Thursday, December 28, 2006

Civilised Islam vs Islamic civilisation

Awhile back, a stranger sitting besides me on a plane asked, “What is Islam Hadhari?” I mumbled bits and pieces of what little I knew, attempted to appear neutral, and probably sounded unconvincing. I guess it was because I was – unconvinced, that is. Okay, ten principles blah blah, but still – what’s the philosophy behind the propaganda? Why Islam Hadhari? Why not Islam? I looked up the dictionary for the literal meaning of Islam Hadhari. Ha (pedas), dhodh, alif, ro, ya – means ‘civilised’ (miss out the alif and it means ‘urban’). Combining both terms: Islam Hadhari means ‘civilised Islam’. I don’t know about you, but as a Muslim, I feel insulted with this terminology – it implies that there are versions of Islam that’s non-civilised. Or that there are parts of Islam that is civilised, and other parts are not. I very much prefer the term Hadharah Islamiyyah, meaning ‘Islamic civilisation’. Am I being pedantic? Well, these two terms may seem pretty close, but to me, they carry different ideas and suggestions altogether.

Note: The official English translation for Islam Hadhari is 'civilisational Islam'.
For more reading on Islam Hadhari: Government's official website or Wikipedia

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