Decolonization of Education: Islamic Perspective - HBKU

Meeting the intellectual challenge created by Eurocentric knowledge is the central task facing the Muslims. This requires decolonization of education, via a modern day Ghazali Project.

1. Decolonization of Education: An Islamic Perspective Dr. Asad Zaman Tuesday 29 th Apr, 2024 Hammad bin Khalifa University Download these slides from: bit.ly/AZ2HBKU

2. Everyone Agrees that Muslims are in Decline Author Syed Abul-Hassan Ali Nadwi Arabic: “ Maza khasiral alam bi inhitatil muslimeen ” English: Islam and World: The Rise And Decline Of Muslims And Its Effect On Mankind Urdu: Insani Dunya par Musalmanon kay Urooj Aur Zawal ka Asar . Summary & Access to full-text PDFs: bit.ly/ azrdm See also: Dr Israr Ahmed: Rise and Decline of the Muslim Ummah: bit.ly/ IsrarRAD

3. Massive Disagreements on CAUSE of decline: Western Analysts: We are the greatest civilization which ever existed on the planet. So, be like us, if you want to progress. Western-influenced Muslims: Democracy, Secularism, Rule of Law, etc We have fallen behind in knowledge: Science and Technology. The Final Message remains relevant for our guidance. Renewal of Faith (Tableegh) Eliminate Bid’at & Shirk (Salafi) Recreate Khilafah (Political Islam) Emphasize the Heart and Human Aspects (Service, Tasawwuf)

4. Tragedy: We do not even know the central battleground. We are wasting our energies in fighting each other, and in fighting peripheral battles. We do not have the weapons required to fight the central battle. Meanwhile, the enemies have manufacture powerful weapons, which are currently in use against us, on an UNCONTESTED battleground The Ghazali Project (for decolonization of education) provides an analysis, diagnosis, treatment, and plan of action. This is to be discussed in this talk.

5. Knowledge is at the heart of Islam Read, in the name of thy Lord who created … and gave to mankind knowledge which they did not have This knowledge launched a revolution in world history, catapulting ignorant and backward Bedouin in world leadership. Today, Muslims are again ignorant and backward. Does this knowledge have the same power today, to revolutionize our lives, and the world? TRAGEDY: Most Muslims DO NOT THINK SO! Today, Most Muslims are convinced that the path out of our current darkness requires guidance from the West!

6. Decolonization of Knowledge COLONIZED MINDS: Today, we Muslims believe – and demonstrate with our actions – that guidance for solutions of our modern problems is only available from the West. The Quran no longer has the power to guide us. SUCCESSFUL DECOLONIZATION OF MINDS => Understanding that the final message of God the mankind is complete and perfect, and far superior to any knowledge which can be produced by mankind. That it is just as revolutionary today as it was 14 centuries ago.

7. A Deep & Difficult Dilemma http://bit.ly/AZddd The Quran is Revolutionary Today Why are Muslims unable to utilize this knowledge to launch a revolution? Why can’t the Ulema design a path to uplift the Umma? Why are multiple massive efforts launched on BASIS of study of Quran failing to produce significant effects? Western Knowledge is the only PATH! The Power of Western knowledge is so obvious, that it seems IMPOSSIBLE to deny. It shapes every moment of our modern lives. HOW can it possibly be inferior to the knowledge of the Quran, which seems to provide no guidance for our modern lives?

8. Questions to be discussed/answered What is a Colonized Mind? Education in Harmful Knowledge What is Decolonized Mind? Able to see the NOOR of the Quran Colonialism ended 70 years ago: Why are minds still colonized? What is the process by which minds are colonized today? How can we counteract this process? Comprehensive SOLUTIONS: The Ghazali Project Sequence of 10 lectures on “How to Launch and Islamic Revival” http://bit.ly/azlir

9. Why the Quran appears irrelevant & obsolete Jahl -e- Murakkab :: Compound Ignorance We think we HAVE this knowledge. We have been UNABLE to use it to find solutions to modern problems. THEREFORE, this knowledge does NOT have the power to solve modern problems. INSTEAD, we must turn to Western corpus of knowledge to find solutions today.

10. Penetrating the Veil of Over-Confidence: Unjustified belief that we KNOW the message بَدَأَ الإِسْلاَمُ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ كَمَا بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ‏ “Islam began as a something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.” لَتَتْبَعُنَّ سَنَنَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ شِبْرًا شِبْرًا وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ، حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ تَبِعْتُمُوهُمْ The Prophet ﷺ said, "You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you inch by inch, so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them."

11. Indirect Approach to Revolutionary Knowledge contained in the Quran Instead of searching through Quran, Hadeeth, and our Intellectual Tradition, look at History How did this knowledge change the world? The external effects of this knowledge:

12. Central Questions for Muslims Today What was revolutionary about the message of the Quran? What was the methodology used by early Muslims to launch a world revolution, UNIQUE in human history? The Quran is NOT a theoretical textbook: It teaches theory and practice together, about how to launch a world revolution

13. The First Wahy: Read, in the name of Thy Lord who created man … and gave him knowledge that he did not have Many arts – agriculture, languages, reading and writing, iron-works, etc. were revealed via Prophets to mankind. But the most important knowledge was revealed in the final revelation of God to mankind, complete and perfect for the guidance of mankind, for all times to come. BURNING QUESTION: What was this knowledge? Do we still have it?

14. Impact of Revelation on World History Launched a Civilization which enlightened the world for a thousand years. Roots of all Uloom of today go back to Islamic philosophy and science. This fact has been suppressed in Eurocentric Histories. However, distortion of history is of little importance. What is important is that this knowledge is STILL the most important. The Quran still contains complete and perfect guidance for us today.

15. Muslims look to West for Guidance! BUT, the Muslims are no longer looking to the Quran for guidance. WHY? Why have Muslims failed to look to the Quran for guidance? More importantly – those who HAVE looked, have failed to find answers in the Quran to our modern problems.

16. Impact of the Message on Word History

17. Hodgson: The Venture of Islam See: bit.ly/ AZHodgson Muslims are assured in the Qur’ân , ‘You have become the best community ever raised up for mankind, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong, and having faith in God’ (III, 110). Muslims succeeded in building a new form of society, which in time carried with it its own distinctive institutions, its art and literature, its science and scholarship, its political and social forms, as well as its cult and creed, all bearing an unmistakable Islamic impress. In the course of centuries, this new society spread over widely diverse climes, throughout most of the Old World. It came closer than any had ever come to uniting all mankind under its ideals.

18. Impact on Europe Reconquest of Al-Andalus gave European barbarians access to millions of books in Islamic Libraries. The Toledo Translation Project ended the dark ages of Europe. Flood of knowledge in conflict with Catholic teachings split Christianity into two factions. Violent Battles for Centuries between the two factions made population allergic to religion. The need for secular social science was firmly established. Politics and Economics were detached from Moral Philosophy.

19. The Enlightenment Project: Rebuild Entire Stock of Human Knowledge! Christianity had led us astray. We must firmly reject it as superstition and ignorance. Reject the ENTIRE stock of inherited knowledge. Rebuild Knowledge starting from ZERO, on grounds of reason and empirical evidence. Firmly reject the UNSEEN. ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡغَيۡبِ Firmly reject the HEART. وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمۡعَ وَٱلۡأَبۡصَٰرَ وَٱلۡأَفۡـِٔدَةَۚ Descartes: I think, therefore I am.

20. Central Problem: Stock of Human Knowledge has been built on Enlightenment Epistemology The Ghazali Project; Rebuild the entire stock of human knowledge built over the past few centuries, on Islamic epistemological foundations. See: The Ghazalian Webinars: bit.ly/AZwebinars For a sequences of lectures by Recep Senturk on Decolonization of Social Sciences: From Uniplexity to Multiplexity, see: bit.ly/3v9FV32

21. Critical Lessons from this History The Dark Ages of Europe ended when translations of knowledge gathered by Muslims reached Europe after reconquest of Spain This knowledge was violently in conflict with Catholic teachings and split the Church. The ESSENCE of the knowledge could NOT be absorbed by Europeans, and REMAINS a treasure beyond their reach!! The Western copies we are currently mindlessly imitating are INFERIOR to the originals. To learn the original, we must reconnect with our intellectual tradition.

22. Fundamental Problem with Positivist Epistemology Sahih Bokhari: Dajjal is blind of left eye -- Abu-Jahl was known as Abul-Hakm because he was wise in worldly wisdom, but blind in affairs of the heart and soul. Enlightenment epistemology leads to deep insights into the external world. But, it blinds us to the internal nature of human beings. Why? Human experience is unique, not subject to scientific study. Society is collective activity of human beings. We cannot study society without understanding human beings.

23. Social Science = Study of Human Societies The myth of objectivity (science) – social science is the same for all societies. Correct View of Social Science: A Human Society is best studied via the study of the life-experiences of all members of the society. These life-experiences are UNIQUE, and therefore, not subject to scientific analysis. They can only be understood by empathy, by reading great works of fiction, to get insights into alien life-experiences. Positivism rules out life-experience as being outside domain of scientific knowledge

24. Western Failure to Understand Humans Western epistemology reduces Humans to their minds – I think therefore I am. The homo economicus is cold, calculating, callous, and cruel. Psychologists have shown that actual human behavior is radically different from that of economic theory. See: bit.ly/WEAbvn Islamic Psychologists have made great strides, rejecting Freudian theories, and building on Islamic intellectual heritage: Aql, Qalb, Nafs, and Ruh.

25. Multiple, Ongoing, Projects Recep Şentürk: Sequence of Lectures on Decolonization of Knowledge and on Ibn-e-Khaldun – Access from bit.ly/RSdss Uloom-ul-Umran: An Islamic Alternative to Western Social Science bit.ly/AZUUU (The Ghazali Project): How to Launch an Islamic Revival: https://portal.alnafi.com/courses/how-to-launch-an-islamic-revival A New Approach to Islamic Economics: bit.ly/IslamicEcon2023 Even Mathematics and Statistics must be rebuilt on new foundations!

26. Lord Macaulay: Purpose of Indian Education Creation of a Coconut Class: We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. Elite classes in Pakistan continue to respect, admire, and love the Colonizers, and have contempt and hatred for their own culture, heritage, and religion. This colonization of minds is produced by Western education.

27. How did colonization of minds succeed? Conquest IS BASED directly on colonization of minds. Colonization requires creation of a traitor class – Macaulays Children These people continue to rule, post independence. See: The Conquest of Knowledge: http://bit.ly/AZcok

28. Rebellion of 1857 and Consequences Critical Mistake: Deliberate abandonment of Western knowledge. Strong Parallels to the Mu’tazila and the Ilm ul Kalam See: The Modern Mu’tazila: bit.ly/AZtmm

29. The Mu’tazila and Ilm ul Kalam Shock and Awe of Greek Philosophy: Reason is primary and Revelation is secondary: We use reason to understand revelation. Is the Quran created? If so, then it will die, like all creations. Applying logic to the Quran – highly disliked by orthodoxy. If question was never raised by the early scholars, then we should not discuss it. Orthodox position was to avoid disputes with the Mu’tazala – it would lead to Kufr, and was forbidden even if done to support Islam. This was also the position taken by Ulema about Western knowledge following 1857. This withdrawal from the field has led to disaster.

30. Necessity of Ilmul Kalam after it became state religion We are in same position today. We need to enter into battle against Western philosophy. The need for a new Ilmul Kalam We cannot afford to detach ourselves, and disengage with Western knowledge. We cannot call this knowledge the equivalent of carpentry, not relevant for religion. We must enter the battlefield, and defeat them on their own battleground, using their own tools, PLUS our intellectual heritage.

31. Western Education Colonizes Minds It teaches us that the purpose of life is to make money. Then, knowledge is useful if it allows us to make money. Then, only knowledge created over the past few centuries is useful – because this knowledge allows us to get jobs within capitalist economies. Obviously, Islamic teachings are not designed to teach us how to earn money.

32. How Can We Counter This Message? We need to de-colonize the educational system. This is a difficult and challenging task. We need to build an alternative to modern Western educational systems. These new models must create deep understanding of modern societies, and the history which led to the creation of the modern world. We must replace Eurocentric history with an Islamic perspective. We must rediscover Islamic Pedagogy, with its unique approach to education. See: bit.ly/4c13knZ

33. The first step is to discuss Purpose of Life Second step is to discuss USEFUL and USELESS Knowledge Useful is relevant to purpose First Step of the Ghazali Project is AL- Munqidh min al- dalalah Deliverance from Error: Rebuild Faith by understanding the nature of Knowledge as a Noor which is cast into our hearts. Purpose of Life: Learn Who You Are: bit.ly/ Azwya Useful Versus Useless Knowledge: bit.ly/ LKuauk

34. Squarely Confront the Challenge Facing Youth There is no God World was created by chance Man emerged via evolution Our lives are meaningless. Society is jungle of cut-throat competition. Survival of the fittest is the ONLY moral principles. Lie, Cheat, Steal, everything is fine. God Exists Universe was created for a purpose. Man is the best of the creations We have potential to rise above the angels. But also the potential to be worse than beasts. Purpose is to achieve excellence, fulfill our potential.

35. How to Acquire Faith in God? Logical arguments from Ilmul Kalam remain very powerful. New Arguments are now available. Atheists have no satisfactory counters to these arguments. Unfortunately, we do not know the state of the art here. Ontological, Cosmological, Teleological, Big Bang, Fine Tuning, Design As Ghazali noted, intellectual arguments fail to reach the heart. The ultimate argument is the illumination of the heart by the Noor of Allah. There are a number of known pathways to this.

36. Second Step: Tahafat al Falasafa The Puzzle of Western Social Science -- bit.ly/AZpss Origins of Western Social Science – bit.ly/IR3owss A lot of other work which debunks the best that West has to offer is available Ongoing efforts on Mathematics, Statistics, Islamic Psychology, and other area.

37. Third Step: Ihya Uloom ul Deen Rebuilding the entire structure of human knowledge on Islamic epistemological foundations. Rebuilding a University Education using these new approaches to knowledge Rebuilding the Social Sciences on Islamic Foundations (Parts 1 and 2) bit.ly/AZrss1 and bit.ly/AZrss2 Islamic Pedagogy: bit.ly/4c13knZ

38. The Root Cause of Muslim Decline Today? Failure to TRUST in the completeness and perfection of the Final Message of God to Mankind. The Challenge Facing Us: Rebuild the ENTIRE structure of human knowledge – Economics as a branch of Moral Philosophy Religious Leaders, for the most past, adopted the strategy of the Ashab-e-Kahf. Those who did not, could not escape being dominated This was a repeat of the mistake made in countering the Mu’tazila centuries ago. The cure lies in the Ghazali Project, same as before.

39. So, What is the Ghazali Project? The Enlightenment Project sought to reject all inherited human knowledge, and rebuild the entire stock of knowledge starting from ZERO. This project has lead to a few centuries of knowledge built on toxic foundations. This has been spread over the globe by Western education. The Ghazali Project seeks to reject all of the knowledge created on foundations of the Enlightenment Project. Instead, we need to rebuild this knowledge – NOT from zero, but by building upon our heritage, the thousand year plus intellectual tradition of Islam. The Ghazali Webinars: bit.ly/ AZwebinars

40. Reasons for Optimism and Hope The epistemology and ontology developed in the Enlightenment is absurdly fallacious, and easy to refute. Our intellectual heritage contains powerful tools against Enlightenment philosophies. Our failure comes from shock and awe of the West, not from the difficulty of the intellectual challenge. Iqbal: My eyes were not dazzled by the brilliance of Western knowledge , They were protected by the dust of Madina & Najaf May Allah T’aala give us the Taufeeq to rise to the challenge facing us.

41. Links to Relevant Materials Detailed writeup of this talk, with references: On IPS website: tinyurl.com/IPS2024Feb On my blog: tinyurl.com/ Azdeco - both original Urdu ZOOM session, and re-recorded video in English are available from my blog post. These slides, on SlideShare: bit.ly/AZ2HBKU