Presentation
at the 1st International Islamic Epistemology and Curriculum
Development Conference held at the Muslim University of Morogoro 9-11 August,
2014 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH
(Harvard)
EPISTEMOLOGY:
·
Definition
of epistemology: Epistemology, a major branch of philosophy, is the science
of knowledge, ‘ilm al ‘ilm. It is the
study of the origin, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge.
·
The aim of
epistemology
is certainty, yaqeen.
·
The scope
of epistemology: distinguish reality from appearance & perception from
reality, evidence for truth of a claim
ISLAMIC EPISTEMOLOGY
·
Islamic
epistemology has
fixed parameters from Qur’ an and sunnat within the tauhid paradigm and
space-time variables. It is characterized by objectivity and its sources of
knowledge.
·
Objectivity
comes
only next to iman, as the Prophet
said 'qul amantu bi al laahi thumma
istaqim'.
·
Sources of
knowledge:
1. wahy, 2. ‘aql, and 3. kawn (‘ilm tajriibi) related to causality, sababiyyat.
Ibn Taymiyah proved conclusively that there is no
contradiction between ‘aql and naql
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CHANGE
AS A KEY TO SOCIAL CHANGE 1: Start in Makka
·
Islamic
civilization started as a knowledge revolution in Makka: Islamic dawa in the
Arabian peninsula was a knowledge and methodology revolution that underlay the
Islamic civilization
·
Qur’anic
methodology inspired the empirical method and inductive logic. Muslim scientists
inspired by the Qur’anic methodology experimented and corrected mistakes in
Greek science
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CHANGE
AS A KEY TO SOCIAL CHANGE 2: Muslim empiricism triggered the European renaissance:
·
Interactions in Near East (crusades)
and South Europe (Andalusia) enabled Europeans to learn the empirical method
from Muslims that the knowledge renaissance in the 12th century and
the 14-17th centuries.
·
Renaissance
triggered by translation of Arabic manuscripts of natural
science, philosophy and mathematics.
·
Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168–1253) (74):
Was the first to make extensive use of the thought of Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd. First used the experimental method in Europe
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CHANGE
AS A KEY TO SOCIAL CHANGE 3: Muslim empiricism triggered the European renaissance:
·
Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294) (75) was inspired by the writings of Grosseteste. He mastered Arabic texts on
the science of optics.
·
Francis Bacon
(1561-1626) called the creator of empiricism was influenced by Ibn Taymiyah.
·
Start of
European universities: Arabic books in translation were used.
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CHANGE
AS A KEY TO SOCIAL CHANGE 4: Knowledge renaissance was the basis of modern
western power .
·
Renaissance was followed by a religious
revolution (reformation), a thought
revolution (enlightenment and rationality),
·
Then the scientific revolution, the agricultural
revolution, and the industrial / technological revolution,
·
Then political revolutions, communication and
information revolutions.
·
While Europe developed the Muslim World
stagnated because of knowledge decay
EPISTEMOLOGICAL CHANGE
AS A KEY TO SOCIAL CHANGE 5: the Muslim renaissance
·
The
expected Third world renaissance : The third world today is backward
technologically and needs to wake up from a long sleep
·
Reform of
society
starts with reform of education hence the emphasis on Islamic universities.
·
Challenge
of dichotomy in education faces 15th century renaissance; it needs
epistemological reform leading to integration of knowledge. An epistemological
revolution will pioneer social reform.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Manifestations of the
crisis 1
·
There is pervasive ignorance of uluum al diin and uluum al dunia, little respect for scholarship, and neglect of the
empirical sciences.
·
There is a dichotomy in the education system:
traditional Islamic vs. imported European, ulum
al diin vs ulum al dunia.
Integration of the 2 systems has failed or has been difficult because it has
been mechanical and not conceptual.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Manifestations of the
crisis 2
·
The process of secularization in education has
removed the moral dimension from
the education and violated the aim of Islamic education
to produce an integrated and perfect individual, insan kaamil.
·
The brain drain has compounded the educational
crisis.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Ummatic malaise due to
the knowledge crises 1:
·
Knowledge deficiency and intellectual weakness
are the most significant manifestation of ummat’s
decadence.
·
Among the manifestations of the ummatic malaise are action deficiency,
political weakness, economic dependency, military weakness, dependence in
science and technology, and erosion of a moral identity in life-style.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Ummatic malaise due to
the knowledge crises 2:
·
The intellectual crisis of the ummat is worsened by copying and using
poorly digested alien ideas and concepts.
·
The prophet warned the ummat about the lizard-hole phenomenon in which the ummat in later times would follow its
enemies unquestionably like the lizard running into its hole.
·
We are consumers and not producers of ideas and
knowledge
CRISIS OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Knowledge, a pre requisite for tajdiid 1:
·
Reform and revival of the ummat will occur through educational and knowledge reform.
·
Tajdid is a recurring
phenomenon in the ummat and is a sign
of its health and dynamism.
·
Tajdid is a basic characteristic of the ummat that periods of reform/revival
alternate with periods of decay and return to jahiliyyat.
·
Tajdid requires knowledge,
ideas and action related by the following mathematical equation: tajdid = idea + action.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Knowledge, a pre
requisite for tajdiid 2
·
Action without knowledge and guiding ideas will
not lead to true change.
·
Ideas without action are not change at all.
·
Tajdid requires and is
preceded by a reform in knowledge to provide ideas and motivation on which to
build.
CRISIS
OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: Knowledge, a pre
requisite for tajdiid 3
·
All successful societal reform starts with change
in knowledge.
·
The ideal society cannot be created without a
knowledge base. That knowledge base must be correct, relevant, and useful.
·
Successful revival movements throughout history
have always been led by scholars.
CRISIS OF KNOWLEDGE and EDUCATION: New knowledge strategy :
·
Social change requires change in attitudes,
values, convictions and behavior of a critical mass of the population.
Attitudes, values, convictions, and behaviors are determined by the knowledge
base.
·
The vision of the knowledge strategy is an
upright balanced person who understands the creator, knows his place, his
roles, his rights, and his responsibilities in the cosmic order.
·
The mission of the knowledge strategy is
conceptual transformation of the education system from kindergarten to post
graduate studies to reflect positive moral values, objectivity, universality,
and serving the larger causes of humanity.
THE CONCEPT OF INTEGRATION
OF KNOWLEDGE (IOK):
·
IOK is a process of recasting the corpus of
human knowledge to conform to the basic tenets of a moral world view, ru’uyat kawniyyat.
·
IOK does not call for re-invention of the wheel
of knowledge but calls for reform, correction, and re-orientation.
·
IOK is evolutionary and not revolutionary, It is
corrective and reformative.
·
It is the first step in the integration of the
education system as a prelude to integration of values and ethics for social
reform.
HISTORY
OF IOK
·
The 2-3rd centuries H witnessed a
failed effort at IOK because Greek science was transferred with the world view
and philosophy of the society that produced it
·
Greek science depended more on philosophical
deduction than experimentally-based induction. It discouraged the scientific tarbiyat
of the Qur’an which emphasized observation of nature as a basis for conclusions.
·
Transfer of Muslim science to Europe was
positive: knowledge with the universal empirical spirit
·
Problem of rejection of modern knowledge is
against the Islamic spirit. We need empirical knowledge but it must be
presented within the context of our world view.
IOK
IN DISCIPLINES:
·
IOK has to start with reforming the
epistemology, methodology, and corpus of knowledge of each discipline.
·
IOK must be pro-active, academic,
methodological, objective, and practical.
·
The vision of IOK is objective, universal, and
beneficial knowledge in the context of a harmonious interaction of humans with
their physical, social, and spiritual environment.
·
We have a lot of publications on IOK in various
disciplines the most prominent being economics
·
The existing writings can be the basis for
developing course outlines and descriptions
THE
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY AS A VEHICLE FOR IOK
·
First World Muslim Education Conference in Makka
in 1977 identified dichotomy as the main problem of Muslim education
·
Islamic universities were set up to solve the
problem of dichotomy my teaching integrated curricula
·
International Islamic University in Islamabad
(Pakistan), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Kushtia (Bangladesh), Niger, Mbale (Uganda). And others
·
Indonesia has over 400 Islamic Universities set
up even before the Makka Conference. Challenge
to show how different from others
·
Islamic Universities in Europe and America
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: background
·
Our main objective is to resolve
the crisis of duality in education which has severe adverse intellectual and
practical consequences for individuals and communities in our ummat.
·
Integrating Islamic values and
concepts in all disciplines of learning is the best approach to resolving the
crisis of duality on knowledge and education.
·
Epistemology and curriculum reform
is necessary as a step to integrating Islamic values in education. This will
lead to a knowledge renaissance that will eventually lead to an overall
renaissance and revival of the ummat.
·
Education reform is the necessary
condition for social reform and rebuilding the ummatic civilization.
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Review Of Past Achievements In
Bangladesh
·
Epistemology and curriculum reform
seminars have been held 2007-present to raise awareness of the problem of
duality and to propose epistemological and curricular reform as the needed
solution. These were followed by specific seminars with visiting discipline
experts.
·
Discipline specific working groups
were set up for each discipline of knowledge. These groups worked very hard and
have now been able to develop a total of 75 course outlines with an integrated
Islamic input.
·
The next step is to develop text
books that will be used to teach those courses.
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Stages Of Implementation Of The
Textbook Project 1
·
Finalizing course descriptions and
course outlines to be completed by March 1, 2010
·
Compiling references available in
Bangladesh both general and Islamic for all the courses to be completed by
March 10, 2010.
·
Determining for each book: the
title, units / sections, chapters (a chapter is one classroom session) to be
completed by March 20, 2010
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Stages Of Implementation Of The
Textbook Project 2
·
Structuring each chapter: learning
objectives, detailed outlines (headings and sub-headings), key words,
·
Islamic input, glossary, index,
case studies, texts from Islamic sources (Qur’an, sunnat, other books),
illustrations (pictures and drawings), chapter summary, review (questions,
tests, exercises), and assignments. These assignments will be completed by
March 31, 2010.
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Stages Of Implementation Of The
Textbook Project 3
·
Designation the editorial board
for each book (chief editor and co-editors), chapter writers, reviewers (from
Bangladesh and overseas), advisors (Bangladesh and overseas), and consultants
(Bangladesh and overseas). Full names, addresses, emails, and brief CV for each
person to be submitted by April 10, 2010.
·
Allocation of chapters to writers
by April 20, 2010.
·
Submission of the final version of
the book plans by May 1, 2010
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Stages Of Implementation Of The
Textbook Project 4
·
Collection of references by IIIT
to be completed by June 1, 2010. General references can be obtained from online
data bases like amazon.com and from various bookstores outside Bangladesh.
Islamic sources will be supplied by IIIT and many of them will be translations
from Arabic material available in Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, and Amman.
·
Regular workshops for chapter
writers and editors to review the written material preferably once every 1-2
months.
·
Testing the chapters written as
classroom notes for university students and getting feedback.
CONCEPT PAPER
ON WRITING TEXTBOOKS FOR BANGLA UNIVERSITIES: Stages Of Implementation Of The
Textbook Project 5
·
Evaluation and adoption of the
final versions by the editorial board of each book to be completed by December
31, 2010.
·
Evaluation by IIIT consultants by
March 1, 2011
·
Editing, proof reading, and type
setting by the IIIT publications department to be completed by June 30, 2011.
·
The IIIT style sheet will be used
for transliteration and other editorial aspects.
·
Printing and distribution by IIIT
/ BIIT by October 1, 2011.
DESIRED
FEATURES OF THE TEXT BOOK
·
Scope: 1-2 text book(s) for each
course
·
Size: 150-300 pages
·
Cover: soft (80%) and hard (20%)
·
Attractive fonts (Times New Roman
no 12), multicolors
·
Price: USD5-15 cover price
·
Accompanying CD / DVD and web
based resources
BUSINESS
ASPECTS
·
Copy right held by IIIT/BIIT
·
Editing, reviewing, printing, and
distribution costs by IIIT/BIIT
·
A royalty will be paid for each book
to be divided among the authors: 50% on submission of the manuscript and 50% on
completion of all corrections prior to printing.
·
New editions every 2-3 years
