Problems of Islamic education in colonial and post-colonial Malaysia: An analysis based on al-Attas’s notion of knowledge
The purpose of this article is to review the history of Islamic learning and its relationship with the modern national education system in Malaysia to reveal the underlying common issue of the education in the Muslim society. Applying al-Attas’s critique of modern Muslim education and the ideas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pertubuhan Tarekat Muktabar Malaysia (PERTAMA)
2017
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/62184/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/62184/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/62184/1/2017%20PROBLEMS-OF-ISLAMIC-EDUCATION-IN-COLONIAL-AND-POST-COLONIAL-MALAYSIA-.pdf |
| Summary: | The purpose of this article is to review the history of Islamic learning and
its relationship with the modern national education system in Malaysia to
reveal the underlying common issue of the education in the Muslim
society. Applying al-Attas’s critique of modern Muslim education and the
ideas of post-colonial critique of the power behind the knowledge
production and distribution, the article reveals the indifference of Muslim
leaders toward the worldview behind the modern education system. Based
on the analysis of a Malay Islamic journal “Pengasuh” in the early 20th
century, of the process of establishment of modern religious schools and
of the contemporary school textbooks for Islamic education, it shows the
evidence that the Malay Islamic leaders have ignored the differences in the
meaning of learning. As a result of the integration into the national
education system, learning Islam was given a new meaning in the context
of the national, social or the “secular” purpose of education, just as al-Attas
has warned for the past four decades.
“It seems to me important to emphasize
that knowledge is not neutral, and can
indeed be infused with a nature and
content which masquerades as
knowledge. Yet it is in fact, taken as a
whole, not true knowledge, but its
interpretation through the prism, as it
were, the world-view, the intellectual
vision and psychological perception of
the civilization that now plays the key role
in its formulation and dissemination”.
-Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
(1977: 20) |
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