Philosophy and Progress

Islamic Perception of Religious Freedom: A Critical Analysis

Mohammad Elius — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Religious freedom is considered a fundamental human right and the cornerstone of human dignity. Islam, being a universal religion, protects the rights of every individual, and thus, preserves and upholds the dignity of human persons irrespective of their religious convictions. This study aims to understand Islamic perception of religious freedom from a historical point of view. It is based on textual analysis and historical interpretation of the Qur’an and Sunnah. It also supports its case by analysing some Muslim ruler’s treatment of other religions. The study shows that Islam provides complete freedom to every individual so long as it does not violate or interfere the right of others, and explicitly prohibits all kinds of intervention in matters of religious beliefs and practices. Though the Prophetic tradition “whoever changes his religion, kill him” seems contradictory to freedom of religion, this has been contextualised in particular situation by contemporary Islamic scholars. The study concludes that the Qur’anic teachings, the Prophetic practices and Muslim rulers’ treatment of other religions affirm that Islam provides equal opportunities to all regardless of their attachments to any religion or ideology, and Muslims can neither force any body to accept Islam nor impose anything against his/her will.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 1-27

Social Reality and Modern Science

FM Anayet Hossain — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As science developed many of the established facts tended to appear in a new light and were seen from an aspect that had earlier been ignored and as a rule new scientific theory originated from the clash of old theories and new facts. Not only that, science has reached at the highest peak of its development. Nevertheless, in this era of science and technology, it has not been fully harnessed to the welfare of humanity. The world today is in a serious crisis and humanity is being constantly threatened or misuse of science. Science ‘therefore’ is not only a blessing but also presents an unprecedented threat to the very existence of the human race. This unhappy consequence is not because of science itself but because of the antagonistic nature of social relationships. It is very clear that, social reality is distinct from biological relating or individual cognitive reality representing as it does a phenomenological level created through social interaction and transcending thereby individual motives and actions. We cannot hope to understand the role of a social scientist properly unless we have some idea of the reality with which he is supposed to be involved either passionately or dispassionately.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 29-43

Problems in the Motivational Basis of Rawls’ Principles of Justice

Kazi ASM Nurul Huda — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The paper explores the logical structure of Rawlsian justice principles in order to see whether their justificatory or explanatory conditions are unproblematic. To facilitate this purpose, drawing on readers of Rawls, the author shows that the Aristotelian principle is used to explain the principles of rational choice, particularly the principle of inclusiveness. Then, on the basis of the Aristotelian principle, Rawls justifies his conclusion, via the principles of rational choice and the theory of primary goods. After figuring out the logical structure of justice as fairness, the author deals with the central objective of the paper, where he exposes some problems suffered by the motivational basis of the principles of justice. The foundation on which Rawls grounds his principles of justice is problematic, and consequently, they remain as matters of contention as of today.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 45-60

Post-Coloniality and Racial Subjugation in the South Asian Conflict-Affected Chittagong Hill Tracts

Muhammad Sazzad Hossain Siddiqui — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The absence of colonial and post-colonial examinations of the conflict-ravaged Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) – a Bangladesh’s distant fringe– warranted me to explore how colonial legacy facilitated the post-colonial statist approach and majoritarian Bengali supremacists’ tendencies to exploit and subjugate the distinct CHT culture. This reconnaissance endeavour finds that the history of extortion of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)indigenous peoples is a suitable example of racism victims, and thus it examines in the light of the colonial and post-colonial discourses. This explorative study – based on secondary sources of data – finds the very ideas of racism practices, especially identity politics, demographic politics, and women’s subjugation, are prevalent in this postcolonial (and internally colonised) terrain.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 61-77

Some Important Topics of Maktubat-i-Sadi and Their Philosophico-Spiritual Significance

SM Humayun Kabir — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hazrat Sharafuddin bin Yahyah Maneri was a scholar and Sufi of the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries. He was a prolific writer. One of his important books is a collection of letters titled Maktubat-i-Sadi. The article focuses to bring out the main themes of the book and identified ten topics to discussed. They are: 1. Concept and love of God; 2. Deceiving nature of the world; 3. Sin and repentance; 4. Necessity of a qualified spiritual guide and obedience to his guidance; 5. Origin and need of Sufism; 6. Poverty and its role in the purification of evil soul; 7. Rendering selfless service to others; 8. Fate and predestination; 9. Observance of the Shariah; and 10. Acquisition of good qualities and shunning of the evil ones. The philosophical and spiritual significance of these teachings have been pointed out in this article.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 79-96

Academic Supervision in Higher Education: The Case of Government Colleges in Bangladesh

Md Masud Rana — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Academic supervision is considered an important mechanism to improve the performance of an educational institution. This article aims to investigate the situation of academic supervision in Bangladeshi Government Colleges (GCs).The article, in particular, explores the impacts of academic supervision on Bangladeshi students and teachers in developing their competencies and confidence in postsecondary educational settings. The study was conducted employing thequalitative research method and collecting data from in-depth interviews, secondary published literature, such as books, journal articles etc. The study finds that effective academic supervision considerably helps students achieve their learning progress as well as teachers attain their professionalization in the GCs of Bangladesh. Various challenges exist in higher education in Bangladesh, which include the lack of resources, limited use of educational tools and technology, policy problems, lack of sufficient training and scope of research for teachers, and so on. This article has made several recommendations for improving academic supervision to enhance quality education in the Bangladeshi GCs.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 97-128

A Philosophical Search for Happiness: An Enigma or Reality?

Muhammad Wahidul Alam — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In philosophy happiness occupies a dominant position. From the beginning of philosophy, we find the scholarly engagement of philosophers in search of happiness for human being. It is actually a perennial search of mankind throughout history. My attempt in this paper is to become a part of that august journey. I will try to focus some points in my paper. At first, I will try to give an analytic presentation about the nature of happiness with references to different philosophers and philosophical schools. In this part I will attempt to find out the root causes of the changing patterns of happiness by maintaining a chronological order. In the next part I will try to depict some significant debates regarding the pursuit of happiness. The question of enigma and reality will be dealt here in a comparative fashion. And finally, I will try to give some recommendations and suggestions for a happy life.As this is a qualitative work, here I confine myself within some relevant textbooks of philosophy and recent research articles on the pursuit of happiness. Content analysis, comparative discussion with a critical outlook and philosophical speculation will be within the research methodology of the paper.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 129-151

Manichaeism in Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth: Its Implications for Postcolonial Nations

Zaynul Abedin — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In the course of his groundbreaking work, The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon has employed a splendid array of metaphors to reflect on the essential fabric of a colonized society. However, the Manichean metaphor is the best of them, which he has used to forge a comparison between colonialism and Manichaeism, a dualistic religious movement founded in ancient Persia sometime during the third century CE. This metaphor is singular in the sense that both colonialism and Manichaeism have in common a dichotomic vision to look at the world, a stupendous effort to exert their influences on the better part of the world and a messianic zeal to preach their enlightenment values at every opportunity. In this article, I am going to elucidate the way Fanon has made use of the metaphor to designate the identity formation of both the colonizer and the colonized in addition to critically analysing their similitude in vision, will and enthusiasm. In so doing, I will bring into play the recent accretions of Manichean religious and postcolonial studies in order to situate Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth in the framework of post-colonial praxis.

Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 153-177