Educational Reform-Balancing Values and Skills

Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph. D.
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
7102 W. Shefford Lane
Louisville, KY 40242-6462, USA
E-mail: IRFI@INAME.COM
Website: http://WWW.IRFI.ORG

ABSTRACT

Education---like democracy, free markets, freedom of the press, and "universal human rights"--- is one of those subjects whose virtue is considered self-evident. In Industrially advanced countries, education has become an extension of the capitalist system; in other words, the purpose of education is to provide for the economic prosperity of a country. Similarly on a personal level today the purpose of education is to be able to earn a respectable living. While earning halal living and providing for the economic well being of a country are certainly important Islamic goals as well, the linking of education to financial goals is extremely unfortunate. Now-a-days many internal problems-corruption, injustice, oppression, crippling poverty--are rampant everywhere in the Muslim world. Those who perpetuate these problems are educated people, in some cases "highly" educated people. Why are Muslim communities in the grip of so much materialism today? Why have we effectively relegated Islam to a small inconsequential quarter in our public life? Some advocate that is precisely where our secular education system has put it. Our imported education system is devoid of all moral training. Why our societies are sick? Because our education system is sick. Our schools and colleges have been the main agency for secularization of Islamic societies. They have been effectively teaching that Islam is irrelevant to understanding this world or to solving its problems. But even when they are strong practicing Muslims, they have not been trained and educated to detect and challenge secular dogmas that have been integrated into their curriculums. This is the real crisis of education. Moral training, Tarbiya, was always an inalienable part of it. The teacher (ustad), was not just a teacher or mere professional, but a mentor and moral guide. In Tirmidhi we read " No father has given a greater gift to his children than good moral training." This must be the main criterion of our education, not a ceremonial cover. All plans for improving our education will be totally futile unless they are based on a full understanding of this key reality. This requires revamping our curricula, rewriting our textbooks, retraining our teachers, and realizing that we do all these things ourselves.

Introduction

Belief and righteous conduct are the principles on which the Islamic society is founded. This connection between values and practice lies at the very heart of the Islamic way of life. A Muslim is known by his or her faith that is reflected in one’s practice and daily moral conduct with other people. Muslims are fortunate to have the beautiful teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Prophetic Sunnah. Muslims have institutions such as mosques, Islamic schools and organizations. Inspite such resources many Muslims today do not live in accordance with the principles and values of their faith. What is wrong?¹

Prosperous is he who purifies it, and failed has he who seduces it. (91:7-10)

It is a miraculous quality of Islam and the Quran that in spite of being the ultimate religion it is also ever alive and fresh, capable of not only moving in step with the movement and growth of human societies and the development of culture and civilization, but also infused with the capacity to induce dynamism and movement. It is so resourceful that it can always cater to the needs of changing times and newly arising problems.

The Quran 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 with new research. Neither this inquiry and investigation come to an end, nor the discoveries and findings are ever exhausted. No matter how much progress and advancement man may make in the field of science he is still confronted with new enigmas posed by nature, which he has to understand and solve.

Knowledge has no limits. The profound book of nature is so rich in content and meaning that if the history of human thought continues forever, this book is not likely to be read to its end. The Quran, too, is like the rich and profound book of nature, with the difference that the Quran is articulate and eloquent while nature is silent. But its content and resources are equally inexhaustible, and will ever remain as fresh and novel. Every day it conveys a new message to the humanity. That Islam had stirred various intellectual legal, educational, and cultural movements in human history, and is ever dynamic and alive and that, we, too, are called upon to actively participate in this movement and play our own role in this mission.

Aim of education is to teach the students the contents of the books and to provide them with a diploma at the conclusion of their academic terms, a document that served as a permit to enter some new lucrative trade. In this way, from the first day all that the parents cared about was what his or her child would become after twelve or sixteen or eighteen years of school and college education, what office he would hold and what sort of income he would secure for himself.

Knowledge was not relevant. The diploma and the certificate served as a bridge to cross over to higher salary. Therefore, all that mattered was the diploma. There were, of course, certain hidden objectives also behind this organization of the educational system. The pagan system of the past wanted it that way that education should be no more than a kind of distraction for the people, ultimately ensuring cultural poverty, bankruptcy, dependence, absurdity and sterility. That system of education was designed to breed generations of indifferent, irresponsible and hollow individuals who cannot rely upon themselves.

Sterility was in built in all sections of life through the system of education, which produced persons without any ideals, indifferent and neutral regarding their aims and goals. The result was that they were totally devoid of the goals of self-sufficiency, specialization, and expertise and consequently dependent upon others regarding their industry and agriculture. The weak level of indigenous specialization and expertise necessitated supervision and domination of a Muslim country by foreign political, military, technical, and even educational advisers and administrators ².

There was hardly any construction company, corporation, ministry, factory, research centre or any other establishment in an oil rich Muslim country that was not run by foreign experts and advisers. In almost every industrial contract that was made, there were scores of various aspects of dependence on foreigners. In one atomic energy project alone, and other such projects, there were approximately two hundred military contracts that made us dependent upon two hundred different international power centres. We were happy in our heart of hearts that we had brought such and such a thing to our country, while in reality, with the establishment of such a project we had made our economy dependent upon the two hundred centres of exploitation and domination servile to the desires of bloodthirsty colonialists, who were responsible for exporting consumerist thinking and culture to our country. If they established some colleges in certain specialized fields which, for example, produced good doctors, we were so weak with regard to our goals and ideals vis-a-vis our own people that our doctors were absorbed by American and European hospitals to treat others, as if they deserved their services more than ourselves! If we established one or two specialized faculties in our country and succeeded in producing some experts, they were of benefit only for others. It was a strange thing that some of the prescribed courses of specialization in the medical colleges were about diseases that occurred in America and were not found in any Muslim country!

It is because our entire system of education was geared to the foreign interests. Dependence does not mean translation of foreign texts of physics and chemistry, for instance, into our language. Learning from others is in no way opposed to the ideals of self-reliance. The Muslims were responsible for developing the sciences of physics and chemistry. It was Muslims who first taught these sciences to others and later on other people made expansions in these fields. We should learn from others, complying with the words of the Prophet (S):

Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave.

And:

Seek knowledge even [if it is to be found in a place as distant as] China.

The question of acquisition of knowledge from others is not a matter of dependence. Man should acquire good ideas, thoughts, knowledge, and skills, from all corners of the world. That is a different thing. The real problem with an educational system not geared to the objective of self-sufficiency is that the people are trained in such a way that instead of fulfilling the needs of their nation and establishing a sympathetic relationship with the deprived masses, instead of the service of the people and the care and treatment of the sick of our motherland, instead of making roads for our deprived villages, all efforts are directed in such a way that every effort undertaken is either for the sake of one's pocket, or in the interests of the pagan oppressors, or for launching such projects as multiply our dependence on foreign powers. The real problem is the culture of dependence, adoption of hollow and empty cultural and intellectual ideals, values, aims and principles, which are devoid of meaning and are bankrupt ² .

High school graduates want university education so that they can count upon their chances of getting good employment, after college education and elevation of their place and position in society. If they are told that the high school diploma bears the same value in the employment market, then the majority of them would not care for the university education. If one visits any Eastern or Western country, one will find that only eleven to fourteen per cent of high school graduates find way into the university. The majority, unable to find their way into the university, is absorbed in other jobs and fulfils other needs of the society.

What is the reason that our students while deciding upon the choice of their field of study are always after the subjects which offer better chances of entrance into the university or which are more paying. They do not give their mind as to which of the subjects is more congruous to their taste, their capabilities, or is appropriate to the needs of their society. It does not matter to them as to which of the subjects can be more useful for improving the lot of the deprived and the downtrodden, or which is more effective in assisting their societies in achieving self-sufficiency. The only thing that they consider is the market value of any field, or subject with better chances of admission to the university, regardless of whether the subjects opted by them for study are in conformity with their interests or not, whether they are in accordance with the demands of their society. That is absolutely of no concern to them. All this exhibits deterioration of our values, degeneration of ideals, and absence of any sense of responsibility.

What purpose schools serve?

For the primary education perhaps it may be said that it serves the purpose of teaching the children to read, write and to do arithmetical sums, so that they may learn to sign their names and do not remain illiterate. But what is the purpose of secondary education then? Why do our children have to go through the high school?

Perhaps most of you will say that the purpose is to learn and to make headway in life, to be able to find a good job with good pay, or something of this kind.

Moreover, the aims and purposes should be definite. Is it necessary for the children to study all the lessons prescribed in their texts? Are those lessons useful for the child and the future of his society? If they are not useful, we are obliged to announce that such and such a chapter in such and such a book is useless and unnecessary, or such and such a topic or even a subject is struck off from the syllabus. But if any of them are useful, they should not only be retained, but also studied, and learnt well. Sometimes I contemplate about this problem as to why eighty or ninety per cent of the children put aside their books and completely abandon them as soon as their examinations are over. What does this attitude imply? Does it not show that the book was not read or studied for the sake of its subjects, and there did not exist any bond between the student and the book? In other words, the book was studied merely for the sake of marks on the progress report. Once the report reflected the numbers, the whole affair comes to an end. The book becomes irrelevant for the student. We have to see first whether these lessons are essential for the society or not. If they are essential, what is the explanation for this behaviour? ²

If we really want to march forward in the direction of achieving self-sufficiency, if we do not wish to import any experts and specialists from foreign countries, if we do not wish to rely upon foreign experts and specialists for every small matter, we should firstly make our universities and schools independent of alien elements. We do not lack talent, as our youngsters are full of capacities. By God, Europe and America are not specially favoured regarding their intellectual and natural talents. That intelligence, intellect and potentiality exist in ample amount in every Muslim country. Then why should we need to bring from other lands any experts or managers for setting up and managing our factories or advisers for training our armed forces? Why should we need to import spare parts from foreign countries? Why should we depend upon others for all kinds of ordinary industrial products? ²

Muslim children have initiative, creativity, capacity for working hard and productivity. When they become soldiers they can make certain important parts of tanks and guns, but also they could manufacture certain parts of Phantom planes. They can repair one of the biggest warships, the same ship that if they had wanted to repair three years back, it would have had to be in British waters waiting eleven months for its turn, and which would have cost us an expense of several million dollars also. Our own workers repaired it. Muslim children have immense capabilities, why shouldn't they be utilized? Why shouldn't they be allowed to blossom? Why in lieu of this we should be so much dependent on others?²

Why should a student have to spend precious twelve years of his life and give nine months of every year, and twenty to twenty-five days of each month, working four to five hours a day, in order to obtain a certificate and run after jobs without possessing any skill, any experience or capability whatsoever? Why should all these resources be wasted? Is it inevitable that this waste and this loss should occur?

Student who takes his high school diploma in literature does not have the skills of writing, does not know the art of public speaking, cannot do any kind of artistic work, has no idea of research and cannot even write a simple political analysis.

The one with a technical diploma does not know even very simple technological skills and crafts. The one, who has completed the commerce and management course, knows nothing about clerical work or keeping of accounts. All of them, what they were after was to get a piece of paper. With this piece of paper in their hands, they go from place to place saying, "Give me some job, wherever you can. Don't consider what I have studied, management or literature. I just want some job, no matter what. Give me one, and give me money."

Even now the system of education is static, lifeless, sluggish, despondent, and decadent.

Let us see how one of the so-called advanced countries of the world is doing in education. If one visits Tokyo, Japan there one can enquire about their school vacations. They will tell you that they have just a forty-day summer vacation, and two other vacations of ten days each, which altogether make two months in the whole year.

Incidentally, that day when we went to visit the schools was their last working day after which their forty-day holidays were to commence. Despite the fact that it was their last working day, in whichever class we went we saw that the class was at work. The teacher was busy teaching lessons while pupils attentively listened to him and answered his questions. On the last working day, and even in the last moments the classes were functioning normally. But in a Muslim country, as soon as we smell vacations even from a distance, we give up everything to do with teaching or learning.²