The role of critical thinking in Islam The impetusto critical and reflective thinking in Islam lies in ihe Qur'an

itself. Horv? Beginning with iqra'. What does iqra' mean? Proclaim (Read)in the nameof the Lord and Cherisherwho created. Createdman from a clot of congealed blood. Proclaim and they Lord is most bountiful, He who taught(the use of) the pen, taught man that which he knew not. (this is IITIM motto). The pen meansthat Muslims are not just suppose to write things that are already known. That is wasteful. Supposeto write somethingnew. To discoverand invent. Discover the Knowledge which is from God. He taught men. This knowledge can be from revelation or ilham or kashf and also from reading his creations- the heaven, the earth, and those befweenthem and in men themselves. Of what use is this knowledge? For man to play his role as 'abd and khalifah. What is an 'abd? Worship God and reachthe stateof taqwa or piety. What is piety? Wrong for Muslims to assumethat the individual and social existenceare twe separate dimensions,like in the West. tn Islam every ibadah- has personaland social dimensions, eg prayer, zakat and haj. Ailah

Taqw

Socialjustice

Individual

Social

Muslim relationship N'ith Allah is best tiescribed in a triangle, with Aliah at the apex an<i the social and individual dimensions as the two bases. For the sake ofjustice and balance, neither one of the basescould be neglected. The goveming nonn of personal relationship with Allah is piety (taqwa) and that of society with Allah is social justice. Therefore, piety without social justice is an empty word and social justice without piety is meaningless. This notion of social justice in islam which is constitutive of piefy, is what distinguishes it from that ofMarx or liberal secular ideologies. Thereiore, reariing oi ihe Q*'"n cannoi mereiy be an act oi personai piety but has to exercise a concern for social justice on this earth. No monastic system in Islam. Both personal and social dimensions revolve around tawhid. In Islam, while engagementin social critique gives piety a social content, piety in turn, lends direction to social critique. Therefore, armed with the twin concepts of tawhid and taqwa, a Muslim needs to look

critically both at his,/her societvand other societiesof the world to expose, both at the individual and social levels. ariv deviation from tawhid and fallines away from taqwa. These concepts are the euide-to organizing individual life anJ determining social structures. ln Islam, knowledeg for knowledge sake does not exist. Knowledge has no value and virtue in and by itself. Its viiue lies in bringing human kind closer to Allah. consequently, knowledge in Islam is important fbr; Muslim,s spiritual growth and development'Secondly,iince knorvledgeis acquiredthrough the active processof going beyond what one already knows, criti-cal thinking islssential for a Muslim to grow intellectually and spirituaily. Intellectual growth without spiritual d.evelopment ) aimless wandering. "^" spiritual growth without intellectualcomponenet ) meanir,gt"rr.*-^ western: the ultimate.test of a critique is how successfulit is in bringing uul,r, desired result i.e. judged purely on pragmatii and utilitarian grounds. Islam: to engagein criticallttougltt is a moral and to be judged on its moral worth independentof its successor failure "o**it*"nt in this world. Allah requirJs u! ro *, morally, the success or failure of such actionsis entkery in His hands. Would there be a need to engagein critical thought if we are content with out lot in the world? Discontent in life could be due to a variety of reasons. For Muslims, it can never be due to lack of physical comforts alone. D.eviaiion fro3 the principle oiiu*r,ra in any form or manner should be more disconcerting to Muslims than any lack of creature

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to preqerve andmaintain thefrin"iple ortawiriais an

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The notion of murabbi: Progressiveeducation movementstoday especially thosebasedon child centred approaches have relegatedteachersto the rote of faciiitators. The computersapparently could replace them. This is evidentwithincreasing commodificationori,='o*i"oge eg. in mode of instruction using distanceor online tearniig *a-urro in the use of ICT for teachingin secondaryschools (an interesting ir io tt. policy of the sc and Math in English). "**pi. The Question: could the mu'addib or murabbi be replaced? $waffj: -knowledgeabre,wise and also pious, kind and considerate. Murabbi: life of learning + a life of virtue. Thus, murabbi is a perfect and an ideal person to learn from. - personalizedknowledge andtheoreticar k"o;i;g" $urabbi Theoretical knowledge - what is understoodas knowl"ag"Personalizedlqrowledge - knowredge from hislher living" experience

To understand the concept of murabbi,one must understand the distinction benveen (a) educationand learnirry,and (b) education and gathering infonnation. Educationis the result of a personalencounterbefween a teacherand a studentbefween2 beings oR the supremebeing and the human being i.e. onry human beings can educate other human beingsoR only ih" supr".ne Being can ed.ucate human beings. Argument: If there is not need for a teacher, then what is the purpose of sending the Prophets? Good questions: 1' Had education not become a personal encounter befween the two parties, would Allah have thought it necessary to teach Adam the names '' HIMSELF? 2. why are teachersand prophets necessary i";Jfb;;il;;;i;;"" Every experienceof teachers-) a configuration of meaning. Personalizedknowredge readsto configuration of meanirrg. Murabbi: the only way to understandknowledge is to live it and to test its validity is to seewhat differencE it makes to hislher life as a Muslim. what he or she teachesis not an impersonal body of theoretical knowledge that he/she has mastered and acceptedits kuth but rather knowiedge that he/she-has lived and found to be true or false' That is' there is consistencv jn $owle.dge u.rJ f.u"ti"e. This is the reasonwhy a prophet has always accompanied a divine book. rie provides the configuration of meaning and understanding of the book possible. Commirdification of knowledge: ' lmpersonal atmospherein which knowledge is produced make it impossible to teach anything else save skills to retrieve information.Do we still need murabbi? The pursuit of knowledge is moral and spiritual and the encl of knowledge is to serve God not the market. The absence of murabbi from modem education has also brought abt a change in thinking abt curriculum. In fac! the surisulrrm has taken the place of murabbi. The emphasis has shifted in educational thought from the teacher to what the teacher teachesor ought to teach. Teachershave bJen relegated to the role of facilitators. Murabbi teacheshow to think and this is not easy like to teach information. To do philosophical or sociological thinking one needs tle teacher to show how or to coach even in reading the text. A student cannot iust r-eq.{ rhe gs5ft alone.