The role of cri t ical thinking in Islam

The impetus to critical and reflective thinking in Islam lies in ihe Qur'an itself. Horv?Beginning with iqra'.What does iqra' mean?Proclaim (Read) in the name of the Lord and Cherisher who created. Created man from aclot of congealed blood. Proclaim and they Lord is most bountiful, He who taught (theuse of) the pen, taught man that which he knew not. (this is IITIM motto).

The pen means that Muslims are not just suppose to write things that are already known.That is wasteful. Suppose to write something new. To discover and invent. Discover theKnowledge which is from God. He taught men. This knowledge can be from revelationor ilham or kashf and also from reading his creations - the heaven, the earth, and thosebefween them and in men themselves.

Of what use is this knowledge? For man to play his role as 'abd and khalifah.

What is an 'abd? Worship God and reach the state of taqwa or piety.What is piety?Wrong for Muslims to assume that the individual and social existence are twe separatedimensions, like in the West. tn Islam every ibadah - has personal and social dimensions,eg prayer, zakat and haj.

Ailah

Taqw Social justice

Individual Social

Muslim relationship N'ith Allah is best tiescribed in a triangle, with Aliah at the apex an<ithe social and individual dimensions as the two bases. For the sake ofjustice and balance,neither one of the bases could be neglected. The goveming nonn of personal relationshipwith Allah is piety (taqwa) and that of society with Allah is social justice. Therefore,piety without social justice is an empty word and social justice without piety ismeaningless. This notion of social justice in islam which is constitutive of piefy, is whatdistinguishes it from that ofMarx or liberal secular ideologies.

Thereiore, reariing oi ihe Q*'"n cannoi mereiy be an act oi personai piety but has toexercise a concern for social justice on this earth. No monastic system in Islam. Bothpersonal and social dimensions revolve around tawhid. In Islam, while engagement insocial critique gives piety a social content, piety in turn, lends direction to social critique.Therefore, armed with the twin concepts of tawhid and taqwa, a Muslim needs to look

critically both at his,/her societvindividual and social levels. arivThese concepts are the euide-structures.

and other societies of the world todeviation from tawhid and fallines

to organizing individual life anJ

expose, both at theaway from taqwa.

determining social

ln Islam, knowledeg for knowledge sake does not exist. Knowledge has no value andvirtue in and by itself. Its viiue lies in bringing human kind closer to Allah.consequently, knowledge in Islam is important fbr; Muslim,s spiritual growth anddevelopment' Secondly, iince knorvledge is acquired through the active process of goingbeyond what one already knows, criti-cal thinking islssential for a Muslim to growintellectually and spirituaily.

Intellectual growth without spiritual d.evelopment ) aimless wandering.spiritual growth without intellectual componenet ) meanir,gt"rr.*-^

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western: the ultimate. test of a critique is how successful it is in bringing uul,r, desiredresult i.e. judged purely on pragmatii and utilitarian grounds.Islam: to engage in criticallttougltt is a moral

"o**it*"nt and to be judged on its moralworth independent of its success or failure in this world. Allah requirJs u! ro *, morally,the success or failure of such actions is entkery in His hands.

Would there be a need to engage in critical thought if we are content with out lot in theworld? Discontent in life could be due to a variety of reasons. For Muslims, it can neverbe due to lack of physical comforts alone. D.eviaiion fro3 the principle oiiu*r,ra in anyform or manner should be more disconcerting to Muslims than any lack of creature

;X?:fir[::::: ** to preqerve and maintain the frin"iple ortawiria is an unending

The notion of murabbi:

Progressive education movements today especially those based on child centredapproaches have relegated teachers to the rote of faciiitators. The computers apparentlycould replace them. This is evident withincreasing commodification ori,='o*i"oge eg. inmode of instruction using distance or online tearniig *a-urro in the use of ICT forteaching in secondary schools (an interesting "**pi.

ir io tt. policy of the sc and Mathin English).

The Question: could the mu'addib or murabbi be replaced?

$waffj: -knowledgeabre, wise and also pious, kind and considerate.Murabbi: life of learning + a life of virtue.Thus, murabbi is a perfect and an ideal person to learn from.$urabbi

- personalized knowledge andtheoreticar k"o;i;g"Theoretical knowledge - what is understood as knowl"ag"-Personalized lqrowledge - knowredge from hislher living" experience

To understand the concept of murabbi, one must understand the distinction benveen(a) education and learnirry, and (b) education and gathering infonnation.

Education is the result of a personal encounter befween a teacher and a student befween 2beings oR the supreme being and the human being i.e. onry human beings can educateother human beings oR only ih" supr".ne Being can ed.ucate human beings.

Argument: If there is not need for a teacher, then what is the purpose of sending theProphets?

Good questions:1' Had education not become a personal encounter befween the two parties,would Allah have thought it necessary to teach Adam the names HIMSELF?2. why are teachers and prophets necessary i";Jfb;;il;;;i;;""

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Every experience of teachers -) a configuration of meaning.Personalized knowredge reads to configuration of meanirrg.

Murabbi: the only way to understand knowledge is to live it and to test its validity isto see what differencE it makes to hislher life as a Muslim. what he or she teaches isnot an impersonal body of theoretical knowledge that he/she has mastered andaccepted its kuth but rather knowiedge that he/she-has lived and found to be true orfalse' That is' there is consistencv jn $owle.dge u.rJ f.u"ti"e. This is the reason whya prophet has always accompanied a divine book. rie provides the configuration ofmeaning and understanding of the book possible.

Commirdification of knowledge:' lmpersonal atmosphere in which knowledge is produced make it impossible to teachanything else save skills to retrieve information.-

Do we still need murabbi?The pursuit of knowledge is moral and spiritual and the encl of knowledge is to serveGod not the market.

The absence of murabbi from modem education has also brought abt a change inthinking abt curriculum. In fac! the surisulrrm has taken the place of murabbi. Theemphasis has shifted in educational thought from the teacher to what the teacherteaches or ought to teach. Teachers have bJen relegated to the role of facilitators.

Murabbi teaches how to think and this is not easy like to teach information. To dophilosophical or sociological thinking one needs tle teacher to show how or to coacheven in reading the text. A student cannot iust r-eq.{ rhe gs5ft alone.