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