DEFINITION:

Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine)

The questions asked by the philosophy of religion: There are a lot of philosophical questions that can be asked about religious beliefs. They are: 1.
2.

Is there God?

Do we have any good reason to think that God exists, or to think that God does not exist?

Philosophy of Religion according to Islamic views

Definition Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy (reason) and the religious teachings of Islam (faith). Islamic philosophy, as the name implies, refers to philosophical activity within the Islamic millennium. The main sources of classical or early Islamic philosophy are the religion of Islam itself, especially ideas derived and interpreted from the Quran.

History Greek philosophy which the early Muslims inherited as a result of conquests when Alexandria, Syria and Jundishapur came under Muslim rule; and pre-Islamic Iranian and Indian philosophy. Many of the early philosophical debates centered on reconciling religion and reason as exemplified by Greek philosophy. In early Islamic thought two main currents may be distinguished, Kalam, dealing mainly with theological questions, and Falsafa, founded on interpretation of Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy. From the ninth century onward, owing to Caliph al-Ma'mun and his successor, Greek philosophy was introduced among the Persians and Arabs, and the Peripatetic school found representation in Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Rashid .

Nature and origins of Islamic philosophy -When did Islamic philosophy start? Philosophy began in the third century of the hijra.The hijra was in 622 ad, when the Prophet Muhammad moved to Medina and set up a political community there, it is the first year according to the Muslim calendar, represented as ah 1. The supremacy of the Abbasids over the Umayyads had led to an eastward movement of the Islamic empire, with the capital moving from Damascus to Baghdad. By this time also, Islam dominated such areas as Egypt, Syria and Persia, all places which were thoroughly immersed in Greek culture. The new rulers sought to apply the learning which existed in the empire to their own purposes. Most of this knowledge was very practical, being based on medicine, astrology, astronomy, mathematics and engineering. The caliph al-Ma'mun founded in Baghdad the bayt al-hikma, the House of Wisdom, in ah 217/ad 832, which served as an observatory and, more importantly, as a library and centre for the translation of Greek texts into Arabic. Many of the translators were Christians, who translated texts first from Greek into Syriac and then into Arabic (see Greek philosophy: impact on Islamic philosophy). In addition to the influence of the many translations of Greek texts, there was also an important transmission of Indian and Persian literature into Arabic, which undoubtedly had an influence on the development of Islamic philosophy.

Explanation from the questions of the philosophy of religion. - For the questions please refer page 1.

Islam presents a complete practical and theoretical model of the nature of reality, and the 'first sciences' of the Greeks often seemed unnecessary and even opposed to Islam. Muslims had not only the Qur'an to help them regulate their lives and theoretical queries, they had also the hadith, the traditional sayings of the Prophet and the righteous caliphs (his immediate successors and companions) and the sunna, the practices of the community. There was further the system of fiqh, Islamic law, which discussed particular problems concerning how Muslims ought to behave, and the science of grammar, which explained how the Arabic language ought to be understood. There was also by this time a well-developed system of kalam, theology, which dealt with the less obvious passages of the Qur'an, and which sought conceptual unity in apparent difficulties arising from the combinations of different canonical texts.

What is the need for us to question about the existence of god?? The religion of Islam had show us the path of a Muslim which we strongly belief the existence of the Almighty. With the guidance from the Quran, Hadith, Sunna and Fiqh it is strongly shows that God does exists in our planet. He is the Almighty creator and could not be replaced by anyone as he has all the power. We as a human could not even challenged His abilities as he knows everything.

Importance of education in Islam

To seek knowledge is a sacred duty; it is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. The first word revealed of the Qur?an was "Iqra" READ! Seek knowledge! Educate yourselves! Be educated. This shows that education is important in Islam. Surah Al-Zumr, ayah 9 reveals: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" Surah Al-Baqarah, ayah 269 reveals: "Allah grants wisdom to whom He pleases and to whom wisdom is granted indeed he receives an overflowing benefit." Centuries old monarchy, colonialism and the oppressive rule of their own people have brought about moral and spiritual degeneration of Muslims throughout the world. To retrieve them from this degeneration, its about time that the Muslim Ummah restructures its educational priorities along Islamic lines, fulfilling the existing needs as well. By virtue of such an educational program, the future generations will become the torch-bearers of Islamic values and play an effective role in the present world. The challenges of modern times call for rebuilding the structure of our educational program on such a foundation as to fulfill our spiritual as well as temporary obligations. Today we need an education system which can produce, what the late Sayyid Abul Ala Mawdudi said, "Muslim philosopher, Muslim scientist, Muslim economist, Muslim jurist, Muslim statesman, in brief, Muslim experts in all fields of knowledge who would reconstruct the social order in accordance with the tenets of Islam." The Muslims today are the most humiliated community in the world. And should they persist in following the same educational program as given by their colonial masters, they will not be able to recover themselves from moral and spiritual decadence. The first and most crucial obligation on us is to acquire knowledge and secondly to practice and preach this knowledge. No man becomes truly a Muslim without knowing the meaning of Islam, because he becomes a Muslim not through birth but through knowledge. Unless we come to know the basic and necessary teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (S) how can we believe in him, have faith in him, act according to what he taught? It is impossible for us to be a Muslim, and at the same time live in a state of ignorance.

Without knowledge one cant truly receive Allahs gift of Islam. If our knowledge is little, then we will constantly run the risk of losing that magnificent gift, which we have received unless we remain vigilant in our fight against ignorance. A person without knowledge is like someone walking along a track in the dark. Most likely his steps will wander aside and he easily can be deceived by satan. This shows that our greatest danger lies in our ignorance of Islamic teachings and in our unawareness of what the Quran teaches and what guidance has been given by the Prophet (S). But if we are blessed with the light of knowledge we will be able to see plainly the clear path of Islam at every step of our lives. We shall also be able to identify and avoid the dangerous paths of Kufr, Shirk and immorality, which may cross it. And, whenever a false guide meets us on the way, a few words with him will quickly establish that he is not a guide who should be followed. On this knowledge depends whether our children and we are true Muslims and remain true Muslims. It is therefore not a trivial to be neglected. We do not neglect doing whatever is essential to improve our trades and professions. Because we know that if we do neglect, we will starve to death and so lose the precious gift of life. Why then should we be negligent in acquiring that knowledge on which depends whether we become Muslims and remain Muslims? Does such negligence not entail the danger of losing an even more precious gift; our Iman. Is not Iman more precious than life itself? Most of our time and labor is spent on things, which sustain our physical existence in this life. Why can we not spend even a tenth part of our time and energy on things, which are necessary to protect our Iman, which only can sustain us in the present life and in the life to come? It is not necessary to study extensively to become a Muslim. We should at least spend about one hour out of twenty-four hours of the day and night in acquiring the knowledge of this Deen, the way of life, the Islam. Every one of us, young or old, man or woman, should at least acquire sufficient knowledge to enable ourselves to understand the essence of the teachings of the Qur?an and the purpose for which it has been sent down. We should also be able to understand clearly the mission, which our beloved Prophet (S) came into this world to fulfil. We should also recognize the corrupt order and system, which he came to destroy. We should acquaint ourselves, too, with the way of life which Allah has ordained for us. Knowledge is identified in Islam as worship. The acquiring of knowledge is worship, reading the Quran and pondering upon it is worship, travelling to gain knowledge is worship. The practice of knowledge is connected with ethics and morality? With promoting virtue and combating vice, enjoining right and forbidding wrong. Not only should we seek knowledge, but when we learn it, it becomes

obligatory on us to practice it. Though we must remember that correct knowledge should come before correct action. Knowledge without action is useless because a learned person without action will be the worst of creatures on the Day of Resurrection. Also, action should not be based on blind imitation for this is not the quality of a thinking, sensible human being. Knowledge is pursued and practiced with modesty and humility and leads to beauty and dignity, freedom and justice. The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us closer to God. It is not simply for the gratification of the mind or the senses. It is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge or science for the value of sake. Knowledge accordingly must be linked with values and goals. One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and in the reckless pursuit of higher standards of material comfort. Another purpose of knowledge is to spread freedom and dignity, truth and justice. It is not to gain power and dominance for its own sake. Obviously, what we may call the reservoir of knowledge is deep and profound. It is a vast and open field that is not limited. When it comes to knowledge, theres no limit to stop learning until we die. It is impossible for anyone to gain anything more than a fraction of what there is to know in the short span of ones life. We must therefore decide what is most important for us to know and how to go about acquiring this knowledge. The following hadith shows how important and how rewarding knowledge is. "He who acquires knowledge acquires a vast portion." AND "If anyone going on his way in search of knowledge, God will, thereby make easy for him the way to Paradise."

THE CONCEPT OF EDUCATION IN ISLAM The three fundamental elements that constitute education: the process, the content, the recipient; but it is not yet a definition because those elements are deliberately left vague. Furthermore, the way of formulating the sentence meant to be developed into a definition as given above gives the impression that what is emphasized is the process. Supposing I reformulate the answer: Education is something progressively instilled into man. Now here we still encompass the three fundamental elements inherent in education, but the order of

precedence as to the important clement that constitutes education is now the content and not the process. Let us consider this last formulation and proceed in analyzing the inherent concepts. We shall begin with man, since the definition of man is already generally well known, and that is, that he is a rational animal. Since rationality defines man, we must at least have some idea as to what rational means, and we all agree that it refers to reason. However, in Western intellectual history, the concept of ratio has undergone much controversy, and has become at least from the Muslim point of viewproblematic, for it has gradually become separated from the intellect or intellectus in the process of secularization of ideas that coursed through the history of Western thought since the periods of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Muslim thinkers did not conceive of what is understood as ratio as something separate from what is understood as intellectus; they conceived the caql as an organic unity of both ratio and intellectus. Bearing this in mind, the Muslims defined man as al-aywn al-ntiq,1 where the term ntiq signifies rational. Man is possessed of an inner faculty that formulates meaning (i.e. dh nutq 2) and this formulation of meaning, which involves judgment and discrimination and clarification, is what constitutes his rationality. The terms ntiq and nutq are derived from a root that conveys the basic meaning of speech, in the sense of human speech, so that they both signify a certain power and capacity in man to articulate words in meaningful pattern. Islamic philosophy in today In Malaysia, Islamic philosophy is related and still be used in today education. There have been many schools that use Islamic philosophy for their studies.

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA CPD 1113 THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Lecturer

: Hj. Baghawi bin Sarbini

Group Members :

Resources :

www.wordiq.com www.philosophyofreligion.info