Artifacts as Manifestations of Islamic Worldview and Intellectual Networks: A Curatorial Analysis of the Sultan Abdullah Mosque Museum, Pahang

Abstract

This article examines selected artifacts at the Muzium Masjid Sultan Abdullah(MMSA) as material manifestations of the Islamic worldview in the Islamization process and the formation of Islamic civilization in Pahang. Employing a qualitative case-study approach, the study applies interpretive analysis to Islamic gravestones, Qur’anic manuscripts, Islamic scientific instruments, domestic artifacts, and the Hukum Kanun Pahang (HKP). An Islamic worldview framework encompassing tawhid, rationality, knowledge culture, a world-affirmative orientation, societal ethics, and wasatiyyah is used to interpret the epistemological meanings of these artifacts and their connections to regional and trans-regional Islamic intellectual networks.The findings demonstrate that Islamization in Pahang constituted a comprehensive and institutionalized transformation of worldview. The MMSA artifacts reveal an integrated relationship between faith, knowledge, daily practice, and Islamic governance, with the HKP evidencing a mature statecraft formula grounded in Jawi literacy and the Shafi‘i legal tradition. This study positions museum artifacts as material archives of the Islamic worldview and provides a conceptual foundation for a tawhid-compliant museum model.

ABSTRAK

Artikel ini menganalisis artifak terpilih di Muzium Masjid Sultan Abdullah (MMSA) sebagai manifestasi worldview Islam dalam proses Islamisasi dan pembinaan tamadun Islam di Pahang. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif berasaskan kajian kes dengan analisis interpretatif terhadap artifak seperti batu nesan, manuskrip al-Qur’an, peralatan sains Islam, artifak domestik dan Hukum Kanun Pahang (HKP). Kerangka worldview Islam meliputi tauhid, rasionaliti, budaya ilmu, pendekatan world-affirmative, orientasi kemasyarakatan dan wasatiyyah digunakan bagi menafsir makna epistemologi artifak serta hubungannya dengan jaringan intelektual Islam serantau dan trans-regional. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa Islamisasi Pahang berlaku sebagai transformasi pandangan alam yang menyeluruh dan berinstitusi. Artifak MMSA menzahirkan kesinambungan antara akidah, ilmu, amalan hidup dan kenegaraan Islam, dengan HKP menandakan kematangan formula bernegara berasaskan tulisan Jawi dan legasi fiqah Mazhab Shafi‘i. Kajian ini memposisikan artifak sebagai arkib material worldview Islam dan menawarkan asas konseptual kepada model muzium patuh tauhid.