Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation (CASIS)

An institute that seeks to inculcate authentic Islamic knowledge and profound understanding of other historic civilisations and the contemporary world.

The Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science, and Civilisation (CASIS) is a new centre of excellence at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and is linked to the Faculty of Islamic Civilisation (FTI).

CASIS seeks to promote post-graduate scholarship and learning for the advancement of knowledge in the fields of study relating to Islam, Science, and Civilisation and their allied sciences under the ambit of the worldview of Islam in full cognisance of relevant developments in other civilisations, especially in the contemporary world.

The Concept of Religion in Islam

By Prof. Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

The concept couched in the term din, which is generally understood to mean religion, is not the same as the concept religion as interpreted and understood throughout Western religious history. When we speak of Islam and refer to it in English as a ‘religion’, we mean and understand by it the din¹, in which all the basic connotations inherent in the term din are conceived as gathered into a single unity of coherent meaning as reflected in the Holy Qur’an and in the Arabic language to which it belongs.

The Neo-Ghazalian, Attasian Perspective

"The Neo-Ghazalian, Attasian project in the late twentieth-century, however long the Muslim world might have taken in producing it, represents a blueprint for a philosophical dimension of not only tahafut - deconstruction, but also tajdid - renaissance. This renaissance does not surrender to 'modernity' or reject it utterly; but understands it, confirms its positive aspects and rejects its excesses - just as al-Ghazali did in his engagement with the philosophical foundations of Avicennian/ Aristotelian worldview. With that paradigm well and truly established, change in the Muslim world need not be negotiated by means of Western notions of modernity - but in a way that ultimately transcends them. For this, the ummah should be grateful to Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas." - M. Afifi al-Akiti and H.A HellyerThe Negotiation of Modernity Through Tradition In Contemporary Muslim Intellectual Discourse: The Neo-Ghazalian, Attasian PerspectiveSource: Himpunan Keilmuan Muslim (HAKIM)

Dr. Syed Ali Tawfik Al-Attas: Sejarah Ringkas Ilmu Mantiq

Setiap manusia telah diberikan keupayaan berfikir yang berkembang sejajar dengan pertumbuhan jasmani dan akali. Keupayaan berfikir ini mempunyai berbagai bentuk bergantung kepada tahap-tahap pertumbuhan yang berlainan. Pemikiran seseorang dibentuk oleh persekitarannya dan ini dapat dilihat pada rupa bentuk dan kaedah yang tertentu. Dengan kesungguhan seseorang berupaya membina pemikirannya menjadi matang dan bernas sehingga mengatasi pemikiran terdahulu. Semua itu hanya berlaku melalui pentaakulan dan penghujahan.

Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam

This is a very important book. No book of its kind, in profundity as well as magnitude of scope and comprehensive grasp of modern intellectual challenges facing the contemporary Muslim World, appeared in the last century. The book deals with the fundamental question of the nature of ‘worldview’ according to Islam—a question that has never really been raised in our time. The author proposes that the nature of the worldview of Islam is not merely the mind’s view of the physical world and of man’s historical, social, political and cultural involvement in it, as has been misunderstood in the minds of secular, contemporary Muslim scholars generally, and particularly those preoccupied with the social and political sciences, but it should bear upon the Muslims’ ideas about ‘change’, ‘development’, and ‘progress’.

The fundamental elements of the worldview of Islam, together with the key terms and concepts that they unfold, are elaborated in detail in this book.
Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam, Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas

IRCICA Award for Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Ircica Award for:
Prof. Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas
Professor Dr. Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud

The International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) is really privileged and takes great pleasure in announcing that Y.M. Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Founder-Director of ISTAC and the Holder of the al-Ghazali Chair of Islamic Thought, has been honored by the Islamic World as a distinguished scholar who will receive the IRCICA Award for excellent contributions to various fields of Islamic Civilization.

Scholars Profile: (Prof.) (Dr.) Zainiy Uthman

Muhammad Zainiy Uthman obtained his B.Sc (1996) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA). After having completed his M.A (1990) from the University of Chicago (USA), he joined ISTAC in 1991 as Junior Research Fellow at the invitation of Professor Al Attas. Upon completion of his Ph.D at ISTAC in 1997, he served as Research Fellow, then Senior Research Fellow.

He was Associate Professor and Curator of ISTAC Library from 2002-2003 and was awarded the British Chevening Fellowship (2003-2004) where he spent an academic year at the Oxford Centre as Visiting Fellow for Islamic Studies. In 2005-2006, he returned to Oxford as Visiting Fellow at the same centre.

He translated al-Attas’ “The Meaning and Experience of Happiness in Islamic” into Malay (ISTAC 2002). He is now co-editor with Prof. Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud of the Knowledge, Language, Thought and the Civilization of Islam: essays in Honor of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, which was launched this year.


Photo courtesy of Laskar Pujangga

The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Ed. John L. Esposito, Reviewed by Maryam Jameelah

[Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al‑Attas, ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia]

"The currency of modern educational ideas in the Islamic lands is a historical testimony to the epical failure of the Muslims over the past two hundred years, and practices are the slow, but inexorable, unravelling of the Muslim mind. Education in the contemporary world is like the most pervasive ‘conveyor belt’ transmitting the ideas of the dominant culture and the values system of politico‑economic elite to the credulous and dominated generations. Education in the true Foucaldian sense is plugged into the grid of reigning ideas and values, not necessarily predicated on ‘truth’. It is also a master technology of control, which leaves nothing untouched. The content of modern education and the whole process of schooling/disciplining are aimed at ‘manufacturing’ human beings to fulfil certain political and socio-economic objectives set by the political powers that be. The individual and the needs of his self are absent from the whole project of modern education.

Scholars Profile: (Prof.) (Dr.) Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud

Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud is director of Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation (CASIS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of Chicago under the late Fazlur Rahman in 1988, he was invited by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas to assist him at the newly established International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) in all the formal and non-formal academic development including library, publication and student affairs. From 1998-2002 he served as the Deputy Director of ISTAC.

From 2008 to February 2011 he served as Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Professor Wan Mohd Nor has written more than 13 books and monographs as well as more than 30 academic articles in local and international journals, of which the major ones are: The Concept of Knowledge in Islam: Its Implication for Education in a Developing Country (1989);  A Commentary on the Culture of Knowledge (Malay) (1990); The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas: An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamization (1998); Development in Malaysia: Towards a Holistic Understanding (Malay) (2000); 2 books of philosophical-mystical Malay poetry (2003 and 2004); Hadhari Muslim Society: An Epistemological and Educational Approach Towards National Unity (Malay) (2006); a book co-authored with Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The ICLIF Leadership Competency Model: An Islamic Alternative (2007); a book co-edited with Muhammad Zainiy Uthman, Knowledge, Language, Thought and The Civilization of Islam: Essays in Honor of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (UTM, 2010). Several of his books, articles and monographs have been translated into Malay, Indonesian, Turkish, Japanese, Persian, Russian, Bosnian and Macedonian.

Ibn Khaldun: Muqaddimah

Ibn Khaldūn (full name, Arabic: أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي‎, Abū Zayd ‘Abdu r-Raḥman bin Muḥammad bin Khaldūn Al-Hadrami, May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH) was an Arab polymath — an astronomer, economist, historian, Islamic jurist, Islamic lawyer, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, hafiz,mathematician, military strategist, nutritionist, philosopher, social scientist and statesman — born in North Africa in present-day Tunisia. He is best known for his Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomenon in English).
Ibn Khaldun's Magnum Opus


This impressive document is a gist of his wisdom and hard earned experience. He would use his political and first hand knowledge of the people of Maghrib to formulate many of his ideas. This document would summarize Ibn Khaldun’s ideas about every field of knowledge during his day. He would discuss a variety of topics. He would discuss History and Historiography. He would rebuke some of the historical claims with a calculated logic. He would discuss the current sciences of his days. He would talk about astronomy, astrology, and numerology. He would discuss Chemistry, alchemy and Magic in a scientific way. He would freely offer his opinions and document well the "facts" of the other point of view. His discussion of Tribal societies and social forces would be the most interesting part of his thesis. He would illuminate the world with deep insight into the workings and makings of kingdoms and civilizations. His thesis that the conquered race will always emulate the conqueror in every way. His theory about Asbyiah (group feeling) and the role that it plays in Bedouin societies is insightful. His theories of the science of Umran (sociology) are all pearls of wisdom. His Introduction is his greatest legacy that he left for all of humanity and the generations to come. (Source: muslimphilosophy.com)

Prof. Naquib al-Attas: The Concept of Education in Islam

The keynote address delivered by Prof. Naquib al-Attas at the "First World Conference on Muslim Education" in March 1977.
ISTAC

Alhambra

The most impressive monument to Muslim engineering in the Western world the Alhambra towers over Granada in southern Spain. Discover how it was built and why.

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Professor Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (born September 5, 1931) is a prominent contemporary Muslim philosopher and thinker from Malaysia. 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. He is considered to be the pioneer in proposing the idea of Islamization of Knowledge. 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.

When Muslims Ruled Europe

The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain

Al Ghazali - The Alchemist of Happiness

Exploring the life and impact of the greatest spiritual and legal philosopher in Islamic history, this film examines Ghazali's existential crisis of faith that arose from his rejection of religious dogmatism, and reveals profound parallels with our own times. Ghazali became known as the Proof of Islam and his path of love and spiritual excellence overcame the pitfalls of the organised religion of his day. His path was largely abandoned by early 20th century Muslim reformers for the more strident and less tolerant school of Ibn Taymiyya. Combining drama with documentary, this film argues that Ghazali's Islam is the antidote for today's terror.

Dr. Timothy Winter: The life and works of al-Ghazali

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas: An Introduction by Claude Alvares

Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas is one of the towering intellectual giants of our era, one who has written consistently, wisely, uncompromisingly and well on the Islamic understanding of knowledge. That is why this particular chapter from his book, Islam and Secularism, has been selected for this Multiversity series. Not only does it lay out in succinct fashion the distinct and separate Western and Islamic approaches to knowledge, it also goes on to outline the overall scheme of knowledge acquisition that should inform education in Muslim societies – or Muslim institutions of learning in plural societies – in today’s world.

Prof. Al-Attas has remained one of the most impressive scholars of Islam and of the Islamization of contemporary knowledge. He was associated with the founding of several universities including the National University of Malaysia as well as the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC). His biography is impossible to summarize in a few words. A detailed account is available at Wikipedia.

BBC: An Islamic History of Europe

Documentary: When Muslims Ruled Europe

An insightful documentary into the prosperity Islam engendered in Europe during its glorious reign there.

BBC Science and Islam: Part 1: The Language of Science

BBC Science and Islam: Part 2: The Empire of Reason

PBS: Islam: Empire of Faith - The Awakening

This documentary is about the Awakening of the world under Islam - the advancements and discoveries credited to Islam as a system that ran society.

Kisah langsung dari Prof. Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas

Q: Boleh Prof. ceritakan sedikit bagaimana ISTAC ini dibina?

The Significance of Imam al-Ghazālī's Works

Part 1: Who was Imam al-Ghazali?

1. Imam Al Ghazali is Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad, abu Hamid Hujjat al-Islam al Ghazali al Tusi, The Shafi'i Imam, Proof of Islam, and sufi adept born in Tabiran, near Tus ( just north of the present day Mashhad, Iran), in 450/1058. The imam of his time, nicknamed Shafi'i the second for his legal viruousity, he was a brilliant intellectual who first studied jurisprudence at Tus, and then traveled the Islamic world to Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Mecca and Medina, taking sacred knowledge from its masters, among them the imam of the two sanctuaries Juwayni, with whom he studied until the imams death, becoming at his hands a scholar in Shafi'i law, logic, tenets of faith, debate, and in the rationalistic doctrines of the philosophical schools of his time, which he later was called upon to refute. When Juwayni died, Ghazali debated the Imams and scholars of Baghdad in the presence of the vizier Nizam al-Mulk, who was so impressed that he appointed him to a teaching post at the Nizamiyya Academy in Baghdad, where word of his brilliance spread, and scholars journeyed to hear him.

2. He was known as "the Proof of Islam" (Hujja al-Islam), "Ornament of the Faith," "Gatherer of the Multifarious Sciences," "Great Siddîq," absolute mujtahid, a major Shafi'i jurist, heresiographer and debater, expert in the principles of doctrine and those of jurisprudence.

Islam and Secularism - Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

"This book was originally dedicated to the emergent Muslim, for whose hearing and understanding it was indeed meant, in the hope that they would intelligently prepared, when their times come, to weather with discernment the pestilential winds of secularization and with courage to create necessary changes in the realm of our thinking that is still floundering in the sea of bewilderment and self-doubt." - Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam & Secularim (1993)

Al-Attas - Islam and Secularism

Written more than twenty years ago, this book is one of the most creative and original works of a Muslim thinker in the contemporary Muslim world.

Deliverance From Error - Imam Ghazali

Deliverance From Error and the Attachment to the Lord of Might and Majesty - Imam Ghazzali

Instruction of the Student (the Method of Learning), By Imam Zarnuji

This is a remarkable volume that touches upon the method by which students of the classical Muslim world learned their studies in a traditional way. Its author, Imam al-Zarnuji, has attracted the attention of Western men of learning for centuries, as they tried to decipher the secret behind the stunning educational success of Islamic civilization.

"This book should be a starting point for the revival of the Islamic intellectual tradition that has always been the preamble to Islamic Renaissance," writes Hamza Yusuf in his foreword to the book.

Ta'lim Muta'alim