Compared to the English words “management,” “administration,” and “governance” or the Malay words “pengurusan,” “pengelolaan,” and “penataan,” tadbir being a Malay term that is appropriated from the original Arabic is meaning-wise more stable, clear and definite.
It has not undergone much semantic change, thus signifying basically the same thing to different people at different times.
In a number of our earlier articles (see IKIM Views of 28 October and 23 December 2008, as well as 5 May, 26 May, and 23 June 2009, respectively),we have demonstrated that tadbir, whether as a mode of thinking or a kind of human action, is outcome-oriented.
At the level of thinking, it comprises one’s act of deliberating the possible outcomes with every intention of knowing what is good and, thus, can somewhat be translated into English as “purposive reflection,” “foresight,” or “prudence.”
At the practical stage, it involves the act of executing something in order to obtain good results.
In elaborating further on the nature of outcomes, we have among others indicated that goals or objectives, despite their being related in many respects to ends or outcomes, are not really synonymous.
For not every aim will result in an outcome and, likewise, not every outcome achieves the intended aim.
As such, there are some elements of unknowability about goals as something yet to be realized in the future, whereas outcomes, when referring to past events that are well documented, are more factual.
In addition, there are varieties of goals and outcomes.
Not only are they not always the same but they are also subject to a certain order of priority and posteriority.
Some aims are good and noble, some are bad and evil.
Yet among the good ones, some are better. Similarly, there are also amidst the bad ones those which are worse.
Some ends are more permanent and certain while the rest are ever changing and indefinite.
Among them also, there are those which are more ultimate whereas the others only serve as means or intermediaries to the former.
Hence, there is a hierarchical system of aims and objectives, having in turn a certain order of methods and ways conducive for living such a system.
The main question then is: how can one intellectually determine not only one’s right goals—as future matters that are unknown and uncertain, in relation to the outcomes as something clear and established—but also the possible correct ways leading thereto?
It is in answering such a question that an important epistemic principle applies, which requires that one begin with what is clear, definite and certain in exploring unknown and uncharted territories (see our discussion of this principle in IKIM Views of 29 January, 22 July and 23 September 2008, as well as 28 July 2009).
In this respect, what is generally clear and certain to Muslims is that Allah is the Real Governor of the entire universe(s), and He has made manifest not only His wills, rules and regulations but also His signs and symbols (Ayatullah) in His Two Books (for an earlier discussion of such books, see IKIM Views of 28 August 2007).
One of them has been referred to in the religious, intellectual and scientific tradition of Islam as His Revealed Book (al-kitab al-tanzili)—i.e. the Qur’an—exemplified then in the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (transmitted to the later generations as his hadith, sunnah and sirah), while the other book is known in this tradition as the Created Book (al-kitab al-takwini), i.e. the Cosmic Entirety.
From the Qur’an and the Prophetic Traditions, Muslims can expect to derive guidance, be it general or specific, including in the form of reliable yardsticks, criteria and guidelines.
Two of such matters which are clear and certain in the former Book are: firstly, one’s goal has to pertain to the Ultimate Outcome, the Last Day (al-Akhirah); and secondly, the objective has to ultimately relate to Allah, whose name among others is THE END (al-Akhir).
As to His Created Book—i.e. the Cosmos as a whole—the Divine Governance of the entire cosmos is indeed His Pattern of Recurrent Acts (the Sunnatu’LlÄh), which is all-inclusive and, apart from appearing in the various forms of the Cause-Effect correlation, is manifested in history, especially as the rise and decline of nations and civilizations.
Granted the regularity of this Pattern of Recurrent Acts, which Allah Himself has promised us in the Qur’an, it is partly to the past outcomes that one’s noetic observations should be directed in order to not only derive some meaningful lessons and useful insights with regard to the future, but to also avoid repeating similar mistakes, facing much the same pitfalls, and being trapped in essentially the same quagmire.