I put off reading En Syed Akbar Ali’s second book, and when I did start reading, I found that I should’ve done it earlier. I’m about half-way through the book now, and I’ll start over again once I’m done reading it, just to let some ideas percolate a little. What’s brought me out to write my first impressions about the book is En Syed himself.
I don’t like psychoanalyzing or pseudo-analyzing people, but there are parts in his second book when he comes across as conflicted about what he’s writing. It’s clear that he is religious (in a layman’s understanding of the word), and it is made abundantly clear that he knows the Quran and - much more importantly - the historical antecedents to modern-day Islam.
And yet he comes across as a secular humanist. And I don’t mean this disparagingly, no matter what the MENJs of Malaysia might think.
That’s the puzzling thing. I’ve not read too far into the book, but he has a clear view of a 21st century Islam - not a ‘liberalized’ Islam, surely, but then again he avoids saying too much of what Islam should or can be for Muslims. I’m trying to figure this out: is his view of Islam idealized - and therefore possible - or is it really incongruent with the demands of a capitalist, market-driven, consumerist world?
What particularly struck me was a small passage describing how, in the Quran, Allah exhorts Muslims have a full, lived experience in the ‘real world’ and not just hanker after the hereafter. This sentiment, if encouraged - and dear God, let it be encouraged - might mark the beginning of an Islamic revolution to match Weber’s Protestant Ethic(1).
You’ll understand what I mean when you pick up this fascinating book. I believe it is self-published, so a bit of editorial polish would’ve helped, and there are times in his book when his point becomes tangential to his study of what makes Muslim nations definitive ‘Failed States’.
(Another… meta-something I’d like to pose to En Syed: is the definition of a Failed State predicated upon the conditions of predominantly Muslim nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. or is the definition of a Failed State independent of reference to these Muslim nations? I ask because I believe labels - all labels - are a matter of who controls the discourse; Western nations may find theocratic, or largely theistic nations, abhorrent when conceiving of a modern nation-state, but the same view might not hold for the Ayatollah in Iran. Is such a definition a matter of perspectives, like the word “terrorism” is, or is it not?)
Early one, in a Chapter titled “Denial - The Fuel of Falsehood”, En Syed makes one thing pretty clear: that he is aware that what he’s written will offend many if not all Muslims. Just as I was surprised that his first book hit our shelves, I’m just as surprised his second book made it past the censors.
En Syed finds much that is wrong with Malaysian Malays/Muslims, and he shoots from the hip with no apologies.
There’s more to talk about, and I hope to do a full review soon. There’s just one other thing I want to mention.
There is, in En Syed’s second book, a sense that he makes a distinction between the “tribal, animist” Malay and the Malay Muslim fully seized of the import of Islam. It’s a familiar dichotomy, that between modern and pre-modern; barbaric and civilized; backward and progressive. I’ll have to finish the book to come to any conclusions, but I wonder if this dichotomy is false: is Islam an inherent stumbling block to a Western-dominated idea of “progress”, or is Islam inherently progressive?
There’s much to think about - and a welcome change from thinking about UMNO, I think ;)
- In brief, Weber’s finding that the group of protestants he was studying believed one’s success in world is a sign of God’s grace; the more successful, the more one is blessed. Therefore, the imperative to succeed is not merely an earth-bound aspiration, but a spiritual one as well. (↩)
Comments (11)
Yeah - I too have a copy of his first book. Interesting read once you get past the annoying repetitive bits. I agree that a good editor can make his book much more attractive to the reader. Thanks for the bit of info on his new book - will check it out myself soon.
In fact, I just finished reading it today. I’m in the process of writing a review on it myself.
And I agree with you and AM - he could do with a better editor :P
Apart from that however, it is a great no-holds barred attempt to knock some sense into the Religionists and to expose the sometimes nonsense that’s being passed off as Islam. For readers like me, however, it is preaching to the choir.
As for your observation about how “liberal” Syed Akbar’s views are, I am not the least bit surprised, especially if they have been moulded from the Quran directly, and solely from the Quran.
You see, the way of life (Deen) set forth in the Quran is very different from what we conventionally know as “Islam”. And if you’ve read my own blog enough, you’d know that one of my missions has been to dismantle the millenium old waywardness that has become so commonplace today within the Muslim ummah.
Tell you what, if you finish your review first, I’ll definitely reference it in mine.
@AM: yah, and he needs to get his writings more structured and to the point. I know he describes his books as being anything but an academic exercise, but I think he’s missing a golden opportunity to put out some serious study on the problems he tackles. That being said, he does want his work to reach as wide an audience as possible, so maybe his admittedly rambling style does connect with people.
I don’t want to speculate too much - and I apologize to En Syed in advance - but if I remember correctly, he didn’t seem to need to self-publish his first book in the vein of so-called vanity books. I don’t have the first book on hand - having lent it to someone else - so I can’t check to be sure.
Perhaps some publishers have found his work too controversial? I’ll never know (unless En Syed drops me an email… LOL).
@walski: hey! I’m still moving along in reading the book and trying to keep adequate notes. I’m familiar with your blog since I read it quite often LOL but yeah, I know that the kind of Islam that you describe has a degree of tolerance beyond what others like MENJ associate with the Deen. I’ve always wondered why.
It’s something I’ve been trying to sort out for some time, actually, but have not done much reading into the matter. I think you might be familiar with the differences between Catholics and Protestants, the main one being the adherence of the latter to the letter of the bible. This is especially the case with Bible Prysbetarians (I hope I don’t offend anyone with this).
In the same way, I think Muslims regard the Quran as literally true. But what about sources outside of the Quran, like the Hadiths and other sources? Are these reports on the actions of Prophet Muhammad meant to be adhered to literally or are they merely interpretations?
Because if something is literally true in the sense of “truth” with capital “T”, then it must be universally true. That’s fine, but interpretations are locked in in the milieu in which they were made, you know what I mean? If the latter is true, then there may be room for a re-interpretation of Islam in today’s contexts.
I know MENJ wouldn’t accept this, but what the heck.
In any case it’ll be a few weeks before I think I can get my act together to say something meaningful about En Syed’s book, so.. I think he says alot in this second book, whether he intended to or not LOL!
What or who is an MENJ ? Thanks for the comments saudara walski, AM and xpyre. I was quite unknown to publishers when I wrote my first book. After my first book was published none of the publishers wanted to carry my titles. They feel I am too controversial. This is Malaysia.
Points noted about the editing. Thank you. Feel free to contact me at syedakbarali@yahoo.com
I am very interested in sdr walski’s comment that he too has been trying to spread the message of the deen. Can we join forces sdra walski ?
Much needs to be done.
I have bought 6 books and given to friends as an eye opener to the cushy world they think they like in.
After reading the book and seeing what is happening in Iraq, it is clear that a religious revolution need to take place for Islam to keep pace with the technological revolution.
It has given me more faith in Islam as the prophecies are coming true.
However its tough to do dakwah work especially talking to potential non Malay “reverts to Islam”. How to compete with the “joy and happiness” of Christianity with the violence and hatred protrayed by the so called “Clergy of Islam”
One comment on the wearing of veils…was it not in Surah An Nur that specifically states the need to cover the face. A fact refuted in the book.
A good read…will it ever be published in Malay??? Thanks Syed for having the B..ls to publish it
I have read an extract from your book “To digress a little†and for you to very frankly lay out the real issues simply and in plain truth must take a fair bit of courage.
In your standing only then you can enjoy such liberty, writings from anybody else would have created a racket.
May I know what’s the message of the deen please?
I hope your writing (any maybe some of your influence or actions) will help to ease this country onto a path of Malaysia for all Malaysians.
As a moderate and peace-loving Muslim, I would like to stress that beneath the “blanket” of information one finds logical, the writings of Syed Akbar is raw, incorrect and to some extent not researched thoroughly. There is news that he believes fasting and 5-times a day mandatory prayer is really a myth created by man and not God’s instructions. Trust me on this one, he is bonkers..
I am no expert in Islam, the best thing other than getting facts right is to ensure not dishing out wrong ones for public consumption.
Doom not to religion, Doom not to Islam, Doom not to religious tolerance, Doom not to multi-cultural society, BUT DOOM TO SYED AKBAR!
Pretty strong words, and while I do agree in principle that one shouldn’t make assertions if one is unsure of the facts, concluding that someone’s opinion or findings are wrong requires demonstration.
And in this case, saying that Syed Akbar is wrong - just as I think he’s dead wrong about what he says about Christian sources in later chapters in his book - still requires that you demonstrate this. Or else it remains an untenable accusation rather than an informed conclusion.
Religion should NOT have any role in Government in any sector.
Whatever one may think of the literary style / lack of editorship,
this is a very brave piece of writing indeed, relevant, observant and to the point. It will be offensive to many; if it had been written by a non-Muslim it might have caused riots!
AB should perhaps choose to recognize himself in some of the chapters. I’m sorry to have to inform him / her that all religious rituals and writings are created by man. It is time that ALL religions dispensed with writings and customs which are no longer relevant, whilst at the same time retaining and focussing on those which continue to be appropriate and capable of taking the world forward in love rather than hate.
Syed Akbar Ali’s observations and suggestions are interesting and worth serious consideration if Muslims want to progress and ‘catch-up’ with the rest of the world.
If we put aside the little “errors†in his book, and look at the big picture, I must iterate that Syed’s viewpoints are credible and embodied some key learnings. He is not only brave, he has noble intentions – intentions to see Malaysia and the entire Muslim world progress.
All things and living creatures are created by Allah [or God or whatever, you choose to call Him]. He created people of different colors and has given Man a right of choice. If that’s a mistake, let Allah rectify it and not snatch the right from him……”give room to everyone” as spelled out in the Quaran. We should therefore allow different viewpoints and openly accept that everyone has that Allah-given right. It is also a measure of our maturity.
As elders, we teach our children to emulate the successful uncles and aunts; however, when we have more successful neighbors we are envious of them and think their progress resulted in our lack [scarcity mindset]. In the process, instead of critically analyzing the underlying reasons for our lack of progress, admitting to our faults, search for ways to overcome our weakness, study our neighbour’s success formulae and model their success, we sought to bring them down to our level. So, what if you succeed in bringing down our neighbors? – when one neighbour goes down, the whole neighbourhood crumbles. And the rest of the world just laugh – that goes another one! It’s a lose-lose situation.
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Club of Doom, Syed Akbar’s second book, has also been reviewed by a number of other bloggers, apart from Walski. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of reviews that Walski’s found, to date (in no particular order): â–º Xpyre â–º Nizam Bashir’s Poetic Justice â–º arifadriana â–º Nisha â–º Thai-Blogs.com â–º Mnemosyne â–º Caliibre â–º Chua’s Corner â–º Malaysia-Finance Blogspot â–º Heyya, Apa Khabar? There are probably a whole lot more reviews, but the above should give you