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Dr. S.H. Hasbullah <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
INTRODUCTION <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis a review of a selected writings of Dr. Mohamed Ali Mohamed Shukri. Presently Dr. Shukri is the Director of a leading\neducational institute of Islamic learning, Jamiah Naleemiah, in Sri Lanka. Dr. \nShukri has been in this position for nearly three decades. Before that he was a university professor\nattached to the Department of Arabic and Islamic Civilization of a leading\nhigher educational institution in Sri Lanka, University of Peradeniya. Dr. Shukri is a well-known researcher,\nwriter, orator and preacher. His contribution to knowledge especially in the\nareas of Islam and Muslims is well known and well recognized. He is known widely within Sri Lanka and\nbeyond for his academic excellence and religious and social devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis a brief note about the writings of Dr. Shukri. In fact, it is a review and\nis focused on selected writings of Dr. Shukuri. \nThe review includes some selected writings of Dr. Shukri that were\navailable to the reviewer for review. \nThe review includes about 80 pieces of his writings. But Dr. Shukri\u2019s\nwritings go beyond this number and cover a vast array of issues. Those writings\ntoo need separate attention. The reviewer recognizes that the non-inclusion of\nall his writings is a short-coming of this review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nreviewed writings are in Tamil and English. \nThe writings that are chosen for review were mainly addressed to common\npeople and were written in a style that everyone can understand and benefit.\nThey were written over a long period of time. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npurpose of the review is to identify the issues that were focused upon in the\nwritings. It is to assess the nature of\nthe contribution made by him in which the\nwriter has had the opportunity to fully appreciate and evaluate. It is to\nexplain rationale behind the writings. Finally, it is also to evaluate the\nimpacts of those writings on the readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BACKGROUND <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nwritings that are reviewed are mainly on aspects of Islam and Muslims of Sri\nLanka. Muslims in Sri Lanka while\nbeing the second largest minority, inter mingled with the other major\ncommunities and have maintained cordial and friendly relations with them for a long time in this country. Islam was introduced in a peaceful manner in\nSri Lanka which was one of the reasons for the way Muslims have been perceived\nand treated as friendly neighbors by the\npeople of other faiths in the country. \nAt the same time, while foundations of the belief system of the Muslims\nof Sri Lanka are unshaken, Islam and Muslims have been undergoing significant\nchanges because of the reforms that had taken place among them in Sri Lanka and\nas a result of the influence of contemporary trends of global Islamization These form the background for the Dr. Shukri\u2019s writings. They are based on them\nand also reflect those influences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CONTENT <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsubjects dealt in the writings vary greatly but remain largely within the broad\narea of Islam and Muslims. Some speak of\nIslamic history and culture. Some\nconcentrate on philosophy and theology. Others dealt with subjects such as the\nwestern approach to Islam, and Muslims in multi-religious and cultural\nsettings. Islamic archaeology is a dominant feature in some writings while an\nissue which was once considered controversial, music in Islam, is the subject\nof other writings. The subjects he dealt\nwith are many more than those listed here. \nIn most cases, each subject is dealt with separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\ndiscussing history, the respective writings deal in detail about the golden era\nof the time of the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) and his disciples and also go\ninto explaining how Islam through its noble message was able to attract\ndifferent nations worldwide. In referring to Islamic culture, the author states\n that Islamic culture is a blend of the way\nIslamic teaching and what people inherited from their pre-Islamic past that are\nconsidered acceptable to Islam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlife and contribution of individual Islamic scholars were the subjects some\nother. The contribution of Imam Gazzaly\n(Rah) to the development of Islamic thoughts was one of them. The author also\ncompared the contribution of scholars of different faiths. For example, the author found that the\nmessage and vision of two great south Asian poets such as Allama Iqbal and the\npoet Barathi were similar because they lived through a period of colonialism\nleading to independence and made a clarion call to the masses preaching a common message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The writings of reviewed also show that how strong the\nauthor was in his criticism of western approach of Islam and Muslims. This in\nfact has not been a new phenomenon; but it has antecedent from the past. However, the way Dr. Shukri approach this\nissue was different and distinct. The author, Dr. Shukri, who did his higher\nstudies in the west and knew well the good side of western scholarship and\nculture felt that the unfair treatment of Islam and Muslims by the west is\nunreasonable and unacceptable. At the\nsame time, he does this criticism from the perspective of bridging the gaps\nbetween these two civilizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr.\nShukri writes about the use of music in Islam which is an issue commonly\nmisunderstood by many. His writing\nrefers to the right place that Islam gives to music. In fact, the article might\nbe written at a time when there were differences in opinion as to how Islam\nsees the use of music in Islamic and non-Islamic activities of Muslims of Sri\nLanka. The different writings argue that\nIslam does not prohibit the use of music, and the habit of listening to music,\nif the use is meaningful and undertaken in a way that does not hinder spiritual\ndevotion. Some writings go into explaining the ethnics and morality that are\ninsisted on in Islam. In one of the writings the author says that\nfear of Allah is the measure by which one\u2019s morality can be evaluated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nauthor gives special attention to Islamic architecture in some of his\nwritings. The distinctiveness of Islamic\narchitecture such as having several special architectural features such as the\nminaret that reflect Islamic traditions have been dealt in those writings. In speaking \nabout Islamic law, it is said that \nIslamic law is based on justice to all and that it treats everyone\nequally and also based on spiritual guidance and not on material values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nreference to the concept of Islamic education is also found in some of the\nwritings. They refer to the importance\nof education in Islam and also how early Islamic leaders had devoted much of\ntheir time and resources to the development of education. The author says that the success of Muslims\nduring period was based on educational development. Those writings bring examples from where\nMuslims were and who first established university education there during\nthe early spread of Islam in Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Several\nwritings discuss the nature of Islamic believes and practices. They speak of the ways of reaching Allah\nthrough prayers. Those writings indicate that best examples for good prayers\ncould be learned from the prayers of the prophet (Peace be Upon Him ) which in fact were total submission to\nthe god.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some\nof the articles speak about the way a country should ideally be ruled taking\nexample of the Islamic rulers of the\nearly days. Those articles emphasize that Islam had given proper guidance to\nrulers as to how best countries can be ruled with Islamic principles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlist of issues covered in the writings of Dr. Shukri goes beyond the above and\nthe contents of those are as important\nas those discussed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MESSAGES CONVEYED <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\noverall theme of the wrings of Dr. Shukri is on Islam and the Muslims of Sri\nLanka in multi-religious and cultural settings. \nWithin this, religious, cultural, social and other issues have been\ndiscussed. He argues that Islam is a\nreligion of completeness and it is a tolerant and flexible religion. He attempts to establish his argument through\nthe discussion of various issues that were mentioned earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis very clear from the writings that were reviewed that the author introduces\nIslam to Muslim and non-Muslim readers who can think of Islam in a very\npositive manner. He gives his vision to the Muslim community as to how the\ncommunity has to reform itself and face contemporary challenges. His thoughts are not always confined within\nIslam and Muslims and often go beyond those parameters. He tells that Muslims\nof Sri Lanka are peace loving people who have proved that they can co-exist in\ndifferent socio-religious and cultural environment without compromising their\nown religious beliefs and cultural norms. He also shares his world views with\nthe readers of the past and present through his writings. He often compared western and eastern\ncultures in a positive manner insisting \nthat each has benefited from the other in building a successful modern society. In this respect,\nhis comparison of different religions especially Islam and other faiths is very\nuseful and suggests a positive approach. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\nstudied Islam and Islamic civilization in the west which is something special\nfor him . This is reflected in the balanced way of his thinking. He bridges gaps between different faiths in a\nvery positive manner through his writings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SHORT-COMINGS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Issues\nrelating religious beliefs and practices dominate his writings and far less\nattention is paid to the social, economic and political aspects of Muslim\ncommunities within and outside of Sri Lanka. The material richness of the writings in some\nplaces is lost because the writings were\nwritten a simple and readable manner. \nHowever, when one things of the \ndemand for this kind of reading that come from the common people who\nseek knowledge in those areas, not many were able to reach even close to\nwhat Dr. Shukri has done through his\nwritings in the recent past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n WHAT SHOULD BE NEXT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nseems that many follow up activities will have to be done on the writings and\nother educational contribution of Dr. Shukri. It is necessary to synthesize his\nthoughts that are expressed through his writings and other means and\nconceptualize them for future research and use. \nAt the same time, the materials that are not reviewed need special\nattention. In this respect, it is\nnecessary to look beyond published materials but also to look for the unpublished materials of Dr.\nShukri. Letters and other forms of\ncorrespondence of Dr. Shukri could be other sources which also need to be\ncompiled and analyzed. In order for his contribution to reach wider readers, it\nmay a good idea to translate some or most of his writings to other languages\nused in Sri Lanka\nand possibly in south Asia. Students could be encouraged to research the\nmessages that were conveyed by Dr. Shukri through his writings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n CONCLUSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nwritings of Dr. Shukri that are reviewed reveal that writer has successfully\nconveyed his messages to his readers. \nThis was done through the art of writing, which he inherited. He had a wide audience because his\nperspective was broad and appealing to many. \nUndoubtedly, his writings are readable and easily understandable.\nThrough his writings, he achieved the task of communicating with readers of all\nranks in a smooth manner even on some matters, which could be considered\nphilosophically and otherwise heavy and difficult to explain and\nunderstand. Islamic concepts are written\nin a way for average readers to understand them fully. He uses religious texts and evidences in\ncorrect places and in an appropriate manner. \nFor readers who can read only in Tamil, the writings of Dr. Shukri are a\ngreat asset. His contribution to\nknowledge through his writings has been very useful to many. The richness of his contribution could be\nunderstood by reviewing all his writings from different perspectives. Many wishes that his contribution to\nknowledge has to continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INTRODUCTION This is a review of a selected writings of Dr. Mohamed Ali Mohamed Shukri. Presently Dr. Shukri is the Director of a leading educational institute of Islamic learning, Jamiah Naleemiah, in Sri Lanka. Dr. Shukri has been in this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n