TWO consequential external forces impacted the Malay world – the arrival of Islam in Malaya, and, a few centuries later, European civilisation. The effects of both are obvious, pervasive, and profound. We would do well to learn from and absorb the best of both.

In Anwar Ibrahim, we have a leader who personifies this creative blending, extracting, and synthesising the best as well as the commonalities of the two. He is as comfortable quoting William Shakespeare as he is in correcting the opposition leader who had erroneously recited a Quranic verse.

That opposition leader typifies many current Malay leaders, with their “half-past-six” understanding of the West and of English specifically, as well as their obsession with the superficialities of Islam and Arabism. They exploit our great faith with their politics.

Turkish commentator Soner Cagaptay put it best: “Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety. Rather it is a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam.”

In his best-selling book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki relates how he had learned much from his biological father as well as his friend’s (sociological father, as it were). The former taught him frugality and diligence even though those traits did not bring much security and stability, and the latter, financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills that brought Kiyosaki both fame and wealth.

Kiyosaki’s insight applies to society. For Malays, that would be Islam and British rule. Both are worthy inspirations and laudable examples, but could also be a curse and burden. Choose one and ignore or negate the other, and we would be that much poorer. Instead, we should appreciate and absorb the positive values of both while dispensing with the unsavoury aspects.

Discerning the glint of the pebble from the sparkle of a diamond, or not missing the gem in our midst, can be difficult. Nonetheless, try we must, and be rigorous while doing so, with no presumptions or assumptions. A gardener must not mistake lallang weeds for rice saplings. We pull lallang out and early before they take root.

As a Minangkabau, I am used to and comfortable with “synthesising contradictions harmoniously”, to quote Indonesian sociologist Taufik Abdullah in referring to our blending of Islam’s patriarchy and our cultural matriarchy. As babies we are fed bland white rice and hot red chilli early so we can learn to tolerate – nay, relish – opposites!

Historical perspectives also help. The European Renaissance owed much to the ancient Muslims. Granted, many of the early translations of Islamic works were by jaundiced authors out to prove that our prophet was but a plagiariser. Nonetheless, Europe’s emergence from the Medieval Ages owed much to those early Muslims.

Likewise, Islam brought the greatest temporal gift – the written word –to our hitherto oral Malay tradition, transforming it far beyond only the intellectual. Through Jawi, Malays could access voluminous Arabic literature.

Our ancestors, however, did not learn much beyond hikayats and hadith. That was the greatest tragedy, a missed opportunity of unquantifiable proportions as Arabian people had made huge contributions to the sciences, medicine, and mathematics. While Malay Islamic scholars today can recite voluminous treatises on tahajud (night) prayers, they are ignorant if not contemptuous of the scientific contributions or profound philosophical deliberations of ancient Muslims. Worse, today’s Islamic scholars do not emulate the ancients’ eagerness to learn, especially as those early Muslims learned even from the “kafir” Greeks!

Those Muslims were also diligent students of the “second Quran”, this wonderful universe that God has bequeathed. They studied those celestial bodies, deduced the seasons and plotted navigational guides. They studied the human body, another great gift from God. The first effective handling of an epidemic quarantine was practised by our prophet, who said: “When you are in an area of a pandemic do not leave, and if you are outside, do not enter.”

Our ancestors did not learn much about commerce from those early Muslim traders. Our current obsession with the “hereafter” reduces this great faith to the childish collection of religious brownie points to be cashed in at the pearly gates. As for the “hereafter”, 13th-century Sufi scholar Ibn Ata’ Allah Al Iskandari said it best in his hikam: “If you want to know your standing in the hereafter, look at the state He has put you in now.”

John Calvin later incorporated that in his reformist teachings, and from there emerged Protestant work ethics. Capitalism and the emancipation of Europe followed. With the same holy text but with a new twist in interpretation, it uplifted millions.

Malays proclaim loudly and often that we are now free from colonialism. The vigour and vociferousness with which we do it (and the need to express it) belie the truth. Malay elite still aspire to send their children to British universities. Malays cannot converse in our own language without the promiscuous insertions of English words or bastardised Malay terms even when there are ready native expressions. The purpose there is obvious – not better and clearer communication, but to display one’s supposed prowess in English, a none-too-subtle sociolinguistic one-upmanship. Owning a condo in London is still the ultimate bragging right. In contrast, few Malays have condos in Mecca.

Colonisation is wrong regardless of whether that was part of a messianic “white man’s burden”. That notwithstanding, there is a thing or two we could have learned from the British. For one, they abolished slavery among Malays. For another, the British blunted the more egregious feudal elements in our society and introduced modern education. With English now the global language, that conferred significant advantages, at least for the Malays who took advantage of it. Most of all, the British romanised our alphabet, a significant plus in this digital age. 

Munshi Abdullah wrote that there must be a thing or two we Malays could learn from the civilisation that ushered in the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions. We would be condemned to perpetual poverty – spiritually and materially – if we fail to see the beauty in and absorb the values of both Islam and the West. If ancient Muslims could learn from the Greeks, we, too, could do so from our fellow Abrahamic believers, the British. – December 23, 2022.

* M. Bakri Musa reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.