Re-inculcating the Meaning of Education: A General Overview of the Educational Philosophy of Syed Mu

“Adab is a reflection of wisdom. It is the spectacles of justice worn by educated man”

- Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

Education in modern days of Islam has suffered degradation; not only to its curriculum, teaching content, and teacher, but especially to its philosophy that serves as the basis of it. This degradation is mainly caused by colonialism. After we have reached independency, Muslim countries are still adopting the Western philosophy of education that mainly stands on the foundation of secular worldview and value. Westerners emphasise education with the aim of students achieving competencies on their academic and skills. Students are trained to score a job, acquire income, and contribute to the development of their country in achieving material prosperity. All of those are at odds with the Islamic principles of education.

Islamic education is developed based on Tawhidic worldview and values. Its aim is to educate student in all aspects integrally, including moral and spiritual. To solve the problem, one of Malaysia’s most prominent intellectual giant, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas has proposed the philosophy of Islamic education based on the concept of ta’dib, not tarbiyah. According to al-Attas, the term tarbiyah is not enough to represent the concept of education in Islam. It shares some similarity with the western term ‘education’ that is derived from the Latin verb ‘educere’, which has physical and material connotations attached to it. ta’dib is not only limited to the physical and material domain but also encompasses the realm of spiritual and moral connotation altogether.

For us to understand the meaning of education, we must first have a clear view of both the terms tarbiyah – which is frequently used to represent education, and ta’dib – which is emphasized by al-Attas. The term tarbiyah is very commonly used among Muslim when referring to Islamic education nowadays, wherein higher Islamic institutions use the term tarbiyah to describe the meaning of education. However, according to al-Attas the term tarbiyah is not quite precise in defining education based on the Islamic spectrum, urging Muslim scholars to carefully examine the term used to represent education by understanding the concept of tarbiyah.

Originally, the term tarbiyah was introduced by Muslim scholars who aligned themselves with the Modernism school of thought. The original Latin word ‘educere’ – from which the word ‘education’ arises – could mean ‘bringing out’ or ‘to develop from latent potential to come into existence’. In this sense, the ‘bringing out’ process refers to physical and material aspects. This concept of education covers the animal species and is not limited to human being. Even if the concept is infused with intellectual and moral training, it is not inherent within itself, instead it is something added through a philosophical speculation. The intellectual and moral training refers to the physical and material ends of a secular man, his society and state. Hence, the term tarbiyah used to describe education in Islam is in fact reflecting the Western concept of education, proving to be similar with its Latin counterpart. If the promoter of tarbiyah insist that the term is evolved from the Holy Quran, their claim is merely based on incomplete information, as it is not in line with the semantic structure of the Quranic conceptual system. Semantically, the term tarbiyah according to Al-Attas is neither appropriate nor inadequate in conveying the meaning of education in the sense of Islam. A better term more suited with the notion of education in Islam as proposed by the acclaimed scholar is ta’dib.

Al-Attas defines education as:

“Recognition and acknowledgement that continuously instilled into man, of the proper places of things in the order of creation, such that it leads to the recognition and acknowledgement of proper place of God in the order of being and existence.”

The concept of proper place deals with two domains of application, which is the ontological or metaphysical domain and the theological domain. The ontological domain is that of man and empirical reality, while the theological domain includes the religious and ethical aspect of human life. The proper place refers to the real and true place as denoted by haqq, which is the suitableness to the need of wisdom and justice, signifying both reality and truth pertaining to the two domains. Wisdom (hikmah) means the knowledge given by God, with which the recipient of wisdom can conduct correct judgement in matters concerning the proper place of things. Meanwhile, justice means a harmonious condition of things being in their right and proper place.

On the other hand, adab is the discipline of the body, mind and soul which assures the recognition and acknowledgement of one’s proper place in relation to one’s physical, intellectual, and spiritual capacities and potential. Thus, adab is the method of knowing by which someone actualize the condition of being in the proper place. Adab is not merely about the understanding of etiquette. Adab is a direct reflection of wisdom. It is the spectacles of justice worn by educated men.

Adab occupies the central concept of education in Islam. It is the knowledge of the purpose behind seeking knowledge. According to al-Attas, the purpose of seeking knowledge in Islam is ‘to inculcate goodness in man as man and individual self’, thus the aim of education from an Islamic perspective is ‘to produce a good man and not – as in the case of Western civilization – to produce a good citizen’. Furthermore, he had also added that a good man is a man of adab.

The process of education in Islam covers every aspect of life such as spiritual, intellectual religious, cultural, individual and social dimensions. It means that the nature of education in Islam is universal and guides man to his salvation. Based on this rationale, the institution, inculcation and spread of knowledge in Islam must develop as a system of order and discipline. For this reason, the IIUM faculties is referred to as kulliyyah in hopes that they would resemble the meaning of universality that should be portrayed by both the syllabus as well as the students.

Therefore, in Islamic education, the core of knowledge must be built from components related to the nature of;

1. Religion, which refers to the purpose of seeking knowledge and involvement in the process of education

2. Man, which refers to the subject

3. Knowledge, which refers to the content

4. Wisdom, which refers to the criteria that relates the second (man) to the third (knowledge) component

5. Justice, which refers to the deployment in relation to the fourth (wisdom) component

6. Right action, which refers to the method in relation to the first down to the fifth (religion, man, knowledge, wisdom, justice) components

7. The university, which refers to the form of implementation in relation to all that precedes it

However, these key concepts cannot work alone. Therefore, Islamic education must be in accordance to the concepts of Quran and Sunnah as well as Aqidah (Tawhid) and Shari’ah. The curriculum must include knowledge of the principles and practice of Islam, the religious sciences (ulum shar’iyyah), Islamic ethics and moral principles, Arabic language, legitimate element of tasawwuf and Islamic philosophy; including valid cosmological doctrines pertaining to the hierarchy of being as well as the worldview of Islam as a whole.

Continuingly on his concept of ta’dib as a system of Islamic education, al-Attas argues that the university entry and graduation requirements for an individual should not only be based on good results in the form of formal scientific subjects, but also on moral criteria. In Islam, hypocrites (munafiq) are considered as those most destructive to self, society and the nation, whose distinguishing characteristics include lying, breaking a promise and betraying a trust. Anyone who has these acute destructive moral values must be denied from being enrolled in a university they as a student must be disqualified and barred from graduating as a scholar. Those moral criteria according to al-Attas should be systemised in all seriousness into an educational device to be applied as a moral checklist on who can pass through the educational process. It is of grave importance to assist in minimising the emergence of perpetrator (a person who carries out a harmful, illegal or immoral act) in Muslim society, leadership, and nation based on betrayal of trust, which will then lead to injustice and ignorance.

The underlying concept of adab in the Islamic education as proposed by al-Attas is in the spirit of honouring classic Islamic scholars especially al-Ghazali. In Rawdat al-Talibin fi Majmu’ al-Rasail, al-Ghazali stated that adab is both physical and spiritual education (ta’dib al-zahir wa al-batin) that covers four aspects of men, namely his words, deeds, faith, and motivation.

To be continued……

[In Part 2 of this article, we will elaborate further on the Recipient of Islamic Education and the Content of Islamic Education. Stay tuned!]

References:

1. Al-Attas, (1999), The Concept of Education in Islam: A Framework for Islamic Philosophy of Education. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC.

2. Al-Attas (1980), The Concept of Islamic Education. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC.

3. Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, (2017), Peranan Universiti: Pengislaman Ilmu Semasa, Penafibaratan dan Penafijajahan. Kuala Lumpur: CASIS, HAKIM.

4. Sanusi, Al-Attas’s Philosophy of Islamic Education, Acheh: UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Acheh, Indonesia.

5. Asmaa Mohd Arshad, (2012), “Konsep Ta’dib: Teras Falsafah Pendidikan Islam. In Adab dan Peradaban: Karya Pengiktirafan Untuk Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. Selangor: MPH Group Publishing.