This study evaluates the concept of interreligious dialogue and its relation to Islam. It engages in textual analysis and the historical interpretation of the Qur'an and Sunnah. The analysis includes the treatment of early Muslim rulers, especially the second caliph of Islam ``Umar,'' for the followers of other religions in an attempt to understand the nature of interreligious dialogue in Islam. The research shows how Islam plays a unique role in promoting interreligious dialogue by providing justice, equal rights, and the (...) freedom of religious beliefs and practices of any religion, culture, and civilization as well as accepting all previous prophets as the Prophets of Islam. The study concludes with the strongest emphasis that Islam is a comprehensive religion that advocates harmonious interreligious relationships. It can be taken as a model for mitigating interreligious conflicts and for promoting interreligious harmony and peaceful co-existence in this world of diverse faiths and traditions. (shrink)

Wasl al-Fiqh bi al-Hadith integrates jurisprudence and hadith so that it enables fiqh experts to rely on hadith in formulating their rulings while hadith experts can derive a more accurate interpretation. Among others, this concept is applied at Aceh traditional dayah as the oldest Islamic educational institution in the Malay Archipelago which Acehness put their respect as the reference in Islamic rulings and teaching. This field study took place at Dayah Mudi Mesra, Samalanga, Aceh, due to its long-established reputation and (...) great influence among Acehnese. The study aims to shed some light on the concept of wasl al-Fiqh bi al-Hadith according to some Islamic scholars, analyze the concept as perceived by the traditional Dayah of Aceh, and portray the polemic on Friday prayer ritual as prescribed by the traditional Dayah. The study employs qualitative data collection instruments consisting of library data, interviews, observations, and documentation. Inductive, deductive, and comparative methods were used for data analysis. The study found that implementation of this concept at the Dayah has been synonymous with the exclusive adoption of Shafi’i school as it heavily relies on several Shafi’i books or opinions of Shafi’i scholars as primary references. Copyright © 2021 by al-ihkam. All Right Reserved. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a huge impact on Malaysia since the first Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented in March 2020. All sectors including the economic sector, tourism, services, sports, the religious sector and entertainment have been subjected to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), such as the wearing of face masks, hygienic care and physical distancing. Although compliance with the SOPs can still be questioned, it is undeniable that it has changed the society’s way of living in Malaysia as (...) the people are urged to adopt and adapt to the new norms in order to combat the spread of the virus. In fact, social change in times of COVID-19 can be considered as a new ‘urf (custom) practiced by the whole Islamic world. The issue is that these new changes coming with the application of the various SOPs for virus prevention are claimed to be for the benefit of religion, health, economy and education. Through phenomenal methodologies/Using a phenomenological methodology, this study emphasizes two main objectives, that are, explaining social change due to COVID-19 in Malaysia and analysing the correlation between social change and the parameters of maqāsid al-sharī‘ah (the higher purposes of Shari’ah) in each new practice. In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the current social change must correspond with maqasid al-shari’ah especially in dealing with the matters of the religion. © 2021, University of Management and Technology. All rights reserved. (shrink)

This study primarily seeks to find out the impact of modern schools of thought, their reading of revelation and their attempt to turn the sacred constant to the human variable that allows absolute and infinite interpretation. This study also examines the theories, doctrines and philosophical foundations that were the reason for the existence of these schools. It also investigates the applications of these modern thoughts on doctrines. This study aims at demonstrating the methodological and scientific imbalance of these schools of (...) thought and their projections on revelation. The study makes use of a comparative analytical approach that analyses and assesses these schools and approaches. The study concludes that Hermeneutics as a modern approach take on interpreting the holy text and in particular in regard to belief issues are far from the best practices of interpretation and that they distort the source of meaning and message. © 2020, University of Malaya. All rights reserved. (shrink)

The antique Cittā system of medicine has survived since age old period in southern part of India because of its firm basic tenets of Indian Philosophy. While the present day scientific community rejects the intellectual elements used by traditional disciplines claiming them as erroneous belief, it has become mandatory to validate the subjective parameters such as “Aḷavaikaḷ” in classical Cittā text through scientific methodology. The term “Aḷavaikaḷ” in Cittā literature can be referred to as Logics or the prime units of (...) measurement used in the ancient times for disease diagnosis and prognosis. It was also known by the terminology “Piramāṇaṅkaḷ” which constitute the first ever tool in the quest for knowledge. In this review all these traditional tools of knowledge have been carefully analysed and has been interpreted on scientific grounds to overlook on this traditional concept of Cittā literature with no scope of any myth or fallacy and aims to unravel the relationship between the philosophy of Aḷavaikaḷ with that of epistemology and Logical reasoning. © 2020, Hampstead Psychological Associates. All rights reserved. (shrink)

Drawing from secondary literature and three years of fieldwork in various post-conflict societies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, this article revisits the conceptual development of a term ‘Transitional Justice ’ in order to illuminate the political construction and deconstruction of TJ in international politics. Major patterns and themes are identified within the international thought and practice of TJ to unravel its potentials and pitfalls, with the aim to emphasise the difficulty in ‘defining justice’ in war-torn societies. TJ mechanisms (...) are explored which indicate more culpability for perpetrators and compensation for victims in the midst of authoritarianism and civil wars across the globe. There is an immediate pragmatic need to move beyond rigid and thick legal positivist traditions and going beyond romanticising ‘liberal’ values that TJ represent in arriving at an epistemological understanding about TJ. As such, and drawing from poststructuralist intellectual strands in International Relations, this article illuminates the unstable binary distinction between the idea that both law and politics represents in ‘defining’ TJ. (shrink)

The theory of maqasid al-shari’ah refers to the higher objectives of Islamic law set out by the Lawgiver in order to ensure human welfare through achieving every possible benefit and avoiding any potential danger. It is hard to trace the precise term maqasid al-shari’ah in the literature of early Islamic legal thought. However, this absence does not necessarily mean that maqasidic approach was absent in the early period of legal thought. It rather has been keeping abreast of the developments of (...) literature of Islamic legal thought, albeit the concept was theorized and crystallized in the later period. The concept remained the same with full reservation within the circle of few early scholars. Moreover, the contemporary studies continue focusing mainly on a few traditional aspects of the theory. Meanwhile, the development and evolution of the theory requires study of all discussions contributed to it by the pioneers to discover new insights. It also requires study of some other aspects of the maqasid theory that will contribute to the Islamic jurisprudence for the modern society. At this very point, this paper aims to present a review of the contemporary literature on the pioneers of theory of maqasid al-shari’ah and to suggest a few research directions for future developments. The paper will employ an historical and content analysis method to achieve its objective. The expected outcome of the paper is that it will serve as a base for future studies in Islamic jurisprudence. (shrink)

Hindus possess their own unique religious beliefs and practices and they have been inherited from one generation to another for centuries. Yet the religious beliefs and practices of Hindus living in India varies from that of Hindus living elsewhere or outside India. The best exemplification of the differences is the religious practice of Malaysian Hindus as they have introduced a new trend in the Hindu religious practice by building shrines for deities within their residence compound. It is a new phenomenon (...) amongst the Malaysian Hindu community and also it is envisaged as a problem in the nation as most shrines built illegally without the consent of the local authorities. As yet no research is found on the subject and it is recommended that a study must be carried out in order to ascertain whether the building of shrines within the residence compound is permitted in theAgmnic rules of Hinduism. This article aims at looking at the literatures related to the phenomenon of establishing shrines within the residence compound which would help one to conduct a research on the above-mentioned subject. (shrink)

The worship of Lord Muruga is not only an ancient religious practice of the Tamils but it is also being a bridge to connect the civilization, culture, beliefs and tradition of them. The Sanggam literature hails Lord Muruga as the Lord of the Kurunji land. But even the Vedas which were written long before the Sang gam literature praise Lord Muruga with special superiority. Among the four Vedas namely Rig, Yajur, Sarna, Aiharoa, Rig Veda is considered to be the oldest. (...) Even in the Rig Veda, there found many pieces of information about Lord Muruga. Lord Muruga is referred to as Agnibhu, Sadasapati, Skanda and Subramanya. What do the names means? What is the significance of Lord Muruga in the Vedas? The article aims at giving a clear insight into all these aspects. In order to prove it with evidence, the Vedic verses and Maha Vakyas of Lord Muruga are also given with their meaning. Furthermore, in order to reinforce the points, research materials found in Ramayana, Bagavath Gita and Upanishads are also incorporated. (shrink)

Epistemology, a branch of philosophy, examines and contributes as a theory of knowledge by considering the nature and definition of knowledge as being truth within certain limitations while ontology defines the nature of being, entities that can exist and their categories in groups, hierarchies, or divisions. The main aim of this paper is to embrace on the pre-understanding of epistemology and ontology, regardless of their schools of thought as it will provide them the proper guidance and a philosophical dualist perspective. (...) Four domains of epistemic assumptions have been identified but one is incoherent due to the mismatch between epistemology and ontology. Though each epistemic assumption has its own interpretation in management research, there is no particular domain that can be considered right or wrong, perfect or imperfect. A proper and effective research design is the major concern in management research, where the researcher’s epistemic and methodological self-directed actions or reflexivity may put an essence in it. (shrink)

As a multiracial nation, Malaysia has the potential to accept various thoughts and life philosophy from the illustrious text of each community. It is evident that the concept of Islam Hadhari introduced by YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Alunad Badawi shares a lot of similarities with Thirukkural. The three elements namely economy, social and politics are emphasized in these two doctrines. But the vast difference is Islam Hadhari holds on to Allah whereas Thirukkural adheres to 'the merciful God'. Yet this is (...) not contrary to the concept of 'God' stipulated in these two texts. So it is evident that the faith in God is very much emphasized in both Thirukkural and Islam Hadhari. Good and diligent government gives importance to intelligence and moral in an administration. The possession of power and economy must be in accordance with rules of Islam Hadhari. Thirukural teaches equality and prudence in economy management. Islam hadhari and Thirukkural prioritises the perseverance of nature. It is one of the similarities. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to outline the delineating features of a Qur’an-Sunnah hermeneutic of one of the contemporary Muslim schools of thought, here named Neo-traditional Salafism(NTS).The first section of the article provides a brief discussion of the main representatives of NTS. In the second part NTS is positioned in relation to the broader Islamic tradition. This is done so with respect to the relative status and authenticity of various sources of legal authority in the Islamic tradition and with (...) a special attention given to the concept of Sunna. In the third part of the article NTS’ Sunna hermeneutic is examined more closely and its interpretational implications are noted. The fourth section describes the NTS approach to Qur’anic hermeneutics and its interpretational implications. The author argues that in terms of their methodology of interpretation of the Qur’an-Sunnah NTS is closely related to that of the pre-modern ahl-hadith school of thought as both NTS and ahl-hadith hermeneutic are characterized by a philologically centred interpretational orientation; textual ‘intentionalism’, i.e. the subscription to a voluntaristic view of law, ethics, morality and ontology; the belief in the fixed, stable nature of the meaning of the Qur’anic text residing in totality in the mind of its Originator, the interpretational marginalization of Qur’anic revelationary background; a ‘voluntarist–traditionalist’ view of the relationship between reason and revelation; textual segmentalist approach to the Qur’anic content and the illegitimacy of a hermeneutically priviledged aims (maqasid) and social benefit (maslaha) based approach to Qur’anic interpretation. (shrink)

Researchers here at this point to define the relationship between the government actions and the process of scientific activities. It can be also narrated in this way: How do politician’s attitudes, policies and decisions impact the scientific arena? In common wisdom, the functions of science and thinking in a closed society with a closed government is absolutely affected and is therefore canalized in the best case and even nonexistent as a result of suppression of free, independent thoughts in the worst (...) scenario. In this paper we shall look at the relationship between Islam, science and government in Iran from a historical perspective. We will shall by looking at science in Iran in the ancient period, in the Middle Age after the advent of Islam, and finally in the modern period. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to trace the evolution in the meaning of the concept of Sunnah prior to its classical definition, which largely confluences it with the concept of an authentic( ṣaḥīḥ) Ḥadīth as defined by the classical Ḥadīth sciences. This article will first describe the semanico-contextual changes in the meaning of the term Sunnah during the period under examination and then present a chronological analysis of the development of the concept ‘Sunnah’ in relation to the development of (...) the concept ‘authentic Ḥadīth’. This article argues that during the first four generations of Muslims, the concept ‘Sunnah’ remained epistemologically independent of the concept ‘authentic Ḥadīth’ and that evaluation of Sunnah compliance with a certain practice or belief remained methodologically independent to that of the concept of an authentic Ḥadīth, as defined by classical ʿulūm al-ḥadīth sciences. (shrink)