257602863-islamic-philosophy-of-education-pdf.pdf

Introduction

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the beginning of a historical movement, which was also a climactic end in the history of prophetic missions. The verses of the Qur’ān (meaning “recitation”) were revealed in layers upon layers of meaning. Every layer when removed reveals new depths and profundities of content. The Qur’ān and Islam can best be compared to Nature itself; like nature, the more it is studied, newer dimensions are revealed, and fresher secrets are discovered. This comparison guides me to understand the philosophy of the Qur’ān and Islam, which comprise of a wealth of knowledge. Reading and understanding the Qur’ān can take people back to the 7th Century; bring them to SLAM MANIFESTED

the present, and may help them look towards the future. The Qur’ān is very resourceful; its content is inexhaustible and will forever remain as fresh and novel. Everyday, the

Qur’ān conveys a new message to humanity and, the world, not only to the Muslim people. Ever since the growth of Islam as a religious and political movement, Muslim thinkers and teachers have started to use philosophical concepts to better understand the theoretical aspects of their faith. Each religion, some of which get more attention than others, has it is own philosophy. Unfortunately, Islam has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves in the nonIslamic—Western—world. Islam decrees education for all human—men and women. In addition, like some religions, Islam always encourages education, research and improvement of the societal structures.

Arabs, Muslims, and Education

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MUSLIMS contributed to the development of physics and chemistry, and they were responsible for the creation of Algebra. Muslims first taught these sciences to others and later made expansions in these fields. We should learn from others, complying with the words of Prophet Muhammad, “Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. Seek knowledge even if it is to be found in a place as distant as China.” In the early days, Arab poetry was called qasīda, which “was best introduced by example” (Brown, 2004, p. 11). Through poetry, the Arabs left a legacy of haunting beauty that takes its place among the great works of world literature. The HE

earliest texts in Classical Arabic are the qasīdas of the pre-Islamic poets and the Qur’ān. These were the classics, which 9th and 10th century philologists and grammarians relied upon to formulate the standards of usage for “Classical Arabic” (Brown, 2004, p. 18). I believe that the dominance of Classical -1-

Arabic shaped Islam throughout its history. Even in present time, when Muslims look to their roots, they look to Arabia; it is an orientation reaffirmed at least five times a day, every time a Muslim faces towards Mecca in worship. At the beginning of the 8th century, the Arabs wrote the story of the origins of Islam, and they wrote in Arabic on Arab terms. Therefore, Islam in its earliest form functioned as an Arab imperial ideology. It was a religion started in Arabia and later

expended throughout the world. Furthermore, The Muslim religion is centered on the Qur’ān and Prophet Muhammad.

Prophet Muhammad (peace upon him) “Do you not see that Allah sends down from the clouds water, then brings forth with it fruits of different kinds or colors. And in the mountains there are streaks, white and red, of different colors, and some intensely black. And of people and animals and cattle there are different colors likewise. Only those of His servants fear Allah who possesses knowledge.” (Holy Qur’ān 35:27-28)

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MUHAMMAD was born in Mecca— the desert of Arabia—on April 20, 571 C.E. The name Muhammad means highly praised. He is to me the greatest mind among all the sons of Arabia. God sent him as a mercy for the world. He means so much more than all the poets and kings that preceded him in that impenetrable desert of redsand. Prophet Muhammad received divine ROPHET

revelations—The Holy Qur’ān—over a period of 23 years in the 7th Century of the Christian era. Muslims believe that he is the last Messenger sent by God for the guidance of humankind until the Day of Judgment. When I set down to write about the Islamic philosophy and it is association with education, I could not help not think about Prophet Mohammad. First, I was a little hesitant because it can be overwhelming when there is a deep conviction that our past, present and future all hang by the soft, delicate, silk, cord. Therefore, for me to write about a religion is a delicate matter. The beauty was, the more I read the book “A New Introduction to Islam” by Daniel Brown (2004) the harder things became for me; but after more reading, thinking and writing, I enjoyed the journey.

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Teaching of Islam:

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L-FATIHA (BELOW) is

the first surah (chapter) of the Qur’ān, and was one of the earliest portions of the Qur’ān revealed to prophet Mohammed by the angel Gabriel. The entire Qur’ān was revealed in the years from 610 to 632 A.D.

1. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 2. Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the world; 3. Most Gracious, Most Merciful; 4. Master of the Day of Judgment. 5. Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek. 6. Show us the straight way, 7. The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray. - Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Prophet Muhammad’s companions preserved the revelations that came to him by memorizing. The first official edition of the Qur’ān was ordered by the caliph Othman, who ruled from 644 to 656, to be sent to the chief masjid (mosque) in each of the capital cities of the Muslim provinces. Muslims consider the Qur’ān to be the words of God Himself, spoken by an angel to Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’ān teaches the absolute unity and power of God, the creator of the whole universe; it also preaches ethics, morals, virtue and justice. In addition, it teaches that life on earth is a period of testing and preparation for the life to come. Prophet Muhammad’s message and mission is universal and timeless to the end of this world. Believing in Islam means the following: 1. Belief in One God. 2. Belief in all of God's messengers. 3. Belief in all the books sent down to prophets of God. These books include Torah and Gospel. Only the Holy Qur’ān exists in its original form. 4. Belief in the existence of angels. 5. Belief in the Day of Judgment, Life after Death, Heaven and Hell. 6. Belief in the Divine Decree or Predestination, its good and its bad.

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Islamic Philosophy of Education “Have you fully realized what Islam is? It is indeed a religion founded on truth. It is such a fountain-head of learning that several streams of wisdom and knowledge flow from it. It is such a lamp that several lamps will be lighted from it. It is a lofty beacon of light illuminating the path of Allah (God). Such a set of principles and beliefs will fully satisfy every seeker of truth and reality. Know you all that Allah has made Islam the most sublime path for the attainment of His supreme pleasure and the highest standard of His worship and obedience. He has favored it with noble precepts, exalted principles, undoubted arguments, unchallengeable supremacy and undeniable wisdom. It is up to you to maintain the eminence and dignity granted to it by the Lord, to follow it sincerely, to do justice to its Articles of Faith and Belief, to obey implicitly its tenets and orders and to give it the proper place in your lives.” Imam Ali (A.S) In the system of the Islamic Republic, no act should be without an aim. There should be a purpose in every act. Moreover, the aims and purposes should be definite. Most people may say that the purpose of learning is to make headway in life. The learner, who is a human, is made up of two components nature of spirit and body. The spiritual faculty is known as the ruh (soul), aql (mind), qalb (emotion), or nafs (self). Aql elevates above the rest of creation. The soul1 could be elevated to the noblest and it could be debased to the lowest. The body2 consists of several faculties corresponding to the physical senses. “Truth and Reality” are common themes in the Muslim religion. Therefore, Islam

believes in the possibility of obtaining knowledge of Truth and Reality. In Islam, there has not been much debate on this matter, unlike in the Western philosophical tradition where there has been constant debate since Greek philosophy, as demonstrated by Plato's Theatetus. Human is equipped with a soul and physical senses and prepared by God to acquire knowledge. According to Al-Attas, 'ilm (knowledge) is the arrival of the ma'ana (meaning) of an object in the soul or the arrival of the soul at the meaning of an object of knowledge. Thus, the soul is active and not merely passive3.

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The Qur'an (95:4). 2 The Qur'an (89:25; 95:5).

S. M. Naquib Al-Attas, The Concept of Education in Islam (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1990).

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Brown (2004), theology is sought to maintain and protect the products of revelation, where philosophers like to start from scratch. Some believe that, “Islamic philosophers saw themselves as simply building on the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus” (Brown, 2004, p. 149). The Arabic word falsafah is a direct borrowing form the Greeks phil sophia; during Islamic history, the term was used for Islamic philosophy as well as for the debates between the philosophers and the theologians from one period to another. Falsafah continued to be used and gained new meaning and usage in later centuries of Islamic history. This understanding includes what the Greeks had comprehended by the term philosophia. In addition, many of the Greek philosophical definitions found their way into Arabic philosophy sometimes with only slight modifications. Furthermore, “What falsafah added to the accumulating pieces of the Greek sciences was an epistemological claim. It brought before the Muslim an alternative theory of wisdom that simultaneously exalted itself and set down in an inferior position the channel of revelation opened by the Prophet of Islam4.” (Peters, 1973) CCORDING

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Some of the most common Greek definitions used among Islamic 5 philosophers are as follows : • Philosophy (falsafah) is the knowledge of all existing things qua existents. • Philosophy is knowledge of divine and human matters. • Philosophy is taking refuge in death, that is, love of death. • Philosophy is becoming God-like to the extent of human ability. • Philosophy is the art (sind'ah) of arts and the science (‘ilm) of sciences. • Philosophy is predilection for hikmah. The Islamic philosophers meditated upon these definitions of falsafah, which they identified with the Qur’ānic term hikmah believing the origin of hikmah to be divine. The works on politics written by the Islamic philosophers were based especially on Plato, with influence also from Aristotle’s Ethics. The Greek NeoPlatonists had tried to combine the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle; they held that these philosophies were fundamentally in harmony. This view was passed on to the Islamic philosophers, who expounded a more or less Platonized Aristotelianism.

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Peters, F. E., Allah's Commonwealth, New York; Simon and Schuster, 1973.

Christel Hein, Definition and Einleitung der Philosophie - Von der spdtantiken Einleitungsliteratur zur arabischen Enzyklopddie (Bern and New York, 1985): 86.

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Personal Reflection of the Book In order for someone to learn about Islam, one must read many different books written by different authors. This way the readers will gain broader perspectives of the Islamic religion from Muslim, Arabic and Western writers. The book A New Introduction to Islam by Daniel Brown is written in an engaging style and it introduces the fascinating practice, history, and beliefs of Islamic tradition. In addition, the book is very engaging because it introduces the readers to the development of Islamic study as a discipline. Whether the reader is knowledgeable or not, he or she can learn about the detailed chronologies, tables summaries, useful maps, and diagrams. The book is informative and clear on all the major issues and historical events pertaining to Islam. While I was reading the book, I felt puzzled and at times uncomfortable because there were so many things that were missing, which I am aware of

because of my former studies of Islam. Moreover, when I finished the book I felt it was good to read different points of views, as well as to know the importance of the whole story. The Author Daniel Brown has lived in Egypt and in Pakistan where he was born and spent his first eighteen years. He taught Islamic Studies at Mount Holyoke, Amherst and Smith Colleges and he is the author of Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought.

I would like to end this paper with a quote from Qur’ān the Holly

“I could have made you one people...but I created you into different nations so that you would come to know each other.”

Mouwafac Sidaoui Spring 2004 Father Collins 704-700 Philosophical Foundations of Education -6-