Islam and Civilizational Dialogue: The Quest for A Truly Universal Civilization

Author: Emeritus Prof. Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar
Publisher : Cendekia
ISBN:  9786299801498
Weight: 0.230 kg
Page: 133
Year: Reprint 2025
Price: 60

" The contribution of Islam to universalism and the development of a common human civilization that is truly universal is not going to be limited to the realm of the past. Islam is a living civilization that is capable of displaying an even greater dynamism in the future than it has ever shown in the past. As such, it will continue to believe in, and argue and struggle for, not only the possibility of a universal civilization but also its desirability."

-Osman Bakar-

The central theme of the book is Islam's past, present, and future dialogues with other cultures and civilizations. Islam has made a positive and major contribution to the development of the idea of universal human civilization and to the enrichment of global human culture through its constructive civilizational engagement with the rest of the world. The author argues that, on the basis of its past achievements, Islam has both the necessary sense of civilizational mission and sufficient spiritual and intellectual means to conduct a worldwide conversation not only with its sister religions in the Abrahamic family, namely Judaism and Christianity, but also with Far Eastern religions-Confucianism, Buddhism, and even Shintoism-in the pursuit of a truly universal civilization and a global ethics based on shared spiritual and moral and ethical values.

Osman Bakar is currently Rector of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and holds the Al-Ghazali Chair at ISTAC-IUM. A PhD in Islamic philosophy from Temple University, he is also Emeritus Professor at the University of Malaya. Author of Classification of Knowledge in Islam and Tawhid and Science, he has been listed among The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world since 2009.