"Islamization is the Liberation of Man first from Magical, Mythological, Animistic, National-Cultural Tradition and then from Secular Control over his Reason and his Language. The Man of Islam is he whose Reason and Language are NO longer controlled by Magic, Mythology, Animism, his Own National and Cultural Traditions and Secularism."

Islam is not a form of culture, and its system of thought projecting its vision of reality and truth and the system of value derived from it are not merely derived from cultural and philosophical elements aided by science, but one whose original source is Revelation, confirmed by religion, affirmed by intellectual and intuitive principles. Islam ascribes to itself the truth of being a truly revealed religion, perfected from the very beginning, requiring no historical explanation and evaluation in terms of the place it occupied and the role it played within a process of development. All the essentials of the religion: the name, the faith and practice, the rituals, the creed and system of belief were given by Revelation and interpreted and demonstrated by the Prophet in his words and model actions, not from cultural tradition which necessarily must flow in the stream of historicism. The religion of Islam was conscious of its own identity from the time of its revelation. When it appeared on the stage of world history Islam was already ‘mature’, needing no process of ‘growing up’ to maturity. Revealed religion can only be that which knows itself from the very beginning; and that self-knowledge comes from the Revelation itself, not from history.

As such the Worldview of Islam is characterized by an authenticity and a finality that points to what is ultimate, and it projects a view of reality and truth that encompasses existence and life altogether

in total perspective whose fundamental elements are permanently established. These are, to mention the most salient ones, the nature of God; of Revelation (i.e., the Qur’ān); of His creation; of man and the psychology of the human soul; of knowledge; of religion; of freedom; of values and virtues; of happiness—all of which, together with the key terms and concepts that they unfold, have profound bearing upon our ideas about change, development, and progress.

Erudite scholar and philosopher Tan Sri Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas has diagnosed the malaise that is affecting the Muslims and the source of injustice to be “the loss of Adab” stemming from “error and confusion in knowledge”. Prof al-Attas defined Adab as not merely as good manners or etiquette but, he has thought that adab was conceptually fused with right knowledge (ilm) and proper and sincere action (‘amal) and became significantly involved in the intelligent emulation of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet. Based on that he proposes his own definition thus:

"Adab is the Recognition and Acknowledgement of the Reality that Knowledge and Being are Ordered Hierarchically according to their Various Grades and Degrees of Rank, and of one’s Proper Place in Relation to that Reality and as in one’s Physical , Intellectual and Spiritual Capacities and Potentials."

According to Al-Attas, an educated man is a good man, and by ‘good; he means possessing adab in the all inclusive sense “..encompassing the spiritual and material life of a man that instills the quality of goodness that is sought after” He defines a truly educated man in Islam as Man of Adab (insan adabi). He writes:-
"A good man is the one who is sincerely conscious of his responsibilities towards the true God, who understands and fulfills his obligations to himself and others in his society with justice, who constantly strives to improve every aspect of himself towards perfection as men of adab (insan adabi.)." Education is thus “the instilling and inculcation of adab in man – it is ta’dib”. The Quran testifies that the Holy Prophet is the Ideal who is the best example of such a man, whom scholars have called the Perfect or Universal man (al-insan al-kulliyy). 

Man of Adab (Insan Adabi) is defined as :

1. An individual who is fully conscious of his individuality and of his proper relationship with himself, his Creator, his society and other visible and invisible creatures of God. A good individual or a good man must naturally be a good servant of his Lord and Creator, good father, a good husband, a good son, a good neighbour and a good citizen.

2. He must know this place in the human order, which must be understood as arranged hierarchically and legitimately into various degrees of excellence based on the Quranic criteria of intelligence, knowledge and virtues and must act concomitantly with the knowledge in a positive, commendable and praiseworthy manner.

3. A good Muslim must perform his responsibility to his family and the rest of society. He must internalized and adhere to the Articles of Faith and the Tenet of Islam and be a person of Taqwa. This means that the integration of spiritual and ethical qualities is the highest end of the meaning of a good man and of citizenship.

In his book Islam and Secularism, he states that “loss of Adab implies loss of justice” and this leads to “the rise of leaders who are not qualified” which in turn perpetuate the vicious cycle of ignorance. Under such conditions, it becomes impossible to establish justice in the Islamic sense. “Recognition and acknowledgement of the right and proper place” cannot happen while we still subscribe to the “leveling of knowledge” disguised with a trendy name like democratization of knowledge which presupposes that just everyone can talk about a subject as important as religion without basing on true knowledge. It also cannot be achieved by merely "parroting" the Western notion of liberty and justice.

**Follow this link for Details Profile of "Merdeka Award Recipients 2012"

FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCHOLARLY RESEARCH IN THE AREA OF ISLAMISATION OF CONTEMPORARY KNOWLEDGE & OF MUSLIM EDUCATION.