- Mohammad Ashraf Khwaja
Humankind witnessed unprecedented growth in the field of science and technology in the past few centuries. This consequently led to enormous production of goods and services for making life comfortable. In spite of rapid advances in the fields of science and technology the realization of an ideal society characterized by justice, prosperity and advancement of all remains a distant dream. Poverty exists alongside riches; social justice is a mirage, exploitation of weak and underprivileged runs high everywhere. Corruption in public life has become a part of social life. Violence and killing of fellow beings goes unchecked at a massive scale. Why? Among other things, it is primarily because our education and outlook towards life is delinked from morality. The cries of value neutrality and scientific man gave us a society which is anarchic and cruel. In this context, morality driven education can save humankind from self-annihilation by providing socially beneficial life goals based on principles of love, tolerance and peaceful development of all. Consumerist and greed driven modern man has alienated from himself and from society at large, therefore to bring him back to his true self, morality based education is required.
Islam has laid down some universal fundamental rights for humanity as a whole, which are to be observed and respected under all circumstances. To achieve these rights, Islam provides not only legal safeguards, but also a very effective moral system. Thus, whatever leads to the welfare of the individual or the society is morally good in Islam and whatever is injurious is morally bad. In Islam the importance to the love of mankind is as pronounced as that of love of God. This is the standard by which a particular mode of conduct is judged and classified as good or bad. It does not, through a false sense of originality and innovation, provide any novel moral virtues, nor does it seek to minimize the importance of well-known moral norms, nor does it give exaggerated importance to some and neglect others without cause. It takes up all the commonly known moral virtues and with a sense of balance and assigns a suitable place and function to each one of them in the total scheme of life. Islam widens the scope of man’s individual and collective life – his domestic associations, his civic conduct, and his activities in the political, economic, legal, educational, and social realms. It covers his life from home to society, from the dining-table to the battlefield and peace conferences, literally from the cradle to the grave.
Education is exploring the unknown, discovering new ideas, communicating with the world around us. It is finding own self, recognizing human needs and communicating that recognition to others. Moreover, it is an effective instrument for bringing about desirable changes in a man, his moral behaviour and society to the direction determined by a socially ideal society. To acquire knowledge by human being is predominantly addressed in Islam which has its distinct attitude towards education. Education in Islam is the instrument by which people can be trained in the Islamic way of life which guides us in every aspect of our individual and collective life. The purpose of education in Islam is to associate and balance physical and spiritual development of humankind. Moreover, Islam deals with the universal education and education for practical life and moral values.
Post -industrial revolution world witnessed a plethora of ideologies each claiming to ensure an ideal world order. Capitalism, for instance, built on the concept of freedom of enterprise and a laissez faire state gave birth to a world characterized by wide inequalities in wealth and status. Enormous wealth hence generated was pocketed by few corporate houses and few world empires. Poverty, hunger and exploitation continued at a mammoth scale. Communism emerged as an alternative to capitalism on the promise that it would ensure greater socio-economic equality and hence provides mankind an ideal social order to live in. However, what turned out was no less disastrous for mankind. In the past century these two ideologies exposed mankind to two world wars, hundreds of civil wars; took a heavy toll of mankind through poverty, starvation and exploitation of underdeveloped countries. In the post-cold war era ‘End of History’ (Fukuyama) thesis were floated which, among other things, argued that in Western liberal-capitalism lies the best possible social order that mankind could have ever imagined. In last twenty five years since the end of history was declared mankind is face to face with imminent threat of destruction as never before. Corporate globalisation, the contemporary dominant ideology, has alienated man from his true self and has left human survival at the mercy of multinational corporations spawning like a hundred headed hydra in every nook and corner of the world. Moral values are determined by consumerism, enslavement of poor countries is necessary to keep the larger military machine of state and these MNC’s moving in this age of corporate globalization. What higher education aims in these circumstances is the creation of a human force that has market utility as producers or consumers. A type of mechanical and robotic outlook is expected from this generation of learners. Ironically, morality itself is judged on the basis of utility. Here comes the role of Islamic orientation to knowledge and education. Because Islam maintains a harmonious balance between material and moral aspects of life.
True educational and societal orientation can reside only in a society which tries to reform itself by reviving it’s great, rejuvenating and powerful creed within each nook and corner of its body politic. Europe has a long, strong and proud tradition of what we now call ‘higher’ education. It has deep roots beginning in the sixth century monastic schools, later developing into the medieval European University beginning in Bologna in 1088 and evolving into the modern higher education system of the present day. The biggest change over time has been access, for, until the 20th century, university education catered to the needs of tiny elites.
Higher Education is the highest stage for an individual to derive the best out of himself/herself. An individual should imbibe in himself/herself the sense of high morality, simplicity, helpfulness etc. Higher education system is a key building block in democratic societies. The best teaching and learning environments encourage students to develop confidence in their own creative abilities, strong community engagement and a sense of ethical responsibility allied to the humility that comes from understanding that learning is a lifelong phenomenon that demands a lifelong curiosity and commitment. Among the few greatly cherished and yet unfulfilled dreams of mankind, one is that of an ideal society. It has been called “Utopia” and has been one of the common dreams of men, whose hearts bleed at the injustice to the weak and exploitation of the meek. Almost all of the great thinkers and philosophers in the history of mankind have tried to define the conditions, rules and mechanisms of such a society. There is no dearth of ideas regarding how an ideal society should be, but we do not seem to have progressed towards this ideal in a big way. Such a society still remains a mirage.
A moral sense is inborn in man and, through the ages, it has served as the common man’s standard of moral behaviour, approving certain qualities and condemning others. While this instinctive faculty may vary from person to person, human conscience has consistently declared certain moral qualities to be good and others to be bad. Similarly, in assessing the standards of good and bad in the collective behaviour of society as a whole, only those societies have been considered worthy of honour which have possessed the virtues of organization, discipline, mutual affection and compassion and which have established a social order based on justice, freedom and equality. Disorganization, indiscipline, anarchy, disunity, injustice and social privilege have always been considered manifestations of decay and disintegration in a society. Robbery, murder, adultery and corruption have always been condemned. Slander and blackmail have never been considered healthy social activities, while service and care of the aged, helping one’s relatives, regard for neighbours, loyalty to friends aiding the weak, the destitute and the orphans, and nursing the sick are qualities which have been highly valued since the dawn of civilization
Values are guiding principles, or standards of behaviour which are regarded desirable, important and held in high esteem by a particular society in which a person lives. The importance of values and morals are the code we live by in a civilized and just society. Our values and morals are a reflection of our spirituality, our character. They are what we hope to model our children and the children around us. Moral values are those virtues which makes a human distinct from other passion-driven creatures. Morality laden education harmonizes the need of a student to achieve goals in a competitive world and the need to be compassionate to his fellow beings. Moral values are the source of our inbuilt energy and if we use them they give us unexplainable joy and a reason to live. The moral code of Islam ranges from smallest details of domestic life to the field of national and international behaviour. It guides us at every stage in life and helps in the building of a society based on peace, development and tolerance.
Contemporarily scientific methodology cultivates in children a critical approach to past and present, and generates in their minds a trust more in their own reason than in revelation, in verifiable and demonstrable principles or conclusions than in received truth from the authority.
If the objective of education is to aim at the balanced growth of the total personality of an individual, this objective cannot be attained by isolating children from their socio-cultural environment. That is why formal education can succeed in achieving its aim if society cooperates. When society is deviating from the true Islamic path, then it is the job of educators to take up ‘arms against a sea of troubles’ and modify, amend and improve society. If we look into our desperate Muslim societies of today, we find that there is a clear gap between our beliefs and outward behaviour. This is due to the weakening of our traditional values, many of which have now lost semblance of vitality and vigour. Higher education should inform moral action as well as satisfy the material and mundane needs of people. Such equilibrium cannot be established, unless the family, the mosque, the school, the university and independent media play their roles.
Post-Script:The Islamic moral order guarantees for man a system of life free from all evils. It calls on the people not only to practise virtue, but also to eradicate vice. Those who respond to this call are gathered together into a community (Ummah) and given the name ‘Muslims’. Islam seeks to build a principled and ideological society very different from the racial, nationalistic and parochial societies existing in the world today. The basis of co-operative effort among men in such a society is not the place of one’s birth but a creed and a moral principle. Islam does not want this economic race to take place in an atmosphere of moral neutrality and social apathy. The participants should be just and kind to one another. Islam, through its moral injunctions, aims at creating a feeling of mutual love and affection among people, through which they may help their weak and weary brethren, and at the same time create a permanent institution in society to guarantee assistance to those who lack the necessary means and abilities to succeed.
The author is a Former Doctoral Fellow of Aligarh Muslim University and can be reached at [email protected]
