ROYAL ADDRESS HM Raja Zarith Sofiah on RZS-CASIS' 10TH ANNIVERSARY

ROYAL ADDRESS
BY THE CHANCELLOR OF UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA (UTM),
HER MAJESTY RAJA ZARITH SOFIAH BINTI ALMARHUM SULTAN IDRIS SHAH
IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 10th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RZS-CASIS
Ladies and gentlemen,
Alhamdulillah, this month the Raja Zarith Sofiah Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation (RZS-CASIS) has reached its 10th year anniversary since its establishment.
On this auspices occasion, I wish to express my support and appreciation for RZS-CASIS’s unique, consistent and wise defense and clarification of long-standing intellectual Islamic tradition, in particular its educational and civilizational aims, principles and methodology, while at the same time, critically engaging, benefiting, and assimilating modern ideas and methods with the purpose of revitalizing our Ummah, and resuming the civilizational dialogue that has been part and parcel of the illustrious history of the Muslims.
Towards this end, I am pleased to see that RZS-CASIS has grown from strength to strength in fulfilling its mission: in recent years, it has seen the graduation of 36 masters and 7 PhD students, of 12 publications, the successful completion of meaningful events such as the Inaugural International Symposium on Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas in 2020.
Indeed, for the many years during existence of RZS-CASIS, Professor al-Attas has honoured us as the Distinguished Visiting Professor at CASIS with his iconic Saturday Night Lecture Series; spending many hours in direct engagement sessions with staff and students of CASIS; and produced his most recent groundbreaking work, On Justice and the Nature of Man.
I wish to congratulate Professor Dr Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud who, I have been informed, wasted no time in fulfilling the trust as the Holder of the Distinguished Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas Chair, through his many initiatives.
I also wish to congratulate the existing team of RZS-CASIS under the helm of Associate Professor Dr. Khalif Muammar, as well as other academics such as Professor Dr. Muhammad Zainiy Uthman, Professor Dr. Tatiana Denisova, Associate Professor Dr. Wan Suhaimi Wan Abdullah, Dr. Mohd Hilmi Ramli, and supported by Puan Rashidah Sarip, Puan Sharifah Fadzlina, Puan Nor Fazreena Mohd Sah, Puan Nurhazirah Jaafar, Cik Sharifah Hajar Almahdaly, and En. Mohd. Amir Fahmi Razak.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are living in an unprecedented times. Many are being tested in unimaginable ways in their lives. Having said that, we should not view the efforts of institutions such as RZS-CASIS as aloof from the present global circumstances.
Rather, the educational efforts of RZS-CASIS should be seen as sowing the seeds for a longer-term impact towards our collective lives in Malaysia and beyond. This is important to understand in light of the pervasive myopic or shortsighted mentality of many leaders in various fields.
Therefore, I would like to urge for leaders of our country and the Muslim world, in the public, corporate and commercial sectors, to not disregard or abandon moral and financial support to efforts such as this which is more long-term and civilisational in nature which may not necessarily comply with the conventional measures of Return of Investments (ROI). To disregard such efforts will cause grave repercussions to the country, the Ummah, as well as future generations - what is termed as “inter-generational injustice”.
I would also like to encourage for more institutions in the Muslim world to build bridges with RZS-CASIS so that our efforts would be more coordinated in a rapidly changing and challenging world.
Finally, of many profound statements by Professor Al-Attas, the following elucidation on the Prophet’s du’a, “My Lord, increase me in knowledge!” (Rabbi zidni ‘ilma) as stated in Sura Taha: 20, is perhaps of critical importance for our universities in the Muslim world:
“This verse underlines the fact that only Allah is Most Glorious and the Absolute Owner of the Truth. Truth reveals itself gradually to its seeker as the verses of the Holy Qur’an were revealed to the Holy Prophet… Therefore be patient! And do not be hasty (in the pursuit of knowledge). It is incumbent upon us, as it was upon the Holy Prophet himself, to obey His Command, to beseech Him to increase our knowledge because our grasp of knowledge is always never perfect. A University should not arrogate to itself the claim to be a source of knowledge for only God Most High is the True Source of all Knowledge; since everything is present in Him; those who are striving to attain to moral excellence should realize that they are ignorant and should therefore humble themselves.”
May Allah subḥānahu wataʿālā preserve and elevate Tan Sri Professor Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, all our scholars, and leaders. May we always be guided with right knowledge and right action so as to be worthy recipients of His Light and Blessings. Amin.