The Deep & Difficult Dilemma of Islamic Education

Introduction

The first verses of the Quran revealed to our Prophet SAW commanded him to Read, and promised to give mankind knowledge which they did not have. This final message of God to humankind, revealed over the course of 23 years, launched the greatest revolution in human history. It transformed ignorant and backward Bedouin to world leaders. It launched a civilization which enlightened the world with knowledge for more than a thousand years.

Obviously, an “Islamic” School?should?be committed to providing this knowledge. It is an article of faith that the knowledge given to us by God provides us with complete and perfect guidance until the day of Judgement. Furthermore, this knowledge must be incomparably superior to any knowledge produced by human beings. Those who receive an Islamic education should be deeply aware of the central importance of the teachings of the Quran, and filled with the missionary zeal to spread this light, which is the only means of removing the darkness of ignorance.

Unfortunately, most modern Islamic schools do nothing of the sort. In fact, without intending to, they often end up teaching students lessons which are in direct conflict with central messages of Islam. Most often, educators are not even aware that there is any conflict between the knowledge they are providing and Islamic teachings. But even those who are aware, are helpless to rectify the problem. At the moment, suitable solutions to the problem do not exist. This is among the most important challenges facing the Ummah: creating an educational process which makes Islamic teachings the core of its curriculum, and also caters to modern needs.?In this essay, my primary goal is to articulate clearly and sharply the nature of the dilemma facing us, in terms of providing an education to the Muslim youth. The concluding remarks provide some hints toward the solutions, which will be discussed in greater detail in a separate post.

The Challenge

Superficially, it appears that the solution is simple: simply teach both Western syllabus and our traditional Islamic syllabus in parallel. This is approach currently implemented in nearly all Islamic schools, because there is no feasible alternative in existence. What very few realize is the fundamental conflict between the two approaches to education. A Western education produces a?Western worldview, according to which mankind was in darkness and ignorance until the Renaissance of Europe. After the rebirth of Europe, Europeans learned to think rationally, while the rest of mankind remained steeped in superstitions. As a result of their extraordinary intelligence, Europeans forged far far ahead of all others on this planet. The knowledge they have created over the past three or four centuries is the greatest treasure currently in possession of mankind. This knowledge has enabled them to dominate the world, and to create the most advanced civilization in human history.

Obviously, this Eurocentric narrative, which is built into a Western education, conflicts dramatically with the message of the Quran. Among these, the conflict about superiority of Western knowledge is of central importance.?The idea that human-produced Western knowledge is superior to God’s gift of knowledge in the Quran is not compatible with faith in Islam. At the same time, the evidence for superiority of Western knowledge seems so overwhelming that it appears impossible to challenge it:

1. The West is rich and powerful, because of the knowledge that they have. Those who have knowledge of the Quran are poor and powerless.
2. The key to worldly success today, individually and collectively, is Western knowledge. Quranic knowledge seems irrelevant.
3. Western knowledge shapes our lives from moment-to-moment in all dimensions. From our mobile phones to buildings to cars to houses, all aspects of our lives are deeply and directly affected by Western knowledge. In contrast, Quranic knowledge touches only a very small part of our modern lives.

In presence of this powerful evidence to the contrary, how can we defend the idea that the Quran provides us with complete and perfect guidance? Why does the Quran say that believers will be led to the light, and others will be led to darkness, when our eyes show us that the opposite is true? Why does the Quran say that let those who have been given this gift of the Quran rejoice, for it is better than all else that anyone can gather?

Potential Solutions

An Islamic education should teach us satisfactory answers to the questions above – and thousands of other related questions which arise. But, today, most Islamic schools end up reinforcing and strengthening these confusions and contradictions in the minds of students, without providing any satisfactory resolution.?Some of the standard methods adopted to resolve the dilemma are listed below:

1. The Quran and Sunnah provide us with guidance about success in the Akhira, while Western knowledge provides us with guidance about success in this world. So, both types of knowledge are necessary, and they complement each other. While superficially satisfactory, this raises many difficult questions. So, the Quran is not complete guidance – it is only useful for Akhira, and not for this world? If this is so, then how did Muslim, under the guidance of the Quran, succeed in building a worldly empire which dominated the world for a thousand years? Also, does not the Quran promise worldly success to the believers?
2. It is Quranic imperative to seek knowledge from all corners of the world, from the cradle to the grave. We Muslims have fallen behind the West because we failed to obey the order to seek knowledge. Today, seeking Western knowledge is exactly what the Quran demands of us.?This solution would work if Western knowledge was objective, value-free and neutral, as it claims to be. Unfortunately, appearances are deceptive. Western knowledge contains explicit claims of Western superiority: “Who is mightier than?us?in?strength?” A Western education teaches us that mankind was in a state of ignorance and superstition until the dawn of reason occurred with the Enlightenment of Europe. After learning to reason, the West made progress in leaps and bounds in all dimensions of life. Today, everything worth knowing has been produced by Western intellectuals. Obviously, these messages conflict directly with the teachings of the Quran.
3. The?Islamization of Knowledge?Project is based on the recognition that Western knowledge is like the snake’s venom – one can extract lifesaving medicines from it, by eliminating the poisons. In principle, this is an attractive solution. But, in practice, it has not been successful. Recognition of the need to combine traditional Islamic and Western education led to the creation of two universities (and numerous other institutions) – International Islamic University in Islamabad and in Kuala Lumpur. I served as the Director General of the International Institute of Islamic Economics at IIUI. I personally witnessed the failure of this attempt to synthesize Islamic and Western teachings on economics. The problem is that the two are diametrically opposed to each other, and cannot be combined. To create Islamic Economics, we must reject Western economics, and rebuild the discipline on foundations of the Quran and Sunnah. Unfortunately,?shock-and-awe of Western knowledge?has prevented this from happening. The result is that we end up teaching two bodies of knowledge in conflict with each other. The student learns that Western knowledge will lead to degrees and jobs, while Islamic knowledge is not useful for either. So, this project of combining the two bodies of knowledge fails. See my post on the?Crisis in Islamic Economics?for a deeper discussion.

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

So, where does that leave us? When Islamic Schools teach Western knowledge from Western textbooks, students automatically absorb messages of the superiority of Western knowledge. Furthermore, market forces lead these schools to make getting good grades, degrees, and jobs, their goal. Then, regardless of what they teach in their Islamic studies courses, the students will realize that success in life depends on Western knowledge, while our private lives may be aligned with Islamic teachings. This is hardly satisfactory.??

So, what is the solution to this dilemma? I will discuss this in greater detail in a later post. For now, let me indicate that I have a sequence of 10 lectures which provides an outline of what we need to do. See?How to Launch an Islamic?Revival??There is no easy solution, and multidimensional efforts are required. I have prepared a set of about 13 lectures with 5 parts each for a total of 65 units of education which provides details of?the Ghazali Project?we need to undertake today, to counter the?Modern Mu’tazala, marked by the belief in superiority of Western knowledge to the Quran and Sunna. Teachers in Islamic Schools should go through these lectures, which provides ways of thinking very different from those which we acquire via a Western education. May Allah T’aala enlighten us with the Noor of His guidance, and lead us out from the darkness into the light.