REPOSITIONING MANTIK BACK TO ITS GLORY

Shahir Akram (left) posing with two of the eleven paper presenters

Shahir Akram Hassan, a RISDEV (ISDEV Postgraduate Student pursuing Research Mode) student who is currently pursuing his PhD on mantik (logic) has participated in 'Seminar Ilmu Mantik 2013' at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Kuala Terengganu, from 17 till 18 september 2013. The theme of the seminar was 'Literasi Mantik Memantapkan Epistemologi' (Literacy on Logic Strengthens Epistemology), organized by the Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies, UniSZA with the cooperation of the Institute for Mathemaical Research, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the Malaysian Mathematical Sciences Society (Persama). The seminar gathered scholars in various fields especially in Mathematics, Usuluddin, Fiqh and Law.

According to Shahir Akram Hassan, his participation in the seminar was a valuable opportunity. Besides having the chance to share knowledge and exchange information with scholars of various expertise, it convinced him that mantik exists in each branch of knowledge. The different is only found in the terms and approaches used. Nonetheless, they share similar objectives, that is to protect one's thinking from errors. 

The seminar entailed with three resolutions, as recorded by Bernama on 18 september 3013. They are firstly, that mantik needs to be studied and that the learning is reinforced at the school as well as university's levels. Secondly, it proposes the reduction in several ways of various forms of obstacles in the learning of mantik in order to restore the spirit and enthusiasm of learning  mantik. Thirdly, it proposes an allied merger between Islamic Studies and Mathematical Sciences to produce leading Islamic scholars similar in standing to those from the golden age of Islam.