BaKhabar, May 2010, Page-4

better light a candle than curse the darkness

WESTERN EDUCATION AND THE QUESTION OF RECONSTRUCTION OF ISLAMIC SOCIETY

- Mohammad Allam (mohammad_allam@rediffmail.com)

Going through the different stages of the life of Prophet Mohammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam, one thing is revealed clearly, and that was his well thought plan for construction of an Islamic society in Makka and later in Madina. In Makka period prophet of Allah did not destroy the fabric of existing society but changed it by injecting the social values and morals of Islam into it. The desired changes were brought by receiving commands from Allah Rabbul Alameen and training the members of Ummah. This method can be applied for reconstruction of Islamic society in the present day world, where Muslims are in minority, especially in European and American continents. The Madinan stage of prophet revealed his motive to create a desired community to whom Almighty could hand over the leadership of the world. This Madinan stage was characterized by working towards the vision of Islam which was by assimilating new communities and cultures. This stage, in fact, could be called the true age of composite culture or multi-cultural society, for which the world is aspiring today.

The training of Ashab-e-sufa by prophets of Allah for years provided humans the power to spread Islam. The unity of Ummah was strengthened by one command of Prophet of Allah and later by other Khalifas of Islam. During early stages of Islam, the unity of Islamic teachings, leadership and vision to guide the humanity towards the heaven, played greater role in acceptance and dominance of Islam around the world.

The education system,at that time, was based on the holy Quran and Sunnah with sole objective to create an individual for Islamic society and humanity. There was no duality in educational aims and objectives. The teachings of prophets of Allah produced the dynamic individuals in every field in the world of Islam. The Islamic education, as it was called, changed the world of Islam and humanity.

The present system of education, based on western model as recommended by the pro-western scholar for the reconstruction of Islamic society in 21st century, is an effort to create duality within Islamic society. The aims and objectives of western education are to create an individual and society, with unlimited critical power, to challenge every established order and question the very basic of religions, in the name of scientific thoughts and critical analysis, without any sense of responsibility.(See the movement of post-modernism in the present day). The emptiness in religious morals of western society is well known to the scholars of Islam. The individual with unlimited power dominates the collective interests of the society. The episode of cartoon of Prophet of Allah by Danish cartoonist is an example of their objective to destroy the very foundation of faith of Islam . Does Islam teach us to produce

such individuals for the Islamic society?

What are the sources of western education system?
Being a materialistic society, the sources for education are not divine but manmade. The role models of western education are from Ancient (Greek, Roman civilization), Medieval (Feudalism, Nation-state) and Modern (Present day America, Europe Australia etc) period. The classics of all times are taught in educational institutions of the west irrespective of faculties of science, arts etc. These classic based education may be good for the western materialistic society and nation but not for the Islamic society. Can this sort of educational system, if applied in Muslim society, produce individuals like the Khalifa-e-Rashiden of Islamic world? Can this system produce the desired individuals for the Islamic society?

The divisions of western education into different sectors created by different Imams (Leaders), are complete contrast to the basis of oneness of Islamic education system based on the holy Quran and Sunnah. The division of Islam into different schools of thought is the result of mixing of defective systems in terms of contents, method and tools in educational system.

Can Karl Marx's historical materialism produce the individual belief in the verses of Holy Quaran?

“Wa Ma Tasha una Aen Yasha Allah o Rabbul Alameen".

Is this conception of progress of humanity, based on will of Almighty, possible by teaching of Aristotle, Plato, Dante, Rousseau, Marx etc? The problems with all Muslim countries today is that they want to produce an individual, as desired by Islam, using the western education system .While in reality this system brings a state of confusion in the world of Islam due to duality in its aims and objectives. The need of hour is to reanalyse the western educational system, denounce the sectorian schools of thought and end the duality in its aims and objectives, and thus approach to bring the oneness in Islamic education system. The duality of western education should be rejected at once for reconstruction of a better society. The need is to have own education system based on the various stages of Islam. Why rest our education system based on the Greek-Roman legacies and not on the periods of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him)? How can Pharaoh or Rustam cannot be a role model for muslims when Allah has already declared Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as our role model. And this can be possible only when we critically analyse the confused and ambiguous educational system of West based on Quran and Sunnah. And then develop our own educational system based on the experiences of the west but based on islamic teachings.

Email: bakhabar@biharanjuman.org 4