Satu usaha pendidikan yang menyeluruh dan berterusan lagi dinamik dengan berteraskan al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah bagi membangun potensi insan sebagai ‘abid dan khalifah yang dapat menegakkan satu tamadun yang sejahtera di dunia dan seterusnya mencapai kebahagiaan di akhirat.
Latar Belakang
Usaha Pusat Pendidikan Al-Amin (PPAA) dalam menyemak serta menambah baik Kurikulum Ulum Naqliyah adalah bertolak dari kesedaran bahawa pandangan alam Islam mesti diberi nafas yang segar untuk melahirkan kefahaman, pengamalan, penghayatan Islam dan seterusnya melahirkan kecintaan serta ‘izzah kepada Islam. Kehidupan yang sejahtera adalah bertolak dari perlaksanaan prinsip dan konsep yang terkandung dalam al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah disamping bergerak selari dengan prinsip-prinsip murni sejagat yang diterima oleh semua masyarakat yang bertamadun. Islam mesti dilihat sebagai sesuatu yang dinamik untuk membimbing dan mencorakkan kehidupan di dunia dengan memberi kesejahteraan kepada ruh, aqal, jasmani, emosi, kemasyarakatan, persekitaran serta mahkluk lain. Kejelasan dan natijah dari semua ini diharap akan membuahkan kehidupan yang sejahtera di dunia dan selanjutnya akan memperolehi kebahagiaan di Akhirah.
Peranan Penyataan Falsafah Pendidikan
Falsafah pendidikan bertindak sebagai penyaring yang utama dalam usaha menentukan tujuan-tujuan pendidikan. Tiga unsur utama dalam pembentukan falsafah pendidikan adalah pelajar, ilmu, dan kaedah pembelajaran. Justeru, konsep manusia, epistemologi, dan methodologi mengambil kedudukan yang sentral dalam memfomulasikan sesuatu falsafah pendidikan disamping halatuju yang dipilih.
Falsafah dibentuk berdasarkan hakikat-hakikat yang melingkungi manusia dan alam. Kewujudan falsafah adalah penting untuk membantu menterjemahkan peranan pendidikan dalam ruang lingkup hakikat tersebut. Dalam erti kata lain, falsasah akan menggariskan ilmu dan/atau maklumat yang ingin disampaikan, ruang lingkup atau kaedah ianya disampaikan dan tujuan ianya disampaikan.
Penyataan Falsafah Pendidikan
Falsafah Pendidikan Islam Nasional
Pendidikan Islam adalah suatu usaha berterusan untuk menyampaikan ilmu, kemahiran dan penghayatan Islam berdasarkan al Qur’an dan al Sunnah bagi membentuk sikap, kemahiran, keperibadian dan pandangan hidup sebagai hamba Allah yang mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk membangun diri, masyarakat, alam sekitar dan Negara ke arah mencapai kebaikan di dunia dan kesejahteraan abadi di akhirat.
Falsafah Pendidikan IKRAM-MUSLEH
Proses pendidikan yang berteraskan tauhid bagi membina dan melahirkan insan rabbani yang berilmu, beriman dan berakhlak mulia serta berkemampuan membentuk kehidupan diri, masyarakat, negara dan dunia sebagaimana yang dituntut oleh al-Quran dan al-Sunnah melalui satu sistem yang seimbang, bersepadu, menyeluruh dan berterusan.
Falsafah Pendidikan PPAA
Satu usaha pendidikan yang menyeluruh dan berterusan lagi dinamik dengan berteraskan al-Qur’an dan al-Sunnah bagi membangun potensi insan sebagai ‘abid dan khalifah yang dapat menegakkan satu tamadun yang sejahtera di dunia dan seterusnya mencapai kebahagiaan di akhirat.
Penjelasan Falsafah PPAA
usaha – perbuatan secara sedar dan menjadi pilihan
menyeluruh – i. Luar dan dalam bilik darjah
ii. Meliputi seluruh aspek dan bidang ilmu
iii. Mengembangkan seluruh potensi insan – ‘aql, ruh, badan, emosi dan sosial (JERIS).
iv. Pertanggungjawaban oleh semua – pengurusan, guru, kakitangan,
ibubapa dan rakan sebaya.
berterusan – di sekolah (di dalam dan di luar bilik darjah), di rumah, pasca sekolah
dinamik – selari dengan perkembangan dan keperluan semasa, khususnya yang melibatkan fiqh mu’asir tanpa menggadaikan prinsip dan matlamat.
prinsip dan konsep – yang membentuk pandangan alam Islam (yang menjangkau dunia dan akhirah) serta dasar/asas rangkakerja Islam
seluruh potensi insan – ada keseimbangan dalam pembinaan dan perkembangan insan serta ilmu.
‘abd – pengabdian diri kepada Allah SWT
khalifah – sebagai wakil yang diamanahkan (melalui bidang/kepakaran masing-masing) untuk mentadbir alam dan Ummah.
tamadun yang sejahtera – kefahaman dan penghayatan Islam sebagai cara hidup yang dijelmakan dalam bentuk tamadun yang dimanifestasikan oleh prinsip, dasar, dan struktur dalam pendidikan, politik, kemasyarakatan, perundangan, ekonomi dan kewangan, keusahawan, kesenian, sains dan teknologi, pembangunan (islah), kesusasteraan, penyelidikan, pengurusan dan pentadbiran, alam sekitar, dll.
kebahagiaan di Akhirah – mendapat rahmat dari Allah SWT dengan balasan syurga dan paling utama mendapat rahmat untuk melihat Allah SWT.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Pengukuhan Falsafah Ilmu dan Pendidikan dalam Islam dalam Menghadapi Cabaran Semasa ; Ringkasan
Pembentang : Dr Mohd Farid Shahran
i) Ilmu hari ini tidak berada pada kedudukan yang sebenar.
ii) Ilmu yang dicari dijadikan sebagai alat untuk mendapatkan sesuatu (knowledge is power),
iii) Ilmu tidak lagi dijadikan sebagai matlamat i.e. untuk mencari keredhaan Allah SWT atau menjadi insan salih (knowledge is virtue).
iv) Falsafah telah dikecilkan skopnya dan tidak lagi dianggap sebagai 'the mother of all sciences'.
v) Sains juga sudah tidak bersifat inklusif sebagaimana kurikulum yang terdapat pada zaman kegemilangan Islam. Hari ini sains juga diwarnai oleh budaya potivisme dan empirisme yang melampau disamping mengiktiraf pancaindera dan aqal sebagai sumber ilmu semata-mata. Maka wujudlah pertentangan antara agama dan sains, wahyu dan aqal.
vi) Untuk melahirkan semula Ibn Sina, al-Biruni, al-Ghazali dan Ibn Rush (multidisiplinary scholars - ahli teologi, falsafah dan saintis), krisis ilmu perlu ditangani.
a) Perbetulkan sikap terhadap ilmu - wujudkan keghairahan dalam mencari ilmu supaya ilmu boleh diterajui oleh Muslim semula.
b) Perbetulkan adab terhadap ilmu dan ilmuan. Ledakan maklumat hari ini bukanlah ilmu sebenar sekiranya ia tidak memberi makna atau kesan kepada penerima untuk menghasilkan tindakan yang positif. Manakala ilmuan dihormati dan diletakkan ditempat yang sebenar supaya dapat memutuskan 'the vicious circle' i.e. kehilangan adab->kecelaruan ilmu->pemimpin yang corrupt->.
c) Budaya ilmu diwujudkan iaitu satu keadaan di mana ilmu dianggap sebagai keutamaan tertinggi dan setiap lapisan masyarakat terlibat secara lansung atau tidak lansung dengan aktiviti-aktiviti yang berkait dengan ilmu pengetahuan.
d) Perbetulkan maqasid ilmu (alat atau matlamat) dan nisbah ilmu (intensive and extensive i.e. specialise in one or certain areas and at the same time make an effort to know other areas in general) - jangan sampai excessive in one area atau wujud dualisma eg. saintis atau the other sebolehnya saintis cum the other.
e) Ilmu dituntut kerana fadhilatnya bukan kerana kuasa yang akan diperolehinya (knowledge is virue vs knowlegde is power).
f) Sistem Pendidikan mesti mewujudkan kesepaduan ilmu yang sebenar ( satu usaha yang serius i.e. tidak sekadar memasukkan al-qur'an dan al-hadith tetapi mesti disertai dengan tasawwurnya sekali). Kesepaduan antara fard 'ayn dan fard kifayah (rujuk d).
g) Bentuk pendidikan juga must go beyond the system i.e. bolehkah SP kita menilai pelajar bersandarkan aqal dan akhlaq i.e.jika akhlaq gagal disekat kenaikannya.
h) Biografi Ibn Sina - jadikan bahan perbincangan untuk membentuk pemuda-pemuda yang betul sikap dan ghairah terhadap ilmu.
i) Saranan : Hidupkan budaya Wacana Ilmiah ini samada berbentuk multidisciplinary atau/dan multiracial/religion.
i) Ilmu hari ini tidak berada pada kedudukan yang sebenar.
ii) Ilmu yang dicari dijadikan sebagai alat untuk mendapatkan sesuatu (knowledge is power),
iii) Ilmu tidak lagi dijadikan sebagai matlamat i.e. untuk mencari keredhaan Allah SWT atau menjadi insan salih (knowledge is virtue).
iv) Falsafah telah dikecilkan skopnya dan tidak lagi dianggap sebagai 'the mother of all sciences'.
v) Sains juga sudah tidak bersifat inklusif sebagaimana kurikulum yang terdapat pada zaman kegemilangan Islam. Hari ini sains juga diwarnai oleh budaya potivisme dan empirisme yang melampau disamping mengiktiraf pancaindera dan aqal sebagai sumber ilmu semata-mata. Maka wujudlah pertentangan antara agama dan sains, wahyu dan aqal.
vi) Untuk melahirkan semula Ibn Sina, al-Biruni, al-Ghazali dan Ibn Rush (multidisiplinary scholars - ahli teologi, falsafah dan saintis), krisis ilmu perlu ditangani.
a) Perbetulkan sikap terhadap ilmu - wujudkan keghairahan dalam mencari ilmu supaya ilmu boleh diterajui oleh Muslim semula.
b) Perbetulkan adab terhadap ilmu dan ilmuan. Ledakan maklumat hari ini bukanlah ilmu sebenar sekiranya ia tidak memberi makna atau kesan kepada penerima untuk menghasilkan tindakan yang positif. Manakala ilmuan dihormati dan diletakkan ditempat yang sebenar supaya dapat memutuskan 'the vicious circle' i.e. kehilangan adab->kecelaruan ilmu->pemimpin yang corrupt->.
c) Budaya ilmu diwujudkan iaitu satu keadaan di mana ilmu dianggap sebagai keutamaan tertinggi dan setiap lapisan masyarakat terlibat secara lansung atau tidak lansung dengan aktiviti-aktiviti yang berkait dengan ilmu pengetahuan.
d) Perbetulkan maqasid ilmu (alat atau matlamat) dan nisbah ilmu (intensive and extensive i.e. specialise in one or certain areas and at the same time make an effort to know other areas in general) - jangan sampai excessive in one area atau wujud dualisma eg. saintis atau the other sebolehnya saintis cum the other.
e) Ilmu dituntut kerana fadhilatnya bukan kerana kuasa yang akan diperolehinya (knowledge is virue vs knowlegde is power).
f) Sistem Pendidikan mesti mewujudkan kesepaduan ilmu yang sebenar ( satu usaha yang serius i.e. tidak sekadar memasukkan al-qur'an dan al-hadith tetapi mesti disertai dengan tasawwurnya sekali). Kesepaduan antara fard 'ayn dan fard kifayah (rujuk d).
g) Bentuk pendidikan juga must go beyond the system i.e. bolehkah SP kita menilai pelajar bersandarkan aqal dan akhlaq i.e.jika akhlaq gagal disekat kenaikannya.
h) Biografi Ibn Sina - jadikan bahan perbincangan untuk membentuk pemuda-pemuda yang betul sikap dan ghairah terhadap ilmu.
i) Saranan : Hidupkan budaya Wacana Ilmiah ini samada berbentuk multidisciplinary atau/dan multiracial/religion.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Reformist Ideas and Muslim Intellectuals : The demands of the Real World
All reformist work must start with recognition of the world as it is. We must see and understand the world as it exists and not as we would like it to be. Only when we appreciate the true dimensions of contemporary reality, can we contemplate reforms that will create the world we want.
Most Muslim scholars and professionals view the world not as it is but as a rosy-hued mirage which is largely a figment of their own minds. They cannot see that their disciplines are an arena of power politics, where objectivity and neutrality are rhetorical rationales for control, and integrity is simply another name for expedient self-interest. The world of intellectual disciplines, natural or social sciences, is not a world of dispassionate rationality, Platonic pursuit of truth or moral virtuosity. It is a world where ideational and ideological battles are fought and where thought and tradition are divided and demarcated for domination and control. In this game, the Muslim scholar, scientist, economist is very much an outsider: unless he understands and appreciates this, his attempts to islamize this or that discipline will not only fail to usher in any reforms, but can, indeed will, surrender even more intellectual territory to the ideational universe of western civilization.
There are three aspects of contemporary reality that ought to be appreciated by anybody engaged in islamization efforts or working on legal, social and economic reforms in Muslim society. The first aspect is the most obvious, and perhaps the most [painful. Muslim thought is completely marginalized in the modern world. As it has made no input into the philosophical and intellectual pool of contemporary knowledge, it should harbour no illusions that it will be accepted on equal terms by and allowed to participate in the global knowledge industry. The corollary of this is that Muslim people are also totally marginalized and, despite an illusion of independence, are dependent on the dominant civilization, an even more painful fact. That Muslim people will be allowed to determine their own destiny cannot be taken for granted in a world where the umma has a dependent status.
This aspect of contemporary reality has a direct bearing both on reform movements and the islamization debate. Any country wishing to introduce the Shariah will face systematic opposition from the industrialized countries, as was so obviously the case with Sudan. Any discipline that Muslim scholars may islamize, if it is of any significance and presents a threat tot he dominant discipline, will be simply co-opted.
The second stark feature of our time is interconnection and interdependence. In the modern world everything is connected to everything else and is dependent upon developments in other spheres. Things do not exist in isolation; problems cannot be removed as it were from this interconnected, interlocking reality and tackled in isolation. In such a world, it makes little sense, as Parvez Manzoor ponts out in his introduction, to establish the Sahriah without introducitng social, economic and educational reforms. Or as Muhammad Arif argues, introducing Islamic banking without doing anything about the unequal distribution of resources, would not solve much. Economics is intrinsically linked to land reform, which is linked to politics And politics itself is linked to science, technology, medicine, social formation and so on. Reform or islamization, therefore, cannot be undertaken in isolation. The enterprise can succeed only if it is systematically tackled on a number of different fronts, when disciplines are allowed to merge and cross-fertilize, when a new universe of disciplines, geared to the needs of the Muslim people and culture and subordinated to the world-view of Islam, emerges. The present disciplinary structure, as I have noted elsewhere, has evolved in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the western civilization it is a direct response to its needs and world-view. Its boundaries are artificially maintained by the intellectual power and rigour that this civilization commands.
The third feature of our world is that diversity is the essence of survival. Contrary to Darwinian myth, it is not the fittest who survive, but those who use plurality of means. Monocultures dominate, isolate, alienate, decimate and finally bore themselves to death with uniformity. The analogy is most clearly demonstrated in agriculture: too heavy a reliance on a single crop ends in famine, monoculture has a limited future. But a multiplicity of crops produce abundance. Similarly, pluralistic societies have a higher chance of cultural survival and normally thrive.
What does this mean in terms of reform and islamization? It means that monolithic approaches to reform are doomed. The zeal of the righteous and the fanaticism of the revolutionary end in tyranny. All revolutions in history, even the one carried out in the name of Islam, end by replacing one tyranny with another. Iran is a shining example. Reform has to evolve, and be attempted, consistently and constantly, by a number of different means and methods. A reformist is not a revolutionary; he/she is not foolish enough to believe that the world can be put right by a single act of political violence. Changes can be brought about and reforms introduced only by the methodology of the Prophet: by consistent and planned work, step by step, allowing time for adjusting to change, taking stock of the changing situation, occasionally side-stepping for strategic reasons, with unshaking will and determination. Any other method is pure euphoria, a day dram of a card-carrying imbecile.
For islamization, the diversity of modern reality has a special significance. It means that if islamized disciplines become an appendage of western disciplines, they will be co-opted and swallowed up by the monolith. As such, they, like the dominant disciplines themselves, will have no real future. But if the islamized disciplines develop independently of western disciplines, they have a real chance of flourishing in themselves and genuinely enriching the western ones. On this basis, Islamic economics , supposedly the most islamized of contemporary disciplines, has nowhere to go!
Once we have moved into the world as it is, we can begin to shed the fallacies that have enveloped our thought and action. The prime illusion we must abandon is that we can solve our problems by borrowing from others, or tacking them in isolation, or that every Muslim country is an independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant sovereign state. It is the indigenous and the whole that is the key to our intellectual and physical survival in the modern world. Only when Muslim countries begin to see themselves as a civilization and start relying on their indigenous capabilities and intellectual heritage can the umma solve its pressing problems and present a viable challenge to the dominant civilizations. Contemporary reality demands that the Muslim umma, the many and varied nation-states, act a single, autonomous civilization. Only by presenting a civilization front can the umma halt the advance of western civilization at its boundaries and undertake meaningful reforms within it. An individual state seeking to adopt the Shariah would thereofre have the protection and support of the entire Muslim world. Isolationism is out says the stark reality of our time. The same goes for parochialism and sectarianism.
Nothing has forced the Muslim world into subjugation and borrowed solutions more than parochialism and sectarianism. On the physical level, ethnic and sectarian identities have been overblown and turned into civil strife and national conflicts. Those who seek to assert their ethnic identity at the expense of unity are planting the seeds of their own destruction. Those who suppress or persecute ethnic minorities in the name of a national majority, are mortgaging their future. Ethnic diversity is a source of cultural strength for Muslim societies. The motto of our time, we can read out there in the real world, is live and let live.
Parochialism is a widespread feature of Muslim thought. Narrow adherence to fiqh (classical jurisprudence), to the dictates of this or that school of thought, whether it has any contemporary relevance or not, is one manifestation of this parochialism. The real world takes no account of the glories of bygone ages, rulings of historic times, outmoded thought and ideas. Its message is simple: adapt or perish. Muslim people have been on the verge of physical, cultural and intellectual extinction simply because they have allowed parochialism and petty traditionalism to rule their minds. We must break free from the ghetto mentality.
This means thinking imaginatively, boldly and universally. Islam is a universal world-view: it transcends all cultural boundaries and is not limited and confined by a single parochial outlook. This is stating the obvious; but the significance of this truism is seldom appreciated. For example, if Islam is a universal world-view, an economic system based on its principle should also be universal. Islamic economics therefore is a universal economics, not Muslim economics. Thus western economics, which is based on a particular culture and parochial (Eurocentric) outlook, should be an appendage to it, and not vice versa. This means, further, that Islamic economics has to be based on its own axiomatic structure, and not be derivative of western economic thought and its institutional apparatus. However, to develop an entire economic structure from first principles is so formidable that no Muslim economist has had the courage to undertake the exercise. And what is true of economics is also true of other social sciences as well as science.
A universalist world-view, by its very nature, must be dynamic and constantly absorbing change. The real world is changing rapidly; indeed, it is changing at a rate unparalleled in history the rate of change is itself changing! Under such circumstances, we cannot rely on static or pre-modernist formulations of the Shariah. Yet this is the spectacle that we are faced with: obscurantist rulings are dragged out from history as though they were eternal principles and forced into circumstances where they clearly do not belong. We must gain a fresh insight into the Shariah based on the factors that confront us. (1)
Why is it that most Muslim scholars fail to understand the dynamics of the real world? Perhaps it has something to do with the traditional nature of their education. Possibly it has something to do with their westernized thought and outlook which militates against breaking free from the dominant civilization. It could even be that they do not want to see We found our fathers on a course and by their footsteps we are guided (The Quran 43:22). Whatever the reason for the present sate of Muslim scholars, the real world demands a totally new kind of thinker.
In a given period of history, a civilization is judged by its dominant thought, by the prevalent trends in its cultural life as expressed in politics and morality, science and technology, economics and business, arts and crafts. Intellectuals are the voice of this thought and the pulse of the prevalent trends; they are also their instigators, their critics and their bodyguards. A civilization, a country, a community, cannot exist without intellectuals and a constant stream of new ideas. They cannot exist without constant criticism and self-criticism, without those who formulate it and express it. They cannot exist without a body of devoted people whose sole concern in life is ideas and their significance. Indeed, a society without intellectuals is like a body without a head. And that precisely is the position of the contemporary Muslim world.
The Muslim world today Is totally devoid of intellectuals. There are plenty of academics and bureaucrats, professionals and researchers, even a modicum of scientists and technologists but intellectuals are conspicuous only by their total absence. This is partly because traditional societies, drawing their sustenance as they do from classical and historic scholars, and anti-intellectual. Many of the dominant modes of thought in Muslim societies, like Sufism, are aggressively anti-intellectual. A society dominated by taqlid (blind imitation), both of its own past and western civilization, cannot tolerate intellectuals. The acute absence of intellectuals in Muslim societies is also explained by the fact that the few who do exist have let their constituency down: they are much more concerned with fashionable ideologies like Marxism, secularism, westernization than with the physical, intellectual and spiritual needs of the community.
But who are the intellectuals, anyway? And why are they important? A simple definition would be that an intellectual is someone who gets excited by ideas. In his classic study, Intellectuals in Developing Societies, Syed Hussein Alatas defines an intellectual as a person who is engaged in thinking about ideas and non-material problems using the faculty of reason (2). This is a somewhat misleading definition: for while an intellectual may or may not think directly about material problems, all his thought ahs a bearing on the material world. In defining the Muslim intellectual, we must first point out that we are not discussing a creature who inhabits western sociology where, over the last hundred years, his/her social meaning has shifted and changed a number of times. Neither are we talking in the French sense of the term where intellectuals are that section of the educated class which aspires to political power, either directly or by seeking the influence and companionship of the countrys political rulers.
Muslim intellectuals are interested in abstract ideas as well as specifics, the real world demands both. Unlike Socrates, they are not interested in ideas for ideas sake, they search for ideas that lead to reform; but like Socrates, they seek propagation of thought, criticism and a questioning attitude, a goal for which they would eagerly lay down their lives. They move in a world not of total doubt and confusion, but within a world-view well defined by conceptual and ethical parameters. They seek not power but reforms. They do not have acquisitive and analytical minds only but also critical, imaginative and creative minds. They engage and transform.
Intellectuals are important because they do the work that other segments of society either do not know exist or are not equipped to handle, they tackle the problems which cannot be managed by specialists, academics and professionals. As Alatas points out, to lack intellectuals is to lack leadership in the following areas of thinking: (1) the posing of problems; (2) the definition of problems, (3) the analysis of problems; (4) the solutions of problems. Even the posing of problems is in itself an intellectual problem. A society without effective intellectuals will not be in a position to raise problems (3)
Intellectuals are therefore the only group of people in a society who are capable of moving away from the narrow confines of specialism or professionalism to see problems in their holistic and real perspective. Alatas also points out that the area of intellectual activity cannot follow any demarcation laid down by any particular discipline and is therefore transdisciplinary. Moreover, the intellectual attitude cannot be created by formal and discipline-orientated training in terms of syllabus and fixed number of years of study; the object of the intellectual activity is always related to the wider context of life and thought, penetrating into fundamental values and commitments; the intellectual pursuit is not a profession and therefore not subject to the sort of factors which determine the emergence and development of professions; and the intellectual interest involves the past, the present and the future. (4)
Intellectuals are the only group in any society which systematically and continuously, in sharp contrast to the specialist and the profession, try to see things in wider perspectives, in terms of their interrelations, interactions and totality. This is why intellectuals have always been at the forefront of new synthesis and thought. Most of the major changes and reforms in western civilization, for example, have been brought about by intellectuals. The Enlightenment, which laid the foundation of modern science and thought, was a purely intellectual movement. The intellectuals who conceived and perfected the Enlightenment, Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Diderot and Voltaire, are still widely read today and have a profound influence. The European Reformation too was the work of intellectuals. Without the thinking and writing of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, around whom people rallied in breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, it is difficult to believe that the Reformation could have taken place. And what better evidence of the importance of intellectuals and their powerful influence can one give than by simply pointing out that the Soviet Union rules in the name of a single intellectual, Karl Marx, who spent most of his life in libraries and whose works over the past century have been studied by countless other intllectuals. In turn Dad Kapital did not spring spontaneously from Marxs head; what he was doing in libraries across Europe was absorbing the thinking of many other intellectuals of previous generations. There is perhaps no more poignant example of how an intellectual who was influenced by other intellectuals finally reaches down even to the most remote peasant. All this simply by way of example.
In Muslim civilization the role of the intellectual is even more important, considering that the words read, ponder and reflect are some of the most oft repeated exhortations of the Quran, itself the Noble Reading. At its zenith, Muslim civilization was a civilization of intellectuals: manes like al-Farabi, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Biruni, al-Razi, al-Masudi, Abdul Wafa, Omar Khayyam come so easily to mind because they dominated entire spans of centuries. And when Muslim civilization faced a crisis, and no one was capable of defining its nature, discovering its cause or assuming the responsibility of formulating a solution, it was rescued by a single intellectual: al-Ghazali. Indeed, without the intellectuals Muslim civilization in history is inconceivable. And, there cannot be a living, dynamic, thriving Muslim civilization of the future without a body of critical and creative intellectuals. At a time when the Muslim world is engulfed in parochialism and sectarianism, when imitation and blind following is the norm, when kindness and tolerance are under retreat everywhere, when the globe is culturally and intellectually dominated by jingoist and chauvinist western logic and social grammar, the umma needs its intellectuals as it has never needed them before.
Much of the desolation of the contemporary Muslim panorama is the result of the almost total absence of vigorously independent and devoted intellectuals. There are, however, indications that intellectuals who are true to the world-view of Islam are coming to the fore; but their number is below the critical mass for take-off. However, if the Islamic movement ideologues, who dominate the reformist scene and the islamization debate, could change a few of their character traits the number of genuine Muslim intellectuals would swell beyond the critical mass and they could begin to make their presence felt both in Muslim society and contemporary Muslim thought.
Three basic features of these ideologues suppress thought and hinder the emergence of the genuine intellectual. The first is their marked tendency to dominate and control: they feel they have a monopoly on reason and judgement. This stems from their belief in their innate superiority and presumed righteousness; which itself is a result of a narrow-minded and blinkered outlook. Movement ideologues are shunned and avoided by many young thinkers and intellectuals because of their tendency to argue from authority and to dominate and control the activities of non-movement groups and societies.
A second and related trait is the guru mentality. This attitude reveals itself in the dictum that the mentor, the teacher or the spiritual leader, is always right, even when he is blatantly in error, and experience has shown him to be wrong. Even the Prophet, when it was pointed out to him that cross-pollination brings beneficial results, corrected himself. The guru mentality plays a great part in subverting critical and analytical faculties as well as the use of imagination. Many devotees would rather edit and translate poor works of the master than produce original scholarship of their own. And as the guru is beyond criticism, his mistakes and fallacious arguments are perpetually repeated.
The third, and related trait, of the movement ideologues, is their inability to take criticism. Most movement scholars regard criticism of their work in terms of personal attack; as a result they either isolate their critics or seek revenge. When faced with arguments, the stock responses are: How can I be wrong? I have been working on this problem for ten years; or You are not an economist, or a specialist in the field; you do not know, I know; or You are trying to discredit me and spread fitna (sedition, strife). Admitting error is a virtue, a strength, not a weakness; this is how knowledge is advanced. Entrenching oneself in an increasingly untenable and irrational position, and defending ones weakness as a matter of honour, is destructive both for the individual concerned and for the contemporary Muslim scholarly tradition. Masasbh, criticism, and self-criticism, must become a cornerstone of Muslim intellectual endeavour.
In addition, the body of Muslim scholars have to modify a few of their characteristics, too. Prime among these is the over-the-top trust and reliance on expertise, Islamic or otherwise. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the contemporary scholarly and academic landscape, that is beyond the comprehension of a good intellectual. It is true that contemporary knowledge is so vast, and, in certain areas, so deep that it is beyond the capabilities of a single individual to master. But one does not have to understand all aspects of every discipline. Moreover, once the jargon, which is designed to mystify the outsiders, is stripped away one finds a methodology and a thought process which can be mastered by anyone who is determined to understand it. In this respect, the true intellectual is a polymath: his basic tool is a sharp mind and a transdisciplinary methodology which can lay bare any discipline, any subject, any segment of human knowledge. Quite often the best and most devastating criticism of issues within a discipline comes from intellectuals outside the discipline. Expertise is a shroud behind which professionals hide their shortcomings. The more shallow and intellectually shambolic the foundations of a discipline the more it is defended by a priesthood of experts. (5) You are not an expert, a scientist, an economist, a sociologist, a heart-specialist, and therefore you do not understand is the last ditch defence of a poor professional.
Muslim scholars and ideologues, who aim to become true intellectuals, and participate in the genuine introduction of reforms and evolution of strategies for change need to penetrate the shell of disciplinary expertise. As I stated earlier, and as modern ecology teaches and western science is rediscovering, nothing in nature behaves as an isolated system. Everything is connected to everything else: in the real world an all-pervasive principle of interconnectiveness is in operation. There is therefore no such thing as pure physics or economics devoid of social, political, cultural, environmental and spiritual concerns. As a purveyor of ideas, a true intellectual ought to have mastery of more than one discipline. And as Islam also permeates every sphere of life, we cannot allow Islamic studies to become the sole preserve of experts. By definition, a Muslim intellectual must appreciate and understand the major elements of the world-view, culture, history, and thought of Islam. But a self-respecting Muslim intellectual would go much further: he/she would aim to become a truly interdisciplinary scholar. (6)
And this brings me to the second reason why Muslim intellectuals have to break disciplinary boundaries. Contemporary Muslim thought is not about re-inventing the wheel; where there is a great deal to be discovered and rediscovered, from the perspective of Islam, there is an equal amount of knowledge that we can draw upon and synthesize with the world-view of Islam. But synthesis is not an easy task; it is not a question of mixing this with that. AS Parvez Manzoor has pointed out, synthesis is presented in the Hegelian scheme as conciliation of two antitheses. And this is exactly how both the Muslim and western civilizations have perceived each other in history: as two real and irreconcilable antitheses. Any facile amalgamation of two traditions requires knowledge of the real world. A strong dominant intellectual tradition cannot be synthesized with a weak, ineffectual one; it would simply be co-opted. Synthesis therefore is a hazardous exercise; at the very least it requires knowledge of more than one discipline. Many problems in the whole question of the islamization of disciplines arise, as I have pointed out in Islamic Futures: The Shape of Ideas to Come and Merryl Wyn Davies has shown in Knowing One Another: Shaping an Islamic Anthropology, (8) from the fact that Muslim scholars try to cast disciplines based on western axioms and intellectual heritage in Islamic moulds. These problems arise mainly form their inability to synthesize for synthesis involves axiomatic analysis and examination and raising of fundamental questions. And only true synthesis can make proper use of existing knowledge and generate new ideas and pragmatic solutions.
All this requires the re-emergence, and in a way this is what I have been arguing for throughout this essay, or the classical polymath. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals must become the counterparts of the polymaths who shaped Muslim civilization at its zenith. Muslim civilization of the classical period was remarkable for the number of polymaths it produces. (9) The motives and driving force behind polymathy were not based on just a deep love and respect for knowledge but also on a paradigm which emphasized the interconnection between the sacred and the profane, physics and metaphysics, thought and reality, and pointed out that the material universe was not inferior to the spiritual, that both as manifestations of Allahs bounty and mercy, were the vast creation of God from the mystics ecstasy to the mothers love to the flight of an arrow, the circumference of the earth, the plague that destroys and entire nation, the sting of mosquito, the nature of madness, the beauty of justice, the metaphysical yearning of man were all equally valid and could not be deprived of eternal values and human concern. Methodologies, deeply rooted in the conceptual and ethical parameters of Islam were the essence of enquiry. And classical polymaths were masters of methodology. It was this paradigm that the polymaths used to syntehesize the learning of earlier civilizations, transforming it totally for synthesis always produces something entirely new which is like neither one nor the other of the original components and integrating it completely with the world-view of Islam. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals have to rediscover this paradigm and develop into the kind of polymaths who can perform the great synthesis that is needed.
In a world that is shaped and controlled by another civilization, the real task facing the Mulsim umma is the creation of an intellectual space which is a genuine embodiment of the world-view and culture of Islam. Without this intellectual space, reformist ideas and programmes will bear no fruit. Muslim civilization has a dire need of genuine intellectuals; unless Muslims societies cultivate the barren lands of today intellectual vacuum, the ummas marginalized existence will be institutionalized. The real world offers us no choice but to start our homework immediately.
The article is from Abdullah Omar Naseef (Editor), Today’s Problems, Tomorrow’s Solutions: Future Thoughts on the Structure of Muslim Society, Mansell, London, 1988.
Most Muslim scholars and professionals view the world not as it is but as a rosy-hued mirage which is largely a figment of their own minds. They cannot see that their disciplines are an arena of power politics, where objectivity and neutrality are rhetorical rationales for control, and integrity is simply another name for expedient self-interest. The world of intellectual disciplines, natural or social sciences, is not a world of dispassionate rationality, Platonic pursuit of truth or moral virtuosity. It is a world where ideational and ideological battles are fought and where thought and tradition are divided and demarcated for domination and control. In this game, the Muslim scholar, scientist, economist is very much an outsider: unless he understands and appreciates this, his attempts to islamize this or that discipline will not only fail to usher in any reforms, but can, indeed will, surrender even more intellectual territory to the ideational universe of western civilization.
There are three aspects of contemporary reality that ought to be appreciated by anybody engaged in islamization efforts or working on legal, social and economic reforms in Muslim society. The first aspect is the most obvious, and perhaps the most [painful. Muslim thought is completely marginalized in the modern world. As it has made no input into the philosophical and intellectual pool of contemporary knowledge, it should harbour no illusions that it will be accepted on equal terms by and allowed to participate in the global knowledge industry. The corollary of this is that Muslim people are also totally marginalized and, despite an illusion of independence, are dependent on the dominant civilization, an even more painful fact. That Muslim people will be allowed to determine their own destiny cannot be taken for granted in a world where the umma has a dependent status.
This aspect of contemporary reality has a direct bearing both on reform movements and the islamization debate. Any country wishing to introduce the Shariah will face systematic opposition from the industrialized countries, as was so obviously the case with Sudan. Any discipline that Muslim scholars may islamize, if it is of any significance and presents a threat tot he dominant discipline, will be simply co-opted.
The second stark feature of our time is interconnection and interdependence. In the modern world everything is connected to everything else and is dependent upon developments in other spheres. Things do not exist in isolation; problems cannot be removed as it were from this interconnected, interlocking reality and tackled in isolation. In such a world, it makes little sense, as Parvez Manzoor ponts out in his introduction, to establish the Sahriah without introducitng social, economic and educational reforms. Or as Muhammad Arif argues, introducing Islamic banking without doing anything about the unequal distribution of resources, would not solve much. Economics is intrinsically linked to land reform, which is linked to politics And politics itself is linked to science, technology, medicine, social formation and so on. Reform or islamization, therefore, cannot be undertaken in isolation. The enterprise can succeed only if it is systematically tackled on a number of different fronts, when disciplines are allowed to merge and cross-fertilize, when a new universe of disciplines, geared to the needs of the Muslim people and culture and subordinated to the world-view of Islam, emerges. The present disciplinary structure, as I have noted elsewhere, has evolved in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the western civilization it is a direct response to its needs and world-view. Its boundaries are artificially maintained by the intellectual power and rigour that this civilization commands.
The third feature of our world is that diversity is the essence of survival. Contrary to Darwinian myth, it is not the fittest who survive, but those who use plurality of means. Monocultures dominate, isolate, alienate, decimate and finally bore themselves to death with uniformity. The analogy is most clearly demonstrated in agriculture: too heavy a reliance on a single crop ends in famine, monoculture has a limited future. But a multiplicity of crops produce abundance. Similarly, pluralistic societies have a higher chance of cultural survival and normally thrive.
What does this mean in terms of reform and islamization? It means that monolithic approaches to reform are doomed. The zeal of the righteous and the fanaticism of the revolutionary end in tyranny. All revolutions in history, even the one carried out in the name of Islam, end by replacing one tyranny with another. Iran is a shining example. Reform has to evolve, and be attempted, consistently and constantly, by a number of different means and methods. A reformist is not a revolutionary; he/she is not foolish enough to believe that the world can be put right by a single act of political violence. Changes can be brought about and reforms introduced only by the methodology of the Prophet: by consistent and planned work, step by step, allowing time for adjusting to change, taking stock of the changing situation, occasionally side-stepping for strategic reasons, with unshaking will and determination. Any other method is pure euphoria, a day dram of a card-carrying imbecile.
For islamization, the diversity of modern reality has a special significance. It means that if islamized disciplines become an appendage of western disciplines, they will be co-opted and swallowed up by the monolith. As such, they, like the dominant disciplines themselves, will have no real future. But if the islamized disciplines develop independently of western disciplines, they have a real chance of flourishing in themselves and genuinely enriching the western ones. On this basis, Islamic economics , supposedly the most islamized of contemporary disciplines, has nowhere to go!
Once we have moved into the world as it is, we can begin to shed the fallacies that have enveloped our thought and action. The prime illusion we must abandon is that we can solve our problems by borrowing from others, or tacking them in isolation, or that every Muslim country is an independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant sovereign state. It is the indigenous and the whole that is the key to our intellectual and physical survival in the modern world. Only when Muslim countries begin to see themselves as a civilization and start relying on their indigenous capabilities and intellectual heritage can the umma solve its pressing problems and present a viable challenge to the dominant civilizations. Contemporary reality demands that the Muslim umma, the many and varied nation-states, act a single, autonomous civilization. Only by presenting a civilization front can the umma halt the advance of western civilization at its boundaries and undertake meaningful reforms within it. An individual state seeking to adopt the Shariah would thereofre have the protection and support of the entire Muslim world. Isolationism is out says the stark reality of our time. The same goes for parochialism and sectarianism.
Nothing has forced the Muslim world into subjugation and borrowed solutions more than parochialism and sectarianism. On the physical level, ethnic and sectarian identities have been overblown and turned into civil strife and national conflicts. Those who seek to assert their ethnic identity at the expense of unity are planting the seeds of their own destruction. Those who suppress or persecute ethnic minorities in the name of a national majority, are mortgaging their future. Ethnic diversity is a source of cultural strength for Muslim societies. The motto of our time, we can read out there in the real world, is live and let live.
Parochialism is a widespread feature of Muslim thought. Narrow adherence to fiqh (classical jurisprudence), to the dictates of this or that school of thought, whether it has any contemporary relevance or not, is one manifestation of this parochialism. The real world takes no account of the glories of bygone ages, rulings of historic times, outmoded thought and ideas. Its message is simple: adapt or perish. Muslim people have been on the verge of physical, cultural and intellectual extinction simply because they have allowed parochialism and petty traditionalism to rule their minds. We must break free from the ghetto mentality.
This means thinking imaginatively, boldly and universally. Islam is a universal world-view: it transcends all cultural boundaries and is not limited and confined by a single parochial outlook. This is stating the obvious; but the significance of this truism is seldom appreciated. For example, if Islam is a universal world-view, an economic system based on its principle should also be universal. Islamic economics therefore is a universal economics, not Muslim economics. Thus western economics, which is based on a particular culture and parochial (Eurocentric) outlook, should be an appendage to it, and not vice versa. This means, further, that Islamic economics has to be based on its own axiomatic structure, and not be derivative of western economic thought and its institutional apparatus. However, to develop an entire economic structure from first principles is so formidable that no Muslim economist has had the courage to undertake the exercise. And what is true of economics is also true of other social sciences as well as science.
A universalist world-view, by its very nature, must be dynamic and constantly absorbing change. The real world is changing rapidly; indeed, it is changing at a rate unparalleled in history the rate of change is itself changing! Under such circumstances, we cannot rely on static or pre-modernist formulations of the Shariah. Yet this is the spectacle that we are faced with: obscurantist rulings are dragged out from history as though they were eternal principles and forced into circumstances where they clearly do not belong. We must gain a fresh insight into the Shariah based on the factors that confront us. (1)
Why is it that most Muslim scholars fail to understand the dynamics of the real world? Perhaps it has something to do with the traditional nature of their education. Possibly it has something to do with their westernized thought and outlook which militates against breaking free from the dominant civilization. It could even be that they do not want to see We found our fathers on a course and by their footsteps we are guided (The Quran 43:22). Whatever the reason for the present sate of Muslim scholars, the real world demands a totally new kind of thinker.
In a given period of history, a civilization is judged by its dominant thought, by the prevalent trends in its cultural life as expressed in politics and morality, science and technology, economics and business, arts and crafts. Intellectuals are the voice of this thought and the pulse of the prevalent trends; they are also their instigators, their critics and their bodyguards. A civilization, a country, a community, cannot exist without intellectuals and a constant stream of new ideas. They cannot exist without constant criticism and self-criticism, without those who formulate it and express it. They cannot exist without a body of devoted people whose sole concern in life is ideas and their significance. Indeed, a society without intellectuals is like a body without a head. And that precisely is the position of the contemporary Muslim world.
The Muslim world today Is totally devoid of intellectuals. There are plenty of academics and bureaucrats, professionals and researchers, even a modicum of scientists and technologists but intellectuals are conspicuous only by their total absence. This is partly because traditional societies, drawing their sustenance as they do from classical and historic scholars, and anti-intellectual. Many of the dominant modes of thought in Muslim societies, like Sufism, are aggressively anti-intellectual. A society dominated by taqlid (blind imitation), both of its own past and western civilization, cannot tolerate intellectuals. The acute absence of intellectuals in Muslim societies is also explained by the fact that the few who do exist have let their constituency down: they are much more concerned with fashionable ideologies like Marxism, secularism, westernization than with the physical, intellectual and spiritual needs of the community.
But who are the intellectuals, anyway? And why are they important? A simple definition would be that an intellectual is someone who gets excited by ideas. In his classic study, Intellectuals in Developing Societies, Syed Hussein Alatas defines an intellectual as a person who is engaged in thinking about ideas and non-material problems using the faculty of reason (2). This is a somewhat misleading definition: for while an intellectual may or may not think directly about material problems, all his thought ahs a bearing on the material world. In defining the Muslim intellectual, we must first point out that we are not discussing a creature who inhabits western sociology where, over the last hundred years, his/her social meaning has shifted and changed a number of times. Neither are we talking in the French sense of the term where intellectuals are that section of the educated class which aspires to political power, either directly or by seeking the influence and companionship of the countrys political rulers.
Muslim intellectuals are interested in abstract ideas as well as specifics, the real world demands both. Unlike Socrates, they are not interested in ideas for ideas sake, they search for ideas that lead to reform; but like Socrates, they seek propagation of thought, criticism and a questioning attitude, a goal for which they would eagerly lay down their lives. They move in a world not of total doubt and confusion, but within a world-view well defined by conceptual and ethical parameters. They seek not power but reforms. They do not have acquisitive and analytical minds only but also critical, imaginative and creative minds. They engage and transform.
Intellectuals are important because they do the work that other segments of society either do not know exist or are not equipped to handle, they tackle the problems which cannot be managed by specialists, academics and professionals. As Alatas points out, to lack intellectuals is to lack leadership in the following areas of thinking: (1) the posing of problems; (2) the definition of problems, (3) the analysis of problems; (4) the solutions of problems. Even the posing of problems is in itself an intellectual problem. A society without effective intellectuals will not be in a position to raise problems (3)
Intellectuals are therefore the only group of people in a society who are capable of moving away from the narrow confines of specialism or professionalism to see problems in their holistic and real perspective. Alatas also points out that the area of intellectual activity cannot follow any demarcation laid down by any particular discipline and is therefore transdisciplinary. Moreover, the intellectual attitude cannot be created by formal and discipline-orientated training in terms of syllabus and fixed number of years of study; the object of the intellectual activity is always related to the wider context of life and thought, penetrating into fundamental values and commitments; the intellectual pursuit is not a profession and therefore not subject to the sort of factors which determine the emergence and development of professions; and the intellectual interest involves the past, the present and the future. (4)
Intellectuals are the only group in any society which systematically and continuously, in sharp contrast to the specialist and the profession, try to see things in wider perspectives, in terms of their interrelations, interactions and totality. This is why intellectuals have always been at the forefront of new synthesis and thought. Most of the major changes and reforms in western civilization, for example, have been brought about by intellectuals. The Enlightenment, which laid the foundation of modern science and thought, was a purely intellectual movement. The intellectuals who conceived and perfected the Enlightenment, Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Diderot and Voltaire, are still widely read today and have a profound influence. The European Reformation too was the work of intellectuals. Without the thinking and writing of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, around whom people rallied in breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church, it is difficult to believe that the Reformation could have taken place. And what better evidence of the importance of intellectuals and their powerful influence can one give than by simply pointing out that the Soviet Union rules in the name of a single intellectual, Karl Marx, who spent most of his life in libraries and whose works over the past century have been studied by countless other intllectuals. In turn Dad Kapital did not spring spontaneously from Marxs head; what he was doing in libraries across Europe was absorbing the thinking of many other intellectuals of previous generations. There is perhaps no more poignant example of how an intellectual who was influenced by other intellectuals finally reaches down even to the most remote peasant. All this simply by way of example.
In Muslim civilization the role of the intellectual is even more important, considering that the words read, ponder and reflect are some of the most oft repeated exhortations of the Quran, itself the Noble Reading. At its zenith, Muslim civilization was a civilization of intellectuals: manes like al-Farabi, al-Kindi, al-Khwarizmi, al-Biruni, al-Razi, al-Masudi, Abdul Wafa, Omar Khayyam come so easily to mind because they dominated entire spans of centuries. And when Muslim civilization faced a crisis, and no one was capable of defining its nature, discovering its cause or assuming the responsibility of formulating a solution, it was rescued by a single intellectual: al-Ghazali. Indeed, without the intellectuals Muslim civilization in history is inconceivable. And, there cannot be a living, dynamic, thriving Muslim civilization of the future without a body of critical and creative intellectuals. At a time when the Muslim world is engulfed in parochialism and sectarianism, when imitation and blind following is the norm, when kindness and tolerance are under retreat everywhere, when the globe is culturally and intellectually dominated by jingoist and chauvinist western logic and social grammar, the umma needs its intellectuals as it has never needed them before.
Much of the desolation of the contemporary Muslim panorama is the result of the almost total absence of vigorously independent and devoted intellectuals. There are, however, indications that intellectuals who are true to the world-view of Islam are coming to the fore; but their number is below the critical mass for take-off. However, if the Islamic movement ideologues, who dominate the reformist scene and the islamization debate, could change a few of their character traits the number of genuine Muslim intellectuals would swell beyond the critical mass and they could begin to make their presence felt both in Muslim society and contemporary Muslim thought.
Three basic features of these ideologues suppress thought and hinder the emergence of the genuine intellectual. The first is their marked tendency to dominate and control: they feel they have a monopoly on reason and judgement. This stems from their belief in their innate superiority and presumed righteousness; which itself is a result of a narrow-minded and blinkered outlook. Movement ideologues are shunned and avoided by many young thinkers and intellectuals because of their tendency to argue from authority and to dominate and control the activities of non-movement groups and societies.
A second and related trait is the guru mentality. This attitude reveals itself in the dictum that the mentor, the teacher or the spiritual leader, is always right, even when he is blatantly in error, and experience has shown him to be wrong. Even the Prophet, when it was pointed out to him that cross-pollination brings beneficial results, corrected himself. The guru mentality plays a great part in subverting critical and analytical faculties as well as the use of imagination. Many devotees would rather edit and translate poor works of the master than produce original scholarship of their own. And as the guru is beyond criticism, his mistakes and fallacious arguments are perpetually repeated.
The third, and related trait, of the movement ideologues, is their inability to take criticism. Most movement scholars regard criticism of their work in terms of personal attack; as a result they either isolate their critics or seek revenge. When faced with arguments, the stock responses are: How can I be wrong? I have been working on this problem for ten years; or You are not an economist, or a specialist in the field; you do not know, I know; or You are trying to discredit me and spread fitna (sedition, strife). Admitting error is a virtue, a strength, not a weakness; this is how knowledge is advanced. Entrenching oneself in an increasingly untenable and irrational position, and defending ones weakness as a matter of honour, is destructive both for the individual concerned and for the contemporary Muslim scholarly tradition. Masasbh, criticism, and self-criticism, must become a cornerstone of Muslim intellectual endeavour.
In addition, the body of Muslim scholars have to modify a few of their characteristics, too. Prime among these is the over-the-top trust and reliance on expertise, Islamic or otherwise. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the contemporary scholarly and academic landscape, that is beyond the comprehension of a good intellectual. It is true that contemporary knowledge is so vast, and, in certain areas, so deep that it is beyond the capabilities of a single individual to master. But one does not have to understand all aspects of every discipline. Moreover, once the jargon, which is designed to mystify the outsiders, is stripped away one finds a methodology and a thought process which can be mastered by anyone who is determined to understand it. In this respect, the true intellectual is a polymath: his basic tool is a sharp mind and a transdisciplinary methodology which can lay bare any discipline, any subject, any segment of human knowledge. Quite often the best and most devastating criticism of issues within a discipline comes from intellectuals outside the discipline. Expertise is a shroud behind which professionals hide their shortcomings. The more shallow and intellectually shambolic the foundations of a discipline the more it is defended by a priesthood of experts. (5) You are not an expert, a scientist, an economist, a sociologist, a heart-specialist, and therefore you do not understand is the last ditch defence of a poor professional.
Muslim scholars and ideologues, who aim to become true intellectuals, and participate in the genuine introduction of reforms and evolution of strategies for change need to penetrate the shell of disciplinary expertise. As I stated earlier, and as modern ecology teaches and western science is rediscovering, nothing in nature behaves as an isolated system. Everything is connected to everything else: in the real world an all-pervasive principle of interconnectiveness is in operation. There is therefore no such thing as pure physics or economics devoid of social, political, cultural, environmental and spiritual concerns. As a purveyor of ideas, a true intellectual ought to have mastery of more than one discipline. And as Islam also permeates every sphere of life, we cannot allow Islamic studies to become the sole preserve of experts. By definition, a Muslim intellectual must appreciate and understand the major elements of the world-view, culture, history, and thought of Islam. But a self-respecting Muslim intellectual would go much further: he/she would aim to become a truly interdisciplinary scholar. (6)
And this brings me to the second reason why Muslim intellectuals have to break disciplinary boundaries. Contemporary Muslim thought is not about re-inventing the wheel; where there is a great deal to be discovered and rediscovered, from the perspective of Islam, there is an equal amount of knowledge that we can draw upon and synthesize with the world-view of Islam. But synthesis is not an easy task; it is not a question of mixing this with that. AS Parvez Manzoor has pointed out, synthesis is presented in the Hegelian scheme as conciliation of two antitheses. And this is exactly how both the Muslim and western civilizations have perceived each other in history: as two real and irreconcilable antitheses. Any facile amalgamation of two traditions requires knowledge of the real world. A strong dominant intellectual tradition cannot be synthesized with a weak, ineffectual one; it would simply be co-opted. Synthesis therefore is a hazardous exercise; at the very least it requires knowledge of more than one discipline. Many problems in the whole question of the islamization of disciplines arise, as I have pointed out in Islamic Futures: The Shape of Ideas to Come and Merryl Wyn Davies has shown in Knowing One Another: Shaping an Islamic Anthropology, (8) from the fact that Muslim scholars try to cast disciplines based on western axioms and intellectual heritage in Islamic moulds. These problems arise mainly form their inability to synthesize for synthesis involves axiomatic analysis and examination and raising of fundamental questions. And only true synthesis can make proper use of existing knowledge and generate new ideas and pragmatic solutions.
All this requires the re-emergence, and in a way this is what I have been arguing for throughout this essay, or the classical polymath. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals must become the counterparts of the polymaths who shaped Muslim civilization at its zenith. Muslim civilization of the classical period was remarkable for the number of polymaths it produces. (9) The motives and driving force behind polymathy were not based on just a deep love and respect for knowledge but also on a paradigm which emphasized the interconnection between the sacred and the profane, physics and metaphysics, thought and reality, and pointed out that the material universe was not inferior to the spiritual, that both as manifestations of Allahs bounty and mercy, were the vast creation of God from the mystics ecstasy to the mothers love to the flight of an arrow, the circumference of the earth, the plague that destroys and entire nation, the sting of mosquito, the nature of madness, the beauty of justice, the metaphysical yearning of man were all equally valid and could not be deprived of eternal values and human concern. Methodologies, deeply rooted in the conceptual and ethical parameters of Islam were the essence of enquiry. And classical polymaths were masters of methodology. It was this paradigm that the polymaths used to syntehesize the learning of earlier civilizations, transforming it totally for synthesis always produces something entirely new which is like neither one nor the other of the original components and integrating it completely with the world-view of Islam. Contemporary Muslim intellectuals have to rediscover this paradigm and develop into the kind of polymaths who can perform the great synthesis that is needed.
In a world that is shaped and controlled by another civilization, the real task facing the Mulsim umma is the creation of an intellectual space which is a genuine embodiment of the world-view and culture of Islam. Without this intellectual space, reformist ideas and programmes will bear no fruit. Muslim civilization has a dire need of genuine intellectuals; unless Muslims societies cultivate the barren lands of today intellectual vacuum, the ummas marginalized existence will be institutionalized. The real world offers us no choice but to start our homework immediately.
The article is from Abdullah Omar Naseef (Editor), Today’s Problems, Tomorrow’s Solutions: Future Thoughts on the Structure of Muslim Society, Mansell, London, 1988.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Science As the Servant of Faith
Professor Nazeer Ahmed
www.historyofislam.com
Summary: The pursuit of the sciences is obligatory on Muslims. Science and faith are not incompatible. They are both in search of the Truth. Science concerns itself with the physical and seeks its validation in observation and reason. The domain of faith has many more dimensions. It embraces both the physical and the spiritual. Where faith intersects and interacts with the physical, it must also seek its validation in observation and reason.
Religion is not just dogma as many people assume it to be. It is also a way of relating to creation. The conceptual structure of this relationship has given humankind some of the most basic scientific ideas.
Disagreements between science and faith emerge when scientists forget the assumptions upon which they base their world view and when people of faith discard empirical and rational evidence and assert their beliefs as dogma.
Science is not the privilege only of the West. Every civilization has produced great men and women of science. The center of gravity of scientific endeavor is now shifting to Asia. For a thousand years Muslims dominated the world of science. This shows that the reasons for the decay of science in Muslim lands are not religious but social, historical and political.
Man is a Trustee of God on earth. The discharge of the Divine Trust requires a profound understanding of nature and of the interdependence of man and nature. Muslims must recreate that integrated vision of knowledge that combines the sciences of nature and history with the sciences of the Qur’an and spiritual insights into the soul. The separation of the sacred and profane has no place in Islam. Nature is suffused with the Signs of God. Indeed, science is a servant of faith and supports it.
Several questions are addressed in this brief article:
Is science compatible with faith?
How is history related to natural science?
Isn’t science the product of western rational thought while the societies of the east have been mired in religious superstition?
The ultimate goal of science and faith is the same: to find the Truth. Science and faith are not incompatible. Indeed, a search for truth through the scientific method reinforces faith.
The apparent contradictions between science and faith arise from an insufficient understanding of both. The scientific method is inductive. This means that it is based upon observation and reason. A scientist observes nature, interacts with it, measures and analyses it, and builds simplified models to extrapolate his observations. These models are a powerful tool with which humankind attempts to comprehend the complexity that surrounds it. In addition, man uses his understanding of natural laws to control and exploit nature for his own benefit.
The scientific method is not deductive, although deductive logic is used to extrapolate models of behavior that are built up using the inductive method. A physical model must be validated through observation. Otherwise, it remains speculative and theoretical.
True faith is also inductive. This means that it is supported by observation and reason. Faith is not deductive or a product of philosophical speculations. Faith supported by observation and reason is on a solid footing and elevates humankind towards the Truth.
We offer some perspectives to elaborate on our assertions.
The interconnectivity of man with nature
“Whatever is in the heavens and the earth ask of Him,
Every moment, He (reveals His beautiful Names) with majesty”
The Qur’an (55:29)
Some religious traditions, even though they do not believe in God, assert the interconnectivity of creation. Mahayana Buddhism is an example. The Qur’an asserts this interconnectivity through God. Man and nature are not independent of each other; they are connected through Divine Grace which manifests itself through nature and through history.
“We shall show them Our Signs
On the horizon (in nature and in history)
And within their own souls, Until it is clear to them
That it is indeed the Truth.” (The Qur’an, 41:53)
The same view is expressed in quantum mechanics. It has been experimentally demonstrated that when a particle is observed, it changes its nature. In other words, the universe that man lives in is a knowing, breathing universe, animated by Divine Grace. It talks to man. It is not a dumb universe.
In contrast to quantum mechanics, classical mechanics takes the position that man and the universe are subject and object. In other words, man as the subject is separated from nature which is the object of his observation. This is called the Principle of Objectivation.
Every world view is colored by its own assumptions. If you wear red glasses, the world looks red. The Principle of Objectivation separates man from nature and results in disastrous consequences for his world view. By assuming that nature is separate from him, man finds that nature is devoid of those human qualities that make it beautiful. Let us look at an example.
Consider the rainbow. Whether it is a highly trained person from a scientific academy or an unlettered person, they will both agree that the rainbow is beautiful. Ask a physicist to explain the rainbow. His explanation will proceed along the following lines: Sunlight consists of electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths. In the visible spectrum, these wavelengths occupy a space from approximately 0.5 micrometers to 0.7 micrometers. When these waves pass through moisture laden air, they are refracted, that is, they bend. The degree of refraction depends on the wavelength. After refraction, they are projected on the horizon as a rainbow which has multiple colors.
Observe this objective explanation. The wavelengths and refraction are there. But where in this explanation is that enchanting rainbow as it vaults the sky from horizon to horizon? It is not there in the objective explanation because the Principle of Objectivation has separated the Self (the subject) from the rainbow (the object).
By contrast, a man of true faith will carry the observation of the rainbow one step further. He knows through his faith that he and the rainbow are interconnected through Divine Grace. He does observe and measure, as does the scientist, but he does not stop at wavelengths and refraction. He looks upon the natural phenomenon as a Sign that projects the beauty of the Divine Name onto his own soul. The color is not in the wavelengths and refraction. The color is in the soul. The rainbow is beautiful because the soul has a sense of beauty bestowed upon it and nature reflects that beauty.
By the soul
And its (sense of) order and proportion.
(The Qur’an, 91:7)
This example brings out the difference between blind faith and faith based upon observation and reason. A blind man can also believe but is his belief the same as the faith of a man who can see and witness? A deaf man can believe but is his faith the same as the faith of a man who hears and reinforces his faith?
Nature offers an infinite variety of Signs. A person of knowledge and faith not only validates his theories by observing these Signs but also reinforces his faith and uses it as an occasion to contemplate the mystery of creation and the purpose behind it. An ignorant believer does not observe or reason; he merely believes. A disbelieving scientist stops at observation and reason and does not concern himself with issues that make life beautiful. Whose faith is stronger? The Qur’an offers an insight:
“Is one who is blind (to realities of the invisible world)
The equal of one who can see (with his inner eye)?”
Will you not then reflect? (The Qur’an, 6:50).
The Deductive Method is insufficient to know the Truth
At the other extreme, the deductive method leads to an impasse in knowing the Truth because it assumes the Principle of Before and After. The classical example is offered by the question: What came first, the chicken or the egg?
The deductive method fails because it falls into the time trap. Is time real? What is time? In our ordinary existence, we live by clock time. But when we debate the questions of Truth, time itself becomes the subject of discussion. Scientists recognize clock time, relative time, perceived time, timeless time, time as quanta of energy and so on. The Qur’an specifically mentions clock time (103:1), relative time (70:4), perceived time (87:16) and timeless time (76:1). The time frame in which an issue is discussed has an outcome on the deduction.
Here is an example from history: In the eighth century CE, the Mutazalites, Muslim philosophers who had adopted the Greek rational approach, fell into the trap of the deductive method. For almost a hundred years (765 to 846 CE) they were the darling of the Abbasid courts in Baghdad. But they tried to apply their rational methods based on logic to God and His Word and fell flat on their faces. Arguing that God and His Word cannot be same because that would compromise the transcendence of God (in their view), they separated God from His Word. To preserve that transcendence (as they perceived it), they came to the absurd conclusion that the Word of God was created in time. This was a classical trap wherein the assumption of before and after, and of time in its clock sense was applied to an issue that was beyond time. How can you apply the measure of time to the Creator of time? The reaction from the ulema, led by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, was furious. The Mutazalites were discredited and expelled from the Abbasid courts.
No! This is the magnificent Qur’an,
From a Tablet, secure. (85:21)
It was after the deductive approach was abandoned that the inductive method based on observation and measurement flourished in the Islamic world. And the Muslims went on to dominate the world of science for a thousand years.
Some scientists make the error of not stating the assumptions upon which their theories are founded, or worse yet, overlooking these assumptions and stating their theories as if they are the absolute truth. The Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution both fall into this category. Those who champion these theories must be aware of the assumptions underlying these theories.
The interrelationship of the laws of natural science, history and the soul
There is an inherent relationship between the laws that govern the physical universe and human history as well as the individual soul. The Qur’an expresses it thus:
And the heavens has He raised High,
And established (dynamic) equilibrium (justice and balance) therein,
So that you do not violate justice (in your own lives). The Qur’an (55:7-8)
Justice (balance, equilibrium) is the common denominator that binds nature to the world of man. There is a dynamic balance in nature which makes it possible to understand it and express it in mathematical language. For instance, it is astonishing that the seemingly complex physical behavior of natural phenomenon can be expressed through differential equations in mathematics and physics. The same laws of balance, proportion and equilibrium apply individually to the soul and collectively to sociology and history. When human beings violate justice, they destroy themselves. The just mean is the law of life. Similarly, a civilization that overextends itself and violates justice is doomed. Whether it is over cultivation of land, over exploitation of resources or imperial overreach, the result is the same. The Qur’an expresses it as follows:
Behold! Many were the (historical) events
That have transpired before you.
So, travel through the earth,
And observe what was the fate of those
Who gave the lie (to the Truth) (The Qur’an, 3:37)
The edifice of faith is supported by three pillars: the sciences of the soul, the sciences of nature and the sciences of man, sociology and tasawwuf (spiritual dimension of Islam). The sciences of nature and of man are called Ilm al Ibara. These include mathematics, logic, physics, chemistry, biology, history and sociology. Those of the soul are called Ilm al Ishara. These are the sciences of tasawwuf. The unity of knowledge dictates that the Source of all knowledge is One and both Ilm al Ibara and Ilm al Ishara are Signs to the transcendent.
Thus faith is reinforced by the sciences of nature, the sciences of history and the sciences of the soul. They are interrelated in as much as the laws of nature, of history and of society have a common origin in Divine Grace.
Nature, History and the Soul as Divine Signs
For reasons that are rooted in history, science has become secular, devoid of human qualities. In the world of science, there is no color and no music, only wavelengths. This happened because in the eleventh century, as the scientific method travelled from the Middle East and Spain into Europe, the Latin west was faced with the challenge of reconciling its dogma with the empirical and rational. Difficulties were enormous. It was therefore decided to separate science from faith, church from state. Scientific enquiry, free from the fetters of irrational dogma took off and has reached its current zenith. But the price that was paid was enormous. Science was cut off from the soul and became merely a tool for exploiting nature.
The genii of science can be put back in the bottle by affirming that nature and history are Divine Signs. Just as there are Divine Signs in nature and in the world of man, there are Signs within the soul. Man and nature are both beholden to the Divine, and the connectivity of natural science and human history with the soul is reestablished.
There are Signs in the alteration of the day and the night, in the creation of animals of all kinds, in the birds that fly, in the winds that carry aloft the clouds, in the rain that gives life to a dead earth and in the creation of man.
Similarly, there are Signs in the history of man. Divine mercy has established justice as the arbitrator of human affairs. When man violates justice he destroys himself. Such destruction can come from within as an implosion of a society or from without as an invasion.
The soul is the mirror of the visible and the invisible worlds. The physical attributes that find their expression are processed in the soul. Color, shape, form and beauty are attributes of the soul. So is justice and a sense of right and wrong. The Prophet said:
“Man ‘Arafa nafsahu, faqad ‘arafa rabbahu”
(He who knows his own soul, knows his Creator and Sustainer).
The soul, nature and history create a triad of integrated knowledge which together invite man to observe, experiment, understand, reflect and strive towards higher horizons.
“God is the Light of the heavens and the earth”, declares the Quran. The same Light animates nature, history and the soul of man. Looked at from this perspective, science becomes a servant of faith, and faith a servant of service and worship.
There are numerous Signs enumerated in the Quran. For those who would like to research further, a reference index is provided as an appendix.
The purpose of Creation:
One of the consequences of the separation of the soul from nature is that man finds himself all alone in the universe, disconnected from his surroundings, without purpose. Faith not only reconnects man to his surroundings but offers him a purpose and a destiny.
The Qur’an declares:
“I created not the Jinns and humankind except to serve and worship Me” (The Qur’an, 51:56)
A Hadith e Qudsi (Divinely inspired Hadith) declares:
“I was an unknown treasure;
I willed that I be known.
Therefore, I created”.
There is a purpose to the creation of man, and that is, to know, serve and worship Him. Thus knowledge and service are obligatory for humankind. To be alive is to know God through His Signs and to serve Him.
Divine Mercy does not leave humankind without the Signs to find Him. Nature and the rise and fall of civilizations are Signs through which humankind can confirm and reinforce its faith.
Man and nature are interconnected: man is the knower and nature is the means for knowing.
Religion: the Incubator of Basic Scientific Ideas
Religion is not all dogma as many people assume it to be. It is also a way of relating to creation. The conceptual structure of this relationship has given humankind some of the most basic scientific ideas.
Take the concept of zero. It is agreed that the Mayans and ancient Indians independently came up with the concept of zero. Both civilizations took a cyclic view of the cosmos, of birth, death and resurrection. In this cyclic view of life, as an event passes from life to death, there is necessarily a moment of suspension when it is neither alive nor dead. This is the moment of nothingness, or su-na-ya in Sanskrit. When the idea passed onto the Muslims it became sa-fa-ra or cipher. Then, as it travelled further west into Latin Europe in the eleventh century, it became zero.
Many civilizations claim the idea of infinity. The Greeks and the ancient Indians understood it in the abstract. The most concrete description of infinity is to be found in the works of the Muslim scholar Nasiruddin al Tusi (d1273). He took his inspiration from the Qur’anic verse:
“Indeed, We have granted you without limit (boundless).” The Qur’an (108:1)
The idea of boundlessness led him to the idea of infinity and his discovery of the Tusi Couple (two opposing forces that do not intersect).
Great Scientists from centuries bygone
Science is not the exclusive privilege of the west. Every civilization has produced its share of great ideas and great scientists. In the Islamic perspective, all knowledge is a manifestation of Tawhid (Unity of God). This unity manifests itself through His Names which have been taught to humankind.
“And He taught Adam all the Names”, (The Qur’an 2:31)
Nature, as the stage upon which God manifests His grace, takes on a nobility which man is charged to study, cultivate and preserve as God’s Khalifa (trustee) on earth.
The modern scientific method was invented by the Muslims after their experimentation with and rejection of Greek philosophy during the Mutazalite period (765-846 CE). Alhazen ( d 1040) is generally considered the father of the scientific method. The classical Islamic scientists took their cue from the Qur’an which directs men and women of faith to observe nature and be a witness to the Signs of Divine presence:
“Lo! In the alteration of the night and the day,
And in what Allah has created in the heavens and the earth,
Are Signs for a people who are conscious of the Divine.” The Qur’an (10:6)
Many are the scholars from every civilization who have contributed to the development of scientific ideas. The names of some of the universally acknowledged men of science from the Islamic tradition are given below. What is important is to note that these scholars were at the same time men of faith and well versed in the religious disciplines. They were al Hakims (men of wisdom) who had mastered physics, mathematics, astronomy, grammar, the languages (Arabic, Farsi, Greek), logic, philosophy, Qur’an, Hadith and tasawwuf (the spiritual dimension of Islam). This is what distinguishes a scientist with faith from a secular scientist. The former takes a holistic, integrated view of creation; the latter segments knowledge into disconnected compartments.
Jabir Ibn Hayyun (d 815) was the inventor of Chemistry.
Al Kindi (d 873) is widely credited with inventing the scientific empirical method along with Al Hazen.
Al Khwarizmi (d 863) was the father of Algebra and the inventor of algorithms that are widely used in software development.
Al Masudi (d 956) was an outstanding historian and the first to use the empirical method in history.
Al Farabi (d 850 CE) was a master of logic and one who systematically documented the limits of each of the sciences.
Ibn Sina (d 1037) was the greatest physician of his age. His book Canon of Medicine was used as the standard medical textbook in Europe until the seventeenth century.
Al Hazen (d 1040) was the father of modern optics.
Al Baruni (d 1051 CE) was the inventor of historiography and a master astronomer and geographer.
Al Tusi (d 1274 CE) was the inventor of the Tusi couple and the builder of a famous observatory in Maraga, Azerbaijan which was a part of ancient Persia.
Ibn Rushd (d 1198) was the greatest philosopher after Aristotle.
Ibn Khaldun (d 1406 CE) is widely recognized as the father of modern historiography and sociology. His Muqaddama was the first attempt to formulate the laws that govern the rise and fall of civilizations.
Muammar Sinan (d 1588 CE), one of world’s great architects built more than a hundred mosques and schools, the best known of which are the Suleymaniya mosques in Istanbul and Edirne.
Ustad Ahmed Lahori (d 1645 CE ?) was the architect of the Taj Mahal, the most refined structure the world has known and a monument to love.
Ask and You Shall Find
“Ask about it from the One Who knows” The Qur’an (25:59)
The common denominator of all scientific endeavors is an inquiring mind. One must ask before nature reveals its secrets.
Every scientific field has its own assumptions, its principles, its knowledge base, its approach, its methodology and its limits. One who engages in scientific enquiry spends years acquiring the knowledge, getting trained in the methods, and learning the principles as well the limits of his discipline..
Islam emphasizes not just the importance of acquiring knowledge but the need for a disciplined, sustained struggle in its pursuit. The Prophet said: “Pursue knowledge even if you have to go to China to acquire it”. China, in those days, was an alien land, far, far away. This edict commands the believers to acquire knowledge even if comes from a culture or a country that is alien to your own. The importance of asking is emphasized in the Qur’an again and again.
In the secular perspective, nature is an unwilling antagonist, the secrets of which need to be pried open, by force if necessary. In the Qur’anic perspective, man and nature are related through God. That is the essence of Tawhid. A disbelieving scientist asks: What is the law of nature? A believing scientist asks: What are the Divine laws that govern nature? The disbeliever questions while the believer asks.
The importance of discipline is inherent in the Shariah. The discipline of prayer enhances focus. The discipline of charity furthers the common good. The discipline of fasting promotes self control. The discipline of hajj proclaims the brotherhood and sisterhood of man.
Muslims fell behind in the scientific pursuits because they stopped asking. They took a passive, fatalistic approach to the laws of nature and were content to sleep in their ignorance. They stopped asking and nature stopped revealing its secrets to them. Lethargy set in. Civilizational decay took over.
Man as the Trustee on Earth
The Qur’an asserts that man was created as the custodian of the Divine Trust on earth, to know, serve and worship Him:
(Recall) When your Rabb (Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher) said to the Angels:
“I shall indeed place on earth a Trustee”. (The Qur’an, 2: 30)
The Qur’an presents man as the Divine trustee, responsible for his own actions, with authority to manage the resources of the earth in accordance with Divine commands. Man is not an antagonist to nature as he is construed by modern man who exploits the earth with unbridled greed. In the Qur’an, nature, and all it has to offer, is a Divine trust that must be used only to know, serve and worship God. Protection of the environment is not just a legal obligation mandated by human authority but is a responsibility decreed by God. The resources of the earth, the environment, the air and the water, the plants, the animals and the minerals are gifts so that man may use them with balance, proportion and justice to create Divine patterns on God’s earth.
The discharge of the Divine Trust requires a profound understanding of nature and of the interdependence of man and nature. Muslims must recreate that integrated vision of knowledge that combines the sciences of nature and history with the sciences of the Qur’an and the prophetic Sunnah. The separation of the sacred and profane has no place in Islam. Nature is suffused with the Signs of God. Indeed, science is a servant of faith and supports it.
References from the Qur’an
Divine Signs in nature: 2:29; 3:190; 6 38; 6:95; 6:97; 6:99; 6:101; 10:5-6; 10:31; 10:101; 13:2-4; 13:65; 15:16; 16:10-16; 20:50; 24: 41; 29:19; 30:11; 31:28; 50: 6; 51:20-21; 78: 6-7; 87:2
Divine Signs in history: 3:137; 6:6; 6 42; 12:110-111; 14:5; 29:20
Divine Signs in the Soul: 2:48; 2:123; 2:231; 2:233; 2:272; 2:281; 2:286; 3:25; 3:30; 3:39; 3:63; 3:161; 4:1; 4:84; 4:110; 4:111; 4:128; 5:116; 6:70; 6:104; 6:152; 6:164; 7:42; 7:188; 7:189; 7:205; 10:30; 10:54; 10:100; 10:108; 12:23; 12:26; 12:30; 12:32; 12:51; 12:53; 12:68; 12:77; 13:33; 13:42; 14:51; 16:111; 17:14; 18:28; 18:35; 18:74; 20:15; 20:15; 20:67; 21:35; 21:47; 23:62; 26:3; 27:40; 27:44; 27:92; 28:16; 29:6; 31:12; 31:28; 31:34; 32:13; 33:37; 35:8; 35:18; 35:36; 36:54; 39:41; 39:42; 39:70; 40:17; 41:46; 45:22; 47:38; 48:10; 50:16; 50:21; 59:18; 64:11; 64:16; 65:2; 65:7; 74:38; 75:14; 75:26; 81:14; 82:5; 82:19; 86:4; 89:27; 91:7
www.historyofislam.com
Summary: The pursuit of the sciences is obligatory on Muslims. Science and faith are not incompatible. They are both in search of the Truth. Science concerns itself with the physical and seeks its validation in observation and reason. The domain of faith has many more dimensions. It embraces both the physical and the spiritual. Where faith intersects and interacts with the physical, it must also seek its validation in observation and reason.
Religion is not just dogma as many people assume it to be. It is also a way of relating to creation. The conceptual structure of this relationship has given humankind some of the most basic scientific ideas.
Disagreements between science and faith emerge when scientists forget the assumptions upon which they base their world view and when people of faith discard empirical and rational evidence and assert their beliefs as dogma.
Science is not the privilege only of the West. Every civilization has produced great men and women of science. The center of gravity of scientific endeavor is now shifting to Asia. For a thousand years Muslims dominated the world of science. This shows that the reasons for the decay of science in Muslim lands are not religious but social, historical and political.
Man is a Trustee of God on earth. The discharge of the Divine Trust requires a profound understanding of nature and of the interdependence of man and nature. Muslims must recreate that integrated vision of knowledge that combines the sciences of nature and history with the sciences of the Qur’an and spiritual insights into the soul. The separation of the sacred and profane has no place in Islam. Nature is suffused with the Signs of God. Indeed, science is a servant of faith and supports it.
Several questions are addressed in this brief article:
Is science compatible with faith?
How is history related to natural science?
Isn’t science the product of western rational thought while the societies of the east have been mired in religious superstition?
The ultimate goal of science and faith is the same: to find the Truth. Science and faith are not incompatible. Indeed, a search for truth through the scientific method reinforces faith.
The apparent contradictions between science and faith arise from an insufficient understanding of both. The scientific method is inductive. This means that it is based upon observation and reason. A scientist observes nature, interacts with it, measures and analyses it, and builds simplified models to extrapolate his observations. These models are a powerful tool with which humankind attempts to comprehend the complexity that surrounds it. In addition, man uses his understanding of natural laws to control and exploit nature for his own benefit.
The scientific method is not deductive, although deductive logic is used to extrapolate models of behavior that are built up using the inductive method. A physical model must be validated through observation. Otherwise, it remains speculative and theoretical.
True faith is also inductive. This means that it is supported by observation and reason. Faith is not deductive or a product of philosophical speculations. Faith supported by observation and reason is on a solid footing and elevates humankind towards the Truth.
We offer some perspectives to elaborate on our assertions.
The interconnectivity of man with nature
“Whatever is in the heavens and the earth ask of Him,
Every moment, He (reveals His beautiful Names) with majesty”
The Qur’an (55:29)
Some religious traditions, even though they do not believe in God, assert the interconnectivity of creation. Mahayana Buddhism is an example. The Qur’an asserts this interconnectivity through God. Man and nature are not independent of each other; they are connected through Divine Grace which manifests itself through nature and through history.
“We shall show them Our Signs
On the horizon (in nature and in history)
And within their own souls, Until it is clear to them
That it is indeed the Truth.” (The Qur’an, 41:53)
The same view is expressed in quantum mechanics. It has been experimentally demonstrated that when a particle is observed, it changes its nature. In other words, the universe that man lives in is a knowing, breathing universe, animated by Divine Grace. It talks to man. It is not a dumb universe.
In contrast to quantum mechanics, classical mechanics takes the position that man and the universe are subject and object. In other words, man as the subject is separated from nature which is the object of his observation. This is called the Principle of Objectivation.
Every world view is colored by its own assumptions. If you wear red glasses, the world looks red. The Principle of Objectivation separates man from nature and results in disastrous consequences for his world view. By assuming that nature is separate from him, man finds that nature is devoid of those human qualities that make it beautiful. Let us look at an example.
Consider the rainbow. Whether it is a highly trained person from a scientific academy or an unlettered person, they will both agree that the rainbow is beautiful. Ask a physicist to explain the rainbow. His explanation will proceed along the following lines: Sunlight consists of electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths. In the visible spectrum, these wavelengths occupy a space from approximately 0.5 micrometers to 0.7 micrometers. When these waves pass through moisture laden air, they are refracted, that is, they bend. The degree of refraction depends on the wavelength. After refraction, they are projected on the horizon as a rainbow which has multiple colors.
Observe this objective explanation. The wavelengths and refraction are there. But where in this explanation is that enchanting rainbow as it vaults the sky from horizon to horizon? It is not there in the objective explanation because the Principle of Objectivation has separated the Self (the subject) from the rainbow (the object).
By contrast, a man of true faith will carry the observation of the rainbow one step further. He knows through his faith that he and the rainbow are interconnected through Divine Grace. He does observe and measure, as does the scientist, but he does not stop at wavelengths and refraction. He looks upon the natural phenomenon as a Sign that projects the beauty of the Divine Name onto his own soul. The color is not in the wavelengths and refraction. The color is in the soul. The rainbow is beautiful because the soul has a sense of beauty bestowed upon it and nature reflects that beauty.
By the soul
And its (sense of) order and proportion.
(The Qur’an, 91:7)
This example brings out the difference between blind faith and faith based upon observation and reason. A blind man can also believe but is his belief the same as the faith of a man who can see and witness? A deaf man can believe but is his faith the same as the faith of a man who hears and reinforces his faith?
Nature offers an infinite variety of Signs. A person of knowledge and faith not only validates his theories by observing these Signs but also reinforces his faith and uses it as an occasion to contemplate the mystery of creation and the purpose behind it. An ignorant believer does not observe or reason; he merely believes. A disbelieving scientist stops at observation and reason and does not concern himself with issues that make life beautiful. Whose faith is stronger? The Qur’an offers an insight:
“Is one who is blind (to realities of the invisible world)
The equal of one who can see (with his inner eye)?”
Will you not then reflect? (The Qur’an, 6:50).
The Deductive Method is insufficient to know the Truth
At the other extreme, the deductive method leads to an impasse in knowing the Truth because it assumes the Principle of Before and After. The classical example is offered by the question: What came first, the chicken or the egg?
The deductive method fails because it falls into the time trap. Is time real? What is time? In our ordinary existence, we live by clock time. But when we debate the questions of Truth, time itself becomes the subject of discussion. Scientists recognize clock time, relative time, perceived time, timeless time, time as quanta of energy and so on. The Qur’an specifically mentions clock time (103:1), relative time (70:4), perceived time (87:16) and timeless time (76:1). The time frame in which an issue is discussed has an outcome on the deduction.
Here is an example from history: In the eighth century CE, the Mutazalites, Muslim philosophers who had adopted the Greek rational approach, fell into the trap of the deductive method. For almost a hundred years (765 to 846 CE) they were the darling of the Abbasid courts in Baghdad. But they tried to apply their rational methods based on logic to God and His Word and fell flat on their faces. Arguing that God and His Word cannot be same because that would compromise the transcendence of God (in their view), they separated God from His Word. To preserve that transcendence (as they perceived it), they came to the absurd conclusion that the Word of God was created in time. This was a classical trap wherein the assumption of before and after, and of time in its clock sense was applied to an issue that was beyond time. How can you apply the measure of time to the Creator of time? The reaction from the ulema, led by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, was furious. The Mutazalites were discredited and expelled from the Abbasid courts.
No! This is the magnificent Qur’an,
From a Tablet, secure. (85:21)
It was after the deductive approach was abandoned that the inductive method based on observation and measurement flourished in the Islamic world. And the Muslims went on to dominate the world of science for a thousand years.
Some scientists make the error of not stating the assumptions upon which their theories are founded, or worse yet, overlooking these assumptions and stating their theories as if they are the absolute truth. The Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution both fall into this category. Those who champion these theories must be aware of the assumptions underlying these theories.
The interrelationship of the laws of natural science, history and the soul
There is an inherent relationship between the laws that govern the physical universe and human history as well as the individual soul. The Qur’an expresses it thus:
And the heavens has He raised High,
And established (dynamic) equilibrium (justice and balance) therein,
So that you do not violate justice (in your own lives). The Qur’an (55:7-8)
Justice (balance, equilibrium) is the common denominator that binds nature to the world of man. There is a dynamic balance in nature which makes it possible to understand it and express it in mathematical language. For instance, it is astonishing that the seemingly complex physical behavior of natural phenomenon can be expressed through differential equations in mathematics and physics. The same laws of balance, proportion and equilibrium apply individually to the soul and collectively to sociology and history. When human beings violate justice, they destroy themselves. The just mean is the law of life. Similarly, a civilization that overextends itself and violates justice is doomed. Whether it is over cultivation of land, over exploitation of resources or imperial overreach, the result is the same. The Qur’an expresses it as follows:
Behold! Many were the (historical) events
That have transpired before you.
So, travel through the earth,
And observe what was the fate of those
Who gave the lie (to the Truth) (The Qur’an, 3:37)
The edifice of faith is supported by three pillars: the sciences of the soul, the sciences of nature and the sciences of man, sociology and tasawwuf (spiritual dimension of Islam). The sciences of nature and of man are called Ilm al Ibara. These include mathematics, logic, physics, chemistry, biology, history and sociology. Those of the soul are called Ilm al Ishara. These are the sciences of tasawwuf. The unity of knowledge dictates that the Source of all knowledge is One and both Ilm al Ibara and Ilm al Ishara are Signs to the transcendent.
Thus faith is reinforced by the sciences of nature, the sciences of history and the sciences of the soul. They are interrelated in as much as the laws of nature, of history and of society have a common origin in Divine Grace.
Nature, History and the Soul as Divine Signs
For reasons that are rooted in history, science has become secular, devoid of human qualities. In the world of science, there is no color and no music, only wavelengths. This happened because in the eleventh century, as the scientific method travelled from the Middle East and Spain into Europe, the Latin west was faced with the challenge of reconciling its dogma with the empirical and rational. Difficulties were enormous. It was therefore decided to separate science from faith, church from state. Scientific enquiry, free from the fetters of irrational dogma took off and has reached its current zenith. But the price that was paid was enormous. Science was cut off from the soul and became merely a tool for exploiting nature.
The genii of science can be put back in the bottle by affirming that nature and history are Divine Signs. Just as there are Divine Signs in nature and in the world of man, there are Signs within the soul. Man and nature are both beholden to the Divine, and the connectivity of natural science and human history with the soul is reestablished.
There are Signs in the alteration of the day and the night, in the creation of animals of all kinds, in the birds that fly, in the winds that carry aloft the clouds, in the rain that gives life to a dead earth and in the creation of man.
Similarly, there are Signs in the history of man. Divine mercy has established justice as the arbitrator of human affairs. When man violates justice he destroys himself. Such destruction can come from within as an implosion of a society or from without as an invasion.
The soul is the mirror of the visible and the invisible worlds. The physical attributes that find their expression are processed in the soul. Color, shape, form and beauty are attributes of the soul. So is justice and a sense of right and wrong. The Prophet said:
“Man ‘Arafa nafsahu, faqad ‘arafa rabbahu”
(He who knows his own soul, knows his Creator and Sustainer).
The soul, nature and history create a triad of integrated knowledge which together invite man to observe, experiment, understand, reflect and strive towards higher horizons.
“God is the Light of the heavens and the earth”, declares the Quran. The same Light animates nature, history and the soul of man. Looked at from this perspective, science becomes a servant of faith, and faith a servant of service and worship.
There are numerous Signs enumerated in the Quran. For those who would like to research further, a reference index is provided as an appendix.
The purpose of Creation:
One of the consequences of the separation of the soul from nature is that man finds himself all alone in the universe, disconnected from his surroundings, without purpose. Faith not only reconnects man to his surroundings but offers him a purpose and a destiny.
The Qur’an declares:
“I created not the Jinns and humankind except to serve and worship Me” (The Qur’an, 51:56)
A Hadith e Qudsi (Divinely inspired Hadith) declares:
“I was an unknown treasure;
I willed that I be known.
Therefore, I created”.
There is a purpose to the creation of man, and that is, to know, serve and worship Him. Thus knowledge and service are obligatory for humankind. To be alive is to know God through His Signs and to serve Him.
Divine Mercy does not leave humankind without the Signs to find Him. Nature and the rise and fall of civilizations are Signs through which humankind can confirm and reinforce its faith.
Man and nature are interconnected: man is the knower and nature is the means for knowing.
Religion: the Incubator of Basic Scientific Ideas
Religion is not all dogma as many people assume it to be. It is also a way of relating to creation. The conceptual structure of this relationship has given humankind some of the most basic scientific ideas.
Take the concept of zero. It is agreed that the Mayans and ancient Indians independently came up with the concept of zero. Both civilizations took a cyclic view of the cosmos, of birth, death and resurrection. In this cyclic view of life, as an event passes from life to death, there is necessarily a moment of suspension when it is neither alive nor dead. This is the moment of nothingness, or su-na-ya in Sanskrit. When the idea passed onto the Muslims it became sa-fa-ra or cipher. Then, as it travelled further west into Latin Europe in the eleventh century, it became zero.
Many civilizations claim the idea of infinity. The Greeks and the ancient Indians understood it in the abstract. The most concrete description of infinity is to be found in the works of the Muslim scholar Nasiruddin al Tusi (d1273). He took his inspiration from the Qur’anic verse:
“Indeed, We have granted you without limit (boundless).” The Qur’an (108:1)
The idea of boundlessness led him to the idea of infinity and his discovery of the Tusi Couple (two opposing forces that do not intersect).
Great Scientists from centuries bygone
Science is not the exclusive privilege of the west. Every civilization has produced its share of great ideas and great scientists. In the Islamic perspective, all knowledge is a manifestation of Tawhid (Unity of God). This unity manifests itself through His Names which have been taught to humankind.
“And He taught Adam all the Names”, (The Qur’an 2:31)
Nature, as the stage upon which God manifests His grace, takes on a nobility which man is charged to study, cultivate and preserve as God’s Khalifa (trustee) on earth.
The modern scientific method was invented by the Muslims after their experimentation with and rejection of Greek philosophy during the Mutazalite period (765-846 CE). Alhazen ( d 1040) is generally considered the father of the scientific method. The classical Islamic scientists took their cue from the Qur’an which directs men and women of faith to observe nature and be a witness to the Signs of Divine presence:
“Lo! In the alteration of the night and the day,
And in what Allah has created in the heavens and the earth,
Are Signs for a people who are conscious of the Divine.” The Qur’an (10:6)
Many are the scholars from every civilization who have contributed to the development of scientific ideas. The names of some of the universally acknowledged men of science from the Islamic tradition are given below. What is important is to note that these scholars were at the same time men of faith and well versed in the religious disciplines. They were al Hakims (men of wisdom) who had mastered physics, mathematics, astronomy, grammar, the languages (Arabic, Farsi, Greek), logic, philosophy, Qur’an, Hadith and tasawwuf (the spiritual dimension of Islam). This is what distinguishes a scientist with faith from a secular scientist. The former takes a holistic, integrated view of creation; the latter segments knowledge into disconnected compartments.
Jabir Ibn Hayyun (d 815) was the inventor of Chemistry.
Al Kindi (d 873) is widely credited with inventing the scientific empirical method along with Al Hazen.
Al Khwarizmi (d 863) was the father of Algebra and the inventor of algorithms that are widely used in software development.
Al Masudi (d 956) was an outstanding historian and the first to use the empirical method in history.
Al Farabi (d 850 CE) was a master of logic and one who systematically documented the limits of each of the sciences.
Ibn Sina (d 1037) was the greatest physician of his age. His book Canon of Medicine was used as the standard medical textbook in Europe until the seventeenth century.
Al Hazen (d 1040) was the father of modern optics.
Al Baruni (d 1051 CE) was the inventor of historiography and a master astronomer and geographer.
Al Tusi (d 1274 CE) was the inventor of the Tusi couple and the builder of a famous observatory in Maraga, Azerbaijan which was a part of ancient Persia.
Ibn Rushd (d 1198) was the greatest philosopher after Aristotle.
Ibn Khaldun (d 1406 CE) is widely recognized as the father of modern historiography and sociology. His Muqaddama was the first attempt to formulate the laws that govern the rise and fall of civilizations.
Muammar Sinan (d 1588 CE), one of world’s great architects built more than a hundred mosques and schools, the best known of which are the Suleymaniya mosques in Istanbul and Edirne.
Ustad Ahmed Lahori (d 1645 CE ?) was the architect of the Taj Mahal, the most refined structure the world has known and a monument to love.
Ask and You Shall Find
“Ask about it from the One Who knows” The Qur’an (25:59)
The common denominator of all scientific endeavors is an inquiring mind. One must ask before nature reveals its secrets.
Every scientific field has its own assumptions, its principles, its knowledge base, its approach, its methodology and its limits. One who engages in scientific enquiry spends years acquiring the knowledge, getting trained in the methods, and learning the principles as well the limits of his discipline..
Islam emphasizes not just the importance of acquiring knowledge but the need for a disciplined, sustained struggle in its pursuit. The Prophet said: “Pursue knowledge even if you have to go to China to acquire it”. China, in those days, was an alien land, far, far away. This edict commands the believers to acquire knowledge even if comes from a culture or a country that is alien to your own. The importance of asking is emphasized in the Qur’an again and again.
In the secular perspective, nature is an unwilling antagonist, the secrets of which need to be pried open, by force if necessary. In the Qur’anic perspective, man and nature are related through God. That is the essence of Tawhid. A disbelieving scientist asks: What is the law of nature? A believing scientist asks: What are the Divine laws that govern nature? The disbeliever questions while the believer asks.
The importance of discipline is inherent in the Shariah. The discipline of prayer enhances focus. The discipline of charity furthers the common good. The discipline of fasting promotes self control. The discipline of hajj proclaims the brotherhood and sisterhood of man.
Muslims fell behind in the scientific pursuits because they stopped asking. They took a passive, fatalistic approach to the laws of nature and were content to sleep in their ignorance. They stopped asking and nature stopped revealing its secrets to them. Lethargy set in. Civilizational decay took over.
Man as the Trustee on Earth
The Qur’an asserts that man was created as the custodian of the Divine Trust on earth, to know, serve and worship Him:
(Recall) When your Rabb (Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher) said to the Angels:
“I shall indeed place on earth a Trustee”. (The Qur’an, 2: 30)
The Qur’an presents man as the Divine trustee, responsible for his own actions, with authority to manage the resources of the earth in accordance with Divine commands. Man is not an antagonist to nature as he is construed by modern man who exploits the earth with unbridled greed. In the Qur’an, nature, and all it has to offer, is a Divine trust that must be used only to know, serve and worship God. Protection of the environment is not just a legal obligation mandated by human authority but is a responsibility decreed by God. The resources of the earth, the environment, the air and the water, the plants, the animals and the minerals are gifts so that man may use them with balance, proportion and justice to create Divine patterns on God’s earth.
The discharge of the Divine Trust requires a profound understanding of nature and of the interdependence of man and nature. Muslims must recreate that integrated vision of knowledge that combines the sciences of nature and history with the sciences of the Qur’an and the prophetic Sunnah. The separation of the sacred and profane has no place in Islam. Nature is suffused with the Signs of God. Indeed, science is a servant of faith and supports it.
References from the Qur’an
Divine Signs in nature: 2:29; 3:190; 6 38; 6:95; 6:97; 6:99; 6:101; 10:5-6; 10:31; 10:101; 13:2-4; 13:65; 15:16; 16:10-16; 20:50; 24: 41; 29:19; 30:11; 31:28; 50: 6; 51:20-21; 78: 6-7; 87:2
Divine Signs in history: 3:137; 6:6; 6 42; 12:110-111; 14:5; 29:20
Divine Signs in the Soul: 2:48; 2:123; 2:231; 2:233; 2:272; 2:281; 2:286; 3:25; 3:30; 3:39; 3:63; 3:161; 4:1; 4:84; 4:110; 4:111; 4:128; 5:116; 6:70; 6:104; 6:152; 6:164; 7:42; 7:188; 7:189; 7:205; 10:30; 10:54; 10:100; 10:108; 12:23; 12:26; 12:30; 12:32; 12:51; 12:53; 12:68; 12:77; 13:33; 13:42; 14:51; 16:111; 17:14; 18:28; 18:35; 18:74; 20:15; 20:15; 20:67; 21:35; 21:47; 23:62; 26:3; 27:40; 27:44; 27:92; 28:16; 29:6; 31:12; 31:28; 31:34; 32:13; 33:37; 35:8; 35:18; 35:36; 36:54; 39:41; 39:42; 39:70; 40:17; 41:46; 45:22; 47:38; 48:10; 50:16; 50:21; 59:18; 64:11; 64:16; 65:2; 65:7; 74:38; 75:14; 75:26; 81:14; 82:5; 82:19; 86:4; 89:27; 91:7
Monday, July 4, 2011
Contemporary Muslim Intellectuals & Their Work
Most of us resort to social activitism as a means to enliven Islam in the lives of the people. Programs and activities are planned to attract and reach out to the masses. Volunteers come in droves with high spirit to have a share of their contribution in the work of da'wah. Alhamdulillah with Allah SWT's help, a sizeable number come to a realiazation of their past follies and willingly adjust their life styles in accord to the dictates of Islamic principles and injunctions. The work thus continues on ends....programs & activities, realization and adjustment.
Another, believes strongly that meaningful changes can be brought about via political means. Once, the hold of power is already in their hands it's just a matter of instructions that the way of life envisioned by Islam, could be enforced upon the people. Thus, Islam is alive again in their lives. What if they fail to retain the political power? Will the masses opt out of to their chosen life styles? That being the case, enforcement fails to make the masses abide by the Islamic principles and injunctions.
Where do the well thought ideas, philosophies and academic researches stand? As of today, the Muslims are not short of their intellectuals. Unfortunately, these few Muslim intellectuals are not seen actively enggaging in social activism or political dynamism so much so they are left out in the cold. The likes of Tariq Ramadan, Syed Naquib al-Attas, Syed Hussain Nasr, Kalim Siddiqui, Ziauddin Sardar, Muzafar Iqbal, Hisham Heller, Shaykh Mohd Dr Afifi etc are seen as not revolutionary enough or as liberals or modernists.
It is really unfortunate, if we simply ignore their work. Their vast experience in enggaging with the West, the multi cultural/racial and multi religious society at the international level have undoubtedly enriched and matured their thoughts and actions. We abide by the unchanging principles but man made ideas and thoughts at least deserve our attention and consideration. The intent is to educate the think tank, the policy makers, those in authority and not least the leadership with well thought and fruitful strategies.
In restrospective, if the social and political activists are to thread the same path, they may come to appreaciate or better still will be more acceptable to these intellectuals' ideas and researches.
It is these activitist who are in the position to translate those ideas into a reality. On another note, we simly can't by pass the work of well established Muslim scholars in the person of al-Ghazali, al-Shafi'i and the other three Imams, Ibn Taimiyyah, Fakr al-Din al-Razi and others by going straight to al-Qur'an and al-Sunnah.
Another, believes strongly that meaningful changes can be brought about via political means. Once, the hold of power is already in their hands it's just a matter of instructions that the way of life envisioned by Islam, could be enforced upon the people. Thus, Islam is alive again in their lives. What if they fail to retain the political power? Will the masses opt out of to their chosen life styles? That being the case, enforcement fails to make the masses abide by the Islamic principles and injunctions.
Where do the well thought ideas, philosophies and academic researches stand? As of today, the Muslims are not short of their intellectuals. Unfortunately, these few Muslim intellectuals are not seen actively enggaging in social activism or political dynamism so much so they are left out in the cold. The likes of Tariq Ramadan, Syed Naquib al-Attas, Syed Hussain Nasr, Kalim Siddiqui, Ziauddin Sardar, Muzafar Iqbal, Hisham Heller, Shaykh Mohd Dr Afifi etc are seen as not revolutionary enough or as liberals or modernists.
It is really unfortunate, if we simply ignore their work. Their vast experience in enggaging with the West, the multi cultural/racial and multi religious society at the international level have undoubtedly enriched and matured their thoughts and actions. We abide by the unchanging principles but man made ideas and thoughts at least deserve our attention and consideration. The intent is to educate the think tank, the policy makers, those in authority and not least the leadership with well thought and fruitful strategies.
In restrospective, if the social and political activists are to thread the same path, they may come to appreaciate or better still will be more acceptable to these intellectuals' ideas and researches.
It is these activitist who are in the position to translate those ideas into a reality. On another note, we simly can't by pass the work of well established Muslim scholars in the person of al-Ghazali, al-Shafi'i and the other three Imams, Ibn Taimiyyah, Fakr al-Din al-Razi and others by going straight to al-Qur'an and al-Sunnah.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Intellectual Journey : Search Results on 22/06/2011
Alhamdulillah, Intellectual Journey is placed fourth out of 30,400,000 results on 'Intellectual Journey'. What's the significance? No idea.
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Monday, May 2, 2011
'The Making of Islamic Science'
"The Making of Islamic Science is in-depth exploration of the relationship between Islam and science from the emergence of the Islamic scientific tradition in the eight century to the present time."
"Three distinct phases of the relationship between Islam the religion and the enterprise of science.
1) The first phase began with the emergence of science in the Islamic civilization in the eight century and ended with the rise of modern science in the West.
2) The second phase began with the arrival of modern science in the Muslim world in the late 18th and 19th centuries at the time when most of the Muslim world was under colonial occupation.
3) The third phase began around 1950 and continues..."
Facts about Sciece and Islamic Science
i) Prior to the emergence of the 17th century and dating back two hundred years, the scientific activity is termed by many historians of science as "Natural Philosophy".
ii) No known scientist or religious scholar of between the 8th and 17th centuries felt the need to explicitly describe the relationship between Islam and science by writing a book on the subject. "The absence of "Islam and science" discourse as a differentiated discipline is proof in itself that during these long centuries - when the Islamic Scientific tradition was the world's most advanced enterprise of science - no one felt the need to relate the two through some external construct." The need did arise with the arrival of modern science in the traditional Islamic lands during the era when almost the entire Muslim world had been colonized.
iii) "Islam does not view nature as a self-subsisting entity that can be studied in isolation from its all-embracing view of God, humanity, and the cosmological setting in which human history is unfolding."
iv) "In Islamic classification of knowledge, science - the discipline that
studies nature - is taken as but one branch of knowledge, integrally connected with all other branches of knowledge, all of which are linked to the concept of Tawhid, the Oneness of God."
v) "A fundamental difference between the nature of science that existed in Islamic Civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries and modern science; they approach nature in two different manners and hence one cannot use the same methodology for narrating the stories of the interaction of Islam with both premodern and modern science."
vi) "With the arrival of modern Western science in the Muslim world, Islam and science discourse entered a new period...Now Islam had to interact with a science based on a philosophy of nature foreign to its own conception."
vii) "In the post-World War II era, the current fervor of intellectual activity in the Muslim world - as it reshapes and reconfigures in a world largely constructed by Western science and technology - is accompanied by tremendous amount of intellectual and physical violence and chaos."
Excerpts from Muzaffar Iqbal (2009), 'The making of Islamic Science', Islamic Book Trust : Kuala Lumpur.
"Three distinct phases of the relationship between Islam the religion and the enterprise of science.
1) The first phase began with the emergence of science in the Islamic civilization in the eight century and ended with the rise of modern science in the West.
2) The second phase began with the arrival of modern science in the Muslim world in the late 18th and 19th centuries at the time when most of the Muslim world was under colonial occupation.
3) The third phase began around 1950 and continues..."
Facts about Sciece and Islamic Science
i) Prior to the emergence of the 17th century and dating back two hundred years, the scientific activity is termed by many historians of science as "Natural Philosophy".
ii) No known scientist or religious scholar of between the 8th and 17th centuries felt the need to explicitly describe the relationship between Islam and science by writing a book on the subject. "The absence of "Islam and science" discourse as a differentiated discipline is proof in itself that during these long centuries - when the Islamic Scientific tradition was the world's most advanced enterprise of science - no one felt the need to relate the two through some external construct." The need did arise with the arrival of modern science in the traditional Islamic lands during the era when almost the entire Muslim world had been colonized.
iii) "Islam does not view nature as a self-subsisting entity that can be studied in isolation from its all-embracing view of God, humanity, and the cosmological setting in which human history is unfolding."
iv) "In Islamic classification of knowledge, science - the discipline that
studies nature - is taken as but one branch of knowledge, integrally connected with all other branches of knowledge, all of which are linked to the concept of Tawhid, the Oneness of God."
v) "A fundamental difference between the nature of science that existed in Islamic Civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries and modern science; they approach nature in two different manners and hence one cannot use the same methodology for narrating the stories of the interaction of Islam with both premodern and modern science."
vi) "With the arrival of modern Western science in the Muslim world, Islam and science discourse entered a new period...Now Islam had to interact with a science based on a philosophy of nature foreign to its own conception."
vii) "In the post-World War II era, the current fervor of intellectual activity in the Muslim world - as it reshapes and reconfigures in a world largely constructed by Western science and technology - is accompanied by tremendous amount of intellectual and physical violence and chaos."
Excerpts from Muzaffar Iqbal (2009), 'The making of Islamic Science', Islamic Book Trust : Kuala Lumpur.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
REVISIT - A CHANGE OF PARADIGM IN THE CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION OF ‘ULUM NAQLIAH : THE EXPERIENCE OF AL AMIN ISLAMIC SCHOOLS
10 years ago, this paper gives the reflection of PPAA's effort at reviewing and refining Islamic Studies curriculum. It's time for another review and hence design a new curriculum.
Abstract
This paper presents the experience of a private Islamic educational institution in an effort to introduce a relevant and dynamic approach in the curriculum and instruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah (revealed sciences). The five most salient features adopted in the curriculum are the absence of a traditional division of subjects into ‘aqidah (Islamic creed), fiqh (jurisprudence), sirah (life of the Prophet SAW), and akhlaq (Islamic character); the emphasis in presenting principles, concepts, and hikmah (underlying reason) in teaching and learning; the effort to inculcate love, internalization of Islamic principles, concepts, and ‘izzah (self esteem) with respect to being a true and practising Muslim; the emphasis on the end products as to be shabab du’at (youths as callers to faith) equipped with the necessary skills to tackle the challenges of a contemporary society; and lastly, evaluation of students is based on written, oral, practical assessments and reports by teachers and parents. This innovative and significant effort is embodied in the school curriculum project paper, which is Projek MERKURI (2001).
Introduction
Education being the main vehicle of civilization, undoubtedly occupies the attention of serious Muslim minds. The state of backwardness and weakness of the present Muslim Ummah (community of Muslims) is thought to be partly attributed to the system of education in the Muslim World. Muslim intellectuals and scholars are most concerned with the pivotal role to be assumed by the Islamic system of education as means to revitalize the Ummah. They discussed issues on Islamic education ranging from simply establishing an Islamic school to the complexities of designing the right curriculum. Efforts at repositioning and empowering Islamic education system culminated in the staging of the Makkah World Conference of Islamic Education in 1977. Thereafter, rigorous actions in the form of series of conferences, seminars and workshops discussed and proposed ideas and workplans in an effort to raise the Ummah to a level of dynamism that once characterized Muslim intellectual, cultural, and scientific traditions. In the fast changing world and its challenges, the solution does not stop short at having more Islamic schools, its’ effective management and administration (Nor Zalmiah, 1999), implementing islamization of contempory knowledge but it extends to designing and developing the right curriculum for Islamic studies and its instruction.
Muslim scholars and intellectuals observe that element of high intellectualism portraying analytical, critical, and innovative thoughts are missing in today’s Islamic studies curriculum and its instruction. Sardar (1985) states that, ‘both the classical and the modern approaches to Islamic studies concentrate on Islam as a religion and culture. Be it memorizing the Qur’an or Hadith, mastering the opinions of the classical jurists or learning Islamic history, the emphasis is on rote learning and collecting facts’, thus amounting to students being vast storehouses of facts and opinions. Contemporary literature on Islamic education also highlights the traditional approach to curriculum and instruction of Islamic studies. Among the practices are the emphasis on memorization (hifz) than understanding (fiqh), memorization of facts than internalization, fiqh originally intended to mean religious insight and discernment becomes restricted to mean jurisprudence, and becoming huffaz (those who know the Qur’an by heart) assumes as the primary objective as compared to the early generation of huffaz’s engagement towards understanding al Din. Al Qardhawi (1996) boldly states that the existing Islamic education system gives preferance to hifz and thus be a silent witness than deep comprehension. This methodology of learning corresponds to the lowest level of obtaining knowledge, thus the Muslim mind does not have enough courage to analyze its intellectual legacy or what it holds as sacred resulting in not understanding what is really important, distinguishing between what is fundamental and absolute, and what is temporary and limited as emphasized by AbuSulayman (1993). On the other aspect, Al Attas (1999) attributes the present state of treating knowledge to adopting a wrong epistemology and methodology as effected by loss of adab and rise of false leaders. To add to the injury, the use of force, emotional and psychological means on the Ummah in order to keep them in check by certain quarters of Muslim leaderships also has an effect of inhibition of their minds (AbuSulayman, 1993).
It is timely to note the point made by Rahman (1982) that Islamic intellectualism should be the essence of especially higher Islamic education for the growth of genuine, original and adequate Islamic thought is the real criterion for judging the success or failure of an Islamic education system. Thus, Sardar (1985) proposes that Islamic education system should aim at producing insan whose ‘strength lies in the ability to perceive Islam not as a mere religion but as a dynamic world-view, to synthesize the historical and the modern, and to appreciate the concerns of the traditional sectors of the Muslim population while possessing the intellectual apparatus to communicate with the modernists.’ This kind of insan is further refined by al Attas (1999) as man of adab (insan adabi), that is a man with a disciplined body, mind, and spirit with respect to his obligations towards his Creator, Allah SWT. Of late, the issue of designing and developing the right curriculum and its instruction for Islamic education system has claimed the attention of Muslim intellectuals and scholars. A number of models were proposed of which are ‘Islam for Life’, ‘Constructing Moral Personality’, and ‘Integrated Islamic Studies Curriculum’ (ISNA Education Forum, 2005 and 2006). These initiatives are towards generating a new breed of Muslim intellectuals, scientists, technologists, scholars, specialists and others with the ability to deal with challenges of the contemporary world by providing Islamic solution to the problems of their time in an effort to play their roles as ‘abd (Allah’s SWT obedient servant) and khalifah (Allah’s SWT vicegerant on earth) in their respective fields of specialization. The intent of this paper is to have an overview of the effort of Pusat Pendidikan Al Amin (Al Amin Education Center) in implementing changes in the existing Islamic studies (‘Ulum Naqliah as referred to in PPAA) curriculum and its instruction.
Background Setting : Pusat Pendidikan Al Amin (PPAA)
PPAA constitutes three privately run Islamic schools namely Sekolah Menengah Islam Al Amin Gombak, SMIAAG (Al Amin Islamic Secondary School), Sekolah Rendah Islam Al Amin Kuala Lumpur, SRIAA KL (Al Amin Islamic Primary School Kuala Lumpur), and Sekolah Rendah Islam Al Amin Gombak, SRIAAG (Al Amin Islamic Primary School Gombak). The establishment of SRIAA KL in 1986 was itself a significant milestone in the history of an integrated Islamic education system in Malaysia. With a view of producing students exemplifying an integrated personality, the previous PPAA Board of Governors made a conscious decision in offering national school curriculum and ‘Ulum Naqliah curriculum in one school session. The overwhelming response from parents became the catalyst for developing the integrated system further. Hence, the birth of SMIAAG in 1991 and SRIAAG in 1993 helps to fulfill their aspiration. Thereafter, PPAA Board of Governors is committed to bring this Integrated Islamic Education Institutions to a level of high competency and professionalism.
In line with PPAA’s mission to produce salih wa muslih (good and enjoining good) students, the Board envisages that they will in future develop into a new breed of specialists in their respective fields, who are also fuqaha (sufficiently versed in matters of Din al Islam) and muttaqin (God consciousness). As practioners of Islamic education system, one of the commitments of PPAA Board of Governors is to continuously be sentitive to the needs of time with respect to the products of the school system. In view of the complex society and the world that we live in, traditional approach in the curriculum and intruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah needs a revisionist’s viewpoint. This bold move is propelled by the ability to differentiate between beliefs (unchanging principles) and thoughts (ideas) so as to be able to move forward without the fear of transgressing the limits as prescribed in Din al Islam.
The spirit of all the above statements translated into unpublished paper, Dynamics of SRI-SMI (Islamic Primary School-Islamic Secondary School) Curriculum : Ideals versus Realities (Nor Zalmiah, 2001) and following that A New Model and Primary Components in Al Amin Curriculum : A Paradigm Shift in the focus to produce Salih wa Muslih Generation (Saari Sungib, 2001) serve as impetus for Board of Directors of PPAA to embark onto a comprehensive MERKURI project in 2001. These two working papers project the philosophy, rationale, conceptual framework, and aims for designing a new curriculum.
The MERKURI Project
The MERKURI project involves an effort to revise the existing PPAA curriculum. The Curriculum Committee, who is held responsible for the project consented to name it MERKURI, an acronym for merubah kurikulum (curriculum change). The MERKURI project was listed as one of 2001 objectives of PPAA Board of Governors to be implemented in 2002 (PPAA Strategic Planning, 2001). The rationale behind the project states :
Since the inception, the three schools have been utilizing the same curriculum. In the span of fifteen years there has been dynamic changes in today’s world education both locally and globally, thereby an evaluation of the existing curriculum is inevitable. The school curriculum demands some changes to be implemented so as to accomodate the students’ need to move forward, thus enabling them to face the challenges of the new millennium.
(Projek Merkuri, 2001)
MERKURI project proposes revision and changes in the curriculum of ‘Ulum Naqliah, Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah, KBSR (New Curriculum for Primary School) and Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah, KBSM (Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School), Arabic Language, Information Technology (IT), and and Hifz al Qur’an (memorization). The proposed changes involve :
• All subjects categorized under ‘Ulum Naqliah are replaced by a single subject Tasawwur Islami.
• KBSM and KBSR subjects are to be presented within the Islamic perspective (islamization of contemporary knowledge).
• A new curriculum and instruction is proposed for Arabic Language.
• Information Technology curriculum is designed as compulsory subject for all levels.
• Methodology of Hifz al Qur’an is made standardized between primary and secondary levels with the adoption of Al Barqi method.
(Projek Merkuri, 2001)
Thereafter, series of four nightly discussions were thereby organized for the PPAA community, which comprises PPAA Board members, school management committee (JPS), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), teachers, and members of non-governmental organization JIM (Jama’ah Islah Malaysia), which is also PPAA interest group in an effort to convey the proposed curriculum revision and changes and assess their views or feedbacks. The audiences were specifically exposed to the pertinent ideas in the two working papers besides acknowledging the experiences of IBERR (International Board of Educational Research and Resources). The prepatory efforts culminated in a day seminar held in September 2001 at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), which signifies a momentous development in the history of PPAA curriculum revision and change. During the seminar, the PPAA community were exposed to key ideas as means to instill readiness in implementing the new curriculum. Among the issues and topics highlighted are history and philosophy of Islamic education, IT, analytical and critical thinking, tasawwur islami as a discipline, postmodernism, Islamic metaphysics, Islamization of contemporay knowledge, and products of Islamic education system. Upon approval short-term and long-term objectives were formulated, and the frame of work and the expected time of compeletion were outlined to initiate the implementation stage at the ground level. Thereafter, PPAA Curriculum Committee launched series of workshops and meets to discuss the stages for textbook and workbook production. The new curriculum of Tasawwur Islami was gradually introduced in stages with the completion of year one textbook in 2002.
Curriculum and Instruction of subjects categorized under ‘Ulum Naqliah : The Earlier Practice
Early compartmentalization of knowledge in the process of instilling the understanding of Islam, in a way deprives students from being exposed and able to internalize the comprehensive conception (tasawwur) of Islam as dynamic and vibrant worldview. At the primary level (SRIAA), the curriculum and instruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah as fiqh, aqidah, akhlah, sirah are treated separately. In this practice over emphasized and overlapping of facts are also evident. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that the evaluation system of dual curriculum (KBSR-KBSM and ‘Ulum Naqliah) based solely on formal tests and written examinations produce too exam-oriented students. When examination mark becomes the sole criteria in determining the students’ success, it indirectly relegates their mission to practize and internalize the obligations as required by ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, and akhlaq islamiah to secondary endeavor. The burden of accomplishing dual syllybus also acts as a hinderance in implementing islamization of contemporary knowledge at primary and secondary (SRIAA and SMIAA) levels. The islamization effort should reinforce the role of Islam in the conception of world view. The implementation of dual syllybus also leaves insufficient time for SRIAA-SMIAA to integrate character building component in the education system. This component is vital for SRIAA-SMIAA in their effort to generate salih wa muslih students, and hence shabab du’at. Finally, the use of al Qur’an and al Sunnah as the foundation, axis, and primary source for all kinds of knowledge, its purpose, obligations, and application has not assumed its central place at SRIAA-SMIAA. It is only through sound foundation on revealed knowledge that profound understanding of Din al Islam is developed.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Philosophical and Conceptual Framework
PPAA’s mission to develop salih wa muslih students is facilitated through an integrated system of education. As an integrated system of education, PPAA upholds that,
the foundation, transmission and internalization of of knowledge, are without any separation whatsoever between the components of knowledge. Early compartmentalization of knowledge into its components is to be avoided. This compartmentalization will deprive students from conceptualizing and visualizing Islam as a comprehensive system of life. All types of knowledge are aimed at the growth of mind and personality of students strongly founded on the basis of Tawhidic values, which are aimed at leading closer to their Creator. The inculcation of knowledge must be based directly and primarily on the al Qur’an and al Sunnah.
(Saari Sungib as cited in Ruzainah, 2004. p. 29)
The above conceptual framework serves as condusive environment for the introduction of Tasawwur Islami. Ulum Naqliah subjects at the primary level, which are ‘aqidah, fiqh, akhlak,and sirah are to be treated as a single subject Tasawwur Islami. PPAA Board of Directors concurs with the view that Islam has to be presented as a world view above and over Islam as religion and culture. Tasawwur Islami should be understood as one that encompasses the world view of Islam. Hence, its main elements are comprized of the concept of God (theology), the concept of metaphysics, the concept of cosmology, the concept of man, the concept of epistemology, the concept of axiology, and not least the concept of Prophethood. Those very elements when further expanded encompass the whole gamut of Din al Islam, which are usul al Din (principles of Din al Islam) , shari’ah (Islamic law), Islamic civilization (politics, economics, education, jurisprudence, law, arts, historiograhy), Islamic thought (philosophy, metaphysics, theology), and not least Islamic science. The emphasis on themes, concepts and principles derived from al Qur’an, and as translated into practice in al Sunnah is primarily to equip students with the ability to innovatively apply those concepts and principles in changing circumstances, an approach understood as Islamic Asalah (AbuSulayman 1993). Most importantly, the students are made to appreciate al hikmah encompanying the commandments of those principles and concepts. Themes, concepts and principles such as oneness of Allah SWT, the Omnipotent and Omniscient God, shahadah (proclaimation of Islamic faith), enjoining good forbidding evil, Muslim as the best Ummah, the Prophet SAW as a blessing to all mankind, Islam as a way of life, ‘ibadah (worship) in Islam, ukhuwah (brotherhood) in Islam, Maqasid al Shari’ah (purpose of Shari’ah), resurrection (life after death), and many others properly transmitted within Islamic worldview will have great bearing on the life of an individual and society.
At level one SRIAA, themes are based on Asma al Husna (beutiful Names of Allah SWT). The themes are then expanded by relating to the appropriate stories of the Prophets AS, sahabah RA (companions of the Prophet SAW), verses from al Qur’an, and the accompanying obligations with respect to ‘ibadah, ‘aqidah, and akhlaq islamiah. At level two SRIAA, al Qur’an and al Hadith as primary sources, Islam as society and civilization, and Islamic history are introduced as main chapters in Tasawwur Islami. Nevertheless, elements of inter-disciplanary approach are employed especially in relating the obligations of ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, and akhlaq islamiah to al Qur’an and al Hadith. With respect to injuctions of ‘ibadah, which are not yet obligatory on the students (for example haj (pilgrimage to Makkah) and zakah (paying poor due) at SRIAA level, and nikah (marriage), al buyu’ (sale), faraid (distribution of wealth) at SMIAA level), hikmah is more emphasized as preferance to processes and details. Proper understanding of fard ‘ayn (obligation towards the Self) and fard kifayah (obligation towards Society) is here exercised whereby fard ‘ayn does not end at secondary education but it develops with respect to one’s maturity, responsbility, and intellectual ability and at certain stage one’s fard kifayah becomes fard ‘ayn (Al Attas, 1999). Similarly, in sirah of the Prophet SAW, stories of the Prophets AS and sahaba RA, and Islamic history, chronology and facts are less emphasized and in its stead lessons are drawn from each events.
At the secondary level (SMIAA), the same philosophical and conceptual framework is adopted. In spite of that, ‘ulum al Qur’an (sciences of al Qur’an), ‘ulum al Hadith (sciences of al Hadith), comparative religion, and science and ‘aqidah are included as main chapters in Tasawwur Islami. Of significance, the curriculum at this level accomodates an appropriate and relevant syllybus for module to produce shabab du’at and to fulfill their needs towards executing their roles as salih wa muslih in the contemporary society. Contents of the modules are integrated into the curriculum, and their practical implementation are channeled into co curricular activities. This special module is developed primarily according to Islam two primary sources to equip the students with the necessary knowledge and skills in their mission to convey the message of Islam and mould their lives accordingly. Sirah of the Prophet SAW concentrates on how the events in the Prophet’s SAW life prepare him for the work of da’wah (call to Islam) throughout his mission. For that reason, chronology and details seem obscure; and instead emphasis on concepts and principles drawn from the al Qur’an, and the manner in which they are translated into practice in the sirah of the Prophet SAW are highlighted. The concept of ukhwah, leadership, war, treaty, shura (mutual consultation), hijrah (the emigration from Makkah to Madinah) and others are focussed on aswering the questions of why’s and how’s. This exercise will cultivate a sense of appreciation as well as analytical, critical and creative thinking
The effort to make Tasawwur Islami less exam oriented is realized in the adoption of formative evaluation of students in SRIAA and SMIAA. The evaluation is based on written, oral, and practical assessments, and supported by teachers’ and parents’ bi-yearly reports. These reports indirectly invite the parents’ participation in strengthening the habits or character supportive of the school’s mission. Love, internalization, and ‘izzah with respect to being practicing Muslims is realized by methods of instruction in which emphasis is placed on comprehending and emulating the acts of ‘ibadah over memorization of facts and details. Analytical, critical, and innovative thoughts are helped to flourish by the manner in which knowledge is presented in written materials and learning methods, which also incorporate element of problem based learning. This is supported by designing questions, which appeal to higher level thinking. Teaching and learning, which include deliberation on contemporary issues that relate to fiqh al waqi‘ (reality) helps build appreciation of al hikmah of principles and injunctions. Profound understanding of principles and concepts translated in the lifetime of the Prophet SAW helps guide application of them in the changing circumstances by way of Islamic asalah approach and not imitative historical approach (AbuSulayman, 1993). Application of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach in teaching and learning, whereby events are deliberated not as chronology as such but more on the processes involved. This methodology helps contribute towards comprehending Islam as a worldview (Sardar, 1985). Implementation of module for shabab du’at complements teaching learning aspect because it prepares the students to utilize the knowledge and skills acquired in the curriculum at the practical level. Social service, which forms part of service learning whereby students are encouraged to utilize the relevant knowledge and skills for the good of the community represents as part of education programs.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Objectives and Learning Outcomes
Having laid out the philosophical and conceptual framework, PPAA Curriculum Committee organized a day workshop at IIUM in 2002. After intense brainstorming session, agreement was reached in the formulation of general and specific objectives for all levels of SRIAA-SMIAA. Both objectives reflect heavily on the philosophy and concept of Tasawwur Islami (PPAA Curriculum Committee, 2002).
General Objectives of Tasawwur Islami
• Recognition and acknowledgement of Islam as a way of life
• Inculcation of love and ‘izzah through translating principles and values into practice to result in their internalization.
• Sufficiently equipped in knowledge of revealed sciences , which facilitates conveyance and transmission of the message of Islam.
• Al Qur’an and al Sunnah as pivotal with respect to being source of referance and guidance.
• Accountable being with a readiness to contribute to Din al Islam, nation and the country.
Specific Objectives of Tasawwur Islami for SRIAA
• Recognition and acknowledgement of Allah SWT as the Creator by means of Tawhid Rububiah, Tawhid Uluhiah, Tawhid Asma Wa Sifah.
• Acceptance of Islam as a way of life in whatever situation.
• Execution of responsibility and role as a Muslim in ‘ibadah and mu’amalah (social intercourse).
• Inculcation of ‘izzah towards Islam.
• Building life to be always in close proximity with al Qur’an and al Sunnah.
Specific Objectives of Tasawwur Islami for SMIAA
• ‘aqidah salimah and iman sahihah to be firmly ingrained.
• Comprehension and internalization of Islam as comprehensive system of life as a way of seeking mardhatillah (the Pleasure of Allah SWT)
• Cultivation of Islamic attitude and identity towards greater commitment towards building oneself, family, and society.
• Escalation of ‘izzah through recognition of Islam’s contribution and role in human civilization as a whole.
• Al Qur’an and al Sunnah as principles in life.
During the workshop, PPAA Curriculum Committee was also able to formulate learning outcomes for SRIAA and lower secondary of SMIAA according to their respective levels. In this new paradigm, efforts to turn Tasawwur Islami in its objective, curriculum and instruction, and written materials as fertile ground for inseminating analytical, critical and innovative thoughts are attempted.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Implementation
The year 2002 is significant with the implementation of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami in SRIAA and SMIAA. The implementation stages of selection and training of teachers, organization of syllybus, issuance of textbook and workbook, teachers’ preparation, transmission of knowledge through teaching and learning, supervision of teachers, and execution of measurement and evaluation were duly observed. Nevertheless, those stages or processes need upgrading in some aspects. This is to ensure the expectation out of the new curriculum will result. However, the existing practice in PPAA educational programs complements whatever shortcomings that exist in its implementation.
Curriculum and Intruction of Tasawwur Islami : Reevaluation
After six years of plaughing and trodding, AAEC Board of Governors bold effort has progressed quite significantly. Evidence of co operation and approval especially from PPAA community is manifested. The whole thing about Tasawwur Islami might have been misunderstood. The traditional practice of great number of subjects offering is not evident and similarly facts and details in written materials. Accumulation of revealed knowledge at hand sits heavily on the scale of success in traditional Islamic education. However, from outright objection they are now more accomodating. The shift in attitude is towards improvision of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami. In the span of six years, PPAA Curriculum Committee has successfully issued syllybus, primary school text books and work books; and lower secondary school textbooks. Despite the fact, quality and compliance to philosophical and conceptual framework of Tasawwur Islami are still much to be desired. Finally in the second half of the year 2007, the first batch of primary students will sit for school based summative evaluation of Tasawwur Islami. PEKERTI an acronym for evaluation of written, oral, practical of Tasawwur Islami is expected as indicator of the measure of success in the implementation of the new curriculum and its instruction. As for the lower secondary students, the first batch sat for the newly formatted Tasawwur Islami written examination in the year 2004. Nevertheless, students’ performance in these examinations is not the sole measure of success of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami since a number of other interelated factors are also contributable.
Despite the progress, the effort is still hampered by a sizeble fraction of the school community for not acquiring a good grasp of philosophy and concept of Tasawwur Islami. This lack of comprehension leads to not being supportive in some aspects. Questions are raised with respect to significant decrease in facts and details be it in fiqh, sirah or stories of sahaba and other Prophets AS. Similarly, this understanding leads to the accusation of lacking in efforts towards tafaqquh fi al Din (comprehending Din al Islam). The writing of textbook does not fully adopt the inter disciplinary approach thus compartmentalization of ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, sirah and akhlaq into main chapters still remains at certain levels. Lack of technical experts such as authors, editors, and instructors also lends due weight on the quality and standard of written materials and instruction. The SRIAA-SMIAA school system is still unsuccessful to integrate contents of modules for shabab du’at into the curriculum of Tasawwur Islami except for a short period in SMIAA indirectly due to time table reshufling. Similarly, implementation of its practical obligations in the co curricular activities has not materialized. Separate meet session is thus required to accomodate the module and co curricular activities are organized irrespective of curriculum of Tasawwur Islami.
Large scale survey has not been conducted to assess the success or failure of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami. However, feedbacks from SMIAAG teachers during review discussions in April 2007 lead to a number of initiatives being proposed. PPAA Curriculum Committee should conduct a reorientoring program for PPAA community. In this session, sharing of the philosophical and conceptual framework, the objectives and learning outcomes, and the processes involved in the implementation of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami will be initiated, thus make them partners in realizing the objectives of Tasawwur Islami. Contents of Tasawwur Islami specifically that requires practical implementation is to be integrated into other co curricular activities. In this manner, curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami will assume its central place in the school system. Curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami is to be strongly reinforced by Islamization of contemporary knowledge as proposed in the MERKURI Project (2001). It is unacceptable for unislamic philosophy, concepts, spirit, and culture to have an easy access to invade and encroach the minds of our youths despite the effort to nurture the right spirit, mind, and attitude with the introduction of this new paradigm. Educational specialists and established writers, and editors should seriously be considered to be engaged in the reviewing of the educational materials. Lastly, right selection of teachers and their trainings must claim top priority. These two factors are very crucial in the successful implementation of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami.
Conclusion
Despite introducing a change of paradigm, other efforts at improvision the curriculum and instruction of Islamic Studies is warmly applauded. Undoubtedly, Muslim intellectuals and scholars with sound grounding in knowlegde of the world and knowledge of Din al Islam will unceaselessly strive to find the right formula and solution towards revitalizing the Ummah. The Muslim’s role as ‘abd and khalifah in the face of Westernization, post Modernism, and globalization strongly demands the right and relevant knowledge to be sufficiently embedded in the mind of Muslim youths.
The change in the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami stands insignificant vis a vis vast aspects of Islamic education, which still demand attention. Educational issues with respect to epistomology and methodology of knowledge, islamization of contemporary knowledge, curriculum of Islamic Studies in higher institutions, the position of Islamic Studies as core discipline with respect to other disciplines, the right usage of terms and meanings with respect to Islamic education, relevant emphasis of fard ‘ayn, fard kifayah, and ideas on specialization require serious thoughts and sound commitment. Through diligent effort of Wan Mohd. Nor (1998), these issues are extensively elaborated and discussed in The Educational Philosohy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al Attas : An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamization.
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Abstract
This paper presents the experience of a private Islamic educational institution in an effort to introduce a relevant and dynamic approach in the curriculum and instruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah (revealed sciences). The five most salient features adopted in the curriculum are the absence of a traditional division of subjects into ‘aqidah (Islamic creed), fiqh (jurisprudence), sirah (life of the Prophet SAW), and akhlaq (Islamic character); the emphasis in presenting principles, concepts, and hikmah (underlying reason) in teaching and learning; the effort to inculcate love, internalization of Islamic principles, concepts, and ‘izzah (self esteem) with respect to being a true and practising Muslim; the emphasis on the end products as to be shabab du’at (youths as callers to faith) equipped with the necessary skills to tackle the challenges of a contemporary society; and lastly, evaluation of students is based on written, oral, practical assessments and reports by teachers and parents. This innovative and significant effort is embodied in the school curriculum project paper, which is Projek MERKURI (2001).
Introduction
Education being the main vehicle of civilization, undoubtedly occupies the attention of serious Muslim minds. The state of backwardness and weakness of the present Muslim Ummah (community of Muslims) is thought to be partly attributed to the system of education in the Muslim World. Muslim intellectuals and scholars are most concerned with the pivotal role to be assumed by the Islamic system of education as means to revitalize the Ummah. They discussed issues on Islamic education ranging from simply establishing an Islamic school to the complexities of designing the right curriculum. Efforts at repositioning and empowering Islamic education system culminated in the staging of the Makkah World Conference of Islamic Education in 1977. Thereafter, rigorous actions in the form of series of conferences, seminars and workshops discussed and proposed ideas and workplans in an effort to raise the Ummah to a level of dynamism that once characterized Muslim intellectual, cultural, and scientific traditions. In the fast changing world and its challenges, the solution does not stop short at having more Islamic schools, its’ effective management and administration (Nor Zalmiah, 1999), implementing islamization of contempory knowledge but it extends to designing and developing the right curriculum for Islamic studies and its instruction.
Muslim scholars and intellectuals observe that element of high intellectualism portraying analytical, critical, and innovative thoughts are missing in today’s Islamic studies curriculum and its instruction. Sardar (1985) states that, ‘both the classical and the modern approaches to Islamic studies concentrate on Islam as a religion and culture. Be it memorizing the Qur’an or Hadith, mastering the opinions of the classical jurists or learning Islamic history, the emphasis is on rote learning and collecting facts’, thus amounting to students being vast storehouses of facts and opinions. Contemporary literature on Islamic education also highlights the traditional approach to curriculum and instruction of Islamic studies. Among the practices are the emphasis on memorization (hifz) than understanding (fiqh), memorization of facts than internalization, fiqh originally intended to mean religious insight and discernment becomes restricted to mean jurisprudence, and becoming huffaz (those who know the Qur’an by heart) assumes as the primary objective as compared to the early generation of huffaz’s engagement towards understanding al Din. Al Qardhawi (1996) boldly states that the existing Islamic education system gives preferance to hifz and thus be a silent witness than deep comprehension. This methodology of learning corresponds to the lowest level of obtaining knowledge, thus the Muslim mind does not have enough courage to analyze its intellectual legacy or what it holds as sacred resulting in not understanding what is really important, distinguishing between what is fundamental and absolute, and what is temporary and limited as emphasized by AbuSulayman (1993). On the other aspect, Al Attas (1999) attributes the present state of treating knowledge to adopting a wrong epistemology and methodology as effected by loss of adab and rise of false leaders. To add to the injury, the use of force, emotional and psychological means on the Ummah in order to keep them in check by certain quarters of Muslim leaderships also has an effect of inhibition of their minds (AbuSulayman, 1993).
It is timely to note the point made by Rahman (1982) that Islamic intellectualism should be the essence of especially higher Islamic education for the growth of genuine, original and adequate Islamic thought is the real criterion for judging the success or failure of an Islamic education system. Thus, Sardar (1985) proposes that Islamic education system should aim at producing insan whose ‘strength lies in the ability to perceive Islam not as a mere religion but as a dynamic world-view, to synthesize the historical and the modern, and to appreciate the concerns of the traditional sectors of the Muslim population while possessing the intellectual apparatus to communicate with the modernists.’ This kind of insan is further refined by al Attas (1999) as man of adab (insan adabi), that is a man with a disciplined body, mind, and spirit with respect to his obligations towards his Creator, Allah SWT. Of late, the issue of designing and developing the right curriculum and its instruction for Islamic education system has claimed the attention of Muslim intellectuals and scholars. A number of models were proposed of which are ‘Islam for Life’, ‘Constructing Moral Personality’, and ‘Integrated Islamic Studies Curriculum’ (ISNA Education Forum, 2005 and 2006). These initiatives are towards generating a new breed of Muslim intellectuals, scientists, technologists, scholars, specialists and others with the ability to deal with challenges of the contemporary world by providing Islamic solution to the problems of their time in an effort to play their roles as ‘abd (Allah’s SWT obedient servant) and khalifah (Allah’s SWT vicegerant on earth) in their respective fields of specialization. The intent of this paper is to have an overview of the effort of Pusat Pendidikan Al Amin (Al Amin Education Center) in implementing changes in the existing Islamic studies (‘Ulum Naqliah as referred to in PPAA) curriculum and its instruction.
Background Setting : Pusat Pendidikan Al Amin (PPAA)
PPAA constitutes three privately run Islamic schools namely Sekolah Menengah Islam Al Amin Gombak, SMIAAG (Al Amin Islamic Secondary School), Sekolah Rendah Islam Al Amin Kuala Lumpur, SRIAA KL (Al Amin Islamic Primary School Kuala Lumpur), and Sekolah Rendah Islam Al Amin Gombak, SRIAAG (Al Amin Islamic Primary School Gombak). The establishment of SRIAA KL in 1986 was itself a significant milestone in the history of an integrated Islamic education system in Malaysia. With a view of producing students exemplifying an integrated personality, the previous PPAA Board of Governors made a conscious decision in offering national school curriculum and ‘Ulum Naqliah curriculum in one school session. The overwhelming response from parents became the catalyst for developing the integrated system further. Hence, the birth of SMIAAG in 1991 and SRIAAG in 1993 helps to fulfill their aspiration. Thereafter, PPAA Board of Governors is committed to bring this Integrated Islamic Education Institutions to a level of high competency and professionalism.
In line with PPAA’s mission to produce salih wa muslih (good and enjoining good) students, the Board envisages that they will in future develop into a new breed of specialists in their respective fields, who are also fuqaha (sufficiently versed in matters of Din al Islam) and muttaqin (God consciousness). As practioners of Islamic education system, one of the commitments of PPAA Board of Governors is to continuously be sentitive to the needs of time with respect to the products of the school system. In view of the complex society and the world that we live in, traditional approach in the curriculum and intruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah needs a revisionist’s viewpoint. This bold move is propelled by the ability to differentiate between beliefs (unchanging principles) and thoughts (ideas) so as to be able to move forward without the fear of transgressing the limits as prescribed in Din al Islam.
The spirit of all the above statements translated into unpublished paper, Dynamics of SRI-SMI (Islamic Primary School-Islamic Secondary School) Curriculum : Ideals versus Realities (Nor Zalmiah, 2001) and following that A New Model and Primary Components in Al Amin Curriculum : A Paradigm Shift in the focus to produce Salih wa Muslih Generation (Saari Sungib, 2001) serve as impetus for Board of Directors of PPAA to embark onto a comprehensive MERKURI project in 2001. These two working papers project the philosophy, rationale, conceptual framework, and aims for designing a new curriculum.
The MERKURI Project
The MERKURI project involves an effort to revise the existing PPAA curriculum. The Curriculum Committee, who is held responsible for the project consented to name it MERKURI, an acronym for merubah kurikulum (curriculum change). The MERKURI project was listed as one of 2001 objectives of PPAA Board of Governors to be implemented in 2002 (PPAA Strategic Planning, 2001). The rationale behind the project states :
Since the inception, the three schools have been utilizing the same curriculum. In the span of fifteen years there has been dynamic changes in today’s world education both locally and globally, thereby an evaluation of the existing curriculum is inevitable. The school curriculum demands some changes to be implemented so as to accomodate the students’ need to move forward, thus enabling them to face the challenges of the new millennium.
(Projek Merkuri, 2001)
MERKURI project proposes revision and changes in the curriculum of ‘Ulum Naqliah, Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah, KBSR (New Curriculum for Primary School) and Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah, KBSM (Integrated Curriculum for Secondary School), Arabic Language, Information Technology (IT), and and Hifz al Qur’an (memorization). The proposed changes involve :
• All subjects categorized under ‘Ulum Naqliah are replaced by a single subject Tasawwur Islami.
• KBSM and KBSR subjects are to be presented within the Islamic perspective (islamization of contemporary knowledge).
• A new curriculum and instruction is proposed for Arabic Language.
• Information Technology curriculum is designed as compulsory subject for all levels.
• Methodology of Hifz al Qur’an is made standardized between primary and secondary levels with the adoption of Al Barqi method.
(Projek Merkuri, 2001)
Thereafter, series of four nightly discussions were thereby organized for the PPAA community, which comprises PPAA Board members, school management committee (JPS), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), teachers, and members of non-governmental organization JIM (Jama’ah Islah Malaysia), which is also PPAA interest group in an effort to convey the proposed curriculum revision and changes and assess their views or feedbacks. The audiences were specifically exposed to the pertinent ideas in the two working papers besides acknowledging the experiences of IBERR (International Board of Educational Research and Resources). The prepatory efforts culminated in a day seminar held in September 2001 at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), which signifies a momentous development in the history of PPAA curriculum revision and change. During the seminar, the PPAA community were exposed to key ideas as means to instill readiness in implementing the new curriculum. Among the issues and topics highlighted are history and philosophy of Islamic education, IT, analytical and critical thinking, tasawwur islami as a discipline, postmodernism, Islamic metaphysics, Islamization of contemporay knowledge, and products of Islamic education system. Upon approval short-term and long-term objectives were formulated, and the frame of work and the expected time of compeletion were outlined to initiate the implementation stage at the ground level. Thereafter, PPAA Curriculum Committee launched series of workshops and meets to discuss the stages for textbook and workbook production. The new curriculum of Tasawwur Islami was gradually introduced in stages with the completion of year one textbook in 2002.
Curriculum and Instruction of subjects categorized under ‘Ulum Naqliah : The Earlier Practice
Early compartmentalization of knowledge in the process of instilling the understanding of Islam, in a way deprives students from being exposed and able to internalize the comprehensive conception (tasawwur) of Islam as dynamic and vibrant worldview. At the primary level (SRIAA), the curriculum and instruction of ‘Ulum Naqliah as fiqh, aqidah, akhlah, sirah are treated separately. In this practice over emphasized and overlapping of facts are also evident. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that the evaluation system of dual curriculum (KBSR-KBSM and ‘Ulum Naqliah) based solely on formal tests and written examinations produce too exam-oriented students. When examination mark becomes the sole criteria in determining the students’ success, it indirectly relegates their mission to practize and internalize the obligations as required by ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, and akhlaq islamiah to secondary endeavor. The burden of accomplishing dual syllybus also acts as a hinderance in implementing islamization of contemporary knowledge at primary and secondary (SRIAA and SMIAA) levels. The islamization effort should reinforce the role of Islam in the conception of world view. The implementation of dual syllybus also leaves insufficient time for SRIAA-SMIAA to integrate character building component in the education system. This component is vital for SRIAA-SMIAA in their effort to generate salih wa muslih students, and hence shabab du’at. Finally, the use of al Qur’an and al Sunnah as the foundation, axis, and primary source for all kinds of knowledge, its purpose, obligations, and application has not assumed its central place at SRIAA-SMIAA. It is only through sound foundation on revealed knowledge that profound understanding of Din al Islam is developed.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Philosophical and Conceptual Framework
PPAA’s mission to develop salih wa muslih students is facilitated through an integrated system of education. As an integrated system of education, PPAA upholds that,
the foundation, transmission and internalization of of knowledge, are without any separation whatsoever between the components of knowledge. Early compartmentalization of knowledge into its components is to be avoided. This compartmentalization will deprive students from conceptualizing and visualizing Islam as a comprehensive system of life. All types of knowledge are aimed at the growth of mind and personality of students strongly founded on the basis of Tawhidic values, which are aimed at leading closer to their Creator. The inculcation of knowledge must be based directly and primarily on the al Qur’an and al Sunnah.
(Saari Sungib as cited in Ruzainah, 2004. p. 29)
The above conceptual framework serves as condusive environment for the introduction of Tasawwur Islami. Ulum Naqliah subjects at the primary level, which are ‘aqidah, fiqh, akhlak,and sirah are to be treated as a single subject Tasawwur Islami. PPAA Board of Directors concurs with the view that Islam has to be presented as a world view above and over Islam as religion and culture. Tasawwur Islami should be understood as one that encompasses the world view of Islam. Hence, its main elements are comprized of the concept of God (theology), the concept of metaphysics, the concept of cosmology, the concept of man, the concept of epistemology, the concept of axiology, and not least the concept of Prophethood. Those very elements when further expanded encompass the whole gamut of Din al Islam, which are usul al Din (principles of Din al Islam) , shari’ah (Islamic law), Islamic civilization (politics, economics, education, jurisprudence, law, arts, historiograhy), Islamic thought (philosophy, metaphysics, theology), and not least Islamic science. The emphasis on themes, concepts and principles derived from al Qur’an, and as translated into practice in al Sunnah is primarily to equip students with the ability to innovatively apply those concepts and principles in changing circumstances, an approach understood as Islamic Asalah (AbuSulayman 1993). Most importantly, the students are made to appreciate al hikmah encompanying the commandments of those principles and concepts. Themes, concepts and principles such as oneness of Allah SWT, the Omnipotent and Omniscient God, shahadah (proclaimation of Islamic faith), enjoining good forbidding evil, Muslim as the best Ummah, the Prophet SAW as a blessing to all mankind, Islam as a way of life, ‘ibadah (worship) in Islam, ukhuwah (brotherhood) in Islam, Maqasid al Shari’ah (purpose of Shari’ah), resurrection (life after death), and many others properly transmitted within Islamic worldview will have great bearing on the life of an individual and society.
At level one SRIAA, themes are based on Asma al Husna (beutiful Names of Allah SWT). The themes are then expanded by relating to the appropriate stories of the Prophets AS, sahabah RA (companions of the Prophet SAW), verses from al Qur’an, and the accompanying obligations with respect to ‘ibadah, ‘aqidah, and akhlaq islamiah. At level two SRIAA, al Qur’an and al Hadith as primary sources, Islam as society and civilization, and Islamic history are introduced as main chapters in Tasawwur Islami. Nevertheless, elements of inter-disciplanary approach are employed especially in relating the obligations of ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, and akhlaq islamiah to al Qur’an and al Hadith. With respect to injuctions of ‘ibadah, which are not yet obligatory on the students (for example haj (pilgrimage to Makkah) and zakah (paying poor due) at SRIAA level, and nikah (marriage), al buyu’ (sale), faraid (distribution of wealth) at SMIAA level), hikmah is more emphasized as preferance to processes and details. Proper understanding of fard ‘ayn (obligation towards the Self) and fard kifayah (obligation towards Society) is here exercised whereby fard ‘ayn does not end at secondary education but it develops with respect to one’s maturity, responsbility, and intellectual ability and at certain stage one’s fard kifayah becomes fard ‘ayn (Al Attas, 1999). Similarly, in sirah of the Prophet SAW, stories of the Prophets AS and sahaba RA, and Islamic history, chronology and facts are less emphasized and in its stead lessons are drawn from each events.
At the secondary level (SMIAA), the same philosophical and conceptual framework is adopted. In spite of that, ‘ulum al Qur’an (sciences of al Qur’an), ‘ulum al Hadith (sciences of al Hadith), comparative religion, and science and ‘aqidah are included as main chapters in Tasawwur Islami. Of significance, the curriculum at this level accomodates an appropriate and relevant syllybus for module to produce shabab du’at and to fulfill their needs towards executing their roles as salih wa muslih in the contemporary society. Contents of the modules are integrated into the curriculum, and their practical implementation are channeled into co curricular activities. This special module is developed primarily according to Islam two primary sources to equip the students with the necessary knowledge and skills in their mission to convey the message of Islam and mould their lives accordingly. Sirah of the Prophet SAW concentrates on how the events in the Prophet’s SAW life prepare him for the work of da’wah (call to Islam) throughout his mission. For that reason, chronology and details seem obscure; and instead emphasis on concepts and principles drawn from the al Qur’an, and the manner in which they are translated into practice in the sirah of the Prophet SAW are highlighted. The concept of ukhwah, leadership, war, treaty, shura (mutual consultation), hijrah (the emigration from Makkah to Madinah) and others are focussed on aswering the questions of why’s and how’s. This exercise will cultivate a sense of appreciation as well as analytical, critical and creative thinking
The effort to make Tasawwur Islami less exam oriented is realized in the adoption of formative evaluation of students in SRIAA and SMIAA. The evaluation is based on written, oral, and practical assessments, and supported by teachers’ and parents’ bi-yearly reports. These reports indirectly invite the parents’ participation in strengthening the habits or character supportive of the school’s mission. Love, internalization, and ‘izzah with respect to being practicing Muslims is realized by methods of instruction in which emphasis is placed on comprehending and emulating the acts of ‘ibadah over memorization of facts and details. Analytical, critical, and innovative thoughts are helped to flourish by the manner in which knowledge is presented in written materials and learning methods, which also incorporate element of problem based learning. This is supported by designing questions, which appeal to higher level thinking. Teaching and learning, which include deliberation on contemporary issues that relate to fiqh al waqi‘ (reality) helps build appreciation of al hikmah of principles and injunctions. Profound understanding of principles and concepts translated in the lifetime of the Prophet SAW helps guide application of them in the changing circumstances by way of Islamic asalah approach and not imitative historical approach (AbuSulayman, 1993). Application of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach in teaching and learning, whereby events are deliberated not as chronology as such but more on the processes involved. This methodology helps contribute towards comprehending Islam as a worldview (Sardar, 1985). Implementation of module for shabab du’at complements teaching learning aspect because it prepares the students to utilize the knowledge and skills acquired in the curriculum at the practical level. Social service, which forms part of service learning whereby students are encouraged to utilize the relevant knowledge and skills for the good of the community represents as part of education programs.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Objectives and Learning Outcomes
Having laid out the philosophical and conceptual framework, PPAA Curriculum Committee organized a day workshop at IIUM in 2002. After intense brainstorming session, agreement was reached in the formulation of general and specific objectives for all levels of SRIAA-SMIAA. Both objectives reflect heavily on the philosophy and concept of Tasawwur Islami (PPAA Curriculum Committee, 2002).
General Objectives of Tasawwur Islami
• Recognition and acknowledgement of Islam as a way of life
• Inculcation of love and ‘izzah through translating principles and values into practice to result in their internalization.
• Sufficiently equipped in knowledge of revealed sciences , which facilitates conveyance and transmission of the message of Islam.
• Al Qur’an and al Sunnah as pivotal with respect to being source of referance and guidance.
• Accountable being with a readiness to contribute to Din al Islam, nation and the country.
Specific Objectives of Tasawwur Islami for SRIAA
• Recognition and acknowledgement of Allah SWT as the Creator by means of Tawhid Rububiah, Tawhid Uluhiah, Tawhid Asma Wa Sifah.
• Acceptance of Islam as a way of life in whatever situation.
• Execution of responsibility and role as a Muslim in ‘ibadah and mu’amalah (social intercourse).
• Inculcation of ‘izzah towards Islam.
• Building life to be always in close proximity with al Qur’an and al Sunnah.
Specific Objectives of Tasawwur Islami for SMIAA
• ‘aqidah salimah and iman sahihah to be firmly ingrained.
• Comprehension and internalization of Islam as comprehensive system of life as a way of seeking mardhatillah (the Pleasure of Allah SWT)
• Cultivation of Islamic attitude and identity towards greater commitment towards building oneself, family, and society.
• Escalation of ‘izzah through recognition of Islam’s contribution and role in human civilization as a whole.
• Al Qur’an and al Sunnah as principles in life.
During the workshop, PPAA Curriculum Committee was also able to formulate learning outcomes for SRIAA and lower secondary of SMIAA according to their respective levels. In this new paradigm, efforts to turn Tasawwur Islami in its objective, curriculum and instruction, and written materials as fertile ground for inseminating analytical, critical and innovative thoughts are attempted.
Curriculum and Instruction of Tasawwur Islami : Implementation
The year 2002 is significant with the implementation of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami in SRIAA and SMIAA. The implementation stages of selection and training of teachers, organization of syllybus, issuance of textbook and workbook, teachers’ preparation, transmission of knowledge through teaching and learning, supervision of teachers, and execution of measurement and evaluation were duly observed. Nevertheless, those stages or processes need upgrading in some aspects. This is to ensure the expectation out of the new curriculum will result. However, the existing practice in PPAA educational programs complements whatever shortcomings that exist in its implementation.
Curriculum and Intruction of Tasawwur Islami : Reevaluation
After six years of plaughing and trodding, AAEC Board of Governors bold effort has progressed quite significantly. Evidence of co operation and approval especially from PPAA community is manifested. The whole thing about Tasawwur Islami might have been misunderstood. The traditional practice of great number of subjects offering is not evident and similarly facts and details in written materials. Accumulation of revealed knowledge at hand sits heavily on the scale of success in traditional Islamic education. However, from outright objection they are now more accomodating. The shift in attitude is towards improvision of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami. In the span of six years, PPAA Curriculum Committee has successfully issued syllybus, primary school text books and work books; and lower secondary school textbooks. Despite the fact, quality and compliance to philosophical and conceptual framework of Tasawwur Islami are still much to be desired. Finally in the second half of the year 2007, the first batch of primary students will sit for school based summative evaluation of Tasawwur Islami. PEKERTI an acronym for evaluation of written, oral, practical of Tasawwur Islami is expected as indicator of the measure of success in the implementation of the new curriculum and its instruction. As for the lower secondary students, the first batch sat for the newly formatted Tasawwur Islami written examination in the year 2004. Nevertheless, students’ performance in these examinations is not the sole measure of success of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami since a number of other interelated factors are also contributable.
Despite the progress, the effort is still hampered by a sizeble fraction of the school community for not acquiring a good grasp of philosophy and concept of Tasawwur Islami. This lack of comprehension leads to not being supportive in some aspects. Questions are raised with respect to significant decrease in facts and details be it in fiqh, sirah or stories of sahaba and other Prophets AS. Similarly, this understanding leads to the accusation of lacking in efforts towards tafaqquh fi al Din (comprehending Din al Islam). The writing of textbook does not fully adopt the inter disciplinary approach thus compartmentalization of ‘aqidah, ‘ibadah, sirah and akhlaq into main chapters still remains at certain levels. Lack of technical experts such as authors, editors, and instructors also lends due weight on the quality and standard of written materials and instruction. The SRIAA-SMIAA school system is still unsuccessful to integrate contents of modules for shabab du’at into the curriculum of Tasawwur Islami except for a short period in SMIAA indirectly due to time table reshufling. Similarly, implementation of its practical obligations in the co curricular activities has not materialized. Separate meet session is thus required to accomodate the module and co curricular activities are organized irrespective of curriculum of Tasawwur Islami.
Large scale survey has not been conducted to assess the success or failure of the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami. However, feedbacks from SMIAAG teachers during review discussions in April 2007 lead to a number of initiatives being proposed. PPAA Curriculum Committee should conduct a reorientoring program for PPAA community. In this session, sharing of the philosophical and conceptual framework, the objectives and learning outcomes, and the processes involved in the implementation of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami will be initiated, thus make them partners in realizing the objectives of Tasawwur Islami. Contents of Tasawwur Islami specifically that requires practical implementation is to be integrated into other co curricular activities. In this manner, curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami will assume its central place in the school system. Curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami is to be strongly reinforced by Islamization of contemporary knowledge as proposed in the MERKURI Project (2001). It is unacceptable for unislamic philosophy, concepts, spirit, and culture to have an easy access to invade and encroach the minds of our youths despite the effort to nurture the right spirit, mind, and attitude with the introduction of this new paradigm. Educational specialists and established writers, and editors should seriously be considered to be engaged in the reviewing of the educational materials. Lastly, right selection of teachers and their trainings must claim top priority. These two factors are very crucial in the successful implementation of curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami.
Conclusion
Despite introducing a change of paradigm, other efforts at improvision the curriculum and instruction of Islamic Studies is warmly applauded. Undoubtedly, Muslim intellectuals and scholars with sound grounding in knowlegde of the world and knowledge of Din al Islam will unceaselessly strive to find the right formula and solution towards revitalizing the Ummah. The Muslim’s role as ‘abd and khalifah in the face of Westernization, post Modernism, and globalization strongly demands the right and relevant knowledge to be sufficiently embedded in the mind of Muslim youths.
The change in the curriculum and instruction of Tasawwur Islami stands insignificant vis a vis vast aspects of Islamic education, which still demand attention. Educational issues with respect to epistomology and methodology of knowledge, islamization of contemporary knowledge, curriculum of Islamic Studies in higher institutions, the position of Islamic Studies as core discipline with respect to other disciplines, the right usage of terms and meanings with respect to Islamic education, relevant emphasis of fard ‘ayn, fard kifayah, and ideas on specialization require serious thoughts and sound commitment. Through diligent effort of Wan Mohd. Nor (1998), these issues are extensively elaborated and discussed in The Educational Philosohy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al Attas : An Exposition of the Original Concept of Islamization.
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