The Impact of Secularism on Religious Beliefs and Practices

Abstract

Secularism is the most serious challenge of modernity posed by the West. Its main ideology is to liberate man from the religious and metaphysical values and expel religion from the practical aspect of man's life. It clearly presents its materialistic viewpoint, which is cut off from Divine, transcendent or supernatural principles and does not refer to revelation at all and is intact isolated from it. In terms of its intensity and scope as well as its discernable effects upon people's minds, the repercussion of secularism is both pervasive and universal. It has had a great impact on every facet of life, including individual and family lives as well as in the educational, political, economic and social-cultural realms. Most importantly, secularism affects the very tenets of traditional religious beliefs and practices. This paper tries to discuss the dangers of secularism and its principles, which are contradictory to the religious worldview, particularly, the Islamic worldview. AbstrakSekularisme ialah satu cabaran moden yang serius yang diketengahkan oleh Barat. Ideologi utamanya ialah utntuk membebaskan manusia daripada nilai-nilai keugamaan dan metafizikal seterusnya menyisihkan ugama daripada aspek kehidupan manusia. Ia secara terang-terangan mengutarakan sudut pandangannya yang tiada hubung kait dengan konsep-konsep ketuhanan, samawi ataupun bukan tabii dan terpisah adaripada konsep wahyu dan kerasulan. Dari segi bidang dan skop pengaruhnya iaitu kesan-kesannya yang boleh difahami terhadap pemikiran manusia, sememangnya ia adalah amat mendalam dan universal sifatnya. Ia amat mempengaruhi aspek kehidupan harian termasuklah aspek individu dan kekeluargaan seterusnya aspek-aspek lain seperti pendidikan, politik, ekonomi dan sosio-budaya. Lebihlebih lagi sekularisme turut mempengaruhi landasan-landasan kepercayaan keugamaan tradisional dan amalannya. Kertas ini cuba memberikan tumpuan kepada bahaya sekularisme dan prinsip-prinsipnya yang bercanggahan dengan pandangan sarwa keugamaan terutamanya Islam.