Terence Netto

In a much-awaited speech on the reform of higher education in Muslim societies, Anwar Ibrahim disagreed with the popular notion among Muslims that western education is devoid of an ethical and moral dimension.

Anwar said this notion, widely disseminated in Islamic intellectual circles, has been a hindrance to the development of Muslims, particularly in the scientific and technical spheres.

.. [T]here is a general perception among the discourse of many Muslim scholars that Western education and philosophy is secular and bereft of an ethical and moral dimension. To my mind, this is unfounded, declared Anwar in a keynote address to a symposium organised by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in Washington DC on Monday.

Malaysias parliamentary opposition leader, highly regarded abroad than at home for his intellection, observed that the misperception of western education as ethically vacant was also shared by intellectuals in the west.

He said seminal western thinkers like John Locke and Adam Smith were concerned to found their philosophies on a moral core, but that Smith, in particular, the icon of capitalism, has been seriously misread.

Anwar argued that the moral sentiments that were an integral part of Smiths economic propositions were not at loggerheads with Islamic percepts.

He likened Smiths concern for morality in economics with Islamic thinker Ismail Faruqis conception of a good economy as the expression of Islams spirituality.

To Faruqi, the economy of the ummah and its good health are the essence of Islam just as Islams spirituality is inexistent without just economic action.

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In a much-awaited speech on the reform of higher education in Muslim societies, Anwar Ibrahim disagreed with the ...