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120126P - CONCEPT PAPER ON WRITING ISLAMIC EPISTEMOLOGY-BASED COURSE OUTLINES AND THEN TEXTBOOKS FOR INTRODUCTORY UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY COURSES IN EAST ASIA

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Paper delivered at a strategy meeting to plan writing introductory textbooks held at Kuala Lumpur on 2-3 February 2012 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics King Fahad Faculty of Medicine Riyadh Saudi Arabia


1.0 OVERVIEW
1.1 The Islamic Epistemology (IE) and Curriculum Project started in 2006 in Indonesia and Malaysia has been able to disseminate the idea of IOK in the region. This has been achieved by holding many seminars and workshops some general and some specialized on IE.

1.2 The idea is now widely accepted. Teachers and students are asking for the next step in the project; they want to see some practical implementation.

1.3 The next step of practical implementation is practical implementation in undergraduate courses as course outlines and course descriptions that will be taught backed up with textbooks and other teaching materials. This paper highlights the main milestones of the work in the next three years.

2.0 VISION AND MISSION
2.1 It is envisaged that at the end of 2013 we shall have course outlines with a reformed Islamic content for the major disciplines.

2.2 It is envisaged that by the end of 2014 we shall have a draft of a textbook for each course. The draft will have been tried out in classroom teaching (formally or informally).

2.3 It is envisaged that by the end of 2015 the various textbooks will have been processed for publication and will be available for sale by January 2016.

2.4 Textbooks shall be available for the following major disciplines: economics, sociology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc. [the complete list will be determined by the workshop participants].

3.0 THE EPISTEMOLOGY & CURRICULUM REFORM PROJECT: background
3.1 The ummat is experiencing a crisis of duality in education (Islamic alongside secular) with many intellectual and practical consequences.

3.2 The solution of the crisis of duality is integrating Islamic values and concepts in all disciplines of learning

3.3 Epistemology and curriculum reform is the basis for knowledge/education renaissance in the ummat

3.4 Education reform is the basis for social reform, islah & tajdid


4.0 THE CONCEPT OF AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE / TEXT BOOK
4.1 The introductory course/book will be an epistemological to the discipline. It is a temporary but necessary measure in curriculum reform. The introduction will orient the students before they start study of the discipline so that they can understand the Islamic epistemological foundations and how these differ from European or secular paradigms. The introduction will be the foundation stone for epistemological reform of all disciplines which will be achieved in the long run.

4.2 The initial steps in preparing the course/textbook are (a) summarization of available writings on Islamic methodological sciences as they relate to disciplines of knowledge.  (b) Reading the Qur’an and sunnat with understanding of the changing time-space dimensions as they relate to the discipline. (c) Clarification of basic epistemological issues and relations and an Islamic critique of basic paradigms, basic assumptions, and basic concepts of various disciplines using criteria of Islamic methodology and Islamic epistemology. (d) Islamic reviews of existing text-books and teaching materials to identify deviations from the tauhidi episteme and the Islamic methodology.

4.3 The initial output of the Islamization process will be Islamic introductions to disciplines, muqaddimat al ‘uluum, establishing basic Islamic principles and paradigms that determine and regulate the methodology, content, and teaching of disciplines. This parallels Ibn Khaldun’s Introduction to History, muqaddimat presented generalizing and methodological concepts on historical events.

4.4 The introductory text book will not be the end of the Islamization process. Publication and testing of new text-books and other teaching materials is a necessary step towards reform by putting into the hands of teachers and students reformed material in all courses taught in the university. Developing applied knowledge in science and technology from basic knowledge will be the last stage of the reform process. This is because in the end it is science and technology that actually lead to changes in society.

5.0 STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION
5.1 Preparing course outlines/descriptions as well as basic references (Islamic and others; books and journal articles). IIIT will provide funding to buy references that are not available in local libraries.
5.2 Deciding on the details of the book: (a) title (eg Islamic Introduction to…), (b) units / sections, and chapters (a chapter is one classroom session), and eventual size of the text book (number of pages).
5.3 Deciding the structure of the chapter: learning objectives, detailed outlines, key words, Islamic input, glossary, index, case studies, texts from Islamic sources (Qur’an, sunnat, other books), illustrations, chapter summary, review (questions, tests, exercises), assignments
5.4 Designation of editors, assistant editors, chapter writers, reviewers, advisors, consultants
5.5 Allocation of chapters to writers with scheduled deadlines for completion
5.6 Regular workshops among writers to review written material. Consultants will be invited to attend some of the workshops to give advice.
5.7 Authors who will be undergraduate lecturers will test the material being written in their classrooms and give feedback.
5.8 Evaluation and adoption of the final versions
5.9 Editing, proof reading
6.0Publication and distribution

5.0 DESIRED FEATURES OF THE TEXT BOOK
5.1 Scope: one text book for each course
5.2 Size: 150-200 pages; paper size ?
5.3 Cover: soft vs. hard
5.4 Fonts, colors, boxes
5.5 Price: USD5-15
5.6 Accompanying CD / DVD and web based resources

6.0 BUSINESS ASPECTS
6.1 Copy right held by IIIT
6.2 Editing, reviewing, printing, and distribution costs by IIIT
6.3 Royalties for authors 10% of cover price to be shared equally among the writers of each book.
6.4 New editions every 2-3 years

7.0 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
7.1 Prof Omar Hasan Kasule Sr will be the liaison between the project committee and the IIIT administration
7.2 Prof Osman Bakar will chair a project committee that will consist of academicians (Prof Hashim Rosnani, Prof Aslam Hanif, Prof Mulyadhi + others) and will be assisted by administrative coordinators (Br Shabrimi Sidek for Malaysia, Pak Mohammad Siddik for Sumatra, Pak Habib Chirzin for Java, Br Shahran Kasim for Malaysia + others). Brother Abdulaziz will attend to share the experience of Bangladesh. An allowance will be paid for each meeting for members who are not members of the IIIT East Asia Team.
7.3 As far as possible the work on a course/book should be in one city or at one university so that the members can meet and interact easily and efficiently. To provide diversity, more than one group may work on one course/book and all can be published separately or can be combined.
7.4 Three monthly progress reports will be submitted.
7.5 All available academic material shall be distributed on CDs to make sure that all writers have a copy. Additional material will be bought and will be distributed in due course.

8.0 IMPACT OF THE COURSE/TEXTBOOK PROJECT ON CURRENT IE PROGRAMS OF IN EAST ASIA
8.1 General seminars/workshops to introduce the concepts of Islamic epistemology shall continue at university campuses where such programs were never held
8.2 Only discipline-specific seminars shall be held at campuses where general programs were held before. The focus will be on teaching, course outlines, and textbook writing.
8.3 The East Asia budget will be amended to reflect the present project as the priority work in the next three years.