The pages of history highlight greatly the miracles which the Muslim educationist and the religion Islam itself has created for us. From the blazing hot deserts of Egypt till the hilly settlements of Spain, the Muslims succeeded to spread their knowledge and help the humanity to get out of the fate of ultimate darkness.
The teachings of Islam and Islamic scholars provided a lifeline for the people of the world. It opened a new world of discovery for the humanity. The objectives of education were greatly settled upon balanced personality development, character building, self-awareness, transmission of culture, preparation for the world hereafter.
A significant set of subjects were induced to the curriculum to open the minds and senses of man. It included hadith, mysticism, logic, philosophy, Arabic language, and literature, mathematics, jurisprudence, history, ethics, research and traveling.
Apart from theory, axiological and ontological concepts were transferred to the students. Under the significance of such subjects, the Muslim world produced great thinkers, educationists, and philosophers who presented the world the power of their knowledge and practically made them a part of their lives.
Ibn al Khuldun, Ibn Sina, Al Zarnooji, Al Beruni, Ibn ul Jheshum and hundreds of Muslim scientists and scholars worked in these fields of exemplary success and gained high attributes in their respective fields. It not only included the fields of a particular subject, but it esteemed in all parts of worthy knowledge including medicine, the science of the universe, astronomy, politics and etc.
It was a triangle of a man, God, and the universe and the search for truth. Students preparing themselves to study these subjects identified the valid facts of the creation of the universe, its purpose and pondered on the real facts instead of creating a dual mindset on the unchanged facts. The fact cannot be doubted that the Muslims dominated in that era.
When the western forces got in hand the weaknesses of the Muslim empire, and the empire propagated towards its gradual decline, the British entered the historical horizons of the dynamic research centers and universities of the Muslims. Slow and steady, they acquired the knowledge and performed the experiments in their local laboratories. They took the fundamental books of technical and medical studies and left the useless leftovers for the Muslims. With the advent of the European charge in different parts of the world, the Muslims suffered greatly.
Here, on the other hand, the Europeans launched their education system. They brought the subjects of worldly knowledge like physics, chemistry, and biology and tried to transfer the knowledge beneficial for the life here only. They kept English the medium of education. The Muslims were unaware of the language, therefore they lacked in every field of knowledge and education. The Muslims were stuck to obey the rules of what the worldly sciences taught them and they never indulged in the knowledge of creativity and excellence.
With time, no one understood the fact, indeed our revival is in our own hands.
Maria Khalil
(The writer is mission holder Positive Pakistan, Lahore.)
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