UNGKU AZIZ AND HUMAN-CENTRED DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA: A MAQASID SHARIAH PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study observes the Royal Professor Ungku Aziz’s (1922-2020) impact on Malaysia’s perspective of human-centred development (HCD), which is also captured through the prospect of Islamic economic discipline. Sketching from a qualitative intellectual biography approach, it begins with his early age influences, abstracting HCD as a holistic mechanism to integrate physical needs elements along with the spiritual dimensions, associates his ideas to maqasid shariah and explores his microeconomics and microeconomics influences. His refusal of Western doctrines of materialism emphasized poverty alleviation through the monumental ideas of institutions such as Tabung Haji, as well as his works on equitable growth in order to shape a just nation post-independence period. Findings proved a concrete linkage between his idea of HCD and the five core principles of maqasid shariah and the maslahah concept application, suggesting a mechanism of sustainable development. The discussion finds contemporary significance within the globalization era and implies alterations while facing the digital economy turbulence. This qualitative research was completed by using an archival study and thematic review of Ungku Aziz’s lifework that contributes to discourses on Bumiputra inclusive development in the multiracial Malaysian context. The study contributes theoretically by demonstrating how Ungku Aziz’s development thought anticipates a maqasid-oriented framework of HCD, offering an indigenous Islamic alternative to the growth centric and conservative human development paradigm adoption by the West.