Syed Muhammad al Naquib bin Ali al-Attas ( ; 5 September 1931 – 8 March 2026) was a Malaysian Muslim philosopher of Arab descent. He was considered one of the few contemporary scholars who was thoroughly rooted in the traditional Islamic sciences and studied theology, philosophy, metaphysics, history, and literature. He pioneered the concept of Islamisation of knowledge. Al-Attas's philosophy and methodology of education have one goal: Islamisation of the mind, body, and soul and its effects on the personal and collective life of Muslims as well as others, including the spiritual and physical non-human environment. He was the second Malaysian to be awarded the title of Royal Professor (Profesor Diraja) after the late Ungku Abdul Aziz.

Al-Attas was the author of 27 works on various aspects of Islamic thought and civilisation, particularly on Sufism, cosmology, metaphysics, philosophy and Malay language, and literature.

He was the second Malaysian to receive the title of Royal Professor (Profesor Diraja) after Ungku Abdul Aziz.

Early life and education

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas was born in Bogor, Java, Dutch East Indies on 5 September 1931, into a family with a history of illustrious ancestors and saints. Al-Attas was born into a family of Hadrami Arab sayyid lineage that had long been established in the Malay world. Some sources state his genealogical tree can be traced over a thousand years through the Ba' Alawi sayyids of Hadramaut. He was the second of three sons; his elder brother, Syed Hussein Alatas later became an academician and politician. He was the cousin of the academic Ungku Abdul Aziz.

Awards and achievements

Al-Attas developed a style and precise vocabulary that uniquely characterised his Malay writings and language. He also studied Islamic and Malay civilisations. In 1975, he was conferred Fellow of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy for his contribution in the field of comparative philosophy. He was also a speaker and an active participant at the First World Conference on Islamic Education held at Mecca in 1977, where he chaired the Committee on Aims and Definitions of Islamic Education. From 1976 to 1977, he was a visiting professor of Islam at Temple University, Philadelphia, United States. In 1978, he chaired the UNESCO meeting of experts on Islamic history held at Aleppo, Syria.

He was the first holder of the Chair of Malay Language and Literature at the National University of Malaysia (1970–84), and the first holder of the Tun Abdul Razak Chair of Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University (1980–82) and as the Founder-Director of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC) at the International Islamic University Malaysia (since 1987). He delivered more than 400 lectures throughout Europe, the United States, Japan, the Far East and the Muslim world. Anwar Ibrahim in 1993, appointed him as the first holder of the Abu Hamid al-Ghazali Chair of Islamic Thought at ISTAC. King Hussein of Jordan made him a Member of the Royal Academy of Jordan in 1994, and in June 1995 the University of Khartoum conferred upon him the Degree of Honorary Doctorate of Arts (D.Litt.).

He was also a calligrapher. His work was exhibited at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam in 1954. He planned and designed the: ISTAC building; the unique scroll of the al-Ghazali Chair (1993); the auditorium and mosque of ISTAC (1994); as well as their landscaping and interior decor.

Honour of Malaysia

  • Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (P.S.M.) (2011)
  • Royal Professor "Professor DiRaja" (2024)

Ancestry

Syed Naquib was of mixed ancestry; His father, Syed Ali al-Attas, was the son of a Hadhrami Arab preacher and a Circassian noblewoman. On his mother's side, Syed Naquib was the son of a Hadhrami Arab and a Sundanese noblewoman.

Bibliography

A list of works by Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas is as follows. He authored more than two dozen books and monographs, and a lot of articles.

Books and monographs

  • Translated into German by Christoph Marcinkowski as Islam und die Grundlagen von Wissenschaft, Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 2001
  • Translated into Malay by Muhammad Zainiy 'Uthman as Ma'na Kebahagiaan dan Pengalamannya dalam Islam, Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC; and into German by Christoph Marcinkowski as Die Bedeutung und das Erleben von Glückseligkeit im Islam, Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1998

See also

  • International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation
  • List of Islamic scholars

References

Citations

Works cited

General references

  • M. Ismail Marcinkowski, "Dr. Marcinkowski explains what ISTAC has to offer". Education Quarterly (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) no. 7 (November–December 1999): 28–29.
  • Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud (1998), The Educational Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas: An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamisation, ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur.
  • Al-Attas Revisited on the Islamic Understanding of Education