An independent scholar has called for the retraction of a 2018 academic article published in Universiti Malaya’s Jurnal Al-Tamaddun which cited a satirical news story as factual evidence.
Sharifah Munirah Alatas said the article, “Discourse on the Bible Compilation Framework Timeline: A Relation with the Development of Islamic Source”, included a paragraph claiming that ancient Greece was “entirely fabricated” by historians – a story originally published in 2010 by American satire outlet The Onion.
She said the paragraph had improper attribution, copied text presented as original work, and a footnote referencing a clearly satirical source.
“In my opinion, the Al-Tamaddun article must be retracted, revised, and put through the peer review wringer before it can be resubmitted for further publication,” she said in a Facebook post today.
Munirah said that academics should understand more about what satire is and how to recognise it, and refrain from citing it in scholarly publications.
“That is, unless your subject matter of research is about satire or academic fraud, or academic incompetence,” she added.
While she did not name the lecturer in question, checks by FMT found that the article was authored by International Islamic University Malaysia Arabic language lecturer Solehah Yaacob.
Solehah recently courted controversy for saying that ancient Romans might have learned shipbuilding techniques from Malay seafarers.
It was not the first time Solehah had drawn attention for controversial remarks.
She previously claimed that the ancient Malays could fly and had taught the Chinese “flying kung fu”, and that Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Siti Khadijah Khuwailid, originated from the Malay realm (alam Melayu).
