Lecture 1: Principles of an Islamic Education
Main Lecture: LIE01
It should be obvious that if we want to teach and learn Islamic Economics, this must by done by Islamic methods, rather than western ones. In this first lecture, we will review Islamic teachings related to the process of the acquisition of Knowledge. There is no match, parallel, or analog of these teachings in the canons of Western knowledge.
Supplementary Readings:
LIE01.doc: Current Issues in Islamic Economics, Lecture 1.
“An Islamic Worldview: An Essential Component of an Islamic Education,” Lahore Journal of Policy Studies Vol. 1 No. 1, p95-106, June 2007. [IWLJPS]
The following book in Urdu, by Mawalan Syyed Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi is available for download from my personal website: http://www.asadzaman.net
Insani Dunya per musalmamon ka uroojo zawal ka asar By Maulana Sayyed Abuhasan Ali Nadvi
Some material related to Contrast between Western and Islamic Concept of Education:
Faith schools in Britain are not new; for centuries Christian schools have been part of this country’s tradition and history. However, when it comes to minority faith schools such as Islamic ones, a debate erupts which fails to recognize the simple fact that ‘Muslims are the largest religious minority in Britain’.
The Renaissance was a time of general growth and prosperity for Western Europe. The Renaissance brought about the rediscovery of the Greek classics, and objectivity about the world, and the emphasis upon the importance of individualism. During the Renaissance, Europe emerged from the economic decline of the Middle Ages and witnessed financial growth. Most associations with past values or traditions were being broken and a rewrite of all aspects of life were being carried out. Western Europe had freed itself from the hold of the religious institutes, it was free and liberated.
http://www.islam21c.com/islamic-thought/4365-objectives-of-western-liberal-education
It is imperative to differentiate the ‘aim of education’ from its intrinsic and extrinsic sense. Intrinsic in the sense of pertaining to ‘education’ for the sake of education in contrast to the extrinsic educational aims that a politician or a Prime Minister may hold. The latter will view education from an economic frame of mind and might think of education as the tool to deliver trained manpower. The ‘intrinsic’ sense of the term ‘aim of education’ will be used in this article.
http://www.islam21c.com/islamic-thought/4402-islamic-education
Knowledge according to Islam is generally understood to be of two categories, ilm naqliyya (knowledge revealed from God) attained through the religious sciences, and ilm ‘aqliyya (humanly constructed knowledge) attained through rational, intellectual and philosophical inquiry. The Qur’an makes it clear in numerous places that God is the source of all knowledge. Ilm naqliyya would manifest via the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as Muslims believe that he was divinely inspired in everything he mentions regarding religious matters.
Tarbiyah could be understood as the type of education that addresses the heart, body, mind and soul of an individual. Tarbiyah places God at the centre of the individual’s learning experience. The main aim of tarbiyah could be summed up as providing Muslims with positive guidance in accordance with the Islamic tradition that will result in them developing into ‘good adults’ who lead fruitful lives in this world and the hereafter. Halstead explains that ‘good adults’ within an Islamic understanding implies adults who accept the obligations of the divine and ‘seek to take on the divine attributes such as hikma (wisdom) and ‘adl(justice).’
Islamic education is primarily viewed as divinely revealed and thus prepares individuals to be upright citizens on earth and to ultimately attain happiness in the life after death. All the definitions above indicate that God is the centre and focus of Islamic education; hence to be educated a Muslim means to be devoted to attaining the pleasure of God. This should result in pious actions that would enable the Muslim to draw closer to God. The only way this is achieved is according to the divine revelation, being the Book and the example left by the Prophet (peace be upon him). The one condition that this can be achieved by is knowledge, which is the first step towards God, and therefore the aim of education relayed by most Islamic educationalists can be no otherthan a religious aim.
The Islamic concept of Tarbiyya is more inclusive of the more important aspects of nurturing, such as teaching the students the differences between what is right, and wrong from both the legal sense, as well as the Islamic sense. Students will be told of those things which stain the heart, which put a person’sAkhirah at risk, and they will be told that ultimately, Allah is Ever-Watchful of what they do and that if He Wills, He can punish them for that which they do in the darkest room on the blackest of nights if it is something He has forbidden.
This nafs is tranquil as it rests on the certitude of God. The nafs is calm and awaits the promise of God; its owner is content with everything and has arrived at such a stage of certainty that it is almost as if it can see the will of God in all aspects of life. It waits for its time of departure from this relative, physical world into the everlasting reality of life after death without fear. It submits itself to the will of God contentedly never dissatisfied or complaining, and with its faith never wavering. The Qur’an mentions to the owner of this nafs, ‘O the one in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back to your Lord, Well-pleased (yourself) and well-pleasing (unto Him)! Enter you, then, among My (honored) slaves, and enter you [in to] My Paradise!’
Liberal education’s heavy emphasis upon relativism permeates through the whole educational process. Claiming absolute truth is avoided, thus private beliefs and opinions are treated as equally justifiable and therefore truth can be said to be subjective. We will look into this claim in the following section with regards to holding belief in anything on the condition it can be falsified. Islam treats this position as totally incorrect because the problems are obvious: if everyone’s opinions are correct based upon their own understandings then how does one ascertain what is true and what is not.
http://www.islam21c.com/islamic-thought/5301-islamic-education-pt-9-the-concept-of-indoctrination
It can be said that ‘autonomy’ is synonymous with ‘education’ and therefore, an autonomous individual will be understood to be educated. It is important to discuss briefly what ‘autonomy’ is and what part it plays in the argument against indoctrination. Autonomy is a vast subject and we could easily plunge into lengthy philosophical discussions. However, it will be discussed only briefly providing enough information to allow the reader to understand the arguments.