, any object of knowledge in creation, pursued in order to attain knowledge of it; if the expression ‘as it really is’ is taken to mean its alleged independent reality, essentially and existentially, or its perseity, as if it were something ultimate and self-subsistent - then such study is devoid of real purpose, and the pursuit of knowledge becomes a deviation from the truth, which necessarily puts into question the validity of such knowledge. For as it really is, a thing or an object of knowledge is other than what it is, and that ‘other’ - at least at the rational and empirical level of normal experience - refers to its meaning. This is why we have defined knowledge epistemologically as the arrival in the soul of the meaning of a thing, or the arrival by the soul at the meaning of a thing. When we speak of ‘rational’ and ‘empirical’ as applied here, we are not thereby subscribing to the principal cleavage along methodological lines determined by what is called rationalism on the one hand, and empiricism on the other, as here we are deliberating in an Islamic context 162-163 which is not the same as that of Western philosophy and epistemology. Reason and experience are in Islam valid channels by which knowledge is attained - knowledge, that is, at the rational and empirical level of normal experience. We maintain that there is another level; but even at this other, spiritual level, reason and experience are still valid, only that they are of a transcendental order. At this level the rational has merged with the intellectual, the empirical with what pertains to authentic spiritual experiences such as inner witnessing (shuhud), tasting (dhawq) and other interrelated states of trans-empirical awareness.

This is the level at which tasawwuf, which I have defined earlier as ‘the practice of the shari’ah at the station (maqam) of ihsan’, becomes the context in which knowledge means unification (tawhid).

Our next important task will be the formulation and integration of the essential Islamic elements and key concepts so as to produce a composition which will comprise the core knowledge to be deployed in our educational system from the lower to the higher levels in respective gradations designed to conform to the standard of each level. The core knowledge at the university level, which must first be formulated before that at any other level, must be composed of ingredients pertaining to the nature of man (insan); the nature of religion (din) and man’s involvement in it; of knowledge (‘ilm and ma’rifah), wisdom (hikmah) and justice (‘adl) with respect to man and his religion; the nature of right action (‘amal-adab). These will have to be referred to the concept of God, His Essence and Attributes (tawhid); the Revelation (the Holy Qur’an), its meaning and message; the Revealed Law (shari’ah) and what necessarily follows: the Prophet (upon whom be God’s Blessings and Peace!), his life and sunnah, and the history and message of the Prophets before him. They will also have to be referred to knowledge of the Principles and

knowledge free of the elements and key concepts which, in view of their fundamental nature as defining the fitrah, in fact imbue the knowledge with the quality of its natural function and purpose and thus make it true knowledge. ¹ It will not do to accept present-day knowledge as it is, and then hope to ‘islamize’ it merely by ‘grafting’ or ‘transplanting’ into it Islamic sciences and principles; this method will but produce conflicting results not altogether beneficial nor desirable. Neither ‘grafting’ nor ‘transplant’ can produce the desired result when the ‘body’ is already possessed by foreign elements and consumed in disease. The foreign elements and disease will have first to be drawn out and neutralized before the body of knowledge can be remoulded in the crucible of Islam.

In appraising the present situation with regard to the formulation and dissemination of knowledge in the Muslim world, we must see that infiltration of key concepts from the Western world has brought confusion which will ultimately cause grave consequences if left unchecked.

Since what is formulated and disseminated in and through universities and other institutions of learning from the lower to the higher levels is in fact knowledge infused with the character and personality of Western culture and civilization and moulded in the crucible of Western culture (see Introduction), our task will be first to isolate the elements including the key concepts which make up that culture and civilization (see the last paragraph in pp. 137 - 138 above).

These elements and key concepts are mainly prevalent in that branch of knowledge pertaining to the human sciences, although it must be noted that even in the natural, physical and applied sciences, particularly where they deal with interpretation of facts and formulation of theories, the same process of isolation of the elements and key concepts should be applied; for the interpretations and formulations indeed belong to the sphere of the human sciences. The ‘islamization’ of present-day knowledge means precisely that, after the isolation process referred to, 164 of general principles reflecting the Islamic elements and have to be referred to knowledge of the Principles and key concepts. It follows that the order of priority with reference to choice must not be left to the judgement of individuals, but must likewise be planned to conform with the Islamic philosophy, including valid cosmological doctrines pertaining to the hierarchy of being, valid knowledge of current needs of self-society-state, which is none other than Islamic ethics and moral principles and adab. To this must be added knowledge of the Arabic language and of the Islamic worldview as a whole. This core knowledge, integrated and composed as a harmonious unity and designed at the university level as a model structure and content for the other levels, must invariably be reflected in successively simpler forms at the secondary and primary levels of the educational system. At each level, the core knowledge must be designed to be made identical for application in the educational system throughout the Muslim world, since the core knowledge is obligatory to all Muslims (fard ‘ayn).

With respect to the knowledge of the sciences designated as obligatory to some only (fard kifayah), it has been pointed out that it must be imbued with the Islamic elements and key concepts after the foreign elements and key concepts have been isolated from its every branch. To this knowledge must be added the knowledge of Islamic history, culture and civilization, Islamic thought, and the development of the sciences in Islam. In this category too, new courses on comparative religion from the Islamic point of view, on Western culture and civilization, must be designed as a means for Muslims to understand the culture and civilization that has been and is and will continue to be confronting Islam. Knowledge of all these will assure logical continuity in the successive educational progression from the core knowledge to that of the sciences. Many new subjects will undoubtedly be added to the above. The determining of the order of priority, with reference to individual striving after the various branches of the knowledge of the sciences, will invariably depend on its relative usefulness and benefit to self, society, and state respectively. The formulation of the concept of ‘relative usefulness and benefit to self, society and state’ must be contained in the form

practice of Islam, the religious sciences (‘ulum al-shar’iyyah), which must include legitimate elements of tasawwuf and individuals, but must likewise be planned to conform with the current needs of self-society-state, and particularly those of the Community. Whereas in the case of the core knowledge the obligation to acquire it is directed to all and to both sexes, in the case of knowledge of the sciences, certain branches may not be deemed appropriate for women; so that some may be obligatory to men only and some to women. Regarding entrance into the higher levels of education, it is not sufficient merely for an individual to be allowed to qualify on the basis of good results in formal scientific subjects, as is practised today everywhere. No doubt personal conduct is recognized as important in many educational systems, but their notions of personal conduct are vague and not really applied effectively in education, and no objective system has been devised to determine the nature of those elements of human conduct and behaviour that are undesirable for purposes of higher learning leading to appointments to responsible posts and offices. It is neither impossible nor impracticable to devise a system for implementation into the educational framework whereby certain individuals can be barred from higher education. Knowledge (i.e. the fard kifayah) is not necessarily everyone’s right; no one in Islam has the right to do wrong - this would be a contradiction in terms and purpose. To do wrong is injustice, and this is not a right.

The doing something wrong that is considered in Islam to be the most destructive to self, society, and state revolves around three vices: lying, breaking promise, and betraying trust. The Holy Qur’an is most emphatic in denouncing these vices as they are vices which caused man’s downfall and which man not only perpetrates on his fellowman, but even on God Himself! Hence the profound significance of the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, may God be well pleased with him!, concerning the mark of the hypocrite, that when he speaks, he lies; and when he promises, he 166 breaks the promise; and when he is entrusted with something he betrays the trust. The Holy Qur’an is most emphatic in denouncing these vices as they are vices which caused man’s downfall and which man not only perpetrates on his fellowman, but even on God Himself! Hence the profound significance of the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, may God be well pleased with him!, concerning the mark of the hypocrite, that when he speaks, he lies; and when he promises, he breaks the promise; and when he is entrusted with something he betrays the trust. I say that this well-known hadith is of profound significance not only because it states in succinct summary the precise nature of the most destructive of man’s vices, but also because it furnishes us with clear indication of the criteria to be adopted when judging human character and conduct. I believe that the hadith is not meant to be heeded simply as wise counsel whose application is to be left to individual judgement and responsibility, but that it must be seriously systematized into an educational device which can be applied as a moral check on all who will pass through the educational process. Such a device, applied positively and effectively through the levels of the educational system, will assist in minimizing the emergence and perpetration in Muslim society and state and leadership of betrayal of trust leading to injustice and ignorance.

Space does not permit us to go into details here. This chapter is meant to set forth a statement of the problem and the possible and acceptable solution to it; to gather together the key concepts and explain them in the correct Islamic perspective. If at all this humble attempt to meet the demands of this task in any small way contributes to the true and the correct answer, then to God alone the Praise, for every atom of good is accomplished through His help and guidance.

167 The details of the formulation and integration of the core knowledge, the order of deployment of the knowledge of the sciences in the academic structure and in the priority framework in the system of order and discipline, will have to be methodically set forth after thorough research by a team of expert scholars and thinkers experienced in academic administration. This team should be gathered together in one place where recourse to the necessary facilities can conveniently be had, and where consultations, discussions and research among the members can be facilitated and coordinated without undue expenditure in human and financial resources and in time. The blueprint for the above proposed concept and for the restructuring of the academic and administrative system according to priorities can then be prepared in a few years. When this is accomplished, the experimental stage, beginning with the university, can commence operations.

Naturally, the assistance and support of the wise and far-sighted Muslim government desirous of achieving the results of this long-term but realistic project is urgently sought, both at the initial stage of research and preparation of the blueprint, and at the experimental stage of setting up the Islamic university. This might take several years of critical assessment and appraisal of the functioning of implementation according to plan, and will involve evaluation of at least the first intake of graduates; of methodical analysis and correction of errors in the process of perfecting the system until it is found to be satisfactory.

When this stage has been achieved, the system can then be recommended to the Muslim world at large, and the follow-up in connection with the lower levels of the educational system can be planned and implemented after the pattern of the university has been perfected. It is futile to attempt short-term myopic measures in providing for a solution to a problem of this magnitude. Our great and God-fearing predecessors of astute vision and profound intellectual and spiritual depth have laboured in terms of centuries to build splendid systems of thought and action with God’s help and guidance, and if we are even to hope to rise to the same expectation, then we must humbly emulate their example.

170 As a background to the evaluation of the major changes brought about by the coming of Islam, an outline of the philosophical and religious situation in the Archipelago before the coming of Islam was focussed towards the relevant perspective. Hinduism, as the people of the faith, was a superstructure maintained by the authority of the ruling group. The Malay-Indonesian society was therefore not a Hinduized society; rather the Malay-Indonesian dynasties were, to use the words of Van Leur, “legitimized sacrally by an Indian hierocracy” [i.e. Van Leur, Indonesian Trade and Society, The Hague, 1955, p. 108]. The philosophical influence of Hinduism upon the Malay-Indonesian world view has been unduly magnified [by the Dutch and British orientalists]. The people of the Archipelago were more primarily aesthetic than philosophical by nature; they either did not fully grasp the subtleties of Hindu metaphysics or they ignored it in favour of that which was less complicated and more readily acceptable to their own worldview. Philosophy was transformed into art at the expense of the rational and intellectual elements.

Intellectual speculation, with its emphasis on logic and systematic reasoning, did not seem to have been popular. No doubt the doctrine of the Atman as expounded in the Bhagavad Gita was known and made to run through the veins of Hindu-Malay literature to give to it some life-giving spark of the divine. But we must not be misled into thinking that there was anything really profound in the sense in which it is interpreted as the Brahman ‘lodged within’ the individual being was congenial to the autochthonous world view of the Hindu-Malay which was still steeped in animism… [Hindu-Malay literature was mainly mythological and produced in the monasteries oblivious of the outside world. Neither the Hindu-Malay nor the Buddhist-Malay, as far as we know, had produced any thinker or philosopher whose philosophical work laid claim to speak, both the soul and the body of the Malay-Indonesian society. (p. 7).]

As a historical and cultural process, Islamization in the world view of the peoples of the Archipelago underwent three phases.

Phase I: from 578-805/1200-1400, juris-consults played the major role of interpreting law in the conversion of the Malays. The conversion was effected by strength of faith, not necessarily accompanied by an understanding of the rational and intellectual implications such conversion entailed. Fundamental concepts connected with the central Islamic concept of Unity of God were still vague in the minds of the converts, their old concepts overlapping and clouding or confusing the new ones. This phase can well be described as the conversion of the ‘body’.

Phase II: from approximately 803-1112/1400-1700, continuation of the process described in Phase I, but during this phase the major role of interpreting the religious law had passed on to philosophical mysticism and metaphysics (tasawwuf) and other rational and intellectual elements such as rational theology (kalam). During this phase, Sufism and Sufi writings and the writings of the Mutakallimun played the dominant role aimed at the conversion of the ‘spirit’. Fundamental concepts introduced according to the Islamic weltanschauung, some of which were still understood in the opaque sense, influenced by the old weltanschauung, were expounded and defined so that they were understood in both the transparent and semi-transparent senses.

Phase III: from approximately 1112/1700 onwards, continuation of Phase I and consummation of Phase II which had been largely successful. To this phase must also be assigned the cultural influences brought about by the coming of the West. What is generally known as “Westernization” is here conceived as the perpetuation of the rationalistic, individualistic, and international-secular spirit whose philosophical roots were laid earlier by Islam. (pp. 170-171).

173 Islam came to the Archipelago couched in metaphysics. It was through tasawwuf that the highly intellectual and rationalistic religious spirit entered the receptive minds of the people, effecting a rise of rationalism and intellectualism not manifested in pre-Islamic times. This emergence of rationalism and intellectualism can be viewed as the powerful spirit that set in motion the process of revolutionizing the Malay-Indonesian worldview, turning it away from a crumbling world of mythology, which can be compared with the Greek world in the Olympian era, to the world of intelligence, reason and order. The disseminators of Islam propagated the belief in a God Whose Power is governed by His Wisdom; Whose Creative Will acts in accordance with Reason. Man is conceived as the epitome of Creation; that in the ring of universal life, Man is the superscription and the seal. The essence of Man is that he is rational and rationality is the connection between him and Reality. It is these concepts and that of the spiritual equality between man and man that gave the ordinary man a sense of worth and nobility denied him in pre-Islamic times … (pp. 5-6).

The result of a preliminary semantic study of the key cultural terms connected with concepts of God, Being, Existence, Time, Religion, Man, the Self and Will reveal the great changes that have occurred in the Malay-Indonesian worldview caused by Islamic elements. The animistic elements in the old worldview coupled with its logical notion of a Parmenidean universe with all its implications have been supplanted by rationalistic elements involving an atomistic, dynamic universe. The concept of the Self is now highly abstract. The Self does not belong to the spatio-temporal order, and this in turn influences the concepts of Will and its 175 relatioll ¹⁰freedum and morality. ‘rIte conIlotaliolis in large measure due to the influence of the language the old feudal concepts were replaced by new and which forms its medium of expression. The same ! ones. New culture values replaced the old.

conclusions may be drawn with respect to the Old (pp.7-8).

Javanese language. There has been, furthermore, a … While Hinduism and Buddhism … might not have had preference for poetry rather than for prose in the lanmuch effect in changing the essential character and guages of the two civilizations, Indian and Javanese world view of the Malay:Javauese civilization, the same

… The essential religious spirit of Islam is mOIlotheistic, couched in its unique conception of the Unity of God view cannot be applied with regard to Islam. The difTerences between the spirit of the fonner religion (al-taw~iid). Conceived philosophically through rational and that of Islam, their places of origin, their religious theol06’Y and metaphysics (‘ ilrn al-kaliim and ta;;awwuf> , mediums, their initial and significant influences - it sets forth an ontology, cosmology and psychology of [^011] the civilization in the case of the former, and its own in its conception of the Oneness of Being the Malay in the case of the latter - are so cOllsider- (wa~l1lal al-wujiid). This ontology, cosmology and psychology is not to be equated simply with that of Neoable that to entertaiu such a view would be highly hillacious … Hinduism is not a Semitic religion based

Platonism and Hinduism according to the Vedanta, as it upon an uncompromising monotheism charged with a in general has its foundations in the Qur’iin whose missionary spirit. It is true that the metaphysical fonnuuniqueness has impressed itself upon every facet of lations of Semitic monotheism become almost identical

Muslim life. The Qur’an came together with Islam to with those of Hinduism at certain levels, yet they are the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago. No comparable generally conceived by their respective adherents as event occurred in pre-Islamic times to match that of considerably dissimilar. The several formulations of the impact and influence of the Qur’an, as no com- Hinduism even in its country of origin have been plete Holy Scripture ever seems to have existed in the preponderantly of an aesthetic nature … The scientific past. The Qur’anic conception of man as a rational animal, capable by rneans of his reason or intelligence formulations of the metaphysical doctrines of the religion cannot be said to be generally recognized and

(‘aql) of understanding and appreciating the signs accepted. By nature the Javanese civilization was more

(iiyiit) that point to God is made all the more signifiaesthetic than scientific. The scientific part of Hindu cant in respect of the future development of the Malay philosophy and metaphysics was ignored in favour of language by the emphasis laid on the meaning of what was more congenial to the autochthonous world ‘rational’ (nii/iq) as the capacity to speak (berkata-kata view. It was aesthetic and ritualistic Hinduism that was

[i.e., speaking]) - the emphasis on the faculty of recognized and accepted; the scientific, with its speech. Now it is not just the capacity to speak that is emphasis Oil the rational and intellectual elements and being emphasized as the rationality in man but more on systematic and logical analysis, was rejected - and significant, the capacity to speak clearly; to employ even when accepted had first to be sifted through the correct and unambiguous symbols and signs in intersieve of art so that the worldview presented was that preting experience and reality. Indeed, perhaps no by poets rather than by thinkers and other Holy Book has so impressed upon man the philosophers. Hinduism is couched in symholic forms importance and uniqueness of language. The Qur’an are and anthropomorphic, no doubt in alone claims clarity (rnubzn) as being one of its most 174 177 important chief virtues. It had chosen Arabic to be its language because of the inherent scientific tendency towards clarity in the structure of Arabic. Pre-Islamic Arabic, not being an aesthetic religious language, whose vocabulary is generally enriched or emburdened as the case may be by the sophisticated and inevitably confusing mythological, mystical, metaphysical and philosophical vocabularies, was comparatively ‘pure’ and unsophisticated, as far as the purpose of Islam was concerned, in relation to the Graeco-Roman and Irano-Persian languages that held sway in the neighbouring regions (p. 23)]. The preference is for prose rather than for poetry (shi’r), and even when poetry is used later in religious and metaphysical topics its excellence is not considered merely from the point of view of the science of prosody but, more important, from that of exposition of meaning, interpretation, and commentary achieved through sharh, (lit. from the root “to open” or “to interpret the true meaning”). A whole science of Islamic prosody is evolved out of the Qur’an; it is also the sole authority on Arabic and its grammar. Arabic is the language of Islam and no language of any Muslim people, whether or not it has achieved a lofty rank in civilization, is without the influence of Arabic. The Qur’an also inaugurated among the Arabs themselves the tradition of a written language, and wherever oral tradition was the literary tradition of a people, it was the influence of the Qur’an that, having effected conversion to Islam, brought about the transition to a written literary tradition. All the Muslim peoples adopted the Arabic script, creating wherever necessary new letters to represent the phonetic peculiarities not found in Arabic but still basing such letters on the Arabic script… Islamic culture, as opposed to Hinduism and Buddhism, is a scientific and literary weltanschauung effecting its transformation from an aesthetic to a scientific one. The underlying factor in this cultural revolution was the clarification of a new conception of Being introduced by Islam. It is the correct comprehension of this new conception of Being that is reflected in the philosophical and rational theological writings during the 8th/15th to the 10th/17th centuries reflecting the change of ideas in the worldview of the people centered around a different conception of reality.

178 The spiritual revolution manifested in the 8th/15th-10th/17th centuries reflected the beginnings of the modern age in the Archipelago. The concept ‘modern’ has nowhere, to my mind, been clarified when scholars apply it in the context of the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago or, for that matter, of the Muslims as a whole. The coming of Islam constituted the inauguration of a new period in the history of the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago. The greatest evidence of this cultural revolution was the clarification of a new conception of Being introduced by Islam. It is the correct comprehension of this new conception of Being that constituted the inner intensification of the islamization process. The Malay language, it seems to me, developed into a new stream as a result of its being employed as the vehicle for philosophical discourse in the Archipelago. This new stream, probably originating in Barus, had its centre in Pasai (later Acheh), the earliest centre of Islamic learning in the Archipelago, whence its influence spread throughout the Archipelago. The new stream is characterized by its terse, clear style, its Islamic vocabulary; it reveals a language of logical reasoning and scientific analysis very much influenced no doubt by its writers—Sufis, scholars, translators, and commentators—who were themselves under the sway of the Qur’an which, as I have already pointed out, extolls clarity and intelligence in speech and writing. It is from this new stream that ‘modern’ Malay or the present day Malay-Indonesian language developed, since this was the stream that conveyed and spread Islam in the Archipelago. To this same period must modern Malay historical writing be assigned.

So widely was the language spread by Islam that it is now the official language of over 100 million people, perhaps the second largest Muslim language. Together with the historical factor, the religious and language factors began setting in motion the process towards a national consciousness. It is the logical conclusion of this process that created the evolution of the greater part of the Archipelago into the modern Indonesian nation with Malay as its national language.

181 Christian sense nor clergy, and the rationalism, individualism and internationalism understood by the Muslim has always been in harmony, not conflict, with religion. The above statements have profound implications embracing the distinct philosophical and religious attitudes of Islam and the West (Christianity). (pp. 30-31).

Some of these “profound implications embracing the distinct philosophical and religious attitudes of Islam and the West (Christianity)” are outlined in the present book. With reference to Phase III of the process of islamization quoted above (Appendix, p. 170) in which I stated that “what is generally known as ‘Westernization’ is here conceived as the perpetuation of the rationalistic, individualistic and internationalistic spirit whose philosophical foundations were laid earlier by Islam”, I said that the problem which lay within the inmost ground of Western culture has its roots in the frustrations in early Christian theological polemics and disputes which in turn gave rise to all manner of “developments” in philosophy, in science, in humanism, and in what is considered today as “modern”. (pp. 22-23).

…In Europe itself in the cultural history of the Western Christian peoples, the concept “modern” is traced back to the rationalistic, individualistic and internationalistic spirit which began to emerge in the 7th/14th century onwards. But, again, what constitutes what is modern is very much dependent upon the religion. In Western Christian cultural history, it was the very religion, as interpreted by the Church, that gave rise to the attitude conceived as modern so that the very meaning of the term is governed by Christian doctrine which ultimately rest with the clergy… it was conflict with and opposition to the teachings of the Church that brought about the modern attitude, that is, rationalism, individualism and internationalism which in the West has always been understood as humanism. Clearly, such a concept cannot be applied to Muslims, for in Islam there has always been neither ‘Church’ in the Western philosophical speculations on God were initiated later after greater acquaintance with Greek philosophy became possible through the paradoxically significant contact with Islam. Even then, religion remained in the embrace of art, as it does now. Philosophy and science divorced themselves from religion, though not from art, disenchanted from its lack of certainty. The introduction of Christianity to Europe, just as that of Hinduism and Buddhism to the Archipelago, has never been followed by a rationalistic clarification of the conception of Being. This task, as far as Christianity was concerned, was left to philosophy which reduced religion to a mere theory, and even then it occurred in comparatively recent times. Indeed, it can be said, perhaps without exaggeration, that the very nature of the frustrations in early Western imperialism as well as the imposition of Western culture beginning in the 10th/16th century certainly seem to have interrupted and retarded the process of islamization. Before this period, there were other forces operating in the Islamic world as a whole such as internal political dissensions and the decline in political and economic power. Furthermore, advancement in the field of the technological sciences in Europe, coupled with the lack of such advancement in the Islamic world, weakened the latter considerably.

These disastrous events occurring in the Islamic world caused repercussions in the Archipelago. But the appearance of Europeans on the Malay-Indonesian scene and their control over the area beginning from the 11th/17th century to the present century have left their effects upon the Muslims. In certain parts of the Archipelago, Western influences have resurrected the pre-Islamic feudal order; in modern times we witness the revivification of feudal tendencies: old customs devoid of coherent culture values, old titles, court traditions, etc. Western scholars engaged in Malay-Indonesian history have neglected and minimized the importance of the study of Islam and its role in the Archipelago. Prejudice against and fear of Islam have opposed to Islam and set an educational, administrative and political course heading towards secular ‘development’. It is only the perpetuation…

183 Indonesian history have neglected and minimized the importance of the study of Islam and its role in the Archipelago. Prejudice against and fear of Islam have influenced Western imperialism in attempting a consistent policy of separating Muslims from their religion, as has been the case with the Dutch and British powers in the Archipelago. This was generally effected by the control of religious administration, and thereby the religion itself, through the local ruling groups. At the same time, the system of education has neglected the teaching of Islam. (p. 9)

On the other hand, however, the coming of the West, seen solely from the perspective of a cultural phenomenon and not an imperialistic one, can be considered as a continuation of the islamization process; it can be considered to have perpetuated the rationalistic spirit, the philosophical foundations of which had already been laid by Islam long before. It is when seen in this perspective that, to use a pregnant remark, Islam had prepared the Archipelago, in a sense, for the modern world to come. (pp. 9-10).

Earlier in the present book (p. 44) I defined islamization as the liberation of man first from magical, mythological, animistic, national-cultural tradition opposed to Islam, and then from secular control over his reason and his language. The man of Islam is he whose reason and language are no longer controlled by magic, myth, superstition, animism, his own cultural and national traditions opposed to Islam and secularism. What I meant when I referred to westernization seen solely from the perspective of a cultural phenomenon as being a continuation of the islamization process referred in fact to the general effect westernization had in the disintegration of the magical world view of the Malay-Indonesian. Islam had already initiated the process of that disintegration, and westernization continued that process, which is not completely accomplished yet. On the other hand westernization revived the non-Islamic cultural and national traditions opposed to Islam and set an educational, administrative and political course heading towards secular ‘development’. It is only the perpetuation of the ‘rationalistic spirit’, whose philosophical foundation had been laid by Islam long before, that can be considered as a continuation of the process of islamization. However, the rationalistic spirit initiated by Islam, if allowed to proceed along its present westernized course, will undoubtedly be deviated in its vision towards secular ends. But the process of islamization is still going on (al-Attas, ibid., p. 2), and the sense in which “Islam had prepared the Archipelago for the modern world to come” was obviously meant to denote not the secularized world, but the islamized world. A truly islamized world is a world disenchanted or deprived first of its magical, mythological, animistic, national and cultural tradition opposed to Islam and then its secular meaning; a world in which political power and authority - other than that of God and His Prophet and of those who follow His Prophet - has been desacralized; a world in which all values - other than those of Islam and the truth as partially found in the great world religious and the good in man and his society according to Islam - have been deconsecrated; a world whose meaning was seen and known and experienced and made conscious of in the time of the Holy Prophet (may God bless and give him Peace!) and his Noble Companions (may God be well pleased with them all!).

اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم

[Note: The OCR text provided for the Arabic script was garbled; the corrected text above represents the standard invocation.]

INDEXES

General Index and Index of Proper Names

Prepared By Muhammad Zainiy ‘Uthman

Research Fellow (ISTAC)

186 Cape of Good Hope 101 al-yawm al-hisab [^139] amanah (trust) 66, 140 Carolingian 101, 102 Ante-Nicene Fathers ²⁵ Cartesian revolution Antiquity ³³ Catholic 3, 6

General Index

aql ³³ Celtic 134 Aristotelian 9 certainty 75, 86, also yaqin philosophy ³⁵ Chalcedon ²⁹ and Western worldview 105 Chinese 99 Abrahamic tradition ³¹ ‘aql 61, 70, 130 arkan (principles) Christianity ‘ibadah 61 al-iman [^79] and Western civilization 134 awlad al-mustawtin 60 n. ⁵⁷ adab and education 149, 150-152 al-islam (essentials of dehellenization of ⁶ and hierarchy 107-108 ‘adl (justice) 75, 76 Islam) 79 doctrines of Trinity, and Islamic system of edu- implies knowledge 75 and essentials of Islam 146 Incarnation and cation [^160] as core knowledge 163 and justice 108, 149 Redemption 21, 23, 27 see also justice and tasawwuf [^123] subjugation and submis- early 22, 27 and wisdom 150 sion of the animal soul in introduction into Europe 101 ‘ahd see Covenant and the rational soul [^141] consists in 115-116 new religion 28 ‘ulum kulliyah (macrocosmos) 67, 142 al-asma’ (the names) [^139] ‘alam saghir (microcosmos) 67, 142 Atman [^171] loss of adab 105, 123 religion of culture 28 and corruption of secularized 3, 5 ‘amal (action, work with ref- awliya’ (Friends of God) traditional knowledge [^108] 122, 145 cause of degeneration erence to ‘ibadah) [^141] and decline [^124] Western 21, 23, 25, true ²⁰ fulfilling the Covenant 141, and Islamic system of edu- influences of 29, world view 35 see also ‘ibadah baqa’ (subsistence) 86 cation [^160] westernization of 20, 22 implies loss of justice [^106] bay’ah (buying and selling) 67 cogito ¹⁰ as core knowledge 163 implies loss of ability to bayt al-hikmah [^153] being, colonization [^104] coming of age ⁵ recognize true leaders [^129] ‘aql affirmation of 90 as intellect and reason ³⁴ Confucians 99 mind [^72] restriction on know- in thought ⁹ Constantinople 29, 102 seat of knowledge [^139] ledge [^118] necessary 9 Copernican revolution 35 intelligence [^175] rapid propagation of [^127] necessity of ⁸ Covenant 71, 73, 74, 77, 145 ‘arad (accident) [^139] symptoms of loss 110 of the world 8, 9 mithaq, ‘ahd [^139] towards God, authority [^107] of man ⁹ aggiornamento ⁶ ‘binding’ and ‘determining’ see also ‘ibadah Ahl al-Kitab (People of the perfection of 90 and forgetfulness [^140] ayah (word, sentence, sign, Book) 21, 65 Islamic vision of Reality 136 man fulfilling the Covenant symbol) 35, [^117] Ahl al-Tariqah [^123] and Covenant [^89] with ‘amal 141 pl. ayat 154 Ahl al-Tasawwuf 112 Brahman 171 n. 101 a social contract 142 ‘ayn al-yaqin (certainty by direct see also tasawwuf Byzantine 102 vision) 135 n. 112 al-akhirah (the Hereafter) 41, 42 see also yawm al-din and a 188 dii’in (debtor) ⁵²

education [^160]

and the ,~hari’ah [^145]

Hellenic as creditor ⁵²n. ·iI as core knowledge 16:~

jiqh 170 epistemology ⁶ danii (brought near) ⁴¹

compared with concept of

fi!mh (original state) 45 thought 12 dima (being indebted) ⁵²

macrocosm 73 natural state of being ⁶¹

Hijmh 143 in religious and spiritual

dinal-qayyim M as din 62,IS9

I;ikrnah (wisdom) 79, 122, 113, context to God 53 primary significations ⁵²

freedom

145 see also existence reflects a cosmopolis 67 the power of the rational and Islamic system of educa- llafsahu 58, 59 rule excercised by the ratiosoul to do justice to itself tion ]60 dar nal soul over the animal

141, also quunvahandwas’

God-given knowledge [^149] al-(tllrb 12H soul 141 see also justice as core knowledge 16S ai-islam 128 see also ‘adad al-mustawa, dana,

alfunttn (arts or sciences) 144

{iisab al~saliill 60 n. 57 al-’ulUm153

ftisabai-.saltz!l and man of historical relativism 17 (debt) ⁵²

Islam

Germanic 134 see also secularization daymlnah (judgement) ⁵²

disenchaIllment of nature 18, S8

Glad Tidings (Gospel) 28,40

(Wlial (arrival in the soul of the (judge) 53 see also secularization

Gordian Knot 12 meaning of a thing) 171 al-dayyan (Supreme Judge) 60

projJer41

Graeco-Roman 16,29, 176

huda (Guidance) [^140] dehellenizatioll 5, 6, 7 and Western worldview 105 deislarnizatioll 46-47, education languages 1 77

‘ibadah (service) and loss of adab 104 basic problem 118

Greece [^134]

and ‘amal 14] and secularization [^125]

definition and aims of 149

Greek and ilts{tu [^121] deislamizing the Muslims l:!(}-

Islamic system of 160 philosophy 22, 3S, 179 and spiritual knowledge Hf) 1:!9 see also adab, ta ‘dib cosmology 33, 34 pI. ‘ibiidat 61,70, [^72]n. 77, 79 demythologization 8 elllpirical intuition ¹¹

‘growing up’ 5 identified with rna’rip.!! 146 deconsecratioll of values 18 empiricist ¹⁸n. 1 S leads to ma’rifall 71, see also Islam rejects 31 essence ⁹

habeasccnpus 77 n. 82

tna’rijah European Enlightenment 1,7,37 proper’!l

I;add (definition) [^144]

man’s purpose IS9 desacralization of politics 18, S2 existence ⁹

I;adith 14S,I50 service and devotion 67 bringing iulO ⁵⁵ proper’ll

(ull (spiritual mood) [^71]n, 76 constant recitation, reflec- deus II

maintaining 55 pI. al;wa/ (spiritual states) tion and contemplation 90 dhawq (spiritual savouring) 79, and Covenant 89 ?uuilfan64 idanah (conviction) 52 145,150 see also being, wujud see also dinal-qayyim il;san (peIi’cxtion ill virtue) 67 dftikr (remembrance) 90 happiness 75 n. 68 dilemma, Fauisijllh 113, 14S is knowledge identified with also ‘The Way’ 67 n. 68 Muslim 106 j(m{I’(Evanescence) 86,92 justice 14211. 118 and knowledge 146 see also loss of adab farr,i (prescribed) 71 n. 76 see also certainty and sll(Jl’j’ah 122, 162 errOlleous blame on ‘ayn84, 119, 125, 147, 15:~, 156, hawa (natural desire) 155 degl’ees of 145 ta~ awwuf 121 164 al-(layiit al-dunya (the life of the excellence in religious con- din (religion) 51, 6S, 64, 66, 69 kijayalt 84,119,125,147, 1M world) 41, 42 duct 141 and Covenant 139 not everyone’s right 165 Hebrew 16, 21 highest virtue 80 and Islamic system of }i’l (model actions) 91 in the ‘abd 121 191 121, 132

jami’ (mosque) 153 ilah (object of worship) 139 see also mu’min, muslim

Judaic 16 see also itsul, wusul i’lm (right cognition) ² n. 76 and aslama 141

Judaism 134 first kind 83 and Islamic system of educa- Islam justice given by God to man 148 tion 160 and the changing of the unveils mystery of Being and justice 78 Malay-Javanese civilization 174 tion 160 and Existence 147 and loss of adab 118 the coming of 171 external manifestation of 149, includes faith and belief 148 and nature of knowledge 143 educational institutions 153 see also adab ‘islamization’ of present-day applied to the totality of life 153 essentials of 146 in Islam 141 knowledge 162 knowledge 80, 139 essential religious spirit of 175 in relation to the first and of two kinds 79 as core knowledge 163 second kind of know- nature of 143 al-’ilm al-ladunniyy (spiritual ledge 147 purpose of seeking, see knowledge) 122, 143, 145 purpose of seeking knowl- see also ‘adl Western, Islam see also hikmah edge 84 progress of highest virtue ³ al-yaqin (certainty derived by Religion of 85, 87 kadhaba (to lie) 77 revealed 135 inference, deductive or rise of 101 kafir 65 n. 67 second kind 83, 146 inductive 135 n. 112 ‘secularized’ 120 see also ‘ilm, ma’rifah pl. ‘ulum ⁴ ‘secularizing’ 121 and islamization 170 kufr 65 n. 67 al-shar’iyyah 164 Universal Religion 100 and wahdat al-wujud 175 kulliyyah (universal) 153 kalimah shahadah (Testimony) 72 and universitatem 154 islamization 44-46, 182-183 kalimah al-tawhid and Islamic system of educa- elements of 127 also true faith ⁵ (Formula of Unity) 73 tion 160 and the nature of intensification of belief and faith 72 defined 44-45 knowledge 143 the process 178 kasb (acquired) 146 kashf (spiritual vision) 79, 145, 150 lisan (tongue) 72 Indian Ocean 104 of Arabic 46 kathrah (multiplicity) 86 logical analysis 18 n. ⁶ al-Injil (the Evangel) 27 of language 45 khadim (servant) ⁷ injustice see zulm of the Malay Indonesian khalifah (vicegerent) 38, 66, 67, ma’jabal 150 to the soul 78 Archipelago 169, three 140 ma’rifah (knowledge) ⁸ al-insan phases 170 khidmah (service) 57 n. 76, 79, 82 al-kulliyy, al-kamil see Universal of thought and reason 45 concept of 60-61 and Islamic system of educa- Man of contemporary knowledge khusr (loss) 58 tion 160 162 knowledge as core knowledge 163 istislam (total submission) 60 at the level of ihsan ⁹ knowledge about God 139 islam (submission) 21, 69 challenge of 133 and the nature of knowledge concept of change, develop- 143 jadala (disputation and conceived by Western civiliza- ment and progress 86 contention) 155 tion 133 pertaining to the soul 145 definition of 72 jahl (ignorance) 46 contraries of 155, see also see also ‘ilm, ‘aql objective-subjective Islam and disobedience 140 shakk, zann, mirajadala al-ma’ruf (good traditions of Allah 72 n. 77, 73-74 see also revealed religion core knowledge 163 and society) ¹⁰ see also nisyan Jahili 128 definitions of 97 mad’a 150¹¹ 192 maddah 53-54

mawjud (existent) 86

Parmenidean 26, 28, 48, 67

madhhab (pl. madhahib) ¹²

millah (pl. milal) 64

theory of u-lIlh ¹³

revealed religion 29

madinah (town) 53

Index of Proper Names

Adam 69, 73, 129

Ahmad (Muhammad) 28, 73, 89, 91, 94, 117

Aladdin 130

Albert the Great 102

Alfonso d’Albuquerque 104

‘Ali 111

al-Amidi 144 n. 119

Amerigo Vespucci 104

Aquinas, Thomas 9, 12, 35, 39, 102, 103

Aristotle 33, 39

al-Ash’ari 112

Augustine 35, 39

Avicenna 9, 102, 103

al-Baydawi 177

Bonaventure of Bagnoregio 39, 40 n. 35, 102

Bridges, J.H. 2 n. 2

Bultmann, Rudolph 3

Buren, Paul van 3

Carlo, W.E. 10 n. 15

Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de 2, 4

Columbus, Christopher 104

Comte, Auguste 2, 113

Cox, Harvey 3, 17 n. 17, 19 n. 25

Dante Alighieri 103

Descartes, R. 7, 11, 22

Dewart, Leslie 3, 7, 35 n. 34

Dharmakirti 172

Durant, W. 2 n. 3

Eckhart, Meister 102

Einstein, Albert 8 n. 13

al-Farabi 102

Freud, Sigmund 4

Gama, Vasco da 104

Ghazali, al- 112, 144 n. 120

Gilson, Etienne 7

Gogarten, Friedrich 3

Henri of Ghent [^102]

Heidegger, Martin 7

Husserl, Edmund 7

Ibn ‘Abbas 146

Ibn ‘Arabi 103

Ibn Hazm 144 n. 120

Ibn Khaldun 113

Ibn Manzur 51 n. 40

Ibn Mas’ud 150

Ibn Sina see Avicenna

Ibrahim (Abraham), Prophet 64, 65

‘Iji, ‘Adud al-Din al- 144 n. 119

Izutsu, T. 10 n. 15

Jesus, Prophet 21, 27, 28, 100

John XXIII, Pope 6

Kant, Immanuel 11, 37

Kierkegaard, Soren 5

al-Kindi 102

Leeuwen, Arend van 3

Leur, J.C. van 171

Lull, Raymond 103

Malechal, Joseph 7

Maritain, Jacques 1, 4, 7

Martineau, H. 2 n. 2

Mascall, E.L. 5

Mencken, H.L. 2 n. 3

Mill 113

Morewedge, P. 10 n. 15

Nasr, S.H. 32 n. 22

Neurath, Otto 7 n. 13

Nietzsche, Friedrich 2

Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges 99

Ockham, William of 10, 35

Parmenides 8

Paul 28

Peursen, Cornelius van 17 n. 17

Pirenne, Henri 101, 169

Rad, Gerhard von 3

Rauch, G.A. 28 n. 29

Rauch, W. 40 n. 35

Razl, Fakhr al-Din al- 144 n. 120

Robinson, John A.T. 4 n. 8

Rousseau 113

Russell, Bertrand 8 n. 13

Schiller, Friedrich 18 n. 24

Schlick, Moritz 7 n. 13

Sisyphus 137

Soderblom, Nathan 2

Spencer 113

Tahanawi, al- 143 n. 119

Tillich, Paul 2

Tufts, J.H. 11 n. 16

‘Umar 111

Weber, Max 18

Windelband, W. 11 n. 16

Wittgenstein, Ludwig 8 n. 13

Wright, W.H. 11 n. 16

Zarathustra 2

General Index and Index of Proper Names

General Index

Index of Proper Names

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