Nota Nilai

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MODERN VALUES, THOUGHT PATTERNS AND LEADERSHIP

BEHAVIOR

By

Roslan Abd Jelani

Preliminary Observation

The primary philosophical question about values can be stated as evolves

around what is the essential element of something that is called good or bad,

right or wrong, and true or false. In relation to ethics, this answer ultimately rests

upon the recognition of what constitutes a right action.

In contemporary sciences including management, discussions regarding

the notion of values are heavily influenced by epistemological framework of

modern secular worldview. In this case, the notion of values is being

communicated in a relative, purely natural, and segregated manner arising from

instincts or from the simple sensible perceptions and experiences. Historically,

this was the view developed by the thinkers in the Enlightenment period whose

deified human beings and based everything on the reasoning power. They have

succeeded in reducing the meaning of reality to the external experience of man

and thus removed the concept of reality as a category pertaining to God. 1

Therefore, as far as behavioral aspect of organizational leadership is

concerned, the value of an act is always determined solely by the opinions or

emotional attitudes of some observer. This type of approach in developing the

1 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Need for a Sacred Science (Surrey: Curzon Press, 1993), p. 7.

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notion of values has become fashionable in our time. Its rather complex in its

nature makes it not always easy to be fully understood.

Although it is suggested that the practical reason for the discussion of

values is directed by an end, i.e. the real good for man and society, but

disappointingly, because they are described in merely plain naturalistic and

rational terms, they do not have direct relevance to the religious virtue, and are

therefore, devoid of spiritual significance. Accordingly, most studies on values

tend to assume that their content pertain only to phenomena which are peculiar

to a particular period and may change in another period. The main cause of this

uncertain foundation of the content of values is due to the existence of doubt and

inner tension within the worldview of the Western civilization which brought about

numerous conflicting philosophies, theories, and doctrines. In this case, Syed

Muhammad Naquib al-Attas cautions:

The enquiring spirit of Western culture and civilization originated with

disenchantment towards religion as that civilization understands it.Religion in the sense we mean, as di>n, has never really taken rootin Western civilization due to its excessive and misguided love of theworld and secular life and of man and preoccupation with manssecular destiny. Its inquiring spirit is basically generated in a state ofdoubt and inner tension; the inner tension is the result of the clash ofconflicting elements and opposing values in the sustained dualism,while the doubts maintain the state of inner tension. The state ofinner tension in turn produces the insatiable desire to seek and toembark on a perpetual journey of discoveries.2

Driven by curiosity and innate desire to interpret values empirically and

rationally, based on sensible facts and experiences, modern secular Western

civilization has experienced a deformation instead of reformation of basic values,

2Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, p. 129.

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especially, in the way certain leaders understood their roles and lead their

organization and society.

We could observe that this form of thought regarding values involves the

invalidation or expansion of a major belief pattern one has about his/her

existence as a human being which results in existential crisis. Obviously, there is

no wisdom in this form of thought in providing directions regarding our wants and

needs, whether to enhance the human condition or to degrade it following our

powerful selfish desires, spurred by economic and individual interests. In the

behavioral pattern of modern leadership, this kind of understanding continues to

enhance their efforts in mastering the perfection of the human body, but at the

same time, they become oblivious of the human spiritual dimension.

As a consequence, the quality of life is meticulously measured through

economic criteria because mans intrinsic values are defined by his ability to

acquire material goods and preserve his physical environment. Although it is a

strong belief that only science and technology could ensure survival of human

race, world environment is deteriorating at a rate that seriously threatens the

world population, where many people, particularly in Asia and Africa, are

underfed or starving in spite of the overwhelming quantity of food produced. At

the same time, the global leadership ability to resolve human conflicts in

comparison to their potential for destruction is wanting. 3 This is most likely

what has being cautioned by Toffler when he said:

3 Adapted with modification from T. Hartman, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight(New York: NY,Harmony Books, 1999).

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The rise of a new kind of economy , never before known,threatening to many, demanding rapid changes in work, lifestyle, and habits, hurls large populations.4

Accordingly, Wan Mohd Nor asserts that:

The materialization of consciousness that prevails must be stoppedimmediately and the emphasis on materialism should be placed inits proper and just perspective.5

Humanistic Thought in Modern Values

The notion of values which is grounded in humanistic thought of secular

worldview has seriously brought confusion to human life and development. This

notion is primarily rationalistic, pragmatic, pluralistic, utilitarian, liberal and

evolutionary. Obviously, it has discarded the fundamentals of the revelation as

futile illusions. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas has keenly observed that:

The fundamental truths of religion are regarded, in such a schemeof things, as mere theories, or discarded altogether as futileillusions.6

For the purpose of this study, we try to articulate some relevant basic

features of modern humanistic thought as they emerged during the Renaissance

and continue to evolve. At the same time, we try to see their relationship to

thought patterns and leadership behavior.

4 Alvin Toffler, Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of 21st Century(NewYork: Bantam Dell Pub. Group,1990), p. 249.5Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, Some Basic Issues of Development In Malaysia, p. 880. For anexample of this phenomenon, consult his article, Budaya Kerja Bersepadu, in KecemerlanganPentadbiran: Dasar dan Amalan dalam Islam, compiled by Shafie Mohd Salleh and Mohd. AffandiHassan (Kuala Lumpur: Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN), 1990), pp. 125 133.6 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, p. 130.

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Basic Features of Humanism and Its Impact on Values

Various dimensions of humanism have dominated contemporary civilization at

large. In describing how secular-humanistic worldview has reached its pinnacle

and begun to reign supreme in the West, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

observes:

From the 17th to the 19th centuries the European Enlightenmentwas related to, and indeed was a continuation of the Renaissance.This period was characterized by its zeal for the materializationand secularization of the ideal man in an ideal society. Naturalistphilosophers wrote on natural law, natural religion, and stressed

humanity, freedom, liberty, justice. Their ideas were turned toreality in America and served as the basic philosophy ofIndependence. If renaissance means to be born, thenenlightenment refers to Western mans coming of age from thestate of infancy in which his reason had to depend on the aid ofothers, but which is now realized as matured and fully fledged tolead on its own.7

Nicola Abbagnano tells us that humanism constitutes one of the factors

of modern culture, and particularly, its concept of religious tolerance has come to

be affirmed in modern world.8 About humanist influence on modern thought,

Edward P. Cheyney believes that the humanist movement represents an

extensive change in art, literature and thought.9 He observed that humanism has

formed one of the main threads in the web of all modern life. It has survived in

various forms and display temperamental resistance to ecclesiastical and political

authority, a certain warm conviction that man himself is the center of the

universe, and a basis for certain modern schools of philosophy and religion.10

7 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, p. 34.8 Nicola Abbagnano, Humanism, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy( reprint edition 1972), vol. 4,pp. 66-72.9 Edward P. Chayney and F.C.S. Schiller, Humanism, The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences(New York: The McMillan Company, 1932), vol. 7, pp. 537-43.10 Ibid, p. 540.

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According to Cheyney, most of the prominent post-Renaissance thinkers

of the modern age are essentially humanists. For example, about John Locke, he

tells us that:

in turning away from the problems of ultimate knowledge to a testof man's ability to reach it, (Locke) is thinking as a pure humanist,a student of the mind of man.11

Therefore, he claimed that the French Enlightenment was influenced by

Lockes faith in the power of human nature to solve its own problems and by

Lockes ideas projected in his Letter Concerning Tolerance and the Essays on

Civil Government.

12

Finally, he concludes:

The belief in human perfectibility on which the higher reaches ofoptimism and reformism of the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies were so largely built up was humanistic belief.13

According to Abbagnano, the term humanism has also been use to

designate the following doctrines:

i. Communism, in that it would abolish man's alienation from himself,

which is a product of private property and capitalistic society;

ii. Pragmatism, because of its anthropocentric view which, as

Protagoras did, makes man the measure of all things;

iii. Personalism (also called spiritualism) which affirms man's capacity

to contemplate the eternal truths or in general, to enter into

relationship with transcendent reality; and

iv. Existentialism, which affirms that there is no other universe than the

human universe, the universe of human subjectivity.14

11 Ibid, p. 54112 Ibid.13 Ibid.14 See Abbagnano, Humanism.

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This is perhaps what Cheyney has in mind when he tells us that

humanism is the basis for certain modern schools of philosophy and religion. If

the above concepts signify humanism for some, we may consider them as

dimensions of modern humanism.

The most fundamental element in humanism is its anthropocentric view,

its Protagorian maxim that man is the measure all things, its belief in the

importance and centrality of man per se. According to Jacob Agus, humanism

has faith in the dignity of the human soul.15 In humanism, according to Emil

Hirsh, man is the cornerstone.

16

Cheyney tells us of the humanist convictions

that "man himself is the center of the universes and the central object of

interest.17 According to Abbagnano humanism is any philosophy which

recognizes the value or dignity of man and makes him the measure of all

things.18 For H. Lavely, person is the ontological ultimate. 19 As we could see

above, communism is concerned with man's alienation, pragmatism makes man

the measure of all things, and for existentialism, there is no other universe than

the human universe. For the existentialist-humanist Jean-Paul Sartre, man

becomes an absolute for man.20

Humanism rejects the idea of Divine guidance as a basis for the formation

of social, economic, political and education principle and values, and for an

understanding of nature. Regardless of belief or disbelief in the existence of a

Supreme Being or God, all humanists believe (or imply in practice) that such a

15Websters Dictionary of Quotable Definitions, 2nd. Edition, 1988, p. 267.16Ibid.17 Chayney, Humanism, p. 540, 54218See Abbagnano Humanism.19 J. H. Lavely, Personalism, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 6, pp. 107-110.20 Websters Dictionary of Quotable Definitions, p. 267.

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For some humanists such as Pico, human fate was not predetermined by

God. It was human decision and choice that made a difference. According to

Pico, man was capable of making his own nature without constraints from any

barriers, by means of the freedom God gave him. He also claimed that man is a

free and sovereign artificer able to mold and fashion himself according to his own

choice. This humanistic thought allowed human wisdom the supposed

capability to perfect human nature. Here, Abbagnano reminds us that this

confidence in human capacities was the opposite of the medieval mentality.24

According to Abbagnano, it was this Renaissance humanism that contributed to

the birth of modern science. This aspect of humanism suggests that man can

question and understand nature with the senses.25

This concept of man as a self-centred creature not responsible to any

authority beyond himself and welding infinite power over the natural environment

will result in the aggression of man against himself and the world of nature on a

scale which now threatens his own existence. Any leadership orientation which is

imbued by values interpreted through this humanistic framework would conceive

a leader as a complete master of his own and others destiny. At the same time,

he feels that he possesses unlimited energy and power to do what he wills, which

is used to quench his insatiable passions to the extent that it could reach a state

of disequilibrium. In order to fulfill his increasing desires, he forgets the basic

spiritual principle of good and evil and his ultimate purpose of life. In this context,

he does not have any other purpose except to live and flourish in a largely

24See Abbagnano, Humanism.25Ibid.

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competitive relationship with everything else, including his fellowmen. He

excludes the subject of the human soul in any discussion and planning on human

development. Hence, as Wan Mohd. Nor observes:

what remains to be discussed are the aspects of humandevelopment which are merely based on scientific, economic, andpolitical considerations.26

In this case, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas notes concerning the

ultimate value of man:

It is mans value as real man, as the dweller in his selfs city, ascitizen in his own microcosmic kingdom, as spirit, that is stressed,

rather than his value as a physical entity measured in terms of thepragmatic or utilitarian sense of his usefulness to state and societyand the world.27

Implicit in the concept of man's freedom, rational autonomy and ability to

vary and better the world is the recognition of the point that values as well as

scientific knowledge of a particular time are not necessarily all-encompassing,

perfect and eternal. It is the recognition of the possibility, even inevitability, of

evolutionary progress in all realms of human thought and action. We know that

pragmatism as a dimension of humanism rejects all traditional philosophies that

claim to have said the last, perfect and binding word for all peoples, times and

places. What it says is that 'truth' about things and phenomena concerning

human beings is not already revealed and fixed. Nor is the 'truth' indivisible.

Pragmatism is:

fundamentally motivated and justified by conditions of efficacy andutility in serving our various aims and needs... Here pragmatismcounsels tolerance and pluralism... (its) critical objective (being)maximum usefulness in serving our needs.... Pragmatism... has

26 Wan Mohd. Nor Wan Daud, Some Basic Issues of Development in Malaysia, p. 857.27 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, p. 141.

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helped shape the modern conception of philosophy as a way ofinvestigating problems and clarifying communication rather than as afixed system of ultimate answers and great truths.28

We understand that personalism's (or modern spiritualisms) affirmation of

man's capacity to contemplate the eternal truths and his ability to enter into

relationship with transcendent reality, assumes that these eternal truths are not

necessarily already known, i.e., revealed through one or more individuals of the

past, nor is there only one fixed and known (revealed) way to enter into

relationship with transcendental reality. Apparently, man is the focal point in this

intellectual-spiritual endeavour who creates or reveals God, not otherwise. For

H. Lavely, personalism is a philosophical perspective or system for which the

Divine person is the creation of finite selves29.

Both of the two major ideologies of our time, socialism and capitalism,

reject the idea of Divine guidance and divine predestination. Socialism obviously

believes in a this-worldly rationalistic cause - a particular socioeconomic system -

for man's alienation, rejects Divine predestination or any other metaphysical or

extra-material basis for it. For socialism, it is neither the original sins nor the

wretchedness of man that comes with disbelief in God or is caused by Him.

Similarly, the abolishment of this alienation is brought about, according to

socialism, by replacing one socioeconomic system with another which is certainly

materialistic and secular. The doctrine oflaisez faire capitalism also believes in a

this worldly rationalistic cause-and-effect-based mechanism. Regardless of his

apologetic prudential considerations or concessions to a mode of speech called

28 H. S. Thayer, Pragmatism, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 6, pp. 430-6.29 Lavely, Personalism, p. 107.

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for by the standards of propriety of the time, Adam Smith's invisible hands

which determines material consequences is not the traditional Divine Hand.

According to Sartre, existentialism (which is a form of humanism) is:

an attempt to draw all consequences from a consistent atheisticposition... Man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and onlyafterwards defines himself ... (Existentialism makes) every manaware of what he is and (makes) the full responsibility of hisexistence rest on him... (It is) an ethics of action and involvement ...a doctrine which makes human life possible and... declares thatevery truth and every action implies a human setting and humansubjectivity. ...(According to Sartrean Existentialism, man is)endowed with liberty... which he may betray but which he cannotdeny to make his way as best he can... 30

Belief in and respect for religious, racial, social, political, intellectual and

ideological pluralism are inbuilt in humanism. The rejection of supernaturalism

and moral absolutism, the rejection of a particular category of men as guardians

and interpreters of cosmic order simply means that no ideology per se can claim

superiority over others. Humanistic ideologies are supposed to compete on the

basis of rational authenticity determined by human senses and experience, and

on the basis of utility for human societies in this world.

Humanism is concerned exclusively with this life and this visible and

knowable universe. Also, it recognizes a human right to enjoy life. It is the

religion of one who says yea to life here and now.31Political and social interests

are not dominated by metaphysical and theological concerns.

Humanism also concerned with worldly rather than divine things. As its

central point, humanism affirms that duty to man has replaced duty to God. 32

30Websters Dictionary of Quotable Definitions, p. 184.31 Ibid.32Ibid.

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Abbagnano tells us that naturalism as an element of humanism recognizes

natural aspects in human beings and consequently, the value of pleasure, i.e.,

this-worldly happiness. The Renaissance humanists contrasted this to medieval

(Christian) asceticism and monastic life. For Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457),

pleasure is the sole good for man and the sole end of human activities. He

denied any religious superiority to monastic life. Instead, the Renaissance

humanists recognized the superiority of the active life and of moral philosophy

to metaphysics. This moral philosophy, virtues and vices and forms of civil

society are to be determined by man as a political animal, i.e. not through Divine

guidance. For example, Machiavelli as a political humanist cleared the world of

politics of any metaphysical or theological suggestion. 33

Along with the recognition of the value of pleasure, the achievement of

happiness on this earth is a most important goal. Emphasis on the civil

functions of religion de-emphasizes otherworldly concerns. Humanism rejects

the idea that this world is merely a preparation for the world to come.34

Humanism is

that which is characteristically human, not supernatural, that whichbelongs to man and not to external nature, that which raises man tohis greatest height or gives him, as man, his greatest satisfaction.It... (takes a) vivid interest in all sides of (this) life.... (It is) aphilosophy of which man is the center and sanction. 35

This-worldly tangible utility is the touchstone for the rejection or adoption

of any worldview.

33 See Abbagnano, Humanism.34 Chayney, Humanism, p. 540.35Ibid, 541.

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In Pragmatism (William) James made his moral conception ofphilosophy unmistakably evident in saying that the whole functionof philosophy ought to be to find out what definite difference it willmake to you and me at definite instants of our life if this world-formula or that world-formula be the true one.36

The most important legacy of humanism is its effects on religious thought.

Cheyney has correctly noticed that there is an inherent conflict between genuine

religious thought and humanist belief in emancipation of spirit and freedom of

thought.37 He said that there existed a non-religious element in humanism, and in

the main, it has been antagonistic to positive and authoritative religious belief. 38

The assertion that existentialism is a substitute for religion, or that man

has the capacity to contemplate the truth, simply mean a rejection of the idea of

Divine guidance or revelation. As for a personal God, Cheyney tells us that the

humanists were either agnostics or those whose gods were far away, unreal and

uninterested in human affairs.39 Humanism was thus a declaration of

independence of thought from the restrictions of ecclesiastical authority.

Therefore, some Humanists were deists with no enthusiasm for religion.40

To the extent traditional religions have survived, they have undergone a

radical transformation. Humanism has convinced an overwhelming majority of

believers in traditional religions (other than Islam): i) to adopt a civil, humanitarian

and this-worldly perspective; ii) to acknowledge universal tolerance, religious

pluralism and the principle of peaceful coexistence with other religious and

philosophies; and iii) to accept in principle and/or in practice the separation of

36 Thayer, Pragmatism, p. 435.37 Chayney, Humanism, p. 538.38Ibid, p. 530.39Ibid, p. 538.40Ibid.

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religion from state, social and international affairs. As in other cases, this

transformation too began with the Renaissance.

As Abbagnano maintains, the humanist concept of justifying the capacity

for initiative of man in the world changed the role of religion and introduced a new

mode of belief. With reference to the concept of a heavenly city, belief in the

civil function of religion meant the commitment of man to realize as much as

possible its characteristics in the earthly city. The humanist scholars saw the

Bible as being equally concerned with earthly happiness.41 So, the Almighty was

brought down from Heaven to take an interest in this mundane world; and

religion was given a utilitarian function replacing its traditional metaphysical,

otherworldly concerns.

The most important trend in modern humanistic religious thought

introduced and promoted by the Renaissance humanists was the idea of

religious tolerance - a concept which has come to be affirmed in the modern

world.42 The Renaissance humanists talked of the possibility of peaceful

coexistence between the various religious confessions which remain different

from each other and are not reducible to a single confession. The Truth was no

longer indivisible for these humanists. Some went beyond this, expressing their

convictions about:

the fundamental unity of all the religious beliefs of mankind,therefore of the possibility of a universal religious peace. Moreover,according to the humanists, religious peace implies the essentialidentity between philosophy and religion.43

41 See Abbagnano, Humanism.42Ibid.43Ibid.

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Leonardo Bruni was apparently convinced that St. Paul did not teach

anything more than Plato.44 Some maintained that ancient philosophy had

already elaborated the wisdom Christianity was thought to have brought to

fulfilments, and that both were supported and guided by the same reason. 45

Pico Della Mirandola thought of a regenerative peace which would conciliate all

the religions and all the philosophies of the world because he and others thought

all these come from a single source, a primordial revelation. 46 As Abbagnano tells

us of Erasmus (1466-1536), More (1473-1535), and later thinkers who continued

to defend religious tolerance in modern and effective ways.

47

Our contention is this: the post-Renaissance Western world has, in

general and progressively, adopted (or aspires to adopt) this Renaissance-

Enlightenment-based modern humanistic worldview which is by and large

rationalistic, pluralistic, pragmatic, utilitarian, secular, liberal and evolutionary.

Foremost among the practical outcomes of humanistic belief in man as the

measure of all things is the recognition of inviolably basic human rights to all

forms of freedom, to dignity and justice, and to equality and self-determination -

regardless of creed, colour, race and gender. Charters of basic human rights

which have been incorporated in constitutions of nation-states and of

international organizations reflect this recognition. Regardless of the existence of

fundamentalist and revivalist movements in the East and West, modern

humanistic and pluralistic tendencies have gained world-wide acceptance, at

least in principle. Almost all countries have acknowledged democracy in some

44Ibid.45Ibid.46Ibid.47Ibid.

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form, particularly in the sense that the people, the demos, are the final authority

to make or unmake laws and institutions.

These modern values, its tendencies and ideals are based on a

strong humanistic sense of ethics and a growing desire to idealize and

universalize these ethical bases in human transactions. Honesty and

truthfulness, decent and civilized behaviour, social responsibility, work ethics,

fairness, justice, concern and responsibility for all human and nonhuman life,

regardless of colour, creed, ethnicity and place, are cherished. Demand for

equality and basic human rights, and opposition to slavery, discrimination,

prejudice and torture do not typically depend for inspiration and justification on

any religious scripture or precedent established by the founding fathers of these

religions.

However, the human values as understood in the modern sense are not

sufficient to serve as a basis for the unity of humanity and human understanding

across cultural and nations. To speak of the human values without consideration

of the necessity of religious faith as the basis of action, and at the same time, to

ignore the importance of individuals complete harmonization with the will of God

at the personal, communal, and human levels would essentially reduce man to

mere animality and rendered human development meaningless.

Internationally, these modern values expect nations to coexist peacefully

and respect international law and traditions. Unprovoked aggression is

universally condemned. In international or inter-group dealings, deception,

exploitation, hegemonism, imperialism, militarism, expansionism and the use of

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torture, force and violence are universally condemned by emerging modern

humanistic moral standards and sensitivities (as reflected, for example, by the

basic documents of the United Nations Organization). Peaceful coexistence of

varying ideologies implies toleration of differences of opinions and a peaceful

continuation of discourse and non-violent interaction on controversial issues.

Ideally, the process also expects demonstration, by all parties, of a degree of

intellectual integrity, honesty, sincerity and openness to change on reasoned

ground and mutual agreement.

Regardless of the correctness or incorrectness of the adopted

suppositions, changes are made, by and large, voluntarily or through persuasion

by a majority on the bases of utility and, broadly, scientific method. In practice,

this worldly concerns influence adoption or change of certain fundamental

values, policies and institutions. Lest a majority decision at a particular time

become permanent, and checks and balances have to be incorporated into

modern systems. All values and institutions are potentially open to criticism and

change without depriving other individuals, groups and states of their basic

human and international rights. After a decision is made, those who differ or

change their mind maintain their basic right to express their differences and try to

persuade others to support such change.

Modernism requires that the source of rules for decency should be the

human community itself - and individuals who may determine the degree and

form of adherence to traditional norms, who may change and reform standards

from time to time, not adhering to any fixed religious decree.

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In the case of Islam, we can see that its worldview brings about patterns of

thought and action making the mind of Muslim impregnable to conform with or be

influenced by the notion of modern secular humanistic values and norms. We

know that the general climate of opinion in favour of such values and tendencies

has forced most remaining and recurring racist, fascist, reactionary, authoritarian,

totalitarian and imperialistic ideologies, regimes and circles either to reform or, at

least, to adopt an apologetic tone. Therefore, the exhortations against bidah

(wrongful innovation), override the force of global public opinion in favor of

modern tendencies, and try to render it ineffective.

The believers' sense of opposition is further reinforced by the exhortation

to act more vigorously when such an action is seen to deviate from the Islamic

vision of truth and reality. The Prophet p.b.u.h. promises great reward for those

who resist wrongful innovations. All innovations, i.e., all tendencies of thought

and action different from the real pattern of Islamic thought and action are

delusions, errors, and misguidance. The believers are exhorted by the Prophet

p.b.u.h. to revive and exert the Sunnah particularly at times of corruption, i.e., at

times of lack of adherence to Islamic ways. For a believer, it means that,

adopting a Sunnah defying the contemporary climate of opinion which favors

modern notion will be the more praiseworthy. Contemporary patterns of thought

and action, if approximated in the Muslim mind with those attributed to these

adversaries of the Prophet, lose their credibility and may be rejected.

We could say that some contemporary phenomena have parallels in the

patterns of thought and behaviour of the People of Ja>hiliyyah. Many aspects of

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modern thought and behaviour recall to Muslim minds the Ja>hiliyyah models of

thought and action confronted, unappreciated and rejected by the Quran and the

Prophet. Hence, the Muslim leader must have enthusiasm to go against those

modern humanistic, liberal-rationalist-pluralistic tendencies. If we examine

further, we can see how the vast literature on the Islamic belief system exhorts

and makes believers duty-bound to defy humanism on all fronts and in every

respect.

When the Muslim leader does not struggle to stop this current dominant of

Western concept of values which denies many ethical principles of Islam, it will

obstruct and destroy the real and the final goal of man. 48 They must understand

that this kind of notion is invented and prepared by the philosophers and the

philosopher-scientists of the West to fit its own notion of progress, development,

and civilization. Notions of values are really notions of knowledge of what are

ultimately right or praiseworthy. They are not neutral. As Syed Muhammad

Naquib al-Attas asserts:

It seems to me important to emphasize that knowledge is not neutral,and can indeed be infused with a nature and content whichmasquerades as knowledge. Yet it is in fact, taken as a whole, nottrue knowledge, but its interpretation through the prism, as it were,the worldview, the intellectual vision and psychological perception ofthe civilization that now plays the key role in its formulation anddissemination. What is formulated and disseminated is knowledgeinfused with the character and personality of that civilization knowledge presented and conveyed as knowledge in that guise sosubtly fused together with the real so that the others take it unawaresin toto to be the real knowledgeper se.49

48 For a fruitful critical analysis of these basic issues that deserve consideration from the Muslimleadership, see Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, Some Basic Issues of Development In Malaysia,;idem, Pembangunan di Malaysia: Ke Arah Satu Pemahaman Baru yang Lebih Sempurna (KualaLumpur: ISTAC, 2001); also Amer al-Roubaie, The Global Age: An Application to SocietalChange in Muslim Societies.49 Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, p. 127 8.

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