It is high time that Malaysia exerts greater attention in carefully charting an agenda to produce the nation’s next generation of praiseworthy leaders who will steer the country in the right direction and play a more significant role in the international arena.
The blessings that are bestowed in Malaysia, and the current state of affairs in the world call for it.
Seen from the perspective of world history and great civilizations, a leader should be the foremost among his people in terms of the quality of his intellect and character and understands his obligations and duties.
Moreover, in the civilization of Islam, a leader should represent the community with the mission of preserving balance and fashioning history as an instrument of the Divine Will.
Being a leader from such a perspective is a sacred duty: he or she assumes responsibility to address problems confronting a people, and he or she would stand for justice and oppose injustice – emulating the Prophets (al-‘anbiyā’), who are the best leaders in the history of humankind.
In the case of the Muslim leader, he or she must be worthy of such sacred trust. And to be worthy of such trust implies according to Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas in his important book, On Justice and the Nature of Man (2015), adequate and correct knowledge of Islam as a religion and civilization, adequate knowledge of human nature, and some knowledge of the positive and negative qualities inherent in his self by means of critical examination, to prevent injustices towards himself and others.
Following this, the most important principle of wisdom to enable the emergence of great leaders in our midst is to return the sacred trust of mentoring and educating future leaders to those who are most worthy of such trust.
In fact, for the Muslims, this is a command of God as expressed in the Qur’an: “Allah commands you to deliver trusts to keepers worthy of them…” (Surah al-Nisa, 4:58).
In accordance with this divine command, history has shown us that responsible Muslim rulers and leaders have taken the initiative to confer special roles to the best teachers and scholars in the community to nurture and produce their next generation of leaders, or at least to broaden the pool of talent of those inclined to praiseworthy virtues of temperance, courage, wisdom, and justice.
One of the glorious examples of such initiative in the history of the civilization of Islam is arguably the Ottoman Empire’s Enderun Academy in Istanbul which ran for 500 years within the walls of Topkapi Palace, and where the Sultans took great interest to ensure the graduates were properly prepared to serve the Ottoman state in scholarly, bureaucratic, managerial, and military positions – to become a genuine keeper (ahl) of these various trusts.
Among the great teachers in the Enderun Academy is a graduate of the academy itself: Matrakçı Nasuh (d. 1564), whose genius caught the attention of Sultan Suleyman Kanuni (d. 1566) who praises him as the master-knight, the “raʾīs” (leader) of his time. The Enderun education enabled Matrakci Nasuh himself to be an accomplished teacher, artist, historian, mathematician, geographer, cartographer, swordmaster, navigator, inventor, soldier, and master bladesmith.
While the Enderun Academy does include instruction in the study of sciences of religion, the humanities, arts, mathematics, and physical activities, its central focus is on the inculcation of adab which was a precept, an attitude, and a practical matrix guiding all aspects of their lives.
Despite its rigorous discipline, the school put in place a flexible system to accommodate individual differences from one person to another. But the only criterion in Enderun School is aptitude and ability. And their aptitudes will then determine their future whether it be in the government, the military, or scholarship.
At the end of the Enderun education, the graduates would be able to speak, read, and write at least three languages, namely Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, conversed in scholarly matters, have at least a craft or art, and excel in army command as well as in close combat skills. The best among them were warrior-statesmen and loyal Muslims, men of letters with eloquent speech and high morals.
Malaysia is an ideal ground to establish a similar initiative that creatively draws from the Enderun Academy’s experience while taking into account contemporary realities which can then serve as a prototype and a beacon for other Muslim countries to emulate.
The ultimate prize for such an initiative if it is to be established in Malaysia or anywhere in the Muslim world is the gradual eradication of extremism and tyranny, and the return of justice and enlightened leadership.
For a multicultural society like Malaysia, the proper cultivation of adab as exemplified by the Enderun Academy experience and other instances in Muslim history will necessarily lead to individuals with a more cosmopolitan outlook, whereby the person is sensitive to cultural diversity, open to learning about the various civilizations, and strives to be just towards all people irrespective of culture and faith – far from assuming a divisive and a holier than thou attitude.
In this spirit, a group of academics and researchers at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) is preparing the ground for loftier commitments by conducting a research on the constituents of Praiseworthy Leadership in Islam, with an emphasis on the worldview, traits, integrity, and strategic considerations required for a praiseworthy Muslim leader.
It is hoped that such a research project leading to a course, or a series of courses will be a catalyst for a more comprehensive leadership program as envisaged by our wise forefathers of the past.