World Conference on Islamic Thought and Civilization

Abstract

Kolej Universiti Islam Sultan Azlan Shah (KUISAS) organized and hostedthe Second World Conference on Islamic Thought and Civilization (WCIT)during August 18-19, 2014, at Casuarina Hotel, Ipoh, Malaysia. Under theleadership of chairperson Wan Sabri bin Wan Yusof (associate professor), theorganizers chose Ibn Khaldun’s notion of the rise and fall of civilization asthe general theme and asked potential presenters to explore the contemporarystate of Muslim affairs. The over 200 selected presenters, ranging from thesocial sciences to the applied sciences, were slotted into various parallel panels.After welcoming and introducing the sponsors and various presenters,Nordin Kardi (vice-chancellor and rector, KUISAS) spoke on the Arab Springand other problems that continue to afflict the Muslim world: a low to mediumlevel of socioeconomic human development, an absence of good governance,intra-Muslim conflict, and an attitude of the “Muslim world and the rest.” Hesuggested that Muslims begin building strategic bridges to deal with them.The first keynote speaker, Sultan Nazrin M. Shah (pro-chancellor, Universityof Malaya), echoed some of Kardi’s points and reflected critically uponthe Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states’ general poor performancein producing scientific publications as a typical example of the deplorablestate of knowledge production among Muslims as a whole. Headvocated participation, transparency, equitable treatment, good governance,and sound education to remedy this generally negative condition.The second keynote speaker, Serif Ali Tekalan (vice-chancellor, Fatih University,Turkey) spoke on “The Role of Waqf in Islamic Civilization: Turkey’sExperience in Waqf for Education.” A great deal of evidence shows thatTurkey has used “endowment policies” to transform its socio-educational andreligious landscape. Both Muslim-majority and minority communities shouldbe able to benefit from its experience. The final keynote speaker, Zamry AbdulKadir (chief minister), who closed the conference, remarked that Muslimsshould return to the Qur’an and Sunnah to rebuild Islamic civilization. He optimisticallystated: “[I]ronic as it may seem, despite the multitude of conflicts… are we actually looking at the … resurgence of Islam?” He observed thatthe conference’s main result was “a call to re-examine the essence of Islamic ...