"Peradaban Dan Teologi Barat Menurut Pendita Za’ba "

Abstract

Studies about Pendeta Za'ba are frequently found in intellectual discourses, but the focus of the scholars are more directed towards his contributions in the field of language, economy, politics, writing, and literature. The scholars view Za'ba as a person who understood the ins and outs of Christian and Islam. Hence, this paper discusses his views on theology and philosophy of western society compared to Islam. The focus of this paper is to examine his views on the attitude of western society towards religion and their life. These attitudes consist of their belief in God, dependence and submission to the divine power and belief in the hereafter. Also reviewed is the philosophy that laid the foundation for advancement in the west especially in the areas of education and development. Za'ba celebrated the views of the west on matters that led to physical development but was cautious and critical of their attitude towards the question of the principle of life. He considered the Western society’s brand of spirituality to be full of destruction and needed to be addressed by way of empowering Islamic knowledge as the foundation and exploring in depth other modern sciences in efforts to believe in more meaningful progress and advancement.