A Malaysian academic whose claim that the Romans learned shipbuilding from the Malays went viral has defended her assertions, saying that she has been a victim of “media lynching”.
Solehah Yaacob, an Arabic language and linguistic associate professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), stood by her theory in a social media post on Sunday.
Referring to the lecture, which she delivered in December 2022 and was posted on social media on October 31, she said her statement was “based on a research hypothesis developed through extensive study since completing my PhD in 2005”, and was “developed through extensive study of classical Arabic sources”.
Quoting four academic works and “historical newspaper reports” from Australia, she said: “I firmly believe that the Malays were among the first peoples in human civilisation to develop the art of shipbuilding, and that the Romans, like many others, learned navigational skills from earlier seafaring civilisations – most probably from the maritime Malay world.”
“My hypothesis concerning the achievements of the Malays and the borrowings of the Romans may be right or wrong. However, in both our academic and Islamic traditions, we are taught to respect differing opinions,” she added. “In Islam, we do not persecute or condemn scholars for their views.”
Solehah’s university, however, has distanced itself from her remarks by saying they were her personal opinion.