Sejahtera Academic Framework (SAF)

14 13 MOVING FORWARDWITH THE PHILOSOPHY, VISION ANDMISSION The University level academic review is braced by the Philosophy, Vision and Mission of the University which seek to reform the Muslim Ummah by Islamising Human Knowledge, integrating Revelation and Reason, such that every action is an act of worship ( 'ibādah ). The philosophy of the University was inspired by the recommendations of the first World Conference on Muslim Education held in Mecca in A.H. 1398/ A.D. 1977. The spirit of this philosophy is based on the Holy Qur’ān , in particular the five verses revealed to the Prophet Muhammad SAW namely Al-’Alaq , verses 1 – 5: Read! In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created Created man, out of a leech-like clot Read! And they Lord is Most Bountiful He Who taught (the use of) the Pen Taught man that which he knew not According to this philosophy, knowledge shall be propagated in the spirit of Tawḥīd , leading towards the recognition of Allah as the Absolute Creator and Master of mankind. The spirit behind this recognition of Allah as the Lord of the Worlds ( Rabb al- ʿ ālamīn ) represents the apex in the hierarchy of knowledge. Thus, all disciplines of knowledge should lead towards subservience of this truth. This is because knowledge is a form of trust ( amānah ) fromAllah to humankind, and hence man should utilise knowledge according to Allah’s will in performing his role as the servant and vicegerent ( khalīfah ) of Allah on earth. In this way, the seeking of knowledge is regarded as an act of worship. Colonialism and secularisation that inundate Muslim Ummah which have systematically challenges Islamic institutions, beliefs, and practices, divorcing revelation from everyday activities necessitate the University to reintegrate the three sources of knowledge: revelation ( waḥy ), reason ( ‘aql ), and the universe ( al kawn ) (Abu Sulayman, 1989). The strength of the Ummah is Islam. Colonialism and the process of secularism in the Muslim world isolate Islam from everyday life of every Muslim, weaken and disintegrate the Ummah . Indeed, the world has witnessed the disastrous consequences of the moral failure of secularism, secular modernity, secularised knowledge and secular-humanistic modern civilisation grounded upon the epistemology of autonomous human reason and the ontology of naturalism and materialism (M. Kamal Hasan, 2013). Secularism and colonialism have demoted the great principles inherent in Islam that is of an active, motivating, and inspiring in directing the spirit and lives of Muslims into a rigid formalism that was incapable of inspiring or of directing the spirit and lives of Muslims. They have impaired Muslim unity and distracting its scholars from the original sources and unsullied fountainheads of Islam. Isolating Islam from everyday life, and twisting it into a dogmatic labyrinth, ensnaring the hearts and minds of many Muslims, reshaping its thinking and clouding their Islamic vision (Faruqi, 1988). At the intellectual level, the intellectual incursion, change, and disruption that was introduced by secularism, especially in the social sciences and the humanities, was of such enormous proportions as to make the Muslims either overlook Islamic thought and legacy or, at best, to simply study it and treat it as an ancient phenomenon neither needed by nor relevant to contemporary life. Establishment of these sciences was in accordance with Western circumstances and goals and rooted in its ideological worldview. Hence, these sciences reflect the Western-centric values, concepts, and beliefs, upon which all Western aspects of behaviour, activity, and social institutions are established. While these disciplines are acceptable and compatible with Western objectives, they may not be compatible with Islamic values (Abu Sulayman,1989). IIUM is to reverse the secularisation process, to Islamicise human knowledge by reintegrating Revelation and Reason such that every action is an ‘ibādah .