The first words when I saw the book "Islam and Secularism" by Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas is "Simple" (cover and title). But after I read page to page, the language used slightly difficult "philosophical" to understand, and I need to read repeatedly to understand the sentences. Moreover, this is the first time I read a book by Al-Attas, because during my undergraduate I do not know the Islamic concept of learning. As a student, I just read the western books and learning western psychological theories in the classroom. And also the first time I heard the name al-Attas was when I entered IIUM a year ago. That is the reason why I was interested to read this book, because the book provides knowledge about how the Islam view and the West in modern…show more content… According to the secular state and religion are considered each having a different direction should not be put together. Each one must be on their own track.
This understanding is a reflection of the events that happened in my country several hundred years ago. Reading this book reminded me of past events that influence until today. In Indonesia, secularization has occurred since the Dutch colonial era. The colonial government strictly prohibits religious expression, especially Islam which for many people is not merely a religion, but rather the ideology of the movement. Historically, Snouk Gronje being false scholars of the Netherlands, supporting the development of Islam in the field of religious rituals, but prevents them to participate in politics
After independence, Indonesia was divided into two groups: the first group wants Indonesia as a secular state; and the second group wants Indonesia based on Islam. Eventually formed the Pancasila, where the first principle there is the phrase, "The obligation to carry out Islamic Shari'a for its adherents,", but several days later the sentence was deleted. So actually it is difficult to establish the religion in the midst of the world situation was unstable, and domestic politics are increasingly “dirty”. Maybe we can do to seek knowledge as much as possible, get to know Islam better, and create the best