The title of this ProdIP News issue, "Building Intellectual Piety and Becoming a Productive Intellectual," was deliberately chosen to highlight two different but interrelated concepts that both support the positioning of individuals as scholars and thinkers. Intellectual Piety refers to how individuals cultivate knowledge, ideas, and concepts based on scientific principles that are rational, objective, and, most importantly, rooted in moral teachings (religion). As Muslims, in addition to fostering personal and social piety, there is a responsibility to build intellectual piety. The role of intellectual piety is crucial in advancing civilization, serving as a catalyst for progressive, adaptive, and contextual scientific development, while still considering the textual meaning. Without intellectual piety, a civilization will experience stagnation or even decline. The question arises: how can intellectual piety be built?
Intellectual piety can be developed through the potential of one’s intellect. This intellectual potential can be used for reading, analyzing, reviewing, researching, and discussing matters that contribute to scientific development for the progress of humanity. This intellectual potential remains grounded in the teachings of the Qur'an and Hadith. The knowledge gained through this intellectual potential should be executed into real actions that aim to improve society's life—creating progress and freedom from poverty and crime. Intellectuals who can apply such knowledge to practical changes are referred to by Antonio Gramsci as productive intellectuals.
Antonio Gramsci, the Italian political thinker and activist, was the first to use the term "Productive Intellectual." A Productive Intellectual is defined as a scholar who can translate their knowledge into real-world actions. A Productive Intellectual does not treat knowledge as a personal commodity stored away in desk drawers, cabinets, or computer files. Instead, a Productive Intellectual uses knowledge as a tool for social, political, economic, and cultural change, promoting justice and equality, ultimately creating prosperity for all layers of society. According to Gramsci, the characteristics of a Productive Intellectual include a high social awareness, broad perspective, active participation in public policy decision-making, and engagement in various organizations.
Students are expected to become productive intellectuals. They must take an active role in driving social change. Therefore, a student’s duty is not only to study and sit in class or complete assignments from professors. Students must be independent in expanding their intellectual horizons in various ways, including reading books, participating in organizations, and engaging in academic meetings. Public issues must be addressed promptly, critically, rationally, and professionally. Hopefully, the new students in the Government Studies Program will be able to build intellectual piety and become productive intellectuals.
