THE STAR

Beware of the Information Explosion

‘Information’, ‘science’, ‘understanding’ and ‘wisdom’ all point to a hierarchy in the pyramid of Knowledge; weighed in the epistemological scale, each having different values.  ‘Science’ has more epistemic values compared to ‘information’, while ‘understanding’ is of more importance in relation to the pedantic, systematized knowledge referred to as ‘science’.  In its turn, ‘wisdom’ is the most estimable of all human intellect; indeed, ‘wisdom’ is the ultimate aim of life long…

Blue Ocean vs Black Ocean

What is blue ocean strategy? It is a corporate strategy to develop uncontested market space which make competition irrelevant. According to Prof. W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne; “competing in an overcrowded industry is no way to sustain high performance. The real opportunity is to create a blue ocean of uncontested market space” (Havard Business…

The Two Books

There are indeed strong grounds, as demonstrated in a number of serious studies undertaken by Toshihiko Izutsu and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, for us to consider the islamized Arabic-that is, the Arabic language after the revelation of the Qur’an and as used in the Islamic religious, intellectual and scientific tradition-to be a linguistic-conceptual system that…

Taking Part in Globalising Justice

“Globalisation” is too general a term, pointing to a complex process of a rapid increase of connectivity as well as convergence in contemporary ways of life. Admittedly, the momentum of globalisation is pronounced in global economies, punctuating the fact that “economic development” is a leading notion of the modern era. So much so that, as…

Islamic Manufacturing Process (IMP)

The development of halal products and services is now becoming a promising and profitable business. Certification bodies authorised to endorse halal products and services should be capable of looking into what compliance issues conforms to the status. The issue of non-compliance prior to, during and post certification is still monitored throughout. This has the potential…

Centre Of Excellence To Boost Deterrence Through Strategic Alliances

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said ‘Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be achieved through understanding’. Violence begets more violence than peace. This is the law of nature that we live in. On the second day of the international conference on “The Role of Islamic States in a Globalized World”, Lieutenant General (Ret.)…

Yes to the Natural Sciences; No to Scientism

It is important for Muslims to be aware that the manner knowledge is understood in any given society very much determines the way sciences develop, whereas the way any given society regards knowledge depends on its predominant worldview, or vision of truth-reality. As a revealed religion which projects a certain worldview, Islam promotes an understanding…

The Muslims And The Qur’an

When Muslims speak of faith and belief they mean what is conveyed by the Qur’anic term, ‘iman’. However, what is conveyed by the term ‘iman’ is not quite similar to what is conveyed in English the terms ‘faith’ and ‘belief’. Iman and Islam are synonyms in the sense that both are acts of submission, the…

How Far Can the Golden Rule Apply?

“Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you.” Such reads a version of what many people term “The Golden Rule,” (GR) or alternatively, “The Ethic of Reciprocity.” Some even regard it as the ethic of transference of perspective. In many inter-faith and inter-civilizational dialogues held so far, whether in Malaysia or elsewhere,…

Some Reflections on Lina Joy (Let Syariah Court Deal With Issue)

All the hue and cry prior to and after the Federal Court’s judgment in the Lina Joy case are manifestations of ignorance, arrogance and sheer defiance of logic. It once again proves that the most unsettling problem afflicting our people is the problem of knowledge. It’s alarming to encounter certain individuals or groups of people…