Islam, Secularism, and the Muslim Dilemma: A thematic Review of Islam and Secularism, Sayed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas

Through al-Attas’s lens, Secularism and Islam are poles apart, for the origins thereof expressly vary. Secularism, in its very essence, is opposed to Tawheed as it does not conform with the Islamic worldview of ruling by that which God has ordained, claiming its backwardness and seeking judgment from others rather than Him. In other words, “Allah hath not assigned unto any man two hearts within his body”: one Islamic and another secular! This invokes al-Attas’s quote:” Christianity is Christianity and Islam is Islam”. Hence, one can either be a Muslim or a Secular, for both as al-Attas asserts “confuse the two religions”.Islam and Secularism is a book which I encourage every Muslim and non-Muslim to read and re-read; its depth of enquiry, critical viewpoints, and unique synthesis augment its significance as one of the primordial books on the quarrel between Islam and Secularism.