Challenges in Islamic Education

Every civilization faces challenges, and the Muslim civilization (if we dare say), is no different. The challenges are congruent to the civilization's position on the supposed "graph" / Bell Curve of civilizational growth and decay.

An overview of the world history over the past couple of millennia is enlightening and humbling at the same time. The pattern of coming and going of civilizations, stares at our faces, with the question, why? From the Mesopotamian to Greek , Egyptian and Indian to Chinese, Persian and Roman to Muslim, and not too far back in the annals of history, to an Empire on which the sun supposedly never set - the British.

Scholars like Ibn Khaldun, or Gibbon/Toynbee  to more recent Homer-Dixon argue on various facets of civilization and their role in the decline of civilizations and nation-states.  Whether we agree with their conclusions or not, they have a case in arguing that all civilizations go through phases of growth, development, and decline.

And then there is also hope in civilizational resurgence, defined by a re-examining of worldviews, as well as adapting to a changing world.  For the past several decades, Islamic civilization is facing the labour pains, but is yet to be reborn, let alone shed the umblical cord of the colonial era. The Arabic spring was when it was thought that the water broke, but it is apparent that if the baby of Islamic resurgence is born now, it might be premature.

The recurring cycle shows us that change happens, and perhaps will continue to happen. As illustrated in a famous quote about the imminence of change, "all we must do now, is to lead the world to a brighter day. . . For we have lived in darkness for far too long."

Leading the Muslim civilization, or for that matter any civilization, let alone the world, to a brighter day may be easier said than done considering the enormous complexities of such an endeavour.  It also raises difficult, but pertinent questions. For instance, can we define a civilization as a homogenous monolithic entity, or a loose federation of heterogeneous nation states? Can a civilization insulate itself to create a sense of identity? Should it ? Or can a civilization shed its cultural baggage and embrace the winds of change, at the risk of losing itself in the crowd?

There may be endless debate on this issue, but it is our view that no civilization can survive in isolation insulating its interactions from the rest of the world, and that it has hardly been the approach of successful civilizations across history. It is also our opinion that shedding our cultural genes in the name of progress/embracing change is a death blow not only to our civilization, but to our individuality as well.

We propose that any change in the declining fortunes of the Muslim civilization cannot be achieved without due emphasis on education.  Hence, reforming education in the Muslim world is one of the appropriate steps in the right direction.  In the words of Sir Ken Robinson, a leading educator of our times, there is no country that is not reforming their systems of education, whether for economic or cultural reasons. Change is not only happening, but unavoidable, and we daresay welcome. However, the magnitude and direction of this change needs to be coherently established or if it is there, then drastically reformed.

We put it to our readers that to bring about a resurgence of Muslim Civilization, we need to overhaul the Islamic Education systems, in many ways, notably:

1. The Goals of Islamic Education need to be defined/re-looked at.
2. Educators in Islamic Education need to be re-educated to these goals, whether it is teachers, administrators or the parents.
3. The profile of a graduate from an Islamic Educational System needs to be created, and adhered to as one of the overarching goals.
4. The systems of pedagogy need to be brought up to pace with the rest of the world.
5. Islamic Education systems need to be independent, and self-sustaining.
6. The Islamic Education system must be linked to a society that shares the goals and ideals of this education system. This being the most difficult to achieve, being of the "chicken or egg" kind.

The overarching goal of this blog is to share ideas to this effect.