Religion and Reason in Contemporary Islamic Ethics: A Comparative Study of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and Taha Abderrahmane Thought

Abstract

The current research was based on a comparative study of the views of two prominent Islamic intellectual figures, namely Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and Taha Abderrahmane regarding the position of reason and religion in contemporary Islamic ethics. As library-based research, the current study applied a comparative and textual analytical method to study the primary sources obtained from al-Attas' and Taha's works as well as supplemented by secondary sources from journals and books that are relevant to the topic of discussion. This study concluded that the difference between them was more obvious than the similarities. Through a philosophical lens of virtue ethics, al-Attas viewed ethics as an endeavor to cultivate and refine one's character and spirit by honing the key virtues, wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, guided by the practical reasoning informed by the overarching influence of theoretical reason. Meanwhile, Taha rejects virtue ethics because for him to limit human actions to only a few elements of virtue cannot be justified since humans are ethical creatures who produce limitless actions. Through the conception of supported reason, which combines theory, praxis, and living experience, he strives for comprehensive ethics based on Sufi approach. However, they share the same opinion that in ethical decisions, the reason is dependent on religion, which they elaborate on through their respective arguments.