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Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas Books

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“In the entire vista of Malay literature—including even the Indonesian literatures—he was unique. None rivalled him in originality and poetic genius; in Malay Sufi literature none excelled the clarity and flowing simplicity of his prose which, nevertheless, reveals profound metaphysical insight in the Sufi doctrines; none exceeded him in poetry, whether it be in terms of literary output or in terms of intellectual content. He was, as I have earlier shown, the first man to set forth in systematic writing the essential aspects of the Şufi doctrines in Malay, and he not only impressed his influence upon certain historiographically important literary usages in Malay literature, but introduced as well new technical terminologies and concepts into the Malay language in general, and into Malay Sufi literature in particular, having do with theology, metaphysics and philosophy.”

PhilosophyPoetryPoetTheologySufismMetaphysicsMalayTasawwufHamzah Fansuri
Book:The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir
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“Tidak seperti Kristen-Barat, kita tidak terlalu bersandar kepada, dalam aspek teologi dan metafisika, teori-teori dari para filsuf, ahli metafisika, saintis, palentolog, antropolog, sosiolog, ahli psikoanalisa, ahli metamatika, ahli-ahli bahasa dan cendekiawan sekular lain semacamnya. Hal ini kerana kebanyakan mereka, jika tidak semuanya, tidak pernah emngamalkan kehidupan beragama, mereka yang tidak pernah mengetahui atau meyakini agama tanpa ragu-ragu dan tanpa terombang-ambing. Mereka juga terdiri dari orang yang skeptik, agnostik, ateis dan para peragu.”

BaratIntelektualKristianSekularisasiMetafizikTeologi
Book:Islam and Secularism
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“Manuscripts - at least for Muslims who understand the subject - are to be read as books whose contents are to be known and understood, for that is why they were written, and not to be regarded as enigmatic specimens for critical textual and philological exercises. To them what is in the manuscripts is more important than what is on them, and so they say: Al-'ilmu fi'l-sudur la fi'l-sutur.”

IslamMuslimPhilologyManuscript
Book:Comments on the Re-Examination of Al-Raniri's Hujjatu'l-Siddiq: A Refutation
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“Di sisi Islam maka ilmu, jikalau tidak bersabit dengan mengenal diri, mematuhi ajaran agama, menyempurnakan masharakat, membimbing negara, menyatakan hikmah, menegakkan keadilan, mengukuhkan akhlak dan budipekerti - hanyalah sia-sia belaka; di sisi Islam seseorang itu tiada dapat dikatakan berilmu, atau alim, jikalau tiada ia membayangkan dalam dirinya kesan ilmu itu pada seluruh segi kehidupannya sebagaimana dijelaskan di atas.”

IslamKehidupanIlmuHikmahAkhlak
Author:Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
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“Justru sesungguhnya akibat konsep yang singkat mengenai tinjauan dan luasan pengkajian bahasa, kesusasteraan dan kebudayaan Melayu itu, sehingga disamarkan hanya sebagai “Pengajian Melayu”, telah pula membawa akibat2 yang mempengaruhi penyingkiran bidang ilmiah tertentu dari pengajian Melayu, seperti pengkajian2 bahasa dan kesusasteraan Arab, bahasa dan kesusasteraan Farsi, bahasa dan kesusasteraan Sanskrit, yang kesemuanya telah memberi sumbangan yang berkesan dalam perkembangan bahasa dan kesusasteraan Melayu. Tambahan pula, bidang2 seperti sejarah pemikiran, falsafah, dan ilmu2 yang berkaitan dengan metodoloji penyelidikan ilmiah, kajian2 mengenai teori2 yang memang berkembang dengan pesatnya di Eropa, dewasa itu dan sekarang, semua ini diabaikan dalam pengkajian bidang2 kechil tertentu saja.”

SanskritArabBahasaJawaSasteraPengajian MelayuParsi
Book:Buku Panduan Jabatan Bahasa dan Kesusasteraan Melayu
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“It seems to me that apart from the aptness of the Malay language in the construction of four-lined verses with a AAAA pattern of rhyme, the influence of Ibnu’l-‘Arabi’s and ‘Iraqi’s four-line shi’r and Jami’s ruba’i, the concept of the bayt and the shi’r in Arabic and Persian prosody, the creative genius of the poet, Hamzah’s choice of the four-line shi’r composed of a single bayt could well have been influenced also by the symbolism in the Sufi doctrines.”

SufismSufiSymbolismTasawwufHamzah FansuriIraqiIbnu Arabi
Book:The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir
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“The analogy of the fourfold Law Way, Truth and Gnosis in which they are compared to a house may be said to be a static one, and this is because what is aimed at here is comprehension of the concept of the absolute unity of the Way to the Truth; but the spiritual journey itself is a dynamic concept, and hence sometimes the fourfold unity of the Way to the Truth is also to a ship (kapal) whose keel is like the Law, whose planks are like the Way, whose content or merchandise is like the Truth and whose gain is like the spiritual gain of Gnosis.”

TruthSufismSufiSymbolismTasawwufHamzah FansuriSyariahHaqiqahMakrifah
Book:The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir
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“Maka dari itu kita lihat bahwa perkembangan “pengajian Melayu” ini semenjak timbulnya institusi2 ilmiah di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu hanya menyentuh soal kedaerahan; soal pengkajian persuratan Melayu, menganjurkan perkembangan tulisan Rumi, penumpuan kepada bidang antropoloji dan linguistik yang sempit, penumpuan kepada hal2 yang se-olah2 membantutkan pengajian Melayu, menjadikannya se-olah2 sebahagian dari pengkajian kebudayaan2 yang belum dewasa. Hal yang demikian juga telah mengakibatkan timbulnya golongan pujangga dan penuis yang telah bertindak memutuskan diri dari yang lampau sebab yang lampau itu digambarkan sedemikian buruknya. Dan seterusnya, inilah yang menimbulkan masalah kekurangan pengetahuan kita dewasa ini.”

PengarangSasteraPengajian MelayuPujangga
Book:Buku Panduan Jabatan Bahasa dan Kesusasteraan Melayu
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“Pernyataan bahwa sekularisasi mempunyai akarnya di dalam kepercayaan Injil dan merupakan natijah dari ajaran Injil, tidak didukung oleh fakta sejarah. Akar sekularisasi bukan adlam kepercayaan kitab Injil, melainkan di dalam tafsiran manusia Barat terhadap kepercayaan kitab tersebut; ini bukanlah buah dari ajaran Injil, tetapi natijah dari sejarah panjang perseteruan dalam filsafat dan metafisika antara pandangan alam (worldview) manusia Barat yang bersandarkan agama dengan yang rasionalis murni.”

BaratSekularisasi
Book:Islam and Secularism
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“Change, development and progress, according to the Islamic viewpoint, refer to the return to the genuine Islam enunciated and practised by the Holy Prophet (may God bless and give him Peace!) and his noble Companions and their Followers (blessing and peace be upon them all!) and the faith and practice of genuine Muslims after them; and they also refer to the self and mean its return to its original nature and religion (Islam).”

GivingMayMeanSelfPracticeProgressDevelopmentReturnHolyBlessingOriginalsIslamNobleGenuineProphetIslamicCompanionBlessFollowersViewpointsGod BlessHoly Prophet
Author:Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
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“It is like the thirsty traveller who at first sincerely sought the water of knowledge, but who later, having found it plain perhaps, proceeded to temper his cup with the salt of doubt so that his thirst now becomes insatiable though he drinks incessantly, and that in thus drinking the water that cannot slake his thirst, he has forgotten the original and true purpose for which the water was sought.”

FirstsPurposeFoundWaterDoubtDrinkOriginalsDrinkingForgottenCupsTemperSaltThirstSincerelyTravellerThirstyInsatiableIncessantlyTrue Purpose
Author:Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
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