Human creativity, whether exemplified as invention or innovation, is essentially about new ideas and has to do in large part with thinking. What many Muslims of today have been unaware of but which a number of past Muslim scholars such as ibn Sina and al-Ghazzali had elaborated on is the close relation that exists between…
With the 13th General Election in Malaysia looming, issues revolving around power become even more pressing. Power for its own sake, or its Malay parallel “budaya kuasa untuk kuasa kerana kuasa,” has been claimed by certain observers to be the epidemic besieging influential Muslim politicians in the second phase of Post-Independence Malaysia. Despite power ultimately…
Petrosains, with the cooperation of several agencies and organisations including IKIM, is currently holding “Sultans of Science—Islamic Science Rediscovered” Exhibition at Suria KLCC. Taking centre stage for six months, beginning from December last year and running until June this year, the exhibition showcases inventions and scientific breakthroughs achieved by Muslim scholars during the peak of…
By and large educated Muslims do not dispute the importance and significance of thinking in their life and religion. Since human creativity, whether exemplified as invention or innovation, has to do in large part with thinking, it is also commonplace that they regard it highly. Problems and disputes begin to arise, however, when they come…
As calls for reform of our educational system become louder and more frequent by days, the recently released Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025: Preliminary Report, itself a serious undertaking, is laudable. Recognising that “thinking skills” is among the six key attributes needed by every Malaysian student to be globally competitive, the Education Ministry spells out therein,…
The blessed month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, has been back for more than a week already. And Muslims worldwide are observing one of the five pillars of Islam, the obligatory fasting throughout the days of this month. The Arabic terms for fasting—sawm or siyam—basically means self-restraint (kaff or imsak),…
As noted by a number of observant intellectuals and analysts, such negative words as “terrorism,” “extremism,” “radicalism,” and “fanaticism” have often been abused against groups or people having or expounding different-especially fundamentally opposing-worldviews and positions. As such, one must always be careful and vigilant not to misappropriate what should otherwise be words or terms that…
With fairly wide, continual coverage in various mainstream media, most Malaysians by now have been familiar with the clarion call to be moderate and to practise moderation. It is also commonplace, if not entirely common sense, for moderation to be regarded as something in the middle, as equitable balance, as the opposite of extremes, as…
In the Holy Qur’an there are several occasions where one can find some accounts of Adam’s encounter with man’s nemesis, Iblis. Carefully attending to those accounts with intelligence, sincerity and honesty can surely help Muslims derive useful lessons, insights and reminders not only about human strength and potentials but also human weaknesses and vulnerability. Of such…
According to ibn Khallikan (d. 681 A.H. / 1282 C.E.) in his famous biographical work, Wafayat al-A‛yan wa Anba’ Abna’ al-Zaman, in this month, 900 years ago, departed one of Islam’s most eminent and influential scholars, Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali. True to what al-Ghazzali had once reminded, “a man’s second life in this world consists in…
