It
is claimed that Mohammed was illiterate and the Koran, was literally the word
of God, transcribed by others (like Socrates) from his revelations. Mohammed is
therefore a prophet and teacher but in reality a mouthpiece for the absolute
message of God.
Koran and education
Books, especially the Koran, are held in the
highest regard and mosques functioned as repositories of books. In Sura 75:15–18
attentive reading is specifically mentioned. This reverence for the ‘book’, especially the Koran, is
paramount. Indeed it was almost immediately made into a ‘codex’ (book form), as
they had acquired paper technology from captured Chinese sailors in 751AD. One
had to even wash before touching the Koran.
The
dominant role this one book, of similar length to the Gospels, has had on
education in the Muslim world cannot be underestimated. For five centuries
after its emergence in the 7th century, the so called ‘Golden Age of
Arabic culture, encouraged centres of learning in Damascus, Bagdad and Cairo. Their
libraries collected and distributed Western classical texts and made advances
in mathematics, science, philosophy and law.
Recite and repeat
Koran
means ‘to recite’ and the text was originally meant to be read aloud. It has been
argued that this has led to a dependence on rote learning. Prayer is one of the
five pillars of Islam, recommended five times a day, so the repetition of recitation,
known to be effective for embedding knowledge in long term memory, becomes an
ingrained habit, as does listening attentively, especially at Friday prayers
and also through the attentive reading of the Koran. On the other hand this
focus on recitation and repetition tends to infect studies across all subjects
and education in the Arab world has been criticised for its dependence on simple
recitation at the expense of critical analysis.
Memorisation
Islam
literally means ‘submission’ and it has been argued that this affects the way
learners and teachers approach education. In particular, memorisation of the
Koran, which has been admired for centuries in the Muslim world, may have
encouraged the memorisation and
regurgitation of text, rather than analysis and critical thinking. With traditional paternalism, authority of
the state and dominance of religion, some argue, comes a lack of questioning,
passive learners and didactic teaching. Obedience and compliance, not unusual
in other educational systems, are arguably much more embedded in Islamic
countries. The time spent on religious studies also squeezes out time available
for other subjects. This may be another reason for the low levels of original
research and patents in countries where Islamic education is dominant.
Koran and writing
Writing, not only through the Koran, but in other
expository texts, is a strong feature of Islamic education. Sura 96 urges
believers to ‘recite’ but also explains that God taught man through the ‘pen’,
namely writing. Writing, especially calligraphy, is regarded as a high art
form, as it is in the East (but never was in in the West). The double edged sword is that the power of
the pen is seen as the power of God’s absolute religious knowledge, not the
freedom to write critically. Indeed, the writing, even drawing, has led to
death threats ‘fatwas’, on novelists and cartoonists. Islam, like Christianity,
has supported the extremes of rigorous scholarship and education but also bans
on education (especially for women) and even the burning of books.
E-learning
The Arab world has
one written language, and, as the Arab Spring has proven, its demographically young
populations have used technology to depose dictators and criticise the
cronyism, nepotism and corruption in those societies. With this may come a more
open attitude and access to education, using the technology they so
successfully used in learning how to change their systems of government. We
should start to see the emergence of good Arabic content, tools that cater for
the Arabic language and an increased use of technology based learning, along
with the democratisation of education.
Conclusion
For all its
educational qualities, the focus on one book, its absolute truth and primitive
recitation, repletion and memorisation seem like primitive pedagogies, leaving
little room for active and critical thought. Islam, like the extremes of Christianity
and Judaism, can be seen as a return to an absolute form of dogmatism, where
young minds are locked down before they have had a chance to reflect or choose.
This is an anathema to secularists who believe that education should open young
minds not close them down. On the other hand, let us not forget that the
Islamic world encouraged learning, scholarship and intellectual endeavour,
gifting the world those texts of the Classical world we now so admire.
Bibliography
DawoodJ. (Transl. 1956, revised 2000) The Koran Penguin Classics
Lyons M (2011) The Book Thames & Hudson
Hitti P.K. (1936) History of the Arabs MacMillan
Whitaker B (2009) What’s Wrong with the Middle East. Saqi
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