Islamic Education

Islam has, from its inception, placed a high premium on education and has enjoyed a long and rich intellectual tradition. Knowledge (‘ilm) occupies a significant position within Islam, as evidenced by the more than 800 references to it in Islam’s most revered book, the Holy Quraan. The importance of education is repeatedly emphasized in the Quraan with frequent injunctions, such as:

يأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا۟ فِى ٱلْمَجَٰلِسِ فَٱفْسَحُوا۟ يَفْسَحِ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ ٱنشُزُوا۟ فَٱنشُزُوا۟ يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَٰتٍ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

“O believers! When you are asked to make room in your meetings, make room, Allah will make room for you in the Hereafter. And if you are told to rise up, then rise up: Allah will raise to higher ranks those of you who have faith and knowledge. Allah is aware of all your actions.” (58:11)

قُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًا و

“O my Lord! Increase me in knowledge” (20:114),

Such verses provide a forceful stimulus for the Islamic community to strive for education and learning.

Islamic education is uniquely different from other types of educational theory and practice largely because of the all-encompassing influence of the Quraan. The Islamic Holy Book serves as a comprehensive blueprint for both the individual and society and as the primary source of knowledge. The advent of the Quraan in the seventh century was quite revolutionary for the predominantly illiterate Arabian society. Arab society had enjoyed a rich oral tradition, but the Quraan was considered the word of Allah and needed to be organically interacted with by means of reading and reciting its words. Hence, reading and writing for the purpose of accessing the full blessings of the Quraan was an aspiration for most Muslims. Thus, education in Islam unequivocally derived its origins from a symbiotic relationship with religious instruction.

Thus, in this way, Islamic education began. Pious and learned Muslims (mu’ allim or madarris), dedicated to making the teachings of the Quraan more accessible to the Islamic community, taught the faithful. The teachers could be located in a variety of venues: mosques, private homes, shops, tents, or even out in the open.

The curriculum was primarily directed to young children, beginning as early as age four, and was centred on Quranic studies and on religious obligations such as ritual ablutions, fasting, and prayer, etc. The focus during the early history of Islam on the education of youth reflected the belief that raising children with correct principles was a holy obligation for parents and society.

During the golden age of the Islamic empire (usually defined as a period between the tenth and thirteenth centuries), when western Europe was intellectually backward and stagnant, Islamic scholarship flourished with an impressive openness to the rational sciences, art, and even literature. It was during this period that the Islamic world made most of its contributions to the scientific and artistic world. Other outstanding contributions were made in areas of chemistry, botany, physics, mineralogy, mathematics, and astronomy, as many Muslim thinkers regarded scientific truths as tools for accessing religious truth.