Category: News

Title: Deformations of the Secular: Naquib Al-Atta’s Conception and Critique of Secularism

Author: Khairudin Aljunied
Date Published: October 16, 2019

“Muslim thinkers have long debated the impact of secularism in their societies. This article examines “the rejectionist approach” to the question of secularism as articulated by a renowned Muslim intellectual, Naquib Al-Attas. I develop the argument that Al-Attas offered a unique view of secularism as an ungodly ideology and historical process that grew from the fusion of conflicting world-views. Al-Attas’s ideas on secularism were shaped by his polarized view of civilizations. Such a conceptualization sets the stage for his critique of the intellectual deformations that secularism has brought upon Muslim societies in the modern world.”

– Khairudin Aljunied (PhD SOAS, London): Senior Fellow, Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding

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