Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Kamal Hassan (1942 -)

1. Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Kamal Hassan (1942 -)

2. Presented by Khairul Amin Abd. Rashid Muhd. Rafique Hafeedzy Mohd. Ridzuan Mat Zin Muhammad Norshafiq Jafar Edited by Dr. Md. Mahmudul Hasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2011

3. Biography

4. Tan Sri Prof. Dr. Mohd. Kamal Hassanwas born in PasirMas, Kelantan in 1942. • He comes from an upper-middle class family, while his father had a peasant family background and his mother comes from an urban merchant family. • He is the eldest among his siblings and has two younger sisters. • His wife is a housewife, and they have five children: four sons and one daughter. • When he was seven years old, Prof. Kamal Hassan’s parents sent him to a Malay school in PasirMas where he studied for two years. In PasirMas, he learnt basic English from a Malay government office clerk and from a Chinese teacher who was the manager of an ice factory. • Then he attended an English school (Sultan Ismail School) in Kota Bharu.

5. 1955: He went to Sultan Ismail College (SIC) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. • 1960: He sat for Senior Cambridge Examination what is now known as SijilPelajaran Malaysia (SPM). • While he was studying in Kota Bharu, he always went to a masjid in PasirMas on Saturdays to learn Islamic subjects, especially Tasawwuf, Islamic Fiqh, and Islamic Law. • 1961-1962: He attended Victoria Institution. • He played hockey, soccer and rugby, while being very active in studies. • One of his classmates at that time was Rafidah Aziz, a known politician in Malaysia. • He won a Shell scholarship to further his studies in Economics in Australia but he turned it down because he was more interested in philosophy.

6. He had his first degree in Islamic Studies from Universiti Malaya (UM) in 1965. • He got married in 1966. • His first son was born in New York while he was working on his PhD thesis. • He got his second, third, Masters (MA) and PhD (1975) degrees from Columbia University, New York. • At the end of 1975, he came back to Malaysia and became an academic staff at the faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

7. Work Experience

8. He became the Head of the Department of Usuluddin and Philosophy at UKM in 1979 and got his professorship there. He began his career at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) as Shaikh al-Kulliyyah in 1983.

9. 1989: He became the first Dean of the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS), IIUM. 1990-1997: Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs, IIUM. 1998: Vice Rector of IIUM. 1999-2006: Rector of IIUM. He is currently working at IIUM as a Professor. What is more, Tan Sri Dr. Kamal Hassan is a distinguished professor also known as Professor Ulung. Distinguished professors in Malaysia are state-owned icons, as their contributions transcend the institutions they represent.

10. Works

11. The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Religions and Beliefs (2007) (Ed.) • “Islamic Identity Crisis in the Muslim Community in Contemporary Malaysia” in Readings in Islam, 11 (April-September 1981) • “Islamic Studies in Contemporary Southeast Asia: General Observations” in Islamic Studies in ASEAN: Presentations of an International Seminar. (2000)

12. “Islam and The West” • “Islamisation of the Malay Archipelago and the impact of Al-Shafi'i's Madhhab on Islamic teachings and legislation in Malaysia” • “Al-Islam fi ’alam Al-Malaya” • “The Malay community facing the 21st century: socio-cultural hindrances to overall progress” (1994) • “Values education framework based on Islamic concepts and precepts” (1989) • “Penyerapan unsur-unsur Islam melalui sistem pendidikan negara”

13. Foci of his writing Mainly philosophy, religion, social issues, education, etc. Moral issues He also gains ideas from other scholars and tries to promote and implement them in society.

14. “ISLAM AND THE WEST” The revitalization of Islam as a sociopolitical force in Muslim countries in the seventies came to the forefront of national affairs for various reasons: • Disillusionment of the young, educated Muslims with the secular nationalism of the older generation. • Westernization – not modernization – seemed to be the goal of national development. • Corruption of political power and injustices were on the rise. • The perception that neither capitalism nor socialism could deliver the promises of justice, peace and prosperity for the Muslim masses. • The dualistic educational system operating in Muslim countries as part of the colonial heritage had failed to produce ethically infused professionals, or worldly, informed religious scholars.

15. Kamal Hassan suggests that Muslims should not see the West as their enemy or rival. Muslims do not constitute a threat to the West. He agrees with Esposito (The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?) that contemporary Islam “is more a challenge than a threat” to the West. The negative image of Muslims is largely the result of their failure to realize and manifest the intellectual, social and ethical ideals of their religion. We should not allow ignorance and prejudice to persist in Islamic and Western cultures because the harm that will be done will be incalculable.

16. With his character, personality and works, he has shown to the Muslims how they should react in order to change people’s perception of Islam. He promotes intellectual debate instead of emotional reactions. As we can see, his works pervade several fields, such as: philosophy, usuluddin, and religious studies.