Intellectual Discourse (Journal)
Not a member yet
597 research outputs found
Sort by
April 2009 “Tri-elections” in Malaysia: Maintaining the Status Quo
Get PDFBy-elections held after the 12th general elections held on March 8, 2008 are of special significance as they indicate the level of support gained by the opposition as well as the receding popularity of the ruling coalition. The three by-elections (hence called tri-elections), one parliamentary and two state assemblies, held in April 2009 show that the composition of the federal parliament and the state assembly of Kedah and Sarawak remained the same. The PR garnered multiethnic support in the peninsula while BN remains strong in Sarawak
The Place of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Kitāb al-Mashāʿir in Izutsu’s Philosophy
No full textAbstract: This paper examines Izutsu’s study of Islamic philosophy, notably his work on Mullā Ṣadrā’s Kitāb al-Mashāʿir, a philosophical treaties on existence and quiddity, in a wider framework of his philosophical thinking. From his younger days Izutsu had been interested in philosophical systems that were based on thinkers’ own unitive experience of the Reality. Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophical thesis of the “principality of existence” (aṣālat al-wujūd) based on his own unitive experience was of special interest to Izutsu. He analysed Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophy of mystical experience using the function of semantic articulation of language and showed how the non-articulated reality of the mystic’s ecstatic experience with no meaning becomes meaningful. Izutsu’s study of Islamic philosophy such as Mullā Ṣadrā’s may be seen as a case study of his “Oriental Philosophy.&rdquo
An Islamic Approach to Studying History: Reflections on Ibn Khaldūn’s Deterministic Historical Approach
Get PDFAbstract: This paper argues that patterns exist in history, and that these can —and should — be discerned. By doing this, Muslim intellectuals will only be resuming an intellectual and spiritual journey begun over 600 years ago, by Ibn Khaldūn, who invented sociology and the scientific study of history, basing himself on the methodology of the Qur´ān. This paper examines Khaldūn’s deterministic historical approach, comparing it to the secular attempt to understand history in Karl Marx’s “historical materialism.” Khaldūn’s classification of societies (as being either based on human fiṭrah or tending towards an animal-like existence) is examined and applied to current conditions. It is argued that Muslims need to learn how to use Khaldūn’s deterministic approach, critically applying it to today’s changed conditions, to contribute to the conscious creation of a new, Allah-centred global civilisation
Iqbal’s Interpretation of the Legend of the Fall: A Critique
Get PDFAbstract: Modernism in religion or modernist approach to religion involves demythologisation in one or the other form, to a lesser or greater degree. Iqbal’s approach to Islam can be considered as modernist and his attempt at demythologising the Qur´ānic myths is in line with this approach. A detailed critique of his interpretation (demythologisation) of the Qur´ānic narrative of genesis is attempted from the traditionalist viewpoint. Islam’s incompatibility with modern scientific project and sensibility that informs demythologisation movement is foregrounded. Iqbal does not take full cognisance of the metaphysical dimensions of the Qur´ānic narrative and appropriates certain modern scientific notions in his interpretation of the legend
