Semantic analysis is a major method of interpretation in the Islamic intellectual tradition which is concerned with correct application of linguistic symbols to arrive at correct meaning. This method has been neglected by modern commentators due to modernization. As a result, Islamic vocabulary has been tampered with: the definitions either changed, reduced or incorrectly translated; causing confusion in the Islamic worldview. Syed Muhammad Naqib al-Attas has addressed the significance of correct application of linguistic symbols by reintroducing the method of semantic analysis. This paper attempts at elucidating al-Attas' method of semantic analysis in tafsīr by examining his conception of insān. The paper is divided into two sections: the first scrutinizes al-Attas' semantic analysis while the second elucidates on how this method is applied in the semantic field of insān. Al-Attas' published works on insān especially "On Justice and the Nature of Man" are examined.

This paper brings into focus first, rather simply, the idea of islamization of knowledge as a response to the process of globalization; and secondly, the idea of language as the ideal tool for islamizing, or de- Westernizing the Muslim Community. In the discussion, the paper will try to look into the characteristic of Arabic language, the lingua franca of Islam; how the scientific nature of the language affects the sustainability of the Islamic worldview. Throughout the discourse, a few issues will be examined and then concluded by a few alternatives and strategies. Keywords: globalization, secularization, islamization, language, worldview.

Syarahan ini menyelusuri perkembangan perbahasan dan wacana tentang Islam dan kedinamikan politiknya dalam masa enam puluh tahun (1957-2017), yakni semenjak Malaysia mencapai kemerdekaan sebagai sebuah entiti berdaulat dengan cita-cita untuk mendirikan sebuah negara bangsa. Elemen yang sangat penting dalam wacana ini ialah kedudukan rasmi Islam sebagai ‘agama persekutuan’ dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia dan pada masa yang sama memberi jaminan kebebasan beragama kepda agama-agama lain yang dianuti oleh hampir empat puluh peratus daripada jumlah penduduk Malaysia. Wajah demografi Malaysia menjadi semakin rencam dari sudut etnik dan agama dengan kemasukan Sabah, Sarawak, Singapura bersama Malaya ke dalam Persekutuan Malaysia pada 16 September 1963. Berkait rapat dengan wacana ‘Islam politik’ atau ‘Islamisme’ di Malaysia ialah konsep-konsep ‘agama’ dan ‘sekularisme’ yang saling berinteraksi dan mengalami evolusi makna sebagai lanjutan daripada perbahasan umum yang melibatkan pelbagai pihak seperti para sarjana, ahli politik, birokrat, ulama, aktivis sosial, pengamal media dan pengkomentar media sosial. Hujahan yang dikemukakan di sini ialah makna ‘Islam’ yang difahami oleh pemegang-pemegang taruh (stakeholders) telah mengalami perubahan pesat hasil daripada interaksi aktif semua pihak berkepentingan termasuk organ-organ negara dan masyarakat sivil dengan Islam. ‘Islam’ dalam Artikel 3 (1) Perlembagaan Persekutuan pada 31 Ogos 1957 tidak lagi sama kefahamannya dengan ‘Islam’ dalam dokumen yang sama pada tahun 2017. ‘Islam’ dan ‘Islamisme’ berhadapan dengan konflik atau percampuran maksud. Pergolakan politik yang dialami Malaysia semenjak tiga dekad kebelakangan ini, iaitu sejak kesan kebangkitan Islam menampakkan impaknya dalam landskap politik, ekonomi dan sosial. Situasi ini boleh dikesan susur galurnya kepada kefahaman keagamaan yang lebih tegar yang menggariskan sempadan ketat tentang apa yang disifatkan sebagai ‘Islamik’ berbanding apa yang ‘tidak Islamik.’ Kemasukan elemen tegar dalam wacana Islamisme ini diarus perdanakan di bawah projek-projek Islamisasi pemerintah, dengan reaksi-reaksi berbeza daripada pelbagai kelompok masyarakat. Penularan elemen tegar dalam dasar Islamisasi yang diabsahkan melalui kerangka politik rasmi membawa implikasi mendalam kepda politik Malaysia dalam arena hubungan Muslim dengan bukan Muslim, malahan antara sesama Muslim yang berbeza corak pemikiran dari aliran arus perdana.

The Doctrine of al-Mithaq or the Day of Alastu is a doctrine which preludes a covenant between God and man from pre-existence when man are in their forms of souls. There are three important elements of the Day of Alastu: God, man and knowledge. This paper will attempt to the second and third elements, elaborating on the definitions of insan and 'ilm and how they interconnect significantly in the notion of shuhud under the light of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas' metaphysical and linguistic ideas.

To Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islamic civilization is founded on religion as connoted by the key-term (DĪN). He has meticulously explicated the concept by way of semantic analysis, a major method of interpretation in the Islamic intellectual tradition which is concerned with correct application of linguistic symbols to arrive at correct meaning. His analysis of the term DĪN has marked a distinctive, deeper and interrelated understanding of revealed religion different from the Western conception. The root-word DYN comprises of four distinctive yet interconnected meanings embedded in the understanding of religion. This paper attempts at elucidating al-Attas' analysis of the keyword DĪN which bares a very significant basis to the definition of MADANĪ society, a term not equivalent to "civil society". The paper scrutinizes al-Attas' published and unpublished works on religion.

The Islamic Awakening in Malaysia has brought about the consciousness of adopting and practicing the Islamic way of life. The process of implementing the principles of Islam is based on a gradual evolutionary process, rather than a drastic approach. Therefore, the selective implementation of Islamic law has been carried out relatively smoothly. For that reason, various institutions have been established ‒ such as, Islamic universities, Islamic banking and insurance companies, and other Islamic organizations and institutions. The case studies in this article related to Malaysia are: The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia – ABIM (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement), and some Islamic institutions, which play important roles in the Islamic Awakening and solidarity in Malaysia. The PAS and ABIM are the prominent Islamic parties and movements, respectively, which can be regarded as the driving force behind the Islamic Awakening in Malaysia. Based on a tri-dimensional perspective ‒ that is, socioeconomic well-being and the strength of the expansion of Islamic education, and political stability ‒ this study highlights the accomplishment of Islamic Awakening in Malaysia.

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Malaysia is in the midst of enormous societal transformations, and Malay identity is a key locus for these transformations. Malaysians are asking themselves two questions—What does it mean to be Malaysian? And what does it mean to be Malay? The Malaysian government has a goal of becoming a fully developed nation by the year 2020. This national plan, known as " Vision 2020, " is developing within the context of highly contested local/global debates about Islam, science, and modernity. I argue that these debates are best conceptualized as competing projects for reconstructing Malaysian economy, society, and identity and thus represent alternative constructions of Malaysian

Muḍārabah is a contract of profit-sharing known as partnership in capital and labour. Its concept and practices were notable in the history of Muslims specifically after its incorporation in the fiqh literatures that have spread to the entire education and economic institutions in the Muslim world. It combines two parties: those who have capital and those who are skilful in business to achieve a common economic objective underpinned by the Sharīʿah. This study analyses the work of al- Mabsūṭ by al-Sarakhsī (d. 483 A.H./1090 C.E.), an accomplished Hanafī jurist (fāqih) in the fifth/ eleventh century, pertaining to muḍārabah drawn from the analysis of the first chapter of the book titled Kitāb al-Muḍārabah. This study is significant as it fills the lacuna in the historiography of Islamic economic thought by focusing on al-Sarakhsī’s epistemic framework and definition of muḍārabah, as well as extending in its coverage from the individual to the institutional. It is a testimony of how Muslims conducted their economic activities based on the intellectual framework and moral guidance underlined by the Sharīʿah. For full article please visit http://tafhim.ikim.gov.my/index.php/tafhim/article/view/102