Name: Nur Fasya binti Zahidi (1513366)
Page: 129
Title of the Chapter: The Portrayal of Man in Western and Islamic
Literature
Author: Umar Abdurrahman
Title of the Book: Islamicisation of Knowledge and English, in the Age
of Islamophobia and Westernophobia
Editors: Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf & Aimillia Mohd Ramli
Published & Printed: One Global Publications Sdn. Bhd. in collaboration with The
International Institute of Islamic Thought
Publication Year: 2016
Review:
‘The Portrayal of Man in Western and Islamic Literature’
written by Umar Abdurrahman is a 2 pages long about how man is being reflected
in fictional settings as a reflection of men in reality through the earliest
ages until modern times. This section is divided into two; Western and Islamic
literature. In his analysis, in both Western and Islamic literature, man is
both honored and condemned.
In his take on Non-Judeo-Christian literature, man is
inclined to do both good and evil in nature and action. Man’s worldly
ambitions, uncontrollable lust of material needs, power and self-glorification
often leads to man’s own destruction and direct conflict with divine laws. A
similar trend in Judeo-Christian oriented literature, men are both builder and
destroyer. They are obsessed with self-glorification and demand of absolute
obedience from their followers. Their stubbornness and over-achieving always
create a path for self’s doom.
Just as in Western-oriented-literature, man is also
depicted as both saint or sinner in Islamic oriented literature. Muslim writers
of both ancient and modern periods portray men in his limitless forms.
Referring to literatures written by Muslim writers, man is usually portrayed as
a hypocrite committing fraudulent acts and violating his religious authority to
satisfy his ego and desires that loses his humanity, and in his journey to
spiritual fulfilment and acceptance is full of trials and tribulations but
those with moral courage will triumph, man is a stranger even in his own
community, man is an existentialist and man’s success or failure depends on his
choice, man practices exceedingly conservatives and patriarchal, polygamy, and
oppression towards women as sanctioned by the culture, and see themselves as
honored by God with a much superior intellect (which ironically can make or
break a man); all of which are not consistent with Islamic teachings. In
Islamic poetry, man is portrayed in multi-forms depending on the poet’s
intention. Poetry became fully accepted as an instrument for the transmission
of Islamic values. Muslim poets used it to comment on many issues most of which
dealing with man’s relationship with his Creator and fellow men.
In reviewing this chapter written by Umar Abdurrahman, I
compliment how the author presents his point with supporting evidence from
various literature from Non-Judeo-Christian and Judeo-Christian, to
Islamic literature. In Islamic perspectives, man is created in the best form
blessed with intellect by Allah. Man should be aware of his human inferiority,
be totally humble and submit to the supremacy and mercy of his Lord. Overall, I
think it is a really good insight on how men are being portrayed in
literature throughout the ages and how it mirrored man in reality.
