Journal of Social Issues & Humanities, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2014
ISSN 2345-2633
Basic Principles of Islamic Education
Jalal Vahabi Homabadi, Ahmad Bahrami
Abstract— Islamic concept of education has been analyzed by some authours in parallel to the contrast assumed between Islam and the
liberal tradition. Hence, given the rationalist tendencies of the liberal tradition, an almost indoctrinatory essence is assumed for the Islamic
concept of education. However, it is argued here that rationality involved in all the elements of Islamic concept of education. It is claimed
here that an Islamic concept of education could be suggested which includes three basic elements of knowledge choice and action. Then,
it is shown that, according to the Islamic texts, all the three elements of education have a background of rationality.
Index Terms— Islam, Education, Rationality, Knowledge, Choice, Action, Liberalism.
------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------
1 INTRODUCTION
I N a m ore recent volu m e of Com p arative Ed u cation,
H alstead (8) has introd u ced ‘‘An Islam ic concept of ed u ca-
tion’’. As the au thor ad m its, Islam ic concept of ed u cation
still need s to be analyzed and its com ponents be show n. In
w hat follow s, a critiqu e w ill be ad vanced on the above-
m entioned analysis of Islam ic concept of ed u cation and som e
related view s on w hich it relies. Then, an alternative view w ill
be su ggested .
2 ISLAMIC EDUCATION: A CRITIQUE
End eavou r for d isclosing som ew hat u nknow n d im ensions of
Islam ic concept of ed u cation. Claim ing a contrast betw een the
liberal and Islam ic conceptions of ed u cation, he tries to give an
explanation of the latter. H e appeals to three Arabic w ord s,
tarbiya (cau se to grow ), ta'd ib (to refine, to d iscipline), and
talïm (to instru ct), in ord er to analyze the Islam ic concept of
ed u cation. Accord ing to him, these w ord s refer to three basic
d im ensions of ed u cation, nam ely ind ivid u al d evelop m ent,
social and m oral ed u cation, and acqu isition of know led ge re-
spectively. In this analysis, he relies p artly on al-Attas’s-(4)
su ggestion, p articu larly in the case of ta'd ib.
Let’s begin w ith al-Attas w hose contribu tion to explaining
Islam ic concept of ed u cation has been consid ered im p ortant
(8, p. 521). Al-Attas (5) has d enied that the Islam ic concept
tarbiya and the related w ord ru bu biya cou ld be consid ered as
cand id ates for show ing the d im ensions of Islam ic concept of
ed u cation. H e claim s that the root of these w ord s, nam ely rab ā
(to grow ) ind icates physical u pbringing w ithou t any reference
to the basic elem ents of the real ed u cation like know led ge,
intelligence and virtu e. Accord ing to him , God ’s ru bu biya
d oes not inclu d e know led ge, rather it refers to the sam e m ean-
ing of physical u pbringing.
H ow ever, he cou ld not m aintain this aw kw ard resu lt till the
end of his book. H ence, he ad m its that a know led ge -related
m eaning cou ld penetrate in the concept rabb bu t he claim s-
that, this m eaning refers m erely to the possession of
know led ge rather than transference of know led ge w hich is
essential in ed u cation. H e m entions evid ence for his claim
————————————————
 A ssistant Professor, Islamic A zad University, N aein Branch. E-mail: va-
habi jalal@gmail.com
 Department of Islamic Studies, Boroujen Branch, Islamic A zad University,
Boroujen, Iran. E-mail: bahramiahmad@yahoo.com
241
from the w ord rabbani u sed in the Qu r ’an to refer to the
scholars of the Jew s. Accord ing to him , this w ord refers to a
scholar w ho possesses know led ge and ad opts the view that it -
m ight be a H ebrew w ord rather than Arabic being d erived
from rabb.
Al-Attas su ggests that the Islam ic concept ta'd ib cou ld ad e-
qu ately refer to ed u cation. This is becau se, accord ing to him ,
u nlike ru bu biya it has reference to know led ge and , in ad d i-
tion, the Prophet of Islam has u sed it to refer to his being -
ed u cated by God w here he, u sing the w ord tad Ïb, says: ‘‘My
Lord d isciplined m e and w ell d isciplined m e.’’ (ibid )
H ow ever, al-Attas’s argu m ent is not convincing for a num ber
of reasons. Firstly, his insistence on d elim itting the meaning of
rabb to physical u pbringing and negating its inclu sion to
know led ge is u ntenable and inconsistent w ith its u sage in the
Qu r ’an. Rabb is u sed in the Qu r ’an in relation to know led ge
and this ind icates that know led ge refers to a com ponent of the
m eaning of rabb: ‘‘…Ou r Lord ! Thou em bracest all things in
m ercy and know led ge… (1,40: 7)
As for al-Attas’s point that the w ord rabbani refers m erely to
the possession of know led ge by the scholar, there are textu al
cou nterexam ples. In the follow ing vers from the Qu r ’an, not
only is rabbani u sed in relation to teaching, rather than pos-
session of know led ge, bu t also it is u sed in relation to rubu bi-
ya: ‘‘...Be w orshippers (rabbanis) of the Lord becau se of you r
teaching the Book and you r read ing (it you rselves).’’ (l, 3: 79)
There are also som e points in relatio to al-Attas’s su ggestion as
to the w ord ta'd ib being an ad equ ate cand id ate for show ing
the d im ensions of ed u cation. Firstly, it is w orth m entioning
that the w ord ta'd Ib and even the d erivatives of its root ad u ba
is not u sed in the Qu r ’an at all.
Second ly, contrary to w hat al-Attas says, it is not the case that
ad ab and ta'd ib are m ore com prehensive than rabb in referring
to both know led ge and action. Ad ab d oes not necessarily ind i-
cates know led ge involvem ent. That is w hy this w ord can refer
to pu nishm ent as w ell as anim al training and hence, contrary
to w hat al-Attas says, it is not specific to hu m ans. Thu s, it is
m entioned in trad itions (ahad ith) that ‘‘All d ebau chery is
w rong u nless in d isciplining horses.’’ (13, p. 216).
Finally, contrary to al-Attas, not only ta‘d Ib is not better than
ru bu biya in show ing the d im ensions of ed u cation, bu t it is in
fact a su bsu m ption for ru bu biya. This is becau se ta'd ib, at best,
refers to ethical and social aspects of ed u cation, w ithou t in-
clu d ing instru ction of sciences and the like. This point w ill be
Journal of Social Issues & Humanities, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2014
ISSN 2345-2633

explained fu rther in the next section.2 Qu r ’an criticizes the previou s prophets’ follow ers for their
N ow, w e can tu rn to H alstead ’s su ggestion. First, w e need to u nreasonble hu m ility tow ard their ‘u lam a’ (the learned )’? (1, 9:
recognize m ethod ological aspects of his view. Relying on Is- 31) This ind icates that the follow ers shou ld be critical of the
lam ic religiou s texts as resou rces for exploring the basic ele- learned and alw ays be aw are of the correspond ence of their
m ents of Islam ic concept of ed u cation, H alstead takes an ob- view s to the criteria. In other w ord s, au thority in itself has no
jective stand point in so far as the m ethod ology of u nd erstand - legitim acy .
ing these texts is concerned : ‘‘The goals of ed u cation are laid
d ow n by revealed religion and therefore have an objective
qu ality; they d o not vary accord ing to ind ivid u al opinion or
3 ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF EDUCATION: AN ALTERNATIVE
experience.’’ (8. p. 519) It is su ggested here to seek the basic com ponents of Islam ic
Both of these points, nam ely the entire m eaning of Islam ic ed - concept of ed u cation in a w ord u sed abu nd antly in the
u cation and its u nd erlying philosophy of religion, cou ld be Qu r ’an, nam ely ru bu biya, w hich refers to God as the Lord . As
challenged . Concerning the natu re of Islam ic ed u cation, it is explained in the first section, al-Attas w as right in saying that
d ou btfu l to equ at it w ith ind octrination. I have criticised this tarbiya(cau se to grow ) refers m erely’ to physical u pbringing.
view elsw here w ith reference to H irst’s above-m entioned H ow ever, he is w rong in giving the sam e m eaning to ru bu bi-
claim in this regard (6). In ad d ition. It is w orth m entioning ya. The latter is not only u sed abu nd antly in the Qu r ’an, bu t
here that the Prophet of Islam him self in introd u cing the Is- also it has taken a central p osition in the end eavou rs of proph-
lam ic teachings prevented people from blind acceptance of ets in provid ing know led ge and d evelopm ent w ithin p eople.
their cu ltu ral heritage: ‘‘N ay! They say: We fou nd ou r fathers That is to say, in a nu tshell, the prophets invited their people
on a cou rse, and su rely w e are gu id ed by their footsteps...(The to take God as their Lord and this show s the real essence of
w arner) said : What! Even if I bring to you a better gu id e than Islam ic ed u cation in particu lar and religiou s ed u cation in gen-
that on w hich you fou nd you r fathers?’’ (1, 43: 22-24). This is eral. In w hat follow s, this point w ill be explained fu rther.
an invitation to think abou t the received beliefs. This is against Firstly, it shou ld be explained that w hy invitation to take God
ind octrination. One shou ld not say that ind octrination in the as the Lord is regard ed central. This is becau se the hu m an’s
case of ‘right’ beliefs of Islam is d efensible becau se there is not m ain problem lies in choosing am ong the lord s. It is inevitable
‘good ’ and ‘bad ’ ind octrinations, rather ind octrination is ‘bad ’ for hu m ans to choose a lord . The hu m an m ight take his or her
altogether u nless it be inevitable like w hat occu rs in the early ow n d esires as the Lord or those of other peoples or both.
child hood w here there is no grou nd s for rational thinking. In Whatever is taken as the sou rce of regu lation for the person’s
ad d ition, w hen one talks abou t the ‘right’ beliefs of Islam , this d eed s, it w ill be as his or her Lord . When som ething is taken
‘rightness’ need to be u nd erstood by the person w ho is ad - as the Lord , it begins to shape the person’s characteristics ac-
d ressed . This show s that ad m itting ind octrination in the case cord ing to its ow n. Thu s, there is a clear relationship betw een
of ‘right’ beliefs is self-contrad ictory. choosing a lord and a certain kind of actu aliztion of one’s pos-
Finally, the third point in H alstead ’s analysis of Islam ic con- sible states. And this is exactly the point that relates having a
cept of ed u cation is his triad ic stru ctu re of three Arabic w ord s lord to ed u cation.
of tarbiya (cau se to grow ), ta‘d ih (to refine, to d iscipline), and Accord ing to this d efinition, ed u cation refers to the process of
talïm (to instru ct). Accord ing to him , the first w ord refers to becom ing d ivine. Three basic elem ents are involved in this
ind ivid u al d evelopm ent, the second w ord refers to social and process: know led ge (of God as the Lord ), choice (choosing
m oral ed u cation, and the third one refers to acqu isition of God as one’s Lord ), and action (u nd ertaking God ’s Lord ship
know led ge. There are a nu m ber of challenges to this point. throu ghou t one’s life). These three elem ents involve rationali-
The first challenge is that tarbiya is u sed in the Qu r ’an m erely ty.
to refer to physical u pbringing, as al-Attas (5) has also show n, Firstly, know ing God as H e has introd u ced H im self in the
rather than to the extend ed m eaning of ind ivid u al d evelop- Qu r ’an involves rationality. In other w ord s, in ord er to know
m ent. In analysing the w ord tarbiya, H alstead talks abou t it as God as, to say the least, the u niqu e Lord of the w orld , or that
an Arabic w ord . It is w orth m entioning that the m eaning of there w ill be a d ay (The Other Day) in w hich God w ill be the
w ord s in Arabic langu age is not d eterm ining here, rather, Lord and w ill evalu ate hu m ans’ actions throu ghou t their lives,
w hat is im p ortant is that to see how they are u sed in the one need s to u nd erstan d the reasons God has given for each of
Qu r ’an and other Islam ic texts. The u sage of tarbiya in the the cases in the Qu r ’an and thereby, to be persu ad ed internally
Qu r ’an show s that it refers to physical u pbringing, as is seen w ithou t external coercion or ind octrination. As m entioned
in Pharaoh’s ad d ress to Moses: ‘‘Did w e not bring you u p as a above, the Qu r ’an has persisted that a rational belief (inclu d -
child am ong u s...’’ (1, 42: 18) It is clear that Pharaoh w as not ing belief in God ) cou ld not be based on blind im itation of
concerned abou t ind ivid u al d evelopm ent of Moses. ou tstand ing personalities or blind acceptance of given trad i-
The second challenge is abou t the passivity su pposed for pu - tions. H ence, taking know led ge of the Qu r ’an abou t God not
pils in both to ta'd ib (social and m oral ed u cation) and talïm only natu rally involves rationality. It also requ ires that one
(acqu isition of know led ge). Concerning the form er, H alstead ’s read it and think abou t w hat is stated in a ra tional m anner.
su pp ort of ind octrination w as criticized previou sly. As for the The second elem ent, nam ely choosing God as one’s ow n Lord ,
latter, he says: ‘‘Islam therefore encou rages an attitu d e of re- also involves rationality. Given that one has acqu ired rational
spectfu l hu m ility tow ard s su ch legitim ate au thority and tru st know led ge abou t God to the effect that H e is the Lord , it is
in the tru th of the know led ge that it hand s d ow n.’’ (8, p. 525) natu rally qu ite rational to choose H im as on's ow n Lord .
H ow this conclu sion cou ld be acceptable in Islam w hile the H u m e‘s w ell-know n proclaim that there is a logical gap be-
242
Journal of Social Issues & Humanities, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2014
ISSN 2345-2633

tw een ‘is’ and ‘ou ght’ m ight be reclaim ed here (11). Accord ing m ent.’’ (9, p. 244).
to him , one cannot logically d ed u ce an ‘ou ght’ from prem ises
each containing an ‘is’. It is not need ed to d eal w ith this argu -
m ent in d etail here: Given that this claim is valid , w e are con-
4 CONCLUSION
cerned here only abou t w hat is rational. In other w ord s, there Even thou gh there are im portant d ifferences betw een the Is-
is a recognizable d ifference betw een som ething being logically lam ic and the liberal trad itions of thou ght, it is not an accepta-
valid and rationally valid . Again, rationality here refers to a ble view to conclu d e that if rationality is the basic elem ent of
w id e sense of the w ord , Every logically valid p oint is rational- ed u cation in the liberal trad ition, then the real essence of Is-
ly valid too, bu t not necessarily vice versa. While it m ight not lam ic concept of ed u cation shou ld be sou ght in ind octrination
he logically valid to follow an ‘ou ght’, given an ‘is’ it is u su ally rather than rationality. The qu estion as to w hat is the essence
consid ered rational or reasonable to d o so accord ing to the and bou nd aries of rationality cou ld be nevertheless consid ered
com m on sense. People, in their every d ay lives, take it to be an open qu estion. As far as the Islam ic view is concerned , the
rational to change their ‘d ecisions’ after becom ing aw ar of hu m an reason is not consid ered as an om niscient entity (as
som e ‘facts’. som e of the ad vocates of liberalism m ight calim ) and , conse-
This com m on sensical affair cou ld also be expressed in a logi- qu ently, acknow led gem ent to the lim its of hu m an reason is
cal m anner, that is to say accord ing to the practial syllogism as itself regard ed a rational m atter. N evertheless, as it is show n in
it w as form u lated by Aristotle (3: 1144, b. 1422). In a practial this essay, the basic elem ents of Islam ic concept of ed u cation
syllogism , a prem ise containing an ‘is’ is com bined w ith a have a backgrou nd of rationality. As the above d iscu ssion
prem ise containing an ‘ou ght’ and then a conclu sion contain- show s, by appealing to the Islam ic concept of ru bu biya, a n
ing an ‘ou ght’ follow s. The prem ise containing an ‘ou ght’ in Islam ic concept of ed u cation cou ld be su ggested w hich in-
su ch a syllogism is u su ally an inner and personal obligation clu d es three basic elem ents of know led ge, choice and action. It
like ‘I shou ld experience hap piness in m y life’ and the prem ise w as show n that, accord ing to the Islam ic texts, all the three
containing an ‘is’ d eclars a m eans-end claim that show s the elem ents of ed u cation have a backgrou nd of rationality.
d epend ence of hap piness on som e belifs or actions. H ence,
given the inner obligation, on one hand , and the reasoned REFERENCES
statem ent ind icating that God is the Lord of the w orld (and [1] The Qur'an
that hap piness d epend s on being in congru ence w ith the [2] Nahju aI-Balaqah
Lord ), on the other hand , one can rationally and even logically [3] Aristotle, (1985), Nicomachean Ethics. I. Irwin Trans., Indianapolis: IN: Hack-
conclu d e that he or she shou ld choose and obey the Lord . ett.
[4] al-Attas, S. M. N., (1979), ‘‘Preliminary Thoughts on the Nature of Knowledge
Finally, the third elem ent of Islam ic ed u cation, nam ely u nd er-
and the Definition and Aims of Education’’, in: S. M. N. al¬Attas (Ed.) Aims
taking God ’s sayings and acting accord ing to them , shou ld and Objectives of Islamic Education,(London: Hodder &Stoughton, 19-47.
also be rational. Thu s, there shou ld be reasons for d oing the [5] al-Attas, S. M. N., (1980), The concept of Education in Islam: A Framework for
acts. That is w hy, in the Qu r ’an, in alm ost all cases of giving an Islamic Philosophy of Education, Kuala Lumpur: Muslim Youth Move-
d em and s for action, som e reasons are stated . For instance, in ment of Malaysia.
the case of fasting it is stated in this w ay: ‘‘o you w ho believe! [6] Bagheri. N. K., (2001), Islamic Education, Tehran: Alhoda Publishers.
[7] Capaldi, Nicholas. (1998), The Enlightment Project in the Analytic Conversa-
Fasting is prescribed for you , as it w as prescribed for those tion, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
before you , so that you m ay gu ard (against evil)? (1, 2: 183) In [8] Halstead, J. M., (2004), ‘‘An Islamic Concept of Education’’, Comparative
giving this prescription, God d oes not take an au thoritative Education. 40(4), 517-529.
position; rather the reason is m entioned im m ed iately after [9] Harre, R., (1983), Personal Being, London: Basil Blackwell.
giving the prescription. The reason for fasting is to exercise [10] Hirst, P. H., (1974). Moral Education in a Secular Society, London: University
of London Press.
m anaging inner inclinations to be able to gu ard against evil. [11] Hume, D., (1951), A Treatise of Human Nature, Oxford.
Accord ing to the third element of Islam ic ed u cation, rational [12] Ibn Khaldun, (1967), The Muqaddimah, F. Rosenthal, Trans., Original work
action is an inelim inable com ponent of ed u cation. The tw o published (1381), Vol. 3, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
parts of ‘rational action’ need to be taken into accou nt. As for [13] Majlesst, M. B., (1983), Behar al-Anwar, Vol. 64, Beyrute: Daro Ehya al-Turath
being ‘rational’, the actions that a pu pil is requ ired to d o al-Arabi.
[14] Moor, G.E. (1903)[1956]. Principia Ethica, Cambridge: Cambridge Universtiy
shou ld be show n to be reasonable. That is to say, blind actions
Press.
cou ld not have any ed u cative valu e. Concerning the second [15] Moor, G.E. (1922)[1951]. Philosophical Studies. New York: Humanities Press.
part, nam ely ‘action’, ii shou ld be em phasized that ed u cation [16] Mostafavi, H. (1359). Al-tahqiq fi Kalemate al-Qran al-Karim, Tehran: Bung he
involves action, that is to say, ed u cation is not m erely a cogni- Tarjemeh va Nashre Ketab.
tive or em otive m atter, rather the person shou ld ad vance som e [17] Palmer, R. E. (1969) Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schleirmacher,
d eed s to be able to d evelop his or her cap abilities. Referring to Dilt hey, Heidegger and Gadamer, Evanston. IL: Northwestern University
Press.
the im portant place of action in Islam , Rom H arre says: ‘‘Mu s-
lim m oral psychology is the only trad itional m orality I know
of w ith a w ell-articu lated p sychological theory of m oral d e-
velopm ent. It is a conative, not a cognitive, theory… H ence, all
the w ill-strengthening techniqu es like the Ram ad an fasts and
the variou s other form s of self-d enial. They are not to m ortify
the flesh, a kind of m oral sad om asochism ; they a re to
strengthen the w ill becau se that is the path of m oral d evelop-
243