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This is the updated version of concept
paper that was prepared and written by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule MB ChB
(MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical
City
1.0 DEFINING THE PRIORITIES
Work in the next decade will be
focused on the core mission of knowledge reform and thought reform achieved through
research followed by publication, seminars and workshops, and specialized
teaching programs. All this will contribute to the renewal (tajdid) and reform (islah).
The highest priorities shall
be:
- Reform of early education and parenting curricula with emphasis on the madrasat for young children
- Reform of higher education curricula by research on the epistemology, methodology, ethics, and outstanding intellectual issues of selected academic disciplines
- Reform of curricula and teaching methods of dar al uluum without changing their basic vision and mission
- production of concept papers and guidelines for establishing and running universities to cater for Muslims (attachment #1)
- Intellectual / thought analysis and solution proposals but no practical field involvement in the following: (i) local community problems: rights (human rights, family rights, religious rights, cultural rights), marginalization (social, cultural, religious, economic, legal, poverty, and employment), internal community problems (ethnic, sectarian, ideological, family breakdown, youth problems) (ii) da’awa and teaching of basics of religion (iii) cultural and religious dialog with others.
2.0 DEFINING THE PROBLEMS and THEIR SOLUTIONS
2.1 The knowledge and thought problems
The paper
starts from 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, economic, and
technological dimensions.
2.2 The knowledge problem
The knowledge
problem arises out of the dichotomy in the education system (traditional
religious vs modern secular). The problem can be resolved by epistemological
and methodology reform of academic disciplines to conform to the paradigms of
integration (takamul al ma’arifat)
and objectivity, istiqamat
2.3 The thought problem
The thought
problem arises from misconceptions of textual applications to contemporary
social realities. Its solution is by 1. Clarifying basic paradigms using modern
terminology and 2. research using the various social science disciplines /
humanities to identify and define contemporary intellectual issues (qadhaya fikriyyat mu’asirat) in the
community and then propose solutions based on the bird-eye view frame-work of
the higher purposes, al maqasid.
3.0 DEFINING THE WORK PLAN
3.1 Mobilization
General
1-day seminars held at academic centers will introduce the thought and
knowledge problems and motivate academics and postgraduate students to make contributions
to the programs. At a later stage these seminars will be used to disseminate
the products of research.
3.2 Research
Research
questions and plans shall be developed for specific problems of knowledge and
thought. Researchers will be funded to produce fully written and referenced
papers that shall be presented at small 1-day seminars. Papers on social issues
should include field data collection. Each seminar will comprise 4-7 papers
that will be discusses intensely and in detail to enable the author make
improvements. The revised papers of each seminar or group of related seminars
shall be published as a booklet (paper or online).
3.3 Teaching
Previously
published material and new publications from the research programs will be used
in in-class and on-line teaching programs under the auspices of TFI and in
collaboration with accredited universities / institutes initially but in our
own institutions that will be developed towards the end of the plan period. The
theme of the programs shall be contemporary intellectual issues (qadhaya fikriyyat mu’asirat). The
programs will at 6 levels: certificate, diploma, bachelors, masters, doctoral,
and post-doctoral. The fields covered by the teaching programs will be: 1.
Education curricula and methods (parenting, early education, elementary
education), 2. Islamic studies (fiqh,
‘uluum al Qur;an, ‘uluum al hadith), 3. Epistemology and research
methodology of social sciences / humanities (economics, sociology, psychology,
anthropology, political science, historiography etc.). 4. Ethics of applied
sciences (medical and health disciplines, engineering, architecture, business,
banking, finance, insurance, food and nutrition etc).
3.4 Dissemination
Dissemination
of research will be by publishing e-books as well as e-journals and
distributing them online using websites, social media etc. This will be
supplemented by seminars, conferences, and teaching programs. All these
activities shall be out-sourced to specialized companies whenever that is more
economical than employing in-house staff.
All existing publications with
epistemological, thought, educational, and social content shall be converted
into books-in-brief (BIB) and rendered with contexualization into English and
selected South Asian languages. Full books will be rendered if there is a
demonstrable demand.
Academic electronic journals
shall be published in English and other South Asian languages. They will be a
medium of publication for postgraduate students who will be involved in the
academic programs.
Seminars and conferences shall be
planned in such a way that their proceedings will be published as
books/booklets
Teaching programs shall use
teaching material developed in-house with the aim of turning them eventually
into textbooks.
4.0
DETERMINING THE MANAGEMENT PLAN
4.1
Program directors
Academicians with substantial appointments
and office facilities at their own institutions will be appointed as
honorary/part-time program directors/coordinators in 7-10 major
university/academic centers. Each director can engage a part-time
academic assistant and a part-time administrative assistant.
4.2
Budgeting
The following activities shall be carried out
by in-house staff or shall be out-sourced:
4.2.1
translation, publication, and
distribution
4.2.2
Organizing seminars, conferences, and workshops
4.2.3
Management of teaching programs.
4.2.4
Setting up and maintaining websites and social media outlets.
The cost of publications shall be partially
recovered from sales mainly to academic institutions.
Teaching programs should be self-supporting
after 2-3 years.
Seminars and conferences shall be held at
free/rented university premises and some of the cost will be recovered by
charging registration fees.
4.3 Key performance indicators
4.3.1
Data base of over 10,000 scholars and potential researchers
4.3.2
Regional monthly newsletter providing uptodate information on academic
projects
4.3.3
Interactive regional website with online resource material
4.3.4
Active accounts on social media (Facebook etc)
4.3.5
Number of research seminars per
year in selected academic cities
4.3.6
Number of BIBs or books rendered into local languages
4.3.7
Number of research papers produced
4.3.8
Number of new books published (paper or electronic)
4.3.9
Number of teaching programs and number of enrolled students
ATTACHMENT #1: Call for research proposals on higher
education reform
Background: The past 30 years have witnessed the
opening of universities with an Islamic identity in Muslim-majority and
Muslim-minority countries. The trend is increasing very rapidly with the
expectation that in the next 10 years most countries of the world will have at
least one such institution. These institutions are overcoming their financial
challenges due to increased enrolment and now are able to face more fundamental
conceptual and practical challenges for which they have no previous experiences
or guidelines to refer to.
Objective: The purpose of this Request for Proposals
(RFP) is to encourage research and publication in specific domains concerning
Muslim higher education. Academicians and administrators who will respond to
this RFP will be awarded research grants ranging USD500-1000 depending on the
complexity of the research to produce.
Well-referenced research papers of about 5000 words will first be
published electronically for wide distribution and will be included in printed
volumes that will be published later. Some of the papers will be selected for
presentation and discussion at annual Islamic university regional conferences
that will be convened in East Africa, West Africa, North Africa, West Asia,
South Asia, South East Asia, Europe, and America.
Scope of proposals: Applicants are expected to submit
their proposals in a specified area from the following list: (a) Philosophy and
epistemology of Islamic education (b) Curriculum development emphasizing
knowledge integration (c) administration, financial, and endowment affairs? (c)
academic affairs? (c) Student affairs i.e. Tarbiyah and Tranining (d) Teaching
Resources (e) Legal issues and governmental relations? (f) Accreditation and
recognition?; Strategic plans / future innovations in higher education;
Capacity building and training; Engagement with non-Islamic institutions;
Previous experiences: Assessment (eg. IIUM, especially financial aspect);
Examination theories; Bibliographies on Reform of Higher education from
western, Muslim, and Eastern perspectives; Qur'anic Worldview in the core
curriculum.
Content of the proposal: The proposal shall be
400-500 words mentioning the title, the objectives, methods, expected results,
and some of the references or sources that will be used. The curriculum vitae
of the researcher(s) shall be attached. Also to be attached are previous
related publications.
Submission of proposals: Proposals can be submitted in Arabic,
English, French, Turkish, Urdu, Bahasa Malaysia / Indonesia. There is no
deadline; proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Submissions
will be to the one of the following emails: Educational Reform Research
Committee, Dr Manzoor Alam.
NOTES
[1] Updated
version of a paper first written on January 31, 2013.