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Preliminary ideas presented by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. at Abant, Turkey August 2008
1.0 JUSTIFICATION
The need for reform in disciplines of modern knowledge was first articulated at an international level at the First Conference of Muslim Education held in Makkah in 1970. Since then more conferences have been held to discuss the issue. Schools, universities, and research institutes have been set up with the twin objectives of removing duality in education systems (modern European vs. traditional Muslim) and to reform disciplines of knowledge by removing cultural biases to make them objective and universal. These efforts have reached a stage that they require a university of international caliber to spear-head research on epistemology and development of educational curricula.
2.0 FUNCTIONS OF THE PROPOSED UNIVERSITY
The proposed university is not a teaching university. It will not have students of its own. It will however undertake three functions: (a) preparation of curricula, teaching materials, and research programs that will be franchised to local universities or to university colleges that will function as branch campuses of the mother university (b) quality control of the teaching of the curricula (c) preparing examinations to assess students (d) award of academic degrees.
3.0 STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY
The basic philosophy is to have a small central administration headed by a president. A board of trustees and an academic board will oversee the policies of the university. The President will preside over a senate made of deans of 5 faculties: social sciences and humanities, life and health sciences, physical sciences, arts, and Islamic sciences. The full-time deans will work with part-time consultants who are experts in various sciences to produce, quality control, and examine the curricula of the university.
4.0 REGISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY
For the university to have historical authenticity it can be registered in one of the following cities that have been traditional centers of learning in Muslim history: Makkah, Madina, Dimashq, Baghdad, Istanbul, Bukhara, Cairo, Fas, Qarawiin, Nishapur, Timbuktu, and Rayy. For practical purposes the most feasible alternatives are Cairo and Fas. After registration the university can set up an administrative center in a tourist city with few visa restrictions to enable easy access by academicians. Cities that fulfill this criterion are: Cape Town and Kuala Lumpur.
5.0 FINANCING
The running of the university will surprisingly be cheap because of a thin administrative staff and reliance on consultants. It needs a small endowment to sustain its basis administration. It can derive extra income from a share of the tuition fees paid by students at the teaching campuses. It can also generate extra income from consultation services.
6.0 NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
The name of the university should be chosen carefully to reflect the authenticity of the Muslim intellectual heritage. The name however must also sound modern enough to have a wider appeal. Names that can be imputed to sectarian or political tendencies must be avoided.