Confronting the threat of Relativism: Views from Malay philosophy

Abstract
Today the issue of ethics and most importantly moral values are being seen as merely
based upon opinions and emotions. This has led towards a relativisation of moral values
and thus towards the erosion of values amongst societies. This paper would analyze and
suggest ways of preserving values for the structuring of developmental ideas for thiners
in developing countries. Coming from an !slamic standpoint the ideas of virtues have to
be rooted within the transcendent or the Absolute. "uch defense of virtues are definitely
beyond the grasp of usual western philosophy as the philosophy that is propagated by
!slam is not a mere intellectual e#ercise but a transformative e#ercise which connects the
profane to the sacred$ the outer to the inner and the physical world to the spiritual world.
The loci or the focus point is the human being thus developing human capital via the
inculcation of and preservation of virtues is of utmost importance. The virtues most
important in !slam discussed here are %ustice and moderation. These virtues are rooted in
the Absolute and through &is presence in the various levels of e#istences are they nown.
'or development to achieve its most cherish ideals in Malay Muslim society it has to
inculcate the views of !slamic philosophy or himah within developmental policies of the
governments. (sing ideas from malay cosmology and soteriology based upon the
writings of Malay scholars$ this paper would highlight ways to preserve and ensure
Malay society does not fall under the threat of relativism of moral values.
!ntroduction to the problem
The various approaches in ethics prevalent in modern contemporary consciousness
originates from the philosophical discussions in western philosophy as to what constitutes
right$ wrong$ virtuous vice etc. )e can roughly divide the ethical approaches to three
main distinct approaches deontological$ teleological and virtue based ethical theories.
*eontological meaning nowledge of duty or responsibility is famously represented by
!mmanuelle +ant ,d.-.../
-
and his many interpreters in this modern period. This theory
basically says that ethics is done for the sae of fulfillment of a certain duty and that duty
is never based upon selfishness but upon goodwill of the doer without any e#pectation of
reward. The duty is outlined by our reasoning which maes it a categorical imperative
which every rational human being should undertae. The good action is that action which
is done in fulfillment of duty and done without the e#pectation of any reward or any gains
whatsoever ,goodwill/.
Teleological ethics on the other hand measures the goodness or badness of an action
based upon the end result of the action. As 0ereley said and echoed later by 1ohn "tuart
Mill
2
$ an action is good if it provides a good outcome for the doer of the action. "uch
belief which can be traced bac to 3picurus bac in the 4
th
century before the common
era$ rest upon the mistaen view that human beings are pleasure seeing animals who are
constantly 5running away6 from pain. This view leads to the attitude common amongst the
people today of 5you scratch my bac !6ll scratch yours6 5or always looing after no.-6
meaning you have to always loo after yourself in spite of the rest or even the attitude of
constantly seeing en%oyment or pleasure in whatever that people do. "o what is right or
wrong is not defined according to any fi#ed criteria or even definition but based merely
on what advantage the action would procure for the individual acting upon it.
Virtue based ethical theories however are based upon the teachings of Aristotle. !n his
boo which was written to his son 7ichomachea
8
$ Aristotle taled about the good life and
how one can achieve it. To Aristotle the good life or eudemonia is achieved via action in
our daily life which has to be based upon the principle of the mean. The mean is the
middle position between vice which is due to lac of the value and with the vice which is
due to the e#cess of the value. This mean position for any particular value in ethics is
what Aristotle named as virtue. Therefore not all moral values are virtues but all virtues
are necessarily moral values. To achieve eudemonia one has to practice the mean position
in action which is the virtue.
!n the face of all these approaches there is a new approach in western philosophy which
have become more prevalent in this post9modern world that we live in today and that is
the position of moral relativism or ethical relativism
4
. !t is the view that there are no
universally valid moral principles and values. The validity of all moral principles is
relative to culture or individual choice.
-
3specially in his Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals
2
1ohn "tuart Mill$ On What Utilitarianism is
8
Aristotle$ Nichomachean Ethics
4
'or a very informative overview see Mohammad Ali "homali$ Ethical Relativism$ :ondon:!CA"$ 2;;2.
This position as proposed by <uite a few western philosophers cannot be analysed
ade<uately in a paper of this sort however the position can also be summarized as the
position of no position i.e. there are no absolute values what e#ist are mere sub%ective
opinions by these various philosophers ,mentioned above/. To tal about universal values
is to presuppose that there is a set of values or virtues that is accepted by a ma%ority of
people in the world today and that cannot be accepted but based upon religion and its
teachings or metaphysical foundations. A note has to be said here and that is on the issue
of tolerance. Tolerance of other people6s cultural views doesn6t mean that we accept the
position of moral relativism. !t merely means tolerance and accommodation of the
different cultures and religion. Tolerance of other culture and religions has somehow led
some anthropologist to accept the position of moral relativism
=
.
)hat are the views of muslim scholars or philosophers in regards to these ethical issues>
&ow does Malay thought or philosophy approach these issues> &ow is it that we achieve
happiness in life according to Malay muslim philosophy> These are some of the issues
studied to an e#tent in this paper.
According to al9+indi ,d.?@@ C3/ the aim of philosophy is:
ABhilosophy is the language of the reality of things within man6s possibility
because the philosopher6s end in his theoretical nowledge is to gain truth and in
his practical nowledge is to behave in accordance with the truthC
This 5reality of things6 echoes the Brophetic supplication Allahumma arini ashya6
amahiya ,D Eod ! beseech you to give me the nowledge of things as they are/. This
view of the aim of philosophy is followed throughout the ages by subse<uent muslim
philosophers. Df course philosophy had begun as a reaction to the Eree intellectual
corpus which the muslims found in Ale#andria however as time passed muslim
philosophers themselves had begun to bring forward their own theories and findings. Df
course muslim philosophers were aided in their <uest with the insights from the Fur6an
and the teachings of the &oly Brophet as recorded in muslim traditions. The total reliance
on reason for seeing universal truths or finding out what the true reality of things were
found wanting which resulted muslim philosophers from !bn "ina onwards to move
towards the realm of direct comprehension or witnessing of the Absolute Truth ,al9&a<</.
This is achieved via spiritual e#ercise and spiritual science nown in muslim tradition as
tasawwuf. As a result philosophy in !slam is no more a mere intellectual e#ercise but a
mi#ture of rationality and spiritual insights. :ater muslim philosophers summarized the
aims of philosophy as:
ABhilosophy is the perfecting of the human soul through the cognition of the
realities of e#istents as they truly are and through %udgments about their being ascertained
through demonstrations and not grasped through con%ecture or blind imitation$ to the
measure of human capacityC
"o philosophy has become a nowledge by which human beings can perfect their soul.
'or perfection of the soul would necessarily produce the perfect human being which is
the aim of ethics.
=
"ee the discussion on this issue in Muhammad Ali "homali. 3thical Relativism$ :ondon: !CA"$ 2;;2$ pg.
0y ac<uiring good ethics or conduct the individual has power over his faculties in the
!slamic sense the soul controls the body. !n !slamic thought and philosophy the soul is the
loci of all abstract attributes e.g. good character$ reason or the intellect. The body is the
loci of all gross attributes. Thus for the soul to have power over the body is to mean the
higher abstract attributes are more in priority if compared to the gross physical attributes
and all that is connected to it. 'rom the individual point of view$ it means heGshe is in full
control of his bodily appetites and have not succumbed to their temptations. This
controller is always mentioned as the soul or sometimes the intellect controlling the body.
0y having control over the bodily appetites does not mean eradicating desires but it
means controlling and fulfilling it according to what is permitted and preventing it from
committing the forbidden. )hen these are in control the effects would be a moral
individual and thus society. The individual would achieve success or salvation in this
world and the ne#t.
This view of human being6s ability to achieve the perfection is shared by the Malay
thiner "hams al9din "umatra6! ,d.-@84/
@
. !n his many wors he elaborates on this view
of human being and its potential abilities. &e and his mentor &amzah 'ansuri had taled
about the theory of the perfect human being in many of their writings.
The way of fulfilling this potential is by ac<uiring the traits of Eod which is the divine
names of Eod. These traits are the virtues which are rooted in the Absolute who is
transcendent. Df all of Eod6s creation$ it is only manind that is endowed with the divine
names as the muslim scripture ,the Fur6an/ tells us:
AAnd &e taught Adam the names all of it then presented them to the angelsH then
&e said: Tell me the names of those if you are right. They answered: Elory be to
TheeI )e have no nowledge but that which Thou hast taught usH surely Thou art
the +nowing the )ise. &e said: D Adam I !nform them of the names. Then when
he had informed them of their names$ &e said: *id ! not say to you that surely !
now what is ghaib in the heavens and the earth and ,that/ ! now what you
manifest and what you hide>C J8-:8K
.
@
A short concise overview on "hams al9*in "umatra6i is available see A.&.1ohns$ Reflections on the
Mysticism of "hams al9*in al9"amatra6i in 1an van der Butten and Mary +ilcline Cody ,editors/$ Lost times
and untold tales from the Malay world$ "ingapore:7("$ 2;;L$ pp. -4?9@8.
.
Al-Baqarah 31-3, translation of M.H.Shakir. This verse had been commented by
Snni and Shi!" commentators alike. The loftiness of the station of man is de to the
fact that he#she has the secret of the divine names. This $rivile%e kno&led%e is not
kno&n to the an%els. Ho&ever there have been tendencies in the Shii commentaries
to indicate that the names are in actal fact the names of $lants, trees, montains
and other thin%s created by 'od. See tafs"r al-Ay(sh", Maktabah )*lm"yyah al-
*sl(m"yyah, + vols., see vol.1, $%. 3+, Ma-ma) al-Bay(n, .ar *hya! al-Tr(th al-)Arab",
/ vols., see vol. 1, $%. 0/, Tabarsi ho&ever incldes that these thin%s are those &hich
are connected to the commands of reli%ion and the &orld. He also inclded a re$ort
from *bn )Abbas, M-ahid and Sa!"d ibn 1bayr &ho said that these thin%s are the
names of the lan%a%es of $eo$le from Adam!s sons and their $ro%eny. *nterestin%ly
he also qoted from a M)ta2ili scholar, Ab )Al" al-1bba!" &ho said that 'od had
made s$eech a miracle for three 3ro$hets i.e. Adam, *sma)"l and Mhammad 4s.a.&5.
Mlla 6adra!s famos stdent and son in-la& Ma&la Mhsin or Mlla Mhsin 7ay8
9ash(n" had also follo&ed his master!s inter$retation of this verse to mean the
According to various commentators of the Fur6an such as !bn +athir$ 'ahr al9*in al9
Razi and the Tafsir al91alalain these names are the divine names of Eod. Eod had given
human beings this divine secret which even the angels do not posses nowledge of. This
is also why human beings are Eod6s vicegerent and thus command the respect of even the
pure angels.
Although human beings are endowed with this divine nowledge and come close to Eod$
the human being is still but at the level of slavehood. As "hams al9*in says:
AMartabat insan amil itu martabat hamba..C
!bn MArabN ,d.-24; C3/ an influential figure in !slamic thought and philosophy$ regarded
the divine names as the character trait which is the foundation for man6s vicegerency. &e
says:
A7o e#istent thing is named by all the divine names e#cept man$ who has been
charged to assume the names as his own traits. That is why he was given the
vicegerency and the deputyship$ and the nowledge of all names. &e was the last
configuration within the cosmos bringing together all the realities of the cosmosC
?
Therefore the inculcation of good character traits according to !slamic philosophy is
rooted in the understanding of the attributes or the names of Eod. The names of Eod are
in turn mentioned in the primary sources of !slam i.e. the Fur6an and the hadith. "o
teaching the divine names and attributes are essential in the educational philosophy of the
muslims. As !slam teaches the path towards achieving saadah or happiness
L
through
coming close to Eod thus the first step in studying religion in !slam has to be in teaching
the divine names and attributes of Eod i.e. the nowledge of Eod. This is also mentioned
names of 'od or the asma! al-hsn( &hich are seen in the loci of their manifestation
in this &orld, see Tafs"r al-6(f", .ar al-Mrta8a l" al-:ashr, Mashad, / vols., see
es$ecially vol. 1, $%.;<. *n the snn" taf(sir &e =nd an almost the same discssion in
re%ards to these verses. The traditional commentaries similar to the traditional
commentaries of the Shi!" also mentioned the names as bein% names of thin%s
4ash!ya5 of &hich had made Adam &orthy of bein% $rostrated to. Ths this verse
sho&s the loftiness of man if com$ared to the an%els, see *bn 9ath"r, Ab> al-7ida!
*sma)"l, Tafs"r ?r!(n al-A2"m, .ar al-Had"th@?(hirah, 1;;3, vol.1, $%. 0A, see also
Tafs"r al-1al(lain, .ar al-Ma)rifah@ Beirt, ndated, $%. B. al-Ca2" mentioned many
as$ects of inter$retation of this verse be%innin% &ith a more theolo%ical a$$roach by
mentionin% the vie&s of Ash)ar", al-1bb(!" and al-9a)b" in re%ards to the names
bein% necessary kno&led%e 4)ilm al-8arr>r"5, see Tafs"r al-9ab"r, vol. 1, $$. 1<1-3.
Amon%st the 6>f" tafs"r, &e see *bn )Arab" takes it for %ranted that these names as
bein% the divine names of 'od and he ties it &ith the discssion on the imago dei
had"th that 'od had created Adam in His ima%e to mean that Adam and sons of
Adam as a &hole has the $otential to reali2e the divine names in them ths are
sitable for vice%erency and de$tyshi$. See Faiser "hahzad 5*bn )Arab"!s Contribution to
the 3thics of *ivine 7ames6$ Islamic tudies 48:- ,2;;4/$ $%. 1A-1+.
?
"ee Faiser "hahzad6s article mentioned in the note above$ pg.--.
L
"ee his The Meaning and e#perience of happiness in !slam$ !role"omena to the metaphysics of Islam# $n
e%position of the fundamental elements of the worldview of Islam$ +uala :umpur: !"TAC$ 2;;-$ pp. L-9
--;.
in the famous tradition from the &oly Brophet of !slam who had said: The beginning of
religion is the nowledge of Eod. The first step in studying this deen or religion has to be
through the teaching of the nowledge of Eod.The nowledge of Eod is taught in order
for the students to now Eod6s attributes and how they relate to his essence and also most
importantly for the students to inculcate the divine attributes in their daily conduct.
&ow is it that we now of the attributes of Eod> And how are they virtues i.e. how did
they come to be virtues>
According to the muslim philosophers or haim$ the world is an endless manifestation of
Eod as he presents &imself through various manifestations or presences.
"hams al9*in al9"umatra6! is e#plicit when discussing this point:
A"urely all the Verifiers had named it as presences because Eod6s essence and e#istence
pervades all the worlds which in turn are &is self9disclosure ,ta%alli/ and places of &is
self9manifestation ,zuhOr/ from eternity without beginning ,azPl/ to an eternity without
end ,abad/.As Eod says in the Fur6an:A!s it not enough ,D Muhammad/ that your :ord
does witness all things>CJ4-:=8KC
-;
Eod as he is understood here self9discloses to the verifiers or those endowed with
nowledge. As &amzah 'ansuri says so elegantly in his poetry:
Tuhan ita itu yang bernama Aliy
*engan seelian sifat7ya sentiasa 0a<i
Ala %ami6 al9alamin athar7ya %adi
*aripada sittu %ihat9 sebab inilah hali
Cahaya athar7ya tiadaan padam
Memberian wu%ud seelian alam
Men%adian mahlu< siang dan malam
!lal abadi abad tiadaan aram
--
Translation:
Dur :ord is &e who is e#alted
)ith all &is attributes forever abiding
(pon the universe entire &is effects tae form
'rom the sic directions9hence &e is alone
The light of &is effects will never die out
Eiving e#istence to the universe entirely
Creating creation day and night
-;
'or a thorough study of this and further e#cerpts from "hams al9*in$ see Mohamad 7asrin bin Mohamad
7asir$ $ study and critical edition of the &a'' al(ya'in of hams al()in al(umatra*i$ unpublished thesis$
!nternational !nstitute of !slamic Thought and Civilization$ !!(M$ 2;;?. ! am at the moment woring in
transforming this study for the sae of publishing it in the near future by !!(M Bress.
--
"yed Muhammad 7a<uib al9Attas. +he Mysticism of &am,ah -ansuri. +uala :umpur: (niversity
Malaya Bress$ -L.;$ 28@
'orever and ever will never cease
-2
As Eod who is transcendent descends and reveals himself to the world the virtues come
to be. !n the understanding of !slamic philosophy Eod the transcendent reveals or self9
discloses himself through various stages of which he is present.
As Eod reveals himself through self9disclosures &is nowledge also comes about in what
can be seen as the permanent archetype. According to "hams al9*in:AThe first of the
seven levels is the level of 7on93ntification$ self9disclosure and self9manifestation. The
si# other levels are levels of 3ntification$ self9disclosure and self9manifestation. Two of
the si# levels are called inner self9disclosure and inner self9manifestation i.e. it is the
presence of Eod6s predispositions or divine states and it that presence whose world are
the immutable entities. The ,other/ 4 levels ,are called/ outward self9disclosure and
outward self9manifestation which are the presence which has as its worlds the world of
spirits$ imaginal world and the world of bodies$ and world of the perfect man or world of
man9animal.C
-8

!t is the third level that concern us here and that is according to "hams al9*in: The third
divine presence: The level of !nclusive9(nity ,which is/ unseen. The world is the world
of the immutable entities which are within the world of Eod. &ence everything in this
level is the ob%ects of nowledge which are both specific ,muayyan/ and relatively
differentiated ,mufassal/
This is the level of the immutable entities which is the ob%ect of &is nowledge. These
entities are the divine names and attributes of Eod as such are the ob%ects of &is
nowledge. !t is through these names that we come to now Eod and &is attributes. !t is
here that !slamic cosmology tells us that Eod is present everywhere in the cosmos. As
Eod is nown as the names itself and these names teach us regarding how the universe
comes into e#istence.
0y rooting their everyday practices in the divine names muslims would be better able to
deal with the modern world. As the divine names are transcendent i.e. are attributes of
Eod therefore believing in them and actualizing them in conduct and behaviour the
muslim would be able to escape the relativism that has plagued modern contemporary
philosophy.
0y understanding and practicing the divine names in daily conduct would ensure
happiness as our philosophers had discussed above. &owever what is happiness>
According to the contemporary Malay muslim philosopher "yed Muhammad 7a<uib al9
Attas$ happiness in islam is not only this secular life but also in the hereafter. 'urthermore
happiness in this life is not an end in itself and that the end of happiness is love of Eod.
This love of Eod is basically the glue which binds the muslim to Eod. This is the concept
of asyi ,lover/ in traditional Malay sufi writings. !t is through love that one moves
-2
!bid. pp.8=@9.
-8
Mohamad 7asrin bin Mohamad 7asir$ $ study and critical edition of the &a'' al(ya'in of hams al()in
al(umatra*i$ Chapter 8.
towards becoming more in character with the beloved. !t is lie the love of a student to a
respected teacher. This love would lead the student to become more ,imitate/ lie the
teacher in mannerism$ ways of taling etc. Thus by being in love with Eod one would
lie to resonate more with Eod via imitating the attributes via the divine names.