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Paper presented at a workshop held in New Delhi
23rd November 2012 by Dr Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB (MUK), MPH
(Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh
1.0 OVERVIEW
1.1 The problems
The paper starts with the
assertion that 2 internal factors, a knowledge crisis, and a thought crisis, are
major causes of ummatic weakness. These 2 factors combine to lead to ummatic
malaise manifesting in the religious, social, political, economic,
technological, and military dimensions. The knowledge crisis can be resolved by
reforming education systems and even more important reforming the epistemology methodology
of research in the various disciplines of knowledge so that it conforms to the
paradigms of tauhid and objectivity, istiqamat. The disciplines to be covered
are education (pedagogy and andragogy), social sciences and humanities
(sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science, historiography,
literature, etc.), natural sciences and technology (medical and health
disciplines, engineering, architecture, economics, etc.). The thought crisis
will be resolved by research that identifies and defines problems of the
society and then proposes solutions based on the bird-eye view framework of
the higher purposes of the Law, maqasid
al shari’at.
1.2 The tasks
1.2.1 Translations/adaptations
of books: We are not starting from zero. We want to make sure that our
intellectuals have access to all that was produced by the institute on Islamic
epistemology and Islamic thought in all languages of the world. Our first task
will therefore be an ambitious translation plan of material in Arabic to Urdu
and English and material in English to Urdu. The list of 400+ books to be
translated is attached to this plan. We need to make a 3–year plan to complete
the translation, editing, and electronic publication of books selected from the
list as suitable for India.
The translation will not be literal and the books will be adapted by an Indian
translator to be suitable to the Indian reader we therefore shall not call it
'translation' but 'adaptation'. The translator will be able to be selective and
also change the order of presentation to suit the local audience. Local
examples and statistics may also be used instead of the original ones.
1.2.1 Seminars and workshops
on epistemological, educational, and thought/intellectual issues: On the
practical level, academic seminars need to be held in many places and involving
all Muslim intellectuals to discuss the 2 crises. Two types of seminars can be
held. General seminars 1-day will introduce the problem and motivate the
intellectuals to make contributions. Specialized 1-day seminars will bring
together 3-5 specialists in each discipline at a time to present fully written
papers on given topics followed by deep and serious discussion after which the
authors can revise the papers and have them published online for wide and
immediate access with printed versions being made available later. Books and
articles written on epistemology and thought in other parts of the world can be
made accessible by local intellectuals writing reviews that incorporate
commentaries that reflect local problems. These reviews can also be published
online for wider access. A measure of success will be the number of seminars
held and the total number of online publications.
1.2.2 Writing textbooks or teaching material: Our main objective is
to resolve the crisis of duality in education which has severe adverse
intellectual and practical consequences for individuals and communities in our
ummah. Integrating Islamic values and concepts in all disciplines of learning
is the best approach to resolving the crisis of duality in knowledge and
education. Epistemology and curriculum reform are necessary as a step to
integrating Islamic values into education. This will lead to a knowledge
renaissance that will eventually lead to an overall renaissance and revival of
the ummah. Education reform is the necessary condition for social reform and
rebuilding the ummatic civilization.
Textbooks and reading material must be available to teachers and students
in order to move this program ahead. We have no pretensions about the quality
of the initial product. We have to start and improve as we go along.
3.1 Finalizing course descriptions and course outlines to be
completed by March 1, 2010
3.2 Compiling references available in Bangladesh both general and Islamic
for all the courses to be completed by March 10, 2010.
3.3 Determining for each book: the title, units/sections, and chapters (a chapter is one classroom session) to be completed by March 20, 2010
3.4 Structuring each chapter: learning objectives, detailed
outlines (headings and sub-headings), keywords, Islamic input, glossary,
index, case studies, texts from Islamic sources (Qur’an, sunnat, other books),
illustrations (pictures and drawings), chapter summary, review (questions,
tests, exercises), and assignments. These assignments will be completed by
March 31, 2010.
3.5 Designation of the editorial board for each book (chief
editor and co-editors), chapter writers, reviewers (from Bangladesh and overseas), advisors (Bangladesh and overseas), and consultants (Bangladesh
and overseas). Full names, addresses, emails, and brief CVs for each person are to
be submitted by April 10, 2010.
3.6 Allocation of chapters to writers by April 20, 2010.
3.7 Submission of the final version of the book plans by May
1, 2010
3.8 Collection of references by IIIT to be completed by June
1, 2010. General references can be obtained from online databases like
amazon.com and from various bookstores outside Bangladesh. Islamic sources will be
supplied by IIIT and many of them will be translations from Arabic material
available in Riyadh, Kuala
Lumpur, Cairo, and Amman.
3.8 Regular workshops for chapter writers and editors to
review the written material preferably once every 1-2 months.
3.9 Testing the chapters written as classroom notes for
university students and getting feedback.
3.10 Evaluation and adoption of the final versions by the
editorial board of each book to be completed by December 31, 2010.
3.8 Evaluation by IIIT consultants by March 1, 2011
3.8 Editing, proofreading, and typesetting by the IIIT
publications department to be completed by June 30, 2011. The IIIT style sheet
will be used for transliteration and other editorial aspects.
3.9 Printing and distribution by IIIT / BIIT by October 1,
2011.
4.0 DESIRED FEATURES
OF THE TEXTBOOK
4.1 Scope: 1-2 textbook(s) for each course
4.2 Size: 150-300 pages
4.3 Cover: soft (80%) and hard (20%)
4.4 Attractive fonts (Times New Roman no 12), multicolors
4.5 Price: USD5-15 cover price
4.6 Accompanying CD / DVD and web-based resources
5.0 BUSINESS ASPECTS
5.1 Copy right held by IIIT/BIIT
5.2 Editing, reviewing, printing, and distribution costs by
IIIT/BIIT
5.3 A royalty will be paid for each book to be divided among
the authors: 50% on submission of the manuscript and 50% on completion of all
corrections prior to printing.
5.4 New editions every 2-3 years
2.0 THE KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION CRISIS
2.1 CRISIS OF
KNOWLEDGE
The most important manifestation
of the knowledge crisis is the dichotomy in the education system: traditional
Islamic vs. imported European. Integration
of the 2 systems has failed. The secularization of education eliminated the moral
dimension and violated the aim of Islamic education to produce an integrated
and perfect individual, insan kaamil. The ummatic malaise was due to the
knowledge crisis that started with the fall of the khilafat rashidah when the authentic ‘ulama was marginalized. Society became ‘secularized’ because the
rulers were in one valley and the scholars in another valley. This dichotomy
between the sources of Islamic guidance and the political leadership of society
eventually led to and nurtured the knowledge crisis we have today.
2.2 THE NEED FOR A NEW KNOWLEDGE STRATEGY
Educational and knowledge reform
are prerequisites for tajdid because tajdiid = idea + action. The vision of the knowledge strategy is an
upright balanced person who understands the creator and knows his place, his
roles, his rights, and his responsibilities in the cosmic order. The mission of
the knowledge strategy is a conceptual transformation of the education system
from kindergarten to postgraduate studies to reflect tauhid, positive moral values, objectivity, universality, and
serving the larger causes of humanity.
2.3 REFORM OF
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Modern research is based on the
empirical method that unfortunately has Euro-centric biases. There is no
contradiction among sources of knowledge: wahy, ‘aql, and kaun.
The Qur’anic provides guiding principles for knowledge and building
civilization. Muslims taught the empirical methodology to Europeans in the 15th
and 6th centuries but forgot it during the era of decline. It is now
coming back to them in a new context that reflects the European and not the
Islamic worldview. Muslims accept the empirical methods but reject concepts
added by Europeans that reflect the European and Muslim worldview. A tauhidi
universal, objective, and unbiased methodology must replace the Euro-centric and
philosophically biased context but not the practical experimental methods. The
precepts of tauhidi science are unity of knowledge, comprehensiveness;
causality as the basis for human action, limitation of human knowledge,
constant and fixed natural laws, harmony between the seen and the unseen, 3 sources of knowledge (wahy, aql, & empirical observation; khilafat; moral accountability; creation and existence have a purpose, truth is both absolute
and relative, human free will is the basis of accountability and tawakkul.
2.4 REFORM OF DISCIPLINES OF KNOWLEDGE
Reform has to start with
reforming the epistemology, methodology, and corpus of knowledge of each
discipline. It must be pro-active, academic, methodological, objective, and
practical. Its vision is objective, universal, and beneficial knowledge in the
context of a harmonious interaction of humans with their physical, social, and
spiritual environment. Its practical mission is the transformation of the
paradigms, methodologies, and uses of disciplines of knowledge to conform to tauhid. Its immediate goals are (a)
de-Europeanizing paradigms of existing disciplines to change them from
parochiality to universal objectivity, (b) reconstruction of the paradigms
using Islamic universal guidelines, (c) re-classifying disciplines to reflect
universal tauhidi values, (d)
reforming research methodology to become objective, purposeful, and
comprehensive (e) growth of knowledge by research, and (f) inculcating morally
correct application of knowledge. The Qur’an gives general principles that
establish objectivity and protect against biased research methodology. It creates
a worldview that encourages research to extend the frontiers of knowledge and
its use for the benefit of the whole universe. Scientists are encouraged to
work within these Qur’anic parameters to expand the frontiers of knowledge
through research, basic and applied.
2.5 PRACTICAL STEPS
/ TASKS OF THE REFORM PROCESS:
The first step is a good
grounding in the Islamic methodological sciences of usul al fiqh, ulum al Qur’an, ulum al hadith, and 'uluum al llughat. This is followed by
reading the Qur’an and sunnat with an understanding of the changing time-space dimensions. This is followed by a clarification of basic epistemological issues and relations: wahy and aql, ghaib and shahada, ‘ilm and iman. This is
followed by an Islamic critique of basic paradigms, basic assumptions, and
basic concepts of various disciplines using criteria of Islamic methodology and
Islamic epistemology. Islamic reviews of existing textbooks and teaching
materials are then undertaken to identify deviations from the tauhidi episteme and the Islamic
methodology. 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. Publication and testing of new textbooks and
other teaching materials is a necessary step towards reform by putting into the
hands of teachers and students reformed material. 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.
3.0 THE THOUGHT CRISIS
3.1 THOUGHT FAILURE
Thought failure in the ummah could manifest as intellectual
stagnation, syncretism, lack of vision, superficiality, rituality, esoterism,
sterile argumentation, and use of un-Islamic intellectual tools. Intellectual
stagnation is suppression of the freedom of thought, closure of ijtihad, blind following, taqlid, and fanaticism for a madh’hab. Syncretism, talfiq, is the juxtaposition of ideas that
are incompatible without attempting to analyse them critically to arrive at a
synthesis or favor one of them, tarjiih. There is lack of vision as a guide
vision for the present and the future, ru'uyat
mustaqbaliyyat. Superficiality, satahiyyat,
is concerned with minor
inconsequential issues. False outward manifestations of religious
rituals, shakliyaat, with a dead core
are common. Esoteric sects, al
firaq al batiniyyat, claim to have secret agendas or knowledge exposed to a
select few and are a cause of social disruption. Sterile arguments, jadal, lead to no purpose or goal of
practical utility. Intellectual analysis using un-Islamic terminology
and concepts compounds intellectual confusion.
3.2 UNRESOLVED ISSUES FROM THE PAST
Thought failure is responsible
for the following issues that started in the past and are not yet resolved up
to today. These issues are still causes of controversy when they should not be.
The role of human free will, qadriyyat, versus that of
pre-determination, al jabriyah, in
human actions is still not fully understood. Acceptance of repentance, taubah, or faith, iman, for persons who commit
major sins is still being debated when the texts are clear on it. Discussions
of the essence of Allah, dhaat al llaah, and
attributes of Allah, sifaat al llaah, are
still leading many astray when it is clear that human intellect can not grasp
the nature of Allah and should not be engaged in such an endeavor. Many still
do not understand the scope of knowledge through reason, ‘aql, and that of transmitted knowledge, naql, as well as the relation between the two. There are still many who
do not understand pre-determination, qadar, causality, sababiyyat,
and how they interact in human actions.
3.3 UNRESOLVED CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Thought failure is also
responsible for the following major contemporary intellectual issues still
unresolved. The woman; and her nature, role, rights, and responsibilities; are
still being debated. Plurality of opinion and practice is a cause of
unnecessary controversy. Leadership, imamat, its qualifications, selection,
roles, and scope of responsibility are not fully defined. Shura is presented as a theoretical concept but its practical
application is not properly worked out. Application of Islamic teachings to
today’s realities: economy, education, politics, and international relations is still being
discussed.
3.4 FIQH AS THE CAUSE AND AS THE SOLUTION
Problems of
thought in the past were mainly centered on misunderstanding ‘aqidat. Fortunately, most of these ‘aqidat issues were either resolved or
are no longer a major cause of controversy being discussed in a marginal way.
Few Muslim intellectuals today are aware of qadriyyat,
jabriyyat, maturdiyyat, ‘ash’ariyyat,
ittihadiyyat, hululiyat, jahmiyyat, kilaabiyyat, druze,
khawarij, mu’utazilat, ruwandiyyat,
baatiniyyat, dahriyyah, & marji’at.
The persisting problems
arise from a narrow and literal understanding of the shari’at and differences
on fiqh have divided the ummat in the recent past on many issues. If the cause
is fiqh the solution will also be found in fiqh. We need to relook at society
from a general bird's eye view using the higher purposes of the Law, maqasid al
shari’at then we will be able to make some progress. The shari’at was revealed to fulfill 5 higher purposes: religion, hifdh al ddiin; life, hifdh al nafs; progeny, hifdh al nasl; intellect, hifdh al ‘aql; and resources, hifdh al maal.