TAFHIM: IKIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World

Towards a Scientific Approach for Integrating Science’s Outputs and Islamic Concepts—Part 2

Ahmed Mabrouk — 2023-12-26

The intellectual Muslim community lives in a dichotomy between faith and science. On one hand, the Islamic teaching tells us that knowledge brings us closer to God and substantiates our faith with rational evidence. On the other hand, the predominant western culture in scientific circles rejects the concept of believing in the unseen and classifies it under the topic of metaphysics, with all the negative connotations associated with this topic. As a result, the path of living according to faith and the path of scientific investigation grew divergent from each other, with no apparent point of intersection. This article is aimed at removing the obstacles erected by the empiricists in the scientific method, which hinder the integration of religious knowledge and scientific output in a unified framework. Our discussion of the scientific method from an Islamic perspective shows that rational and empirical faculties can be utilised to their fullest potential in a complementary manner. Emerging from the concept that religion and science are two valuable engines of human civilisation, an ideologybased approach for the study of natural systems can be adopted. This second part of the article sets the foundation for integrating induction and deduction in a unified framework.

Worldview, Strategy, and Strategic Principles in Three Muslim Military Treatises

Muhammad Husni Mohd Amin — 2023-12-26

This study looks into the origins of strategy in Islām and its development from metaphysical, historiographical, and textual perspectives. Corresponding “strategy” with the terms siyāsah, ḥiyal, and tadbīr in Muslim lexicology, it uses semantic field analysis to examine how the term and concept have been used by the Muslims, particularly within the Sunnī-Ashʿarite metaphysical framework. Historiographical method is used to examine the development of strategy from pre-Islamic times, during the Prophetic period, and in the significant periods of the ʿAbbasid-Ayyūbid partnership and the beginning of the Timūrid era. The study also examines the text of three Muslim military treatises, each representing a different Muslim era in order to postulate the existence of an Islamic military tradition. Finally, the study analyses interpretatively the recurrent themes across the selected works and summarises them into strategic principles.

Population Outside the Labour Force, Its Causes and Potential: A Review from An Islamic Perspective

Nur Syahidah Abdul Jalil — 2023-12-26

The population outside the labour force refers to individuals who are not classified as employed or unemployed. The Department of Statistics Malaysia have classified individuals who are not interested in jobs into six main reasons: (1) attending school or training programmes, (2) homeworking or family responsibilities, (3) pursuing further studies, (4) disability, (5) disinterest, and (6) retirement. Based on the data, there is no specific trend to the population outside the labour force in Malaysia. However, there are concerns about the lack of information on the population outside the labour force in Malaysia which may result in them being discounted from the labour force. On the flip side, technological advancement, working arrangement, and new “non-standard” employment are part of the factors that may have influenced this population to remain outside of the labour force. This paper highlights the importance of revisiting the meaning of employment, especially in the new way of working arrangements so that policymakers are able to assemble accurate labour market information in making strategic moves in accordance with the needs and demands of every sector. In addition, this paper also explores the Islamic view of the trend in the wider context, going beyond the terms of wage and profit.

Kasb: A Comparative Study of the Concept of Economics in Islamic and Modern Economics

Amru Sazali — 2023-12-26

Kasb literature is a genre of works highlighting the exhortation to work and be involved in worldly material affairs, while being attentive to its perils, on the grounds that true reliance is on God alone and each individual man is responsible for his own actions, which must adhere to the boundaries of ethics and morality (akhlāq). Unlike modern economics, the concept of kasb emerges from the outlook of absolute monotheism; thus, man’s involvement in economic activities from the kasb point of view has spiritual and transcendental purposes. On the other hand, modern economics deals only with the physical and material aspects of life, disregarding especially the metaphysical aspects of man. The usage of the term kasb in referring to economics-related discussions can be found persistently throughout the Islamic intellectual tradition, especially in works concerning ethics and spiritual manuals on embarking on a righteous life. Unfortunately, this genre of literature has been scantily explored to date. Hence, this paper aims to examine and analyse the concept of kasb in the Islamic economic tradition and compare it to its parallel in modern economics. The first section deals with the term kasb as used in the works of past scholars. It will then be followed by the discussion on the concept of kasb and a suggestion on the reorientation of the meaning of economics. Understanding the concept of kasb provides a proper basis for the actualisation of wholesome work (alkasb al-ṭayyib) to attain the overarching objectives of the common good (al-maṣlaḥah al-ʿāmmah) and the good life (al-ḥayāh al-ṭayyibah).

Shaykh Jalāl al-Dīn bin Kamāl al-Dīn al-Āshī and His Asrār al‐Sulūk ilā Malik al-Mulūk

Azmi Mohammed Nor — 2023-12-26

During its heyday, Acheh was not only a commercial, but also an Islamic intellectual center in the Malay archipelago that produced several prominent Muslim scholars or ‛ulamā’ who enriched Islamic literary works. The most illustrious among the native sons of Acheh were Ḥamzah al-Fansūrī, Shams al-Dīn b. ‘Abd Allāh al-Sumatrānī , and ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf al-Fanṣūrī al-Sinkilī. Hitherto, the study on native Achehnese ‛ulamā’ of the seventeenth century has largely focused on these illustrious figures while little attention has been paid to another native Achehnese ‛ālim, namely Shaykh Fāqih Jalāl al-Dīn b. Kamāl al-Dīn b. Qadhi Baginda Khatīb at-Tarusanī al-Āshī despite the fact that he held a very prominent position of Qāḍī Malik al-‘Adil, equivalent to Supreme Court Judge during the reigns of Sulṭān ‘Alā´ al-Dīn Maharaja Lela Ahmad Shah (r. 1727-1735 CE) and Sulṭān ‘Alā´ al-Dīn Johan Shah (r. 1735-1760 CE). Furthermore, the study of his literary works has mainly centered around his works on jurisprudence (fiqh), thus neglecting his literary contribution in taṣawwuf. This article therefore wishes to bring to light his valuable contributions in the field of taṣawwuf through his work Asrār al‐Sulūk Ilā Maliki al-Mulūk rendered into Malay by the author himself as Rahsia Menjalani Jalan kepada Raja Segala Raja so that he is properly recognized not only as a fāqih, but also a ṣūfī.

Pendekatan Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī dalam Menyantuni Ḥadīth-Ḥadīth yang Menyanggah Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: Sorotan Fatḥ al-Bārī bi Sharḥ Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī

Ahmad Izzuddin Abu Bakar — 2023-12-26

Undoubtedly, much research has been done on the method of dealing mutually contradicting hadiths. However, a review on books of hadith commentaries reveals more detailed approaches hitherto unmentioned. The objective of this paper is to identify the approach used by Ibn Ḥajar al- ʿAsqalānī in his Fatḥ al-Bārī bi Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī in addressing ḥadīths that convey contradictory meanings to the ḥadīths of al-Bukhārī. It uses the method of content analysis on the first chapter, Badʾ al-Waḥy, which consisted of elaborations of eight ḥadīths. The result shows that there are four approaches conducted by Ibn Ḥajar that can be derived from the chapter. These are: rejecting the contradictory ḥadīths if their status is weak; pointing to the different contexts in which the ḥadīths are uttered; acknowledging the meanings of the ḥadīths in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī as the norm; and concluding that the matn of the ḥadīths is an expression of the transmitters themselves.