he following is an interview conducted by Center for International Studies (IPCIS) and

Syed Farid al-Attas from the National University of Singapore. He is one of the leading
experts in the field of Sociology based on Alternative reading of sociological problems
which does not take disciplinary paradigms as their points of departure. He is a Malaysian
national and Head of the Department of Malay Studies and Associate Professor of
Sociology at the National University of Singapore where he has been since 1992. He
obtained his PhD in Sociology from the Johns Hopkins University in 1991. Farid
lectured at the University of Malaya in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies prior
to his appointment at Singapore. His books include Democracy and Authoritarianism:
The Rise of the Post-Colonial State in Indonesia and Malaysia (Macmillan, 1997),
Alternative Discourse in Asian Social Science: Responses to Eurocentrism (Sage, 2006),
and An Islamic Perspective on the Commitment to Inter-Religious Dialogue, (Institute of
Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia, 2008). He has also edited Asian Inter-Faith
Syed Farid al-Attas
Dialogue: Perspectives on Religion, Education and Social Cohesion (RIMA and the
World Bank, 2003) and Asian Anthropology, with Jan van Bremen and Eyal Ben-Ari
(Routledge, 2005). Among his recent articles are “From Jami’ah to University: DOWNLOAD
The Interview PDF File
Multiculturalism and Christian-Muslim Dialogue”, Current Sociology 54(1), 2006: 112-
132; “Ibn Khaldun and Contemporary Sociology”, International Sociology 21(6), 2006:
782-795; and “The Historical Sociology of Muslim Societies: Khaldunian Application”,
International Sociology 22(3), 2007: 267-288. He is currently in the final stages of
preparing a book manuscript for publication on the thought of Ibn Khaldun and is also
working on another book on the Ba‘alawi Sufi order. He is the son of late Syed Hussein
al-Attas and the nephew of contemporary philosopher Syed Mohammad Naghib al-Attas
and the grandson of the legendary Syed Mohammed al-Attas. He was an interesting
historical figure as well as instrumental in the freedom fight in Ache against the invading
Dutch forces in the 1870's. During this period, al-Attas enabled arms to be delivered to
the Achenese army to defend their land against occupation of the much stronger and more
advanced Dutch forces in the 'Ache War' (ca. 1873).
Questions about Islam and Education

1. We would like to thank you for the opportunity you have given us for conducting this interview. As the first

question we would prefer to inquire about the relation between Islam and Education or to put it differently, how

ignificant is the problem of education within the Islamic Worldview?

Syed Farid al-Attas: The emphasis that Islam places on education is very strong. From its inception, Islam forbade

he representation of living beings in the mosque. In the churches of Christianity, drawings of biblical scenes were

ommon as a means of educating illiterate people about Christianity. This was not an option in Islam. As a result, it

became important to learn to read. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also stressed the acquisition of

knowledge (talab al-‘ilm) as far as China. I do not think the stress here is on geographical distance but rather the relative

trangeness of the Chinese vis-à-vis the Arabs. The Muslims were asked by the Prophet to seek knowledge even in a

elative strange place like China.

Education has been a central feature of Islam from the very beginning. Because of the centrality of the Quran as the

word of God, Muslims have always been obliged to learn to recite Arabic. This applied even to peoples for whom Arabic

was not their mother-tongue, but who may have, nevertheless, used the Arabic script for their languages. This was the

ase with the Persians, Turks, Afghans, Indians and Malays. As a result, the rate of literacy was relatively high from the

arly days of Islam. Furthermore, the impetus to the cultivation of knowledge was due to both practical consideration,

uch as the need to know the qiblah (direction of Mecca for prayer), as well as the higher purpose of knowing God’s

reation and taking it seriously by studying it.

2. Could we speak of an Islamic theory of education based on sacred sources in Islam (in particular Koran)? If the

nswer is affirmative then what are the parameters of such a theory?

Syed Farid al-Attas: It depends on how we define the question, i.e. if we define education as the teaching, learning

nd assimilation of knowledge. Therefore, much of our understanding of the philosophy of education in Islam hinges on