Post by maruf on May 3, 2004 1:14:18 GMT -5
(Islam's Educational Policy)
Islam's educational policy strives to build the Islamic mentality and the Islamic sensation that
establish the Islamic personality. Any knowledge that would help achieve this aim and bring about
this personality would be adopted and anything that conflicts with the structuring of the Islamic
personality would be rejected and excluded from the curriculum.
The human being, by nature, acknowledges his surroundings and formulates specific judgments and
sentiments towards every object or action based on certain concepts he has adopted. Islam has dealt
with both aspects of knowledge by linking them directly to the Aqeedah. The Qur'an addresses
both the thoughts which, human being adopts and the sentiments that his thoughts establish in its
text.
By directing the Muslim's thoughts towards the Aqeedah, the Islamic education would build the
Muslim's personality and sentiments to revolve around the Islamic Creed and to abstain from
philosophies and ideas that contradict the Islamic Creed and promote a life-style of decadence and
corruption.
In addition to cultivating Islamic personalities, the educational system would also incorporate the
various sciences and cultural arts. Sciences and culture consist of the experimental sciences and
their branches such as mathematics and medicine, and cultural knowledge such as languages,
history and Fiqh (jurisprudence). Experimental sciences that do not construct any specific
perspective on life would be adopted in the curriculum without any restriction. Teaching of
cultural subjects would follow a specific policy regulated by Islam to ensure that Non-Islamic ideas
and concepts to not seep into the curriculum.
.
Students will study the Islamic culture in depth at all levels, including Fiqh and the foundations of
Fiqh, the commentary (Tafseer), the Hadith, the Arabic language and literature, as well as the
Islamic history. At the university level, the in-depth study of Islamic culture would parallel studies
and training in pure sciences and liberal arts that do not conflict with Islam. Non-Islamic
ideologies, philosophies, and religions would be presented solely to expose their falsehood and
weakness. Such a curriculum would ensure that the Muslims would fully absorb the Islamic
culture, develop the Islamic personality that would preserve the integrity of the Islamic society, and
cultivate the leadership qualities needed to elevate the Muslim Ummah and propagate the Islamic
message.
Role of the State
Private and public schools existing within the domain of the Islamic State would operate provided
they fulfill two conditions: They adopted the state's curriculum without any amendments, and they
were not owned by foreigners. The owners of private schools and colleges must be citizens of the
Islamic state. Schools and colleges such as the American Universities in Beirut, Istanbul and Cairo,
the French missionary schools such as the Jesuit University of Beirut, the Shamlan Institute of Alya
in Lebanon, and the German Colleges, would have to shut down and terminate their operations
even if they adopted and adhered to the state's curriculum.
The state would undertake to provide free education to every male and female at the primary,
secondary, and the university level. Because Islam defines education as a basic necessity, the State
is obligated to ensure education for every individual through the secondary levels. The State must
also provide higher education for fields vital to the maintenance and the vitality of the State such as
medicine, science, and technology.
To accelerate growth and proliferation of knowledge and skills, the State would also establish
libraries, laboratories and experimental institutions other than the schools and colleges to enable
citizens to assume further studies in various subjects such as Fiqh, Hadith and commentary,
medicine or science. The emphasis upon education by Islam would motivate the State to direct a
large portion of its wealth towards the development of knowledge, allowing the Ummah to host a
sizable number of Mujtahids, scientists and inventors.
During the Islamic rule, a single street of
Baghdad used to be a venue for many Mujtahids and scientists. The cities of Samarqand, Bukhara,
Damascus, the cities of Hijaz, Al-Qayrawan, Cordoba and others were crowded with universities
and students, which at the time reflected the might and the high profile of the Islamic State.
The Situation Today
The present state of affairs of the Muslims is dominated by lack of knowledge, decline and
weakness in most scientific fields. The present educational curriculums established upon the
capitalist concepts aim at alienating the Muslims from their culture and at killing their spirit of
innovation. Such an intellectual stagnation has resulted in widespread illiteracy and an Ummah
confused and fragmented by conflicting ideas and erroneous concepts similar to the state of the
Arabs before the dawn of Islam.
The situation of the Muslim Ummah did not emanate from a haphazard occurrence, but resulted
from a centuries-long legacy of intellectual and cultural bombardment upon Islam and Muslims by
the West aimed at alienating the Muslims from Islam. The culmination of such a systematic attack
has caused the Ummah to lose its focus and identity, and has led the Muslims to integrate their
culture and ideology with foreign ideas and divide themselves along nationalistic and tribal lines
while reducing Islam to an abstract collection of rituals incapable of providing any tangible
solutions relevant to the issues facing humanity. After the Imperialists fragmented the Muslim
lands, they installed the regimes to preside over the affairs of the Muslims in the name of
Imperialism and sponsor the cultural and intellectual crusade that continues to this day.
The Muslim Ummah has an enormous responsibility of educating itself with Islam, indoctrinating
its members with the Islamic personality, and providing the grounds to facilitate the efforts of those
who are undertaking to revive the Ummah. Such a transition demands that the Ummah severs its
links with the foreign mentality that the Enemies of Islam have dedicated all of their resources to
establish and maintain through their intellectual and political puppets. As the Muslims mature in
their political, cultural, and ideological understanding, the Enemies of Islam will utilize all of their
instruments to attempt to contain the resurgence of Islam and curtail the Islamic revival. The
Muslim Ummah must acknowledge this fact by standing firm against its enemies and striving to
educate itself and cultivate the Islamic culture among its elements.
Islam's educational policy strives to build the Islamic mentality and the Islamic sensation that
establish the Islamic personality. Any knowledge that would help achieve this aim and bring about
this personality would be adopted and anything that conflicts with the structuring of the Islamic
personality would be rejected and excluded from the curriculum.
The human being, by nature, acknowledges his surroundings and formulates specific judgments and
sentiments towards every object or action based on certain concepts he has adopted. Islam has dealt
with both aspects of knowledge by linking them directly to the Aqeedah. The Qur'an addresses
both the thoughts which, human being adopts and the sentiments that his thoughts establish in its
text.
By directing the Muslim's thoughts towards the Aqeedah, the Islamic education would build the
Muslim's personality and sentiments to revolve around the Islamic Creed and to abstain from
philosophies and ideas that contradict the Islamic Creed and promote a life-style of decadence and
corruption.
In addition to cultivating Islamic personalities, the educational system would also incorporate the
various sciences and cultural arts. Sciences and culture consist of the experimental sciences and
their branches such as mathematics and medicine, and cultural knowledge such as languages,
history and Fiqh (jurisprudence). Experimental sciences that do not construct any specific
perspective on life would be adopted in the curriculum without any restriction. Teaching of
cultural subjects would follow a specific policy regulated by Islam to ensure that Non-Islamic ideas
and concepts to not seep into the curriculum.
.
Students will study the Islamic culture in depth at all levels, including Fiqh and the foundations of
Fiqh, the commentary (Tafseer), the Hadith, the Arabic language and literature, as well as the
Islamic history. At the university level, the in-depth study of Islamic culture would parallel studies
and training in pure sciences and liberal arts that do not conflict with Islam. Non-Islamic
ideologies, philosophies, and religions would be presented solely to expose their falsehood and
weakness. Such a curriculum would ensure that the Muslims would fully absorb the Islamic
culture, develop the Islamic personality that would preserve the integrity of the Islamic society, and
cultivate the leadership qualities needed to elevate the Muslim Ummah and propagate the Islamic
message.
Role of the State
Private and public schools existing within the domain of the Islamic State would operate provided
they fulfill two conditions: They adopted the state's curriculum without any amendments, and they
were not owned by foreigners. The owners of private schools and colleges must be citizens of the
Islamic state. Schools and colleges such as the American Universities in Beirut, Istanbul and Cairo,
the French missionary schools such as the Jesuit University of Beirut, the Shamlan Institute of Alya
in Lebanon, and the German Colleges, would have to shut down and terminate their operations
even if they adopted and adhered to the state's curriculum.
The state would undertake to provide free education to every male and female at the primary,
secondary, and the university level. Because Islam defines education as a basic necessity, the State
is obligated to ensure education for every individual through the secondary levels. The State must
also provide higher education for fields vital to the maintenance and the vitality of the State such as
medicine, science, and technology.
To accelerate growth and proliferation of knowledge and skills, the State would also establish
libraries, laboratories and experimental institutions other than the schools and colleges to enable
citizens to assume further studies in various subjects such as Fiqh, Hadith and commentary,
medicine or science. The emphasis upon education by Islam would motivate the State to direct a
large portion of its wealth towards the development of knowledge, allowing the Ummah to host a
sizable number of Mujtahids, scientists and inventors.
During the Islamic rule, a single street of
Baghdad used to be a venue for many Mujtahids and scientists. The cities of Samarqand, Bukhara,
Damascus, the cities of Hijaz, Al-Qayrawan, Cordoba and others were crowded with universities
and students, which at the time reflected the might and the high profile of the Islamic State.
The Situation Today
The present state of affairs of the Muslims is dominated by lack of knowledge, decline and
weakness in most scientific fields. The present educational curriculums established upon the
capitalist concepts aim at alienating the Muslims from their culture and at killing their spirit of
innovation. Such an intellectual stagnation has resulted in widespread illiteracy and an Ummah
confused and fragmented by conflicting ideas and erroneous concepts similar to the state of the
Arabs before the dawn of Islam.
The situation of the Muslim Ummah did not emanate from a haphazard occurrence, but resulted
from a centuries-long legacy of intellectual and cultural bombardment upon Islam and Muslims by
the West aimed at alienating the Muslims from Islam. The culmination of such a systematic attack
has caused the Ummah to lose its focus and identity, and has led the Muslims to integrate their
culture and ideology with foreign ideas and divide themselves along nationalistic and tribal lines
while reducing Islam to an abstract collection of rituals incapable of providing any tangible
solutions relevant to the issues facing humanity. After the Imperialists fragmented the Muslim
lands, they installed the regimes to preside over the affairs of the Muslims in the name of
Imperialism and sponsor the cultural and intellectual crusade that continues to this day.
The Muslim Ummah has an enormous responsibility of educating itself with Islam, indoctrinating
its members with the Islamic personality, and providing the grounds to facilitate the efforts of those
who are undertaking to revive the Ummah. Such a transition demands that the Ummah severs its
links with the foreign mentality that the Enemies of Islam have dedicated all of their resources to
establish and maintain through their intellectual and political puppets. As the Muslims mature in
their political, cultural, and ideological understanding, the Enemies of Islam will utilize all of their
instruments to attempt to contain the resurgence of Islam and curtail the Islamic revival. The
Muslim Ummah must acknowledge this fact by standing firm against its enemies and striving to
educate itself and cultivate the Islamic culture among its elements.