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The Education System in Islam
The Education System in Islam
Vital Issue: Preserving the Islamic Identity of the Youth
The issue of preserving our identity as Muslims is important to the entire community. As Muslims we must strive to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, starting with the obligation to protect our Aqeedah in ourselves and in our youth. This struggle is most pronounced with the youth. As the youth are forming their ideas about how things work in life, they can be easily influenced by peers and society. This influence is not limited to the curriculum taught in schools, but also includes the ideas that other youth promote and ideas propagated on television and the Internet. As a result, if Muslim youth are not provided with an Islamic environment to direct them to the straight path, then there is a grave risk that they will adopt a crooked path. As Allah (swt) has revealed:
“O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are angels stern and strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded.†[TMQ 66:6]
As a result, the Muslim community has an obligation to create and maintain an alternative to the public school system: an independent Islamic school system that will provide an Islamic environment that builds and nurtures the Islamic Aqeedah within the youth, so that they make the Islamic measures – Halal and Haram – as the sole measures to evaluate whether an action is good or bad, beneficial or harmful, desirable or otherwise.
‘No such thing as a free lunch’
When evaluating proposals that emanate from secularists, it is important to evaluate their proposal from the perspective they have adopted: the perspective of benefit and harm. In the secularist mind, an idea is worth pursuing only if its benefit as measured by reason outweighs its cost. For example, the Toronto Star recently published an analysis that Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is largely driven by the need to “keep trucks rolling across the Detroit River†– meaning that Canada has “decided to risk Canadian lives in Kandahar†for the sake of its economic relationship with the United States. When John Tory of the Conservative party of Ontario, proposed to bring faith-based schools, including Islamic schools, within the public school system, he clearly stated that funding will come with conditions. These conditions could encompass but would not be limited to the curriculum and the teaching staff. The CBC reported that John Tory added to these conditions that:
“…public funding would not be extended to the schools without extensive consultation and thought.â€
This would eliminate most of the independence that Islamic schools enjoy, and the main reason why concerned parents send their children to these schools. Although having funding is beneficial, we must be sure that we do not sacrifice the foremost reason we need an independent environment for our children. Allah (swt) has revealed:
“It may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you, and Allah knows, while you do not know.â€
[TMQ 2:216]
Thinking Ahead: What challenges will the Youth face?
Most Muslims are aware of the corruption that is promoted in terms of social behaviour: men and women are able and encouraged to form intimate relationships, outside the bounds of marriage, without any thought to its consequences in the Hereafter.
Islamic schools along with the nurturing of Muslim youth in an Islamic environment are critical for success in facing this challenge. Attending classes where boys are separate from girls gives our youth the ability to develop a sense of Haya (modesty). The curriculum must promote the Islamic concept of marriage andfamily, and inform the children to the dangers of adopting lifestyles that do not conform to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saw). In addition, the teaching staff should provide a role model for the youth: female teachers should endeavour to dress in strict Islamic attire; male teachers should display respect to their female colleagues and show seriousness in all matters; and in general, both should steer clear of frivolous and un-Islamic behaviour.
Another challenge that the youth face is the pressure from society to concede that Islam is backward or incapable of dealing with the issues of the 21st century. We must also ensure that our youth are able to counter the intellectual attacks on Islam. For example, when youth attend universities and take philosophy courses, they may start to entertain doubts about the Islamic Aqeedah and might abandon Islam – Allah forbid. As a result, it is crucial that we prepare our youth to face these challenges by demonstrating how the Islamic Aqeedah is rational and is capable of answering the fundamental questions that Man asks in a definitive manner. This also requires the Muslim youth to have a firm understanding of how Islam solves problems in the spheres of economics and politics – without the need to adopt Capitalist and Secular solutions. The Muslim youth must also be taught to think critically about issues and identify that many of the arguments that we face today are similar to the attacks that Prophet Muhammad (saw) faced when he was in Makkah. Through the Quran, Allah (swt) supported Rasulallah (saw) with Ayat (verses) to answer these challenges. Allah (swt) revealed:
“Shall We then treat the People of Faith like the People of Sin?? What is the matter with you? How judge you? Or have you a book through which you learn- That you shall have, through it whatever you choose?â€
[TMQ 68:35-38]
In this example, the Quraish are being challenged as to what is the basis of their attack on Muslims. Similarly, we can teach our children to question and assess what exactly do non-Muslims base their attacks on Islam. For example, Islam is often painted as violent. However, it is the democratic nations that use violence, as they have done in Iraq, to achieve their aims.
The Islamic Education System
Education is the method to preserve the Ummah’s culture in the hearts of its children. It moulds the individual’s intellect and his method of judging things, statements and actions just as it moulds his inclinations, thereby influencing his mentality, disposition (Nafsiyya) and behaviour (Sulook). As Muslims we must actively promote the idea that Muslim children need to be taught to think in an Islamic manner and understand the Aqeedah dynamically. It is insufficient to require students to regurgitate what they memorized. Instead they must be taught to consciously evaluate whether an action will allow them to receive the pleasure of Allah (swt) or invite the wrath of Allah (swt). Furthermore, they must be taught how to recognize what is alien to Islam. The Ummah’s culture creates the character of its individuals. Ultimately, we must ensure that our youth are confident in the Deen of Allah (swt) and are able to face the challenges of living in the corrupt world we live in – regardless of whether we are in Canada or Saudi Arabia.
A Global and Permanent Solution
Like with any important issue, the Muslim community must adopt a global view on the education issue with a goal to permanently resolve it. The education of the youth cannot be guaranteed to be entirely Islamic while all the systems that govern life do not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah. Also, the education of the youth is not a problem that is specific to the community in Canada, but is an issue facing the entire Ummah, even those Muslims who live in the Muslim lands. The problem being global, the Ummah must co-operate to find a solution, the only right solution to it. Only by establishing the Khilafah state in the Muslim lands will Muslims offer the best environment for the next generations to be born, raised and nurtured in a clean Islamic manner so that Islamic personalities of the same calibre as the first generations of Islam are revealed again to humanity.
May Allah (swt) protect our families and our youth from the influence of Shaitan. May Allah (swt) guide us and strengthen our connection to Him, for indeed from Him we came and to Him we shall return.
The recent provincial elections in Ontario brought to the forefront the issue of public funding of Islamic Schools. As Muslims we should recognize that such proposals would be accompanied with strings attached and has the potential to undermine Islamic Schools altogether. As parents and members of the Muslim community we must work to ensure that Islamic Schools remain independent and that their mission is to foster a generation of youth firmly established on the Islamic Aqeedah, and able to positively contribute to society.One of the key issues in the recent provincial election in Ontario was the issue of faith-based schools. One of the political parties proposed that faith-based schools, including those run by Muslims, Jews, and others would receive public funding. Although the party that promoted this idea was defeated, the issue of whether Muslims should pursue such a strategy should be examined in the light of the Islamic Aqeedah.
Vital Issue: Preserving the Islamic Identity of the Youth
The issue of preserving our identity as Muslims is important to the entire community. As Muslims we must strive to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, starting with the obligation to protect our Aqeedah in ourselves and in our youth. This struggle is most pronounced with the youth. As the youth are forming their ideas about how things work in life, they can be easily influenced by peers and society. This influence is not limited to the curriculum taught in schools, but also includes the ideas that other youth promote and ideas propagated on television and the Internet. As a result, if Muslim youth are not provided with an Islamic environment to direct them to the straight path, then there is a grave risk that they will adopt a crooked path. As Allah (swt) has revealed:
“O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are angels stern and strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded.†[TMQ 66:6]
As a result, the Muslim community has an obligation to create and maintain an alternative to the public school system: an independent Islamic school system that will provide an Islamic environment that builds and nurtures the Islamic Aqeedah within the youth, so that they make the Islamic measures – Halal and Haram – as the sole measures to evaluate whether an action is good or bad, beneficial or harmful, desirable or otherwise.
‘No such thing as a free lunch’
When evaluating proposals that emanate from secularists, it is important to evaluate their proposal from the perspective they have adopted: the perspective of benefit and harm. In the secularist mind, an idea is worth pursuing only if its benefit as measured by reason outweighs its cost. For example, the Toronto Star recently published an analysis that Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is largely driven by the need to “keep trucks rolling across the Detroit River†– meaning that Canada has “decided to risk Canadian lives in Kandahar†for the sake of its economic relationship with the United States. When John Tory of the Conservative party of Ontario, proposed to bring faith-based schools, including Islamic schools, within the public school system, he clearly stated that funding will come with conditions. These conditions could encompass but would not be limited to the curriculum and the teaching staff. The CBC reported that John Tory added to these conditions that:
“…public funding would not be extended to the schools without extensive consultation and thought.â€
This would eliminate most of the independence that Islamic schools enjoy, and the main reason why concerned parents send their children to these schools. Although having funding is beneficial, we must be sure that we do not sacrifice the foremost reason we need an independent environment for our children. Allah (swt) has revealed:
“It may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you, and Allah knows, while you do not know.â€
[TMQ 2:216]
Thinking Ahead: What challenges will the Youth face?
Most Muslims are aware of the corruption that is promoted in terms of social behaviour: men and women are able and encouraged to form intimate relationships, outside the bounds of marriage, without any thought to its consequences in the Hereafter.
Islamic schools along with the nurturing of Muslim youth in an Islamic environment are critical for success in facing this challenge. Attending classes where boys are separate from girls gives our youth the ability to develop a sense of Haya (modesty). The curriculum must promote the Islamic concept of marriage andfamily, and inform the children to the dangers of adopting lifestyles that do not conform to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saw). In addition, the teaching staff should provide a role model for the youth: female teachers should endeavour to dress in strict Islamic attire; male teachers should display respect to their female colleagues and show seriousness in all matters; and in general, both should steer clear of frivolous and un-Islamic behaviour.
Another challenge that the youth face is the pressure from society to concede that Islam is backward or incapable of dealing with the issues of the 21st century. We must also ensure that our youth are able to counter the intellectual attacks on Islam. For example, when youth attend universities and take philosophy courses, they may start to entertain doubts about the Islamic Aqeedah and might abandon Islam – Allah forbid. As a result, it is crucial that we prepare our youth to face these challenges by demonstrating how the Islamic Aqeedah is rational and is capable of answering the fundamental questions that Man asks in a definitive manner. This also requires the Muslim youth to have a firm understanding of how Islam solves problems in the spheres of economics and politics – without the need to adopt Capitalist and Secular solutions. The Muslim youth must also be taught to think critically about issues and identify that many of the arguments that we face today are similar to the attacks that Prophet Muhammad (saw) faced when he was in Makkah. Through the Quran, Allah (swt) supported Rasulallah (saw) with Ayat (verses) to answer these challenges. Allah (swt) revealed:
“Shall We then treat the People of Faith like the People of Sin?? What is the matter with you? How judge you? Or have you a book through which you learn- That you shall have, through it whatever you choose?â€
[TMQ 68:35-38]
In this example, the Quraish are being challenged as to what is the basis of their attack on Muslims. Similarly, we can teach our children to question and assess what exactly do non-Muslims base their attacks on Islam. For example, Islam is often painted as violent. However, it is the democratic nations that use violence, as they have done in Iraq, to achieve their aims.
The Islamic Education System
Education is the method to preserve the Ummah’s culture in the hearts of its children. It moulds the individual’s intellect and his method of judging things, statements and actions just as it moulds his inclinations, thereby influencing his mentality, disposition (Nafsiyya) and behaviour (Sulook). As Muslims we must actively promote the idea that Muslim children need to be taught to think in an Islamic manner and understand the Aqeedah dynamically. It is insufficient to require students to regurgitate what they memorized. Instead they must be taught to consciously evaluate whether an action will allow them to receive the pleasure of Allah (swt) or invite the wrath of Allah (swt). Furthermore, they must be taught how to recognize what is alien to Islam. The Ummah’s culture creates the character of its individuals. Ultimately, we must ensure that our youth are confident in the Deen of Allah (swt) and are able to face the challenges of living in the corrupt world we live in – regardless of whether we are in Canada or Saudi Arabia.
A Global and Permanent Solution
Like with any important issue, the Muslim community must adopt a global view on the education issue with a goal to permanently resolve it. The education of the youth cannot be guaranteed to be entirely Islamic while all the systems that govern life do not emanate from the Islamic Aqeedah. Also, the education of the youth is not a problem that is specific to the community in Canada, but is an issue facing the entire Ummah, even those Muslims who live in the Muslim lands. The problem being global, the Ummah must co-operate to find a solution, the only right solution to it. Only by establishing the Khilafah state in the Muslim lands will Muslims offer the best environment for the next generations to be born, raised and nurtured in a clean Islamic manner so that Islamic personalities of the same calibre as the first generations of Islam are revealed again to humanity.
May Allah (swt) protect our families and our youth from the influence of Shaitan. May Allah (swt) guide us and strengthen our connection to Him, for indeed from Him we came and to Him we shall return.