GAZA TRAGEDY EXPOSES GLOBAL MORAL COLLAPSE - SCHOLAR

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- The genocide in Gaza stands as one of the world’s most painful moral tests, exposing humanity’s failure to uphold justice and compassion, said geopolitical analyst and scholar Professor Dr Hisham A. Hellyer.

Delivering a royal discussant titled “Adab as Moral Compass: From Principle to Practice in Our Troubled World” at the Putrajaya Festival of Ideas (FOI) 2025 here today, Hisham said Gaza represents not only a geopolitical crisis but also a spiritual and humanitarian catastrophe demanding moral accountability from all who claim to value human dignity.

“As a Westerner, I think about Gaza, where one of our own Western allies — the state of Israel — presents us with the most painful test of whether our principles mean anything at all,” said Hisham, who is a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

He noted that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had found a plausible case of genocide, while United Nations (UN) special rapporteurs have documented systematic violations of international humanitarian law.

“Over 60,000 lives have been lost, most of them women and children. Hospitals, universities, schools, and refugee camps, institutions that symbolise humanity’s commitment to healing and learning — have been reduced to rubble,” he said.

Hisham described the tragedy as not only a political and humanitarian disaster but also a moral collapse implicating the global community.

Calling the devastation a moral betrayal of humanity’s sacred trust, he said the tragedy in Gaza reflects a deeper crisis of the soul — where knowledge, innovation, and power are misused to oppress rather than serve.

“When we use our knowledge to create weapons of mass destruction instead of tools for human flourishing, when we use power to dominate rather than to serve, we have forgotten what it means to be khalifa,” he said.

Hisham stressed that education and innovation must be guided by adab — the moral discipline that ensures everything is given its proper place so that progress does not come at the expense of conscience.

“Adab requires us to recognise that technology is never neutral. Every algorithm carries values. Every system reflects its creators’ priorities. Every application serves some interests while harming others. Our duty as educators, scholars, and teachers is to ensure that the innovation we create serves justice, not oppression; dignity, not domination; life, not death,” he said.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Dr Khairudin Aljunied said Muslim scholars and intellectuals in Southeast Asia must revive the spirit of scholar-activism to address regional and global challenges that transcend religious boundaries.

In his royal discussant titled “The Future of Muslim Scholar-Activism in Southeast Asia”, he warned that Muslim scholar-activism in the region has been weakened by parochialism, superficiality, and dogmatism — trends that have eroded the intellectual vitality that once defined the Muslim world.

He cited Ali Allawi’s book “The Crisis of Islamic Civilisation” (Yale University Press), which argues that many scholarly activists today are preoccupied with personal, political, and ethnic concerns instead of engaging deeply with systemic issues affecting humanity.

“The point he makes is that Muslims have been too focused on internal issues, and as a result, our societies in Southeast Asia have been ruled more by ideology than by ideas,” Khairudin said.

He lamented that modern scholars increasingly rely on what he called “Professor ChatGPT and Sheikh Google,” warning that dependence on artificial intelligence (AI) has replaced deep study and reflection.

“Gone are the days when our scholars in Southeast Asia - such as Sheikh Sumatrani and Sheikh Palimbani - would spend years reading, writing, and researching issues that affected their societies. Today, we see scholars and activists who are often superficial, using AI to project an illusion of scholarship and authority,” he said.

Khairudin concluded on an optimistic note, expressing hope that a new generation of Southeast Asian scholar-activists would emerge, rooted in adab, driven by responsibility, and inspired by revival.

“The future of Muslim scholar-activism in Southeast Asia is bright. It will shine even brighter when we embrace the urgency of change, renewal, responsibility, and mutual respect,” he added.

-- BERNAMA