Countering Radicalisation without Stigmatisation
The recent ISA arrests of self-radicalised teenagers is a potent reminder of the dual nature of diversity: it can divide us, but also strengthen us. Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib discusses this duality and the mindset needed to harness the best of our diverse society.
Who Defines Malay Muslim Issues Today? The Funneling Effects
Over the years, the Malay Muslim (MM) community has seen a myriad of issues surfacing in public discussions. They form a cluster of developmental concerns that can broadly be categorised as, socio-economic, religious, cultural, and inter-communal.
These four clusters of issues often overlap and are not mutually exclusive.
Empowering Reason through a Critical Reading of Al-Ghazali and Ibn Taymiyyah
In the 8th principle of Imam Razvi, it is stated that “Islam is philosophy”. Philosophy is literally “the love of wisdom”, where sophia is the Greek word for ‘wisdom’. In Arabic, wisdom is synonymous with hikmah. And in one hadith it was narrated that “Hikmah (wisdom) is the lost property of the believer.” (Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2687)
Neo-modernist Orientation of Muslimah Activists in Malaysia
Creeping Islamism in Malaysia is a subject that comes up time and again in the media. Topics range from interfaith relations to the constitution and hudud laws. Though, few are as controversial and personal as women and gender roles in the domestic realm. The discourse is often polarised, with activists uncritically labelled as ‘conservatives’ or ‘liberals’. But away from catchy headlines, what is the actual orientation of activists from Female Muslim (Muslimah) NGOs? To that end, I interviewed 14 Muslimah activists and explore their religious orientation using Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge (SoK) approach.