THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND ITS VITAL ROLE TO THE MUSLIM UMMAH
By: Watteau Ibrahim (One of Philippines’ Ulemas, from Palimbang Sultan Kudarat, Southern Philippines)
All praise is due to the Almigthy Allah,who guides us to be firm in our deen, Al-Islam He (ALLAH) says in the Holy Qur’an in Surah Al-Shura verse 13, which makes the basic or the fundamental belief of Muslim to live by his or her faith and strive to know by means of Islamic education.
Its philosophy, in Islam,the basis and purpose of life is defined by the Islamic creed, and the way to manifest taht purpose is through the implementation of the Shariah(Divine law). the Aqeedah, Akhlaq and Shariah are the foundations of the Islamic Education. for Muslims, Understanding and living the creed which defines the purpose of theire life is the basic education and this is the obligatory(fard)on every individual.
The conflict between Islam, Western and Secular Education, The early centers of academic education emerged in the Islamic State from centers of religious teaching (i.e.mosques) and if one considers the multitude of the famous scholars in Islamic history, the foundation of their learning was firmly rooted in knowledge of the deen (i.e.that of the Islamic ideology).for indeed, when isolated from knowledge of the purpose of the individual and societal life, the pursuit of academic education becomes meaningless.
As on Western, the important objective is to produce institutions of science and learning as a role model for true progress revival and survival on material life. while, secular education, especially in the West, is that it imparts as well as academic knowledge, a distortion of Islam and how Muslims should live and behave. foreign students from Muslims countries learn values and
concepts alien to Islam, such as love of freedom, democracy and to the secular life style. they adopt theories of evolution instesd of creation of all things by the Almighty ALLAH Subhanahu Wataala and capitalist economics and politics instead of the rule of ALLAH’s Laws. in effect, what they learn hinders the correct Islamic revival of Muslims, as opposed to contributing to it.
Curriculum and Evaluation, the issue of education deserves from the awakening Muslim generation an effort in designing curricula, discovering approaches and reforming current conditions.
Subjects or courses taught should be combination of revealed and applied knowledge.evaluation is essential and indispensable in education and actually, in every serious endevourse. it is top priority to see to it that what had been taught will be progressive for the society and for the humanity in general.
Integration of knowledge, knowledge is a gift from the Almighty Allah to mankind as he says in The Holy Qur’an in Surah Al-Baqarah Verse Wa allama Adam Al asma kullaha, meaning and he taught Adam all the names of everything.
When Allah Almigthy created male and female encourage us to live together in families, no doubt the arrangement was intended to bring us peace and happiness, comfort and security, joy and fulfillment, progress and integration. Hence, this is a divine gift to mankind which endowed us by knowledge different from other creatures.
Teacher training in Islamic Education,is the priority of the Muslims ummah to work for, and best training institutes for teachers in Islamic Education.
Learning strategies in Islamic Educatio, strategies will be planned for Islamic education so taht it will be succesful globally.
Quality of Islamic Education, one of the challenges in the UMMAH is providing Islamic education to the rising Muslim generations education we recieve, through the early stages of our lives shapes our way of thinking and is therefore of primary importance.
Most education that young Muslims today recieve is secular. the minds of our youth are shaped to the system where religion either plays no part, or plays a margianl role.
Even the so-called Islamic Schools of today have been unable to provide a proper alternative to the secular educational system. so therefore we must see and make the curricula be in line to revealed knoledge and applied studies.
Information communication technology and media in Islamic education, The present communication systems is fast and give good instructions to Islamic Education like the use of computers, modern media materials and equipments.
Educational Administration and Management,As Allama Abul Hasan Nadwi says in his book, Islam and the world said “the educational set up of the Islamic World will have to be thoroughly overhauled in the light of Islamic ideals and precets. to learn fro the Western countries which are scientifically and technologically advanced is one thing, but the moment Muslims forget that their roots are in Islam, and become the Intellectual camp-followers of others, their creative energies are damped.
In former times intellectual leadership of the Muslims was accepted all over the world. their culture and learning had made their way into every sphere of human life all over the globe for a long time the world continued to think in the Islamic way and draw inspiration from Islamic life. Arabic was the vehicle of learning in the Western world and every writer of note used this language to say what he had say. sometimes, the original book was brought out in Arabic and a summary of it was produced in another language like Imam Ghazzali’s Kimiya-i-Saadat, thoughthe educational system introduced by the Abbasids was more Greek and Iranian in Its essence than Islamic, and had a number of defects from the academic point of view it had gained currency almost everywhere.
Then the times changed, and there dawened the epoch of western ascendancy. it brought with it a new attitude towards learning, which was the product of Europe’s cultural experiences and exigencies the world began blindly to follow the new structure. The Muslim countries, too, on account of their intellectual sluggishness, succumbed to the illusion that their salvation lay only in a slaveish submission to the west and to its educationalsystem.
Ground was thus prepared for not merely intellectual adoration but also for actual imitation of the western civilization by the Muslim intellgentsia. Religious skepticism, self conciet, discontent and all other characteristics of the modern western mode of living began steadily to replace the cultural ideals of the rising generations of Muslims. the spiritual civilization of Islam began systematically to be replaced by the material culture of Europe.
It is vital for the regaining of world leadership for Islam now that the Muslims should re-establish their intellectual superiority over the west. for this the Islamic culture will have to re-assert itself. Crusading edeavours will have to be made in all branches of learning. this obviously, is not the work of few individuals or associations. The Muslims states should take the task of intellectual regenaration seriously in hand high powered comittees and institutions should immediately be set up for the purpose of evolving and educational structure that should fully confotrm to the spirit of the Qur’an and the Sunnah without overlooking the requirements of modern learning and scientific reseach. Muslims and scientists ought to apply
their own force of speculative reasoning to the empirical sciences so that they can save the coming generations of Muslims from developing a feeling of contemt for their own past and a despair for the future. this is the way in which an Islamic revival and its skills in proper organization of education and its ways of supervision can be brought about. this is the way in which the Muslims can spread the light of Islam to lands far away and save mankind from the way in which the Muslims can spread the ligth of Islam to lands far away and save mankind from the stark ruin that is starting it in the face. The leadership and management is not an easy job it calls for tremendous faith, labour and sacrifice.”
And we are called to answer to call of the Almigthy, that Allah will not changed the condition of the people unless they will change what is in themeselves.
Moral and Akhlaq Development, Muslims generations that are nurtured in the perspective of Islamic education prescribed in the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah is certainly in the best of morals.
In conclusion, i would like to stress the point that it is the duty of enlightened Muslim youth and intellectuals to urge for the diffusion of Islamic education not only in the public institusions but also the private institusions of education in discharging this obligation, of course we need to act in cooperation.With sincerity to work and review the curricula of our educational institusions.
Some general Proposals:
- A complete universal model of Islamic education adaptable to different cultural situations should be discussed at an international conference on education in which experts in different aspects of aducation are bougth together to produce, over a period of time, this long awaited model.
- Muslim students studying at secular oriented colleges and universities should be encouraged to form Islamic study groups as a means of giving the necessary Islamic knoledge which may not be available in curriculum. (L/Imt/R04)
References:
*Holy Qur’an
*Sunnah
*Islam and the world (Allama Abul Hasan Nadwi)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
