By\nand large, the government of Malaysia has been concerned with inculcating\nstrong and resilient scientific spirit and culture in the Malaysian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, for such a culture to not only grow\nbut also endure, there should always be a high level of curiosity among a\nsufficient number of the country\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is this strong desire in a person to know\nand learn that drives him or her to explore, discover, invent and innovate\ndespite circumstances which may not always be in favour of one\u2019s scientific\ninterest and quest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since Muslims are in the majority in Malaysia,\nand in order that the aforementioned concern is properly addressed, they too need\nto embrace that culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, it has been a commonplace in this\nso-called modern age of ours to find science being contrasted with religion, the\nformer being depicted as rigorously objective, empirical and rational while the\nlatter, mostly subjective, traditional and dogmatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As such, what is generally referred to as \u201cthe religious education in Islam\u201d has unfortunately been perceived and projected as not only lacking the rational inquiring spirit but also opposed to scientific rigour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is primarily through that prism that we find pervasive, when referring to the aforesaid education, such misconceptions as students should not ask their teachers too much, nor should they always apply their reason, hence rendering more deeply ingrained the negative image that the products of the very much touted \u201cIslamic educational system\u201d are generally shy, passive, and so much geared to spoon feeding and rote-learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
All that despite there being the saying of \u201bUmar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, and his son, \u201bAbdullah, to the effect that \u201cwhoever is shy in seeking knowledge obtains little knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, there is in al-Bukhari\u2019s Sahih<\/em>—the one regarded by Sunnite Muslims as the most authentic collection of the Prophet Muhammad\u2019s traditions—a reminder by Mujahid, an early prominent scholar of Islam: \u201cNeither a timid nor an arrogant one will learn knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, Sayyidatina \u201bA\u2019isha, one of Prophet Muhammad\u2019s wives, has been reported by many famous scholars of Hadiths to have declared admiringly: \u201cThe best women are the women of the Ansar (i.e. the local Arab community of Madinah during the Prophet\u2019s lifetime); [for] modesty does not prevent them from seeking understanding in religion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was also related by Abu Nu\u201baym in his famous Hilyat al-Awliya\u2019<\/em> (The Ornaments of the Saints) from \u201bAli (the fourth caliph of Islam) that the Prophet once said: \u201cKnowledge is [like] Treasure House the key to which is question. So, do ask question so that Allah has mercy on you; for, in so doing, four parties shall be rewarded: the one who asks, the teacher [who answers], the one listening, and the one who likes them all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, a strong desire to know and\nlearn alone will not guarantee the development of a scientific culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It has to be coupled with a disciplined mind\nso that what we have at the end is disciplined curiosity, a factor that is\ncrucial for the development of such a culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That the above is so lies in the fact that\nwhat actually arouses such desire in oneself is QUESTION(S). <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is questions as well as its immediate and powerful relative, PROBLEMS, which give rise to and constitute one\u2019s curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The connection between all these may not\nappear telling unless one also sees the conceptual and scientific system\ndeveloped and expressed by the Arabic language, consequent to the revelation of\nthe Qur\u2019an.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A \u201cquestion\u201d in Arabic is captured by the term\nsu\u2019al <\/em>from which the Malay words, soal<\/em> and soalan<\/em>, in fact originate, whereas the term \u201cproblem\u201d or \u201cissue\u201d is\nencapsulated by the term mas\u2019alah <\/em>from\nwhich another Malay word, masalah<\/em>,\nderives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the conceptual system of the\nArabic language, since both words spring from the same root word, s-\u2019a-l<\/em>, they are intimately related,\nmorphologically as well as semantically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For, as far as one\u2019s mental constitution is\nconcerned, a problem (mas\u2019alah<\/em>)—be\nit actual or hypothetical—is where a question (su\u2019al<\/em>) lies and, as such, acts as its seat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As one is always searching for the true answer\nor correct solution to a problem, the very presence of a problem as well as the\nmanner it is addressed provides one\u2019s quest or pursuit (matlab<\/em>; plural matalib<\/em>)\nwith both the focus and the direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is in this light that, as related by ibn \u201bAbd\nal-Barr (d. 463H) in his Jami\u201b Bayan al-\u201bIlm wa Fadlihi<\/em>, both Wahb b.\nMunabbih and Sulayman b. Yasar declared: \u201cRight problem (i.e. seat of question)\nis half of knowledge\u201d (husn al-mas\u2019alah nisf al-\u201bilm<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, we also know from our experience\nthat in general a question does not arise out of the blue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More often than not, a question arises in our\nminds together with a set, or a series, of other related questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is in fact a logical system inherent in\nany set or series of questions, involving a certain pattern of logical priority\nand posteriority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A really scientific manner of dealing with\nquestions and problems demands that one pay due attention to such a system and\norder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a matter of fact, this is one of the\nsubject-matters extensively discussed by past Muslim logicians, scientists and\nscholars in their logico-scientific works, especially in those sections or\nchapters dealing with questions and problems being the major constituent of a\nscientific quest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is basically what Professor Nicholas\nRescher, a leading historian of logic and science, once highlighted in his\nstudy of the major works of ibn Sina (Avicenna in Latin), a great Muslim\npolymath of the late 10th and early 11th century C.E..<\/p>\n\n\n\n Logic as a science is meant to discipline\none\u2019s mind and thinking so that one does not commit erroneous reasoning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This necessarily and naturally includes the\ndisciplining of one\u2019s mind in dealing with questions and problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some questions should not be raised unless and\nuntil other more fundamental questions have been satisfactorily dealt with\nfirst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Or such questions may not even arise in the\nfirst place if such more basic questions were answered properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some questions, or problems, although\njustifiable, should not have been tackled in a particular science or field of\nstudy, but rather should have been the proper subject-matter of other\ndisciplines, whether more fundamental to that science or secondary to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is what, among others, Muslims should be\ntaught if we are ever serious in nurturing a scientific culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, we ought to be fully aware of\nthe logic of questions if we are to deal with problems scientifically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Otherwise, simply given mere curiosity, devoid\nof mental discipline, we may end up giving rise to ideologies, superstitions,\nmyths and mythologies, or worst still, prying and scandal-mongering as a number\nof Malaysians appear to be fond of, unfortunately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By and large, the government of Malaysia has been concerned with inculcating strong and resilient scientific spirit and culture in the Malaysian society. However, for such a culture to not only grow but also endure, there should always be a high level of curiosity among a sufficient number of the country\u2019s population. It is this strong desire in a person …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-225","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}