Q 3: Discuss Imam Al-Ghazali’s views about teaching?
Course: Philosophy of Education
Course Code 8609
Topics
Imam Al-Ghazali’s views about teaching
- Aims and Principles of Education
- Abu-l-A‘là al-Mawdudi, Sayyid Qutb and Ruhollah Khomeini, How John Dewey performed Education
AIOU Solved Assignment |Semester: Autumn/Spring | B.Ed/Bachelors in Education /Masters in Education / PhD in Education | BEd / MEd / M Phil Education | ASSIGNMENT Course Code 8609| Course: Philosophy of Education
Answer:
Until recently, Islamic thought as
propounded by al-Ghazali constituted the predominant school about the
theory and practice of Islam (and, in particular, Sunnite Islam). With his immense
intellectual stature and his encyclopedic knowledge, al-Ghazali has influenced
Islamic thought and defined its practice for nearly nine centuries. He was a
representative of ‘conciliatory Islam'.
Over the past three decades, a new
current of ‘combative Islam' has appeared and grown rapidly, and is attempting
to gain control of the Islamic world. Some observers see this trend as a new revival
movement, while others perceive it as a threat not only to the Islamic
countries, but to the entire world, and a source of destabilization, taking
Islam and Muslims back fourteen centuries.
This new movement derives its
intellectual foundations from the teachings of Abu-l-A‘là al-Mawdudi, Sayyid
Qutb, and Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as their hard-line followers active in any number
of countries. It advocates the proclamation of society as impious, the forcible
elimination of existing regimes, the
seizure of power, and a radical change in social lifestyles; it is aggressive in
its rejection of modern civilization.
The adepts of this trend hold that
Islam, as professed and practiced over many centuries, provides the solution to
all the political, economic, social, cultural, and educational problems facing
the Arab and Islamic world, and indeed the whole planet. The struggle between
the thought of al-Ghazali and al-Mawdudi is still underway and may turn
out to be one of the most important factors in shaping the future of the Arab
and Islamic world.
Whatever the outcome of this
struggle, al-Ghazali remains one of the most influential philosophers (although
he objected to being described as such) and thinkers on education in Islamic
history. His biography —as a student in
search of knowledge, as a teacher propagating knowledge, and as a scholar exploring
knowledge— provides a good illustration of the way of life of students,
teachers, and scholars in the Islamic world in the Middle Ages.
Aims and principles of education
Al-Ghazali's philosophy of education
represents the high point of Islamic thinking on education, in which
al-Ghazali's inclination towards reconciliation and the integration of various
intellectual schools is apparent. Here he achieves a synthesis of legal,
philosophical, and mystical educational thinking. Al-Ghazali was not a ‘philosopher
of education' (even though he did work as a teacher at the beginning of his
career); he was a philosopher of religion and ethics.
When he had completed the outlines of this great philosophical edifice, and
begun to put it into practice, al-Ghazali found himself turning to education
and teaching, in the same way as the great philosophers before him had done.
Al-Ghazali's philosophy was more an expression of the spirit of the age in
which he lived than a response to its challenges; his thinking on education, as
indeed his philosophy, favored continuity and stability over change and
innovation.
For Al-Ghazali, the purpose of the society is to apply shari‘a, and the goal of man is to achieve happiness close
to God. Therefore, the aim of education is to cultivate man so that he abides
by the teachings of religion, and is hence assured of salvation and happiness
in the eternal life hereafter. Otherworldly goals, such as the pursuit of
wealth, social standing or power, and even the love of knowledge, are illusory since they relate to the transient world.
Man is born as a Tabula Rasa, and
children acquire personality, characteristics, and behavior through living in
society and interacting with the environment. The family teaches the children
its language, customs, and religious traditions, whose influence they cannot
escape. Therefore, the main responsibility for children's education falls on
the parents, who take credit for their probity and bear the burden of their
errors; they are partners in everything the children do, and this responsibility
is subsequently shared by the teachers
Al-Ghazali stresses the importance of childhood in character formation.
A good upbringing will give children
a good character and help them to live a righteous life; whereas, a bad
upbringing will spoil their character and it will be difficult to bring them
back to the straight and narrow path. It is therefore necessary to understand
the special characteristics of this period to deal with the child effectively and soundly.
Boys must begin to attend Maktab (elementary school) at an early age, for what is learned
then is as engraved in stone. Those entrusted with the education of the boy at school
should be aware of how his motivations develop and interests change from one
period to another: a fascination with movement, games, and amusement, followed
by a love of finery and appearances (in infancy and childhood), then an interest in women and sex (adolescence),
a yearning for leadership and domination (after the age of 20), and finally
delight in the knowledge of God (around the age of 40). These changing
interests can be used by educators to attract the boy to school, by offering
first the lure of ball games, then ornaments and fine clothes, then responsibilities,
and finally by awakening a longing for the hereafter.
In the elementary stage, children
learn the Koran and the sayings of the Prophet's companions; they should be
preserved from love poetry and the company of men of letters, both of which sow
the seeds of corruption in boys' souls. They must be trained to obey their
parents, teachers, and elders, and to behave well toward their classmates. They
should be prevented from boasting to their peers about their parents' wealth or
the food they eat, their clothes, and accessories.
Rather, they should be taught modesty,
generosity, and civility. Attention is drawn to the potentially pernicious
influence of the children's comrades on their character. They must therefore be
advised that their friends should possess the following five qualities:
intelligence, good morals, good character, abstemiousness, and truthfulness.
Education is not limited to training
the mind and filling it with information but involves all aspects—intellectual,
religious, moral, and physical—of the personality of the learner. It is not enough
to impart theoretical learning; that learning must be put into practice. True
learning is that which affects behavior and whereby the learner makes practical
use of his knowledge.
The children's tutors must devote
attention to religious education. First, the principles and foundations of
religion are instilled into them such that by the age of about 7 they can be expected
to perform the ritual ablutions and prayers and to undertake several days of
fasting during Ramadan until they become accustomed to it and can fast
for the whole month.
They should not be allowed to wear
silk or gold, which are proscribed by the Faith. They must also be taught
everything they need to know about the precepts of religious law and must
learn not to steal, eat forbidden food, act disloyally, lie, utter obscenities, or do anything that children are prone to do. Naturally, at this early age, they will not be able to understand the intricacies of what they are taught or
expected to practice, and there is no harm in that.
As they grow older, they will come to understand
what they have been taught and what they are practicing. At times, al-Ghazali
the Sufi overshadows al-Ghazali the educator: for instance, he advocates
cutting the boy off from the world and its temptations for him to
renounce it, and accustoming him to a simple, rough life in poverty and
modesty.
And yet the educator quickly
reappears, for he feels that once the boy has left the school premises, he
should be allowed to play suitable games to recover from the fatigue
of study and be freed from the constraints imposed upon him. However, he must
not tire or overtax himself at play. Preventing the boy from playing and
burdening him constantly with learning can only weary his heart and blunt his
mind, spoiling his life and making him so despise study that he resorts to all
manner of tricks to escape it.
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