KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Universities in Malaysia and the rest of the Muslim world need go back to their roots as “humanistic” centres of learning, amid concern that they have become mere production lines to feed businesses and industries with workers, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah said today.

The Sultan of Perak said varsities — especially in the Muslim world — have lost confidence in their own traditions and old knowledge, having progressively shifted focus to meeting “the requirements of our material world” since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

He said the onus falls on the universities themselves to decide what direction they want to take, whether as centres of high-impact research or good quality teaching, or as centres to churn out an industry-ready workforce, among other issues.

“It is high time that leaders of our universities in the Muslim world reflect on these difficult and searching questions,” he said in his opening address at the World Islamic Countries/University Leaders Summit here.

“They need to re-examine themselves and ask whether our universities are indeed platforms for true knowledge free from interests that are looking only for short-term gains,” Sultan Nazrin added.

Sultan Nazrin said these learning institutions need to realign their direction with the spirit of Islam in respecting traditions and old knowledge, just as how top Western institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge have done.

This respect must come hand-in-hand with conscious efforts to instil academic excellence in their scholarly culture, along with institutions that are strong and remain independent, he said.

“Here, I cannot but stress to our leaders and administrators who are placed by the public in positions of trust that they should act as reliable trustees and carry out their fardu kifayah (communal obligation) and public duty with integrity and taqwa (fear of God), on behalf of the rest of us and for the sake of all.

“They should recognise the great importance of preserving and strengthening our institutions and of maintaining their integrity and independence,” he said, adding that centres of learning must also go beyond their walls to help the less fortunate and promote lifelong learning.