Tinjauan Ringkas Peri Ilmu dan Pandangan Alam

by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Genres: Islam

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, born September 5, 1931 in Bogor, Java, is a prominent contemporary Muslim thinker. He is one of the few contemporary scholars who is thoroughly rooted in the traditional Islamic sciences and who is equally competent in theology, philosophy, metaphysics, history, and literature. His thought is integrated, multifaceted and creative. Al-Attas’ philosophy and methodology of education have one goal: Islamization of the mind, body and soul and its effects on the personal and collective life on Muslims as well as others, including the spiritual and physical non-human environment. He is the author of twenty-seven authoritative works on various aspects of Islamic thought and civilization, particularly on Sufism, cosmology, metaphysics, philosophy and Malay language and literature.



Al-Attas was born into a family with a history of illustrious ancestors, saints, and scholars. He received a thorough education in Islamic sciences, Malay language, literature and culture. His formal primary education began at age 5 in Johor, Malaysia, but during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia, he went to school in Java, in Madrasah Al-`Urwatu’l-wuthqa, studying in Arabic. After World War II in 1946 he returned to Johor to complete his secondary education. He was exposed to Malay literature, history, religion, and western classics in English, and in a cultured social atmosphere developed a keen aesthetic sensitivity. This nurtured in al-Attas an exquisite style and precise vocabulary that were unique to his Malay writings and language. After al-Attas finished secondary school in 1951, he entered the Malay Regiment as cadet officer no. 6675. There he was selected to study at Eton Hall, Chester, Wales and later at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England (952 -55). This gave him insight into the spirit and style of British society. During this time he was drawn to the metaphysics of the Sufis, especially works of Jami, which he found in the library of the Academy. He traveled widely, drawn especially to Spain and North Africa where Islamic heritage had a profound influence on him. Al-Attas felt the need to study, and voluntarily resigned from the King’s Commission to serve in the Royal Malay Regiment, in order to pursue studies at the University of Malaya in Singapore 1957-59. While undergraduate at University of Malay, he wrote Rangkaian Ruba`iyat, a literary work, and Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised among the Malays. He was awarded the Canada Council Fellowship for three years of study at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montreal. He received the M.A. degree with distinction in Islamic philosophy in 1962, with his thesis “Raniri and the Wujudiyyah of 17th Century Acheh” . Al-Attas went on to the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he worked with Professor A. J. Arberry of Cambridge and Dr. Martin Lings. His doctoral thesis (1962) was a two-volume work on the mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri.



In 1965, Dr. al-Attas returned to Malaysia and became Head of the Division of Literature in the Department of Malay Studies at the University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1968-70. Thereafter he moved to the new National University of Malaysia, as Head of the Department of Malay Language and Literature and then Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He strongly advocated the use of Malay as the language of instruction at the university level and proposed an integrated method of studying Malay language, literature and culture so that the role and influence of Islam and its relationship with other languages and cultures would be studied with clarity. He founded and directed the Institute of Malay Language, Literature, and Culture (IBKKM) at the National University of Malaysia in 1973 to carry out his vision.



In 1987, with al-Attas as founder and director, the International Institute of Islamic Thought a

Reviews

[Ahmad Abdul Rahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nipis tetapi padat nan berisi. Antara segelintir buku Prof yang asalnya ditulis di dalam Bahasa Melayu. Menyimpulkan kembali idea-idea utama beliau yang telah diungkapkan di dalam karya RUKM, IS: faham tanzil, faham ilmu, makna kebahagiaan, faham bahasa dan faham kemajuan. Buku ini sepertinya ditulis untuk menyingkirkan kekaburan-kekaburan yang tertimbul lewat pembacaan karya-karya beliau yang asasi. Prof menyentuh bagaimana susun-atur pandang alam yang dianjurkannya tiada semestinya melorong kepada justifikasi sistem kasta atau sistem-sistem penindasan masyarakat selainnya yang dijumpai di dalam sejarah; juga, penyangkalan menyeluruh pendekatan kesatuan transenden agama.
Bab terakhir -faham kemajuan dan pembangunan- terasa sedikit tergantung
dan tidak dihuraikan dengan padat seperti bab sebelumnya.

[Norziati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sesuai dengan judulnya - Tinjauan Ringkas - peri ilmu yang menjadi bahagian-bahagian penting dalam perbahasan buku-buku Prof al-Attas yang lain, dibahaskan dengan ringkas tetapi tidaklah seringkas yang kita bayangkan. Ia tetap mengandungi wacana penting dan bermanfaat sebagai rujukan pantas sebelum melangkah ke perbahasan yang lebih mendalam dalam karya beliau yang lain.

[S.M.Y Kayseri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The works of al-Attas can be broadly categorized into two types: (1) proscriptive or “critical” works and (2) prescriptive or “positivistic” works.

The first type refers to al-Attas’ works that critique his opponents, primarily various Western philosophies, and also entities such as the emanative model of Islamic philosophers who drew heavily from Plotinus, risking the essential identity of Islam. These works act as a bastion separating the True from the False. Included in this category would be this volume, Islam and Secularism, and, loosely, the Epistle for the Muslims.

Conversely, works belonging to the second category allow for the cultivation of the spirit of those confident in their position within the intellectual fortress outlined by al-Attas. Called prescriptive or “positivistic,” these works provide a net addition to the soul, embellishing it with a worldview that not only helps distinguish between Right and Wrong but also brings fulfillment.

It is no secret that al-Attas elaborated on Akbarian metaphysics in his Prolegomena. Only through the ontological model of henological descent can the question of the “One and Many” be answered with a resolute affirmation of God’s Absolute Unity. This metaphysical tradition bears witness to the spiritual experiences of past masters, from the companion Abu Dzar to al-Junayd al-Baghdadi, al-Ghazzali, and al-Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn al-Arabi.

While intellectual understanding is challenging, even the blessed common people have a chance at enlightenment, as its mode of achievement is experiential and intuitional in nature, which is primary to everybody.

Accusations that this model draws from Plotinus of the West or the Brahmins of the East hold no truth, as Imam al-Ghazzali wrote Niche of Light with the aim of elucidating a single, true alternative to the emanative scheme of Avicenna and also indirectly opposing the pantheistic Brahminism.

Previously, I was satisfied with Kant’s purely proscriptive model in his Critique of Pure Reason. But he did not advance beyond the immanent model of the Subject and failed to elucidate the Objective Sphere. Only through the works of al-Attas was I able to bridge the abyss between Subject and Object.

It is easy to dismiss al-Attas due to the at-times excessive effulgence from his students and adherents. But I am not one of his pupils (it is difficult to gain access to his circle, anyway), and by default, I am suspicious of people in power. Yet, I cannot let personal feelings interfere with my desire for Truth. His works are very concise and straightforward in nature, delivering the message with a penetrating clarity.

[Mohd Jamizal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about epistemology is here. Knowledge is defined as the arrival of meaning to the soul at the arrival of soul at meaning. Knowledge is to understand the limit of truth at every of object of knowledge. Allahuakbar one seminal works must be read of all intellectuals .