PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PRECONDITIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF AN ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT IN AL-ATTAS' FRAMEWORK

  • Sharifah Hajar Syed Ahmad RZS-CASIS, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur
  • Tatiana Denisova RZS-CASIS, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51482/almujaddid.v8i1.136
Keywords: al-Attas, adab, educational movement, Islamic movement, Islamic education, ta'dib, justice ('adl), integrity of knowledge, corporatisation of education, philosophy of education

Abstract

Past and contemporary Islamic movements overwhelmingly focused on political and economic reform, often neglecting the inner moral and intellectual condition of the individual. This paper argues that such neglect results from a fundamental confusion about the nature of education itself. The paper critiques the corporatisation of education and the reduction of authority to institutional structures rather than personal moral-intellectual integrity. The analysis offers a philosophical groundwork for rethinking Islamic educational initiatives beyond neoliberal and activist frameworks. Drawing principally on the educational philosophy of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, the paper inspired by his concepts of adab (recognition and acknowledgement of proper order) and ta'dib (the inculcation of that order) as the necessary foundations for any authentic reforming initiative without neglecting education as its core; this process is what we name it the islamic educational movement.. We propose that such a movement must fulfil two preconditions. First, it must recognise the type of order it seeks, distinguishing between temporal orders (economic, political) which are sustained by external maintenance, and eternal orders (knowledge, truth) sustained by conscious commitment and integrity. Second, it must preserve the integrity of knowledge through the moral-spiritual refinement of the knower, as well as courageous actions that acknowledge its rightful places within the hierarchy of that type of order. It concludes that without recovering adab in the individual self discipline of their soul, no collective reform, however well organised, can restore justice (‘adl) or truth.

 

 


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Author Biography

Tatiana Denisova, RZS-CASIS, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur

Currently, Prof. Dr. Tatiana Denisova is a Lecturer at Raja Zarith Sofiah Centre on Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilization (RZS-CASIS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur. She is a scholar from Moscow, Russia. She obtained tertiary education at Saint Petersburg State University, and succeeded in obtaining PhD in history, leading to historiography and review of sources in the history of Islam. She was Division Head of Research into Sources in History of Islam at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies. She once served as a lecturer at Institute of Asian & African Studies, Moscow State University up till 2006. She also served in Malaysia as Visiting Researcher (till 2003) and Visiting Scholar and Visiting Laureate (till 2006) at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Kuala Lumpur. Later, she served as Visiting Laureate (till 2008) at the National Library of Malaysia. She had been a Visiting Associate Professor at the Department of Islamic History and Civilization, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. She has produced many academic works. Her published materials cover more than 50 titles, about the history of propagation of Islam in the Malay world; Malay-Islamic historical sources and their research methodologies; Malay literary heritage and others. Among her works include Sumber Historiografi di Alam Melayu: Koleksi Peribadi John Bastin (Kuala Lumpur: Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, 2011). Recently, she edited and assisted with the publication of a work on numismatics, Numismatica Transoxania written by Elena Abramovna Davidovich (Pahang: Al-Sultan Abdullah History and Civilisation Centre, Museum State of Pahang, 2023).

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Published
2026-06-30
How to Cite
Syed Ahmad, S. H., & Denisova, T. (2026). PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE PRECONDITIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF AN ISLAMIC EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT IN AL-ATTAS’ FRAMEWORK. Al - Mujaddid: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Agama, 8(1), 40-64. https://doi.org/10.51482/almujaddid.v8i1.136
Issue
Vol 8 No 1 (2026): Al - Mujaddid : Jurnal Ilmu-ilmu Agama
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Articles

Copyright (c) 2026 Sharifah Hajar Syed Ahmad, Tatiana Denisova

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