Islamic Education Pt 9: The Concept of Indoctrination
The next few articles will address the charge of indoctrination that has been made against Islamic education. They will attempt to investigate and explore what indoctrination really is and why (and how) Islamic education is perceived by some to be equated with this concept. Previously we looked at the concept of ‘liberalism’ and how most things were re-written during the Reformation period. It could be said that at that time, Europe was fighting an internal war against the Church in order to free itself and acquire the freedom to legislate according to what man perceived as best for himself. This…
Islamic Education Pt 8: Differences between the Liberal and Islamic Education
This aim of this article is to explore the debate between the two philosophies of education: liberal/secular and Islamic, as set out in this series by discussing their criticisms of each other. Outlined below are two brief summaries of each belief system. The terms secular/Western and liberal will be used interchangeably, implying the same meaning. It needs to be understood that the secularist approach is far from being neutral. Similar to other religions and belief systems, secularism too holds a certain world-view and promotes a particular philosophy and way of life. Secularism has its foundations rooted in the elevation of…
Islamic Education Pt 7: Method of Educating the Nafs (Self)
It can be seen that the discussion so far that Islamic education clearly includes the education of the ‘nafs’ which lexically means, soul, the psyche, ego, self, essence, heart or mind. Liberal education tends not to concentrate upon this dimension of the human in any specific detail. The closest it arrives to this is indicated in the Education Act of 1996 for England and Wales, which states to, ‘promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society,’ (1996, 351 (1) (a)), however there are no clear guidelines or agreements as to how…
Islamic Education Pt 6: Aims and objectives of Islamic Education
This is the sixth article in the Islamic Education Series.Click here to read part five. The First World Conference on Muslim education was organised by King Abdullah Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia in 1977 and was held in Makkah. Muslim scholars from around the globe agreed on a definition for the aim of Islamic education as being, ‘The aim of education is the creation of the good and righteous man who worships Allah in the true sense of the term, builds up the structure of his earthly life according to the Sharia and employs it to subserve his faith.’ Ashraf and Husain…
Islamic Education Pt 5: The Concept of Education in Islam
This is the fifth article in the Islamic Education Series.Click hereto read part four. The term ‘education’ in Islam is understood and comprehended in a totally different manner to what is understood within Western societies. As we explored, the general understanding of an educated individual within Western societies is someone who possesses critical faculties and is perceived as being autonomouswith aesthetic sensitivity. From an Islamic perspective an educated individual might possess similar attributes; however the necessary component that is required is belief and knowledge of how to worship God and how to live life in accordance to the Islamic laws.…
Islamic Education Pt 4
This is the fourth article in the Islamic Education Series. Click here to read part three. It may be a surprise to many how little has been written by academics regarding Islamic education. History bears witness to the richness and depth of Islamic education dating back some 1400 years. It may also come as a surprise that Islamic academia lead the world for several hundreds of years through every known academic field. Knowledge and education was always at the heart of the Islamic empire that stretched from western Morocco to the far eastern shores of Indonesia. At a time when…
Islamic Education Pt 4
This is the fourth article in the Islamic Education Series. Click here to read part three. It may be a surprise to many how little has been written by academics regarding Islamic education. History bears witness to the richness and depth of Islamic education dating back some 1400 years. It may also come as a surprise that Islamic academia lead the world for several hundreds of years through every known academic field. Knowledge and education was always at the heart of the Islamic empire that stretched from western Morocco to the far eastern shores of Indonesia. At a time when…
Objectives of Western Liberal education Pt 3
This is the thirs article in the Islamic Education Series. Click here to read part two. 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. The educationalists Hirst…
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Islamic Ed. Series Pt2: The basis of Western Liberal Education
This is the second article in the Islamic Education Series. Click here to read part 1. It needs to be understood that there are perhaps two general understandings of the word ‘liberal’ in the term ‘liberal education’. The first is an understanding that ‘liberal’ education is an educational process which results in the liberation of the mind where an individual acquires knowledge for the sake of knowledge as opposed to acquiring knowledge for the sake of employment or any other utilitarian purpose. The second understanding of ‘liberal’ education is the type of education provided within the Western post-reformation period which finds…
Islamic Ed. Series Pt1: Indoctrination versus Cultivation
The US led War on Terror, commonly understood by Muslims as a war on Islam, has resulted in close scrutiny of Islamic faith schools especially within Western liberal societies. This has resulted in exacerbating the image of Islamic schools as a precursor to radicalisation. One of the allegations against these educational institutes is the charge of indoctrination. A charge that the government cannot ignore and a charge that I will attempt to refute by exposing the incorrect premise it is based upon. In doing so, I address the causes behind why individuals educated within a secular educational system may label…