The (Islamic) Sciences are Developed by Empowering the Intellect and Language of the Muslims (in Malaysian)

Syed Ali Tawfik al-Attas

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to clearly illustrate how the rise and fall of any given civilisation is dependent upon that civilisation’s intellectual dynamism, which is punctuated by the philosophy of science and philosophical and historical intellectualism. The more intellectual activity, the more knowledge. This increase in intellectual activity and knowledge will most certainly lead to a change in regards to how the mind understands and the way in which behaviour and action follow. As a result, certain fundamental elements will be questioned and investigated; the resultant divergent preliminary conclusions will inevitably give rise to other questions until finally ultimate conclusions may be firmly established. The aforementioned brief statement illustrates how important intellectual activities and the establishment of scientific centres of learning are. It is imperative for any civilisation to have groups dedicated to intellectual and scholarly activities by virtue of the fact that in order to possess what may be referred to as a vibrant scientific and philosophical culture, a tradition of such vibrance is absolutely necessary. Such a tradition will ultimately come to represent that element which adequately describes what it is to be a civilisation. This present framework, albeit brief and concise, attempts to illustrate in general terms, the prerequisite elements required for the rise a given civilisation, in this case the rise of the Western civilisation, and to a certain extent the ancient Greek civilisation, and the Muslim civilisation. However, it becomes clear that in making comparisons between the two world civilisations, major differences exist when elements from both are contrasted against their respective worldviews.

We have already mentioned the fact that the rise and fall of civilisations is dependant upon intellectual dynamism, itself reliant upon the various sciences, philosophies, and history. From this cursory statement, we may surmise clearly that the worldview of the West formed gradually in history in accordance with the discoveries of the phenomenological sciences and the development of speculative philosophies, which place man at the forefront. The same cannot be said of the worldview of Islam. The very foundation of the foregoing worldview is not solely premised on the development of the sciences whose fundamental elements are preoccupied with the material world, its fate dependant upon ideological paradigms. Rather it is premised upon the fundamental elements from Revelation and the Sunnah of the Prophet, and aided by sound and valid reasoning. By virtue of the fact that reason plays such an important role, it is no wonder that the sciences of reasoning and logic became the precursor for investigation into the other sciences, physical and metaphysical. Language is equally held in important esteem as thought given the reflexive nature of both and points to its importance. Without a language capable of grasping and accurately conveying meaning to the intellectual activities, science cannot flourish; if the sciences cannot flourish, a people cannot develop and become civilised, let alone create a civilisation.