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Views That Islam Monopolises Others Misleading, Outdated - Raja Nazrin
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) — The view that Islam monopolises any one culture, country, region or continent is not only outdated but also misleading, said the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.
He said Islam had a global presence as a universal faith and it could only be properly understood in that framework.
“There is also a need to recognise that Islam is not just about rituals and rules interpreted in a narrow legalistic sense. It encompasses practically every aspect of human life that deals with the temporal as well as the spiritual.
“Islamic studies, therefore, will be severely constrained and too circumscribed, if it does not seek to address the problems of this life in addition to dealing with those of the hereafter,” he said in his opening address at the “International Conference on New Horizons For Islamic Area Studies” here Saturday.
Raja Nazrin said from the beginning, this was what Islamic studies was supposed to be, and indeed it was this attitude and approach that had led to the flowering of all fields of knowledge in the golden days of the early Muslim civilisations.
Past achievements of the Muslims in science, architecture, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, literature, history, arts and calligraphy could not have been accomplished without this conceptual framework of knowledge, he said.
Raja Nazrin, who is University of Malaya Pro-Chancellor, said while the place of the classical texts such as the al-Quran, hadiths and commentaries of scholars, and subjects such as Islamic jurisprudence, syariah, usuluddin and tafsir would remain as the irreducible core of Islamic studies, the tools and methodologies used and the references employed should be continuously improved and updated.
“Likewise it is also necessary to try to understand the different spatial and chronological contexts within which Islam has evolved in order to understand its uniqueness,” he said.
He said that in Malaysia, Islamic studies were not new. In fact, he said, it was as old as the history of Islam’s presence in the region.
“But what is probably new is the attempt, especially but not exclusively, by the government to review and renew Islamic studies to make it more relevant to the needs of the present without undermining its original mission,” he said.
He said Malaysia had been widely recognised as an exemplar of a modern, progressive and moderate Muslim country and had demonstrated that economic development and technology were not incompatible with Islam.
Malaysia can thus become a voice in the global debate, helping to correct the current inter-religious misunderstandings that are dangerously dividing the world,” he said.
Raja Nazrin said in recent years, Islam and Muslims had come under intensive and critical global scrutiny while among non-Muslims, there was a desire to learn more about the religion.
The interest was motivated not only by intellectual curiosity but also by the recognition that Islam constituted a dynamic force in the contemporary world order, he said.
As a result, Raja Nazrin said, publications on subjects related to Islam had increased phenomenally.
For instance, he added, the publication of the Quran and its translations into various languages had witnessed a marked increase.
“In Japan itself, I understand there are no less than seven different translated versions of the Quran. Research centres, institutions and projects focusing on Islam have mushroomed everywhere,” he said.
Islamic studies had also become a popular course in universities and colleges all over the world, with many Islamic universities and colleges established including in non-Muslim countries, he added.
The conference was organised by Japan’s National Institute for the Humanities (NIHU) in partnership with the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya (UM).
Also present were UM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Ghauth Jasmon, NIHU General Director Prof Sato Tsugitaka and Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Horie Masahiko.
The three-day conference was attended by about 200 participants from 20 countries representing more than 60 universities and research institutions worldwide.