Islamization Of Education With Qa
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Channel: Bilal Philips
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AI Generated Summary ©
The importance of Islamization of knowledge is emphasized in schools, where students are taught in a capacity to pursue their education. Representatives stress the need for schools to provide adequate educational opportunities for Muslims, as well as physical education and teacher's/teachers'/teachers' teacher's. The speakers also address the issue of parents not being present during online classes and encourage students to participate in community activities. They acknowledge the need for students to learn and understand Islam's teachers' beliefs and values.AI Generated Transcript ©
hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen
wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah Karim. Allah Allah was Hobie woman is standing ob suniti he Li Ahmed Deen
operates due to Allah melas Peace and blessings beyond the last prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and and all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day.
The concept of Islamization of knowledge
is one which has been discussed for
the last almost 40 years,
at least in
the 20th century,
where educators from various parts of the Muslim world gathered in Mecca in the 70s
and
analyzed the problems facing Muslims with regards to education.
They looked at existing models
and discussed Islamic requirements.
And they wrote about
the need for Islamization of knowledge as it is conveyed in the educational institutions.
In fact, they wrote virtually an encyclopedia
on this topic, and that was in the 70s.
Since that time,
a number of Islamic schools have arisen
in Muslim countries in the West in particular.
And those numbers have been increasing
exponentially.
Till we have now in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia,
South Africa
1000s of Muslim schools,
though these numbers
are still not sufficient
to provide
proper education for the oma of these areas.
It is a major effort in that direction.
And
there is no
doubt in the minds of those who are knowledgeable
that it is the right of every Muslim child
to be educated in Muslim educational institutions.
That is their right.
It is fundamentally haram
to put our children in non Muslim schools.
I know this is something which a lot of people who have chosen to emigrate to the west find very difficult to swallow.
But
it is
the fact people might have excuses. And perhaps these excuses might be accepted by a law and perhaps they might not.
But it is because education
is primarily the responsibility of parents.
It is primarily to the responsibility of Muslim parents to educate their Muslim children.
The issue of school is something which came along
that's why you don't find any writings from the early generation where they discuss this point.
Because it wasn't the point of discussion.
The early scholars of the past
whether it was Mr. Malik, or mama Shafi mom, Sophia, and the salary etc. You hear them talking about their mothers.
their mothers taught them the memorization of
their mothers taught them.
Their mothers taught them how
it was.
They were taught in their homes.
That was the norm. As schools arose in Muslim lands, naturally, those who taught in the school there are Muslims.
So there wasn't any point of discussion, should our children go to Muslim schools or non Muslim schools that wasn't the point of discussion.
So it is only in our times, after the colonial era, etc, where this has become an issue.
And the bottom line is that every Muslim child
who goes into the non Muslim educational system
and whatever Islam they had, where they went in,
is neutralized,
confused,
lost. By the time that they graduate, a law will ask those parents about what they did.
A law will ask them, profit moms are limited said kulu come Ryan wakulla, coma Solon, Andhra Yeti, each and every one of you is a shepherd responsible for his flock.
The man is responsible for his wife and the children of his home, the wife is responsible for the children of their home.
So,
my school means you will be asked, accountable.
So every child who goes astray,
destroyed his smart islamically spiritually by the system,
the individual family will be asked
because for them, it was father dying to put the child or to educate that child islamically it was for the iron for them, then the community as a whole will be asked
because it is the responsibility of the community
to establish Islamic educational institutions.
And this is foreign key fire on the community.
If some of the community undertakes that job challenge, and establishes the school, then the responsibility is removed from the west rest, that is if
sufficient schools are established to handle the needs of the Muslim community.
But if they are not sufficient,
then the obligation remains on the community.
That is the fact that we live with
a sin which the community carries for being negligent in this matter.
But
for those who are actively involved in the educational process,
we are faced with other challenges
Alhamdulillah
in most cases, we have in many parts of the country today, Muslim schools meaning structures buildings
owned by Muslims.
The administration is Muslim.
Most of the teachers are Muslim, and the children in the school are Muslim.
However,
the material which is being taught
And, yes, we do have Arabic on the curriculum. And we also have Islamic studies on the curriculum. But
the majority of the material which is being taught,
is still the Standard material taught in government schools.
So there is a challenge, a challenge to Islam eyes, that material because Islamization
process is not complete. Until and unless all subjects taught in the school, I taught from an Islamic perspective, that is the bottom line. At that point, we can then say, we have
a truly Islamic institution.
So,
to look
briefly, at
this process of Islamization,
we,
this evening will briefly look at the three E's of education.
The three main elements involved in the educational process, the educator who we call the teacher, the education, that is the material which is being taught, and the educated the student.
Now, the basic philosophy
behind
the Islamic institution
is fundamentally that the Muslim teacher is distinctly different from the teacher who happens to be a Muslim.
This is one component,
that the Muslim teacher
one who is going to teach in this institution is fundamentally different from a teacher who happens to be a Muslim, meaning that the teacher who happens to be a Muslim has gone into the field of education, for other reasons. Other than
worshiping a law through education.
Serving the Muslim community.
Their reasons have to do with materials, money,
or prestige, or whatever.
Other reason, for which people go into teaching, it might be that they were trying to be a doctor or an engineer, but they couldn't get the marks.
They didn't have the marks which were necessary for them to get into that field. So then, next best, okay, will become teachers.
So, there are teachers by default,
they could have been anything else.
So the intent
the NEA
is not for the sake of Allah, it's missing.
Secondly,
the Muslim school and this is a problem that we are faced with
is distinctly different from a purely business venture, which happens to be called a Muslim school.
Because this is another thing we're faced with
that many of the schools out there are businesses,
business investments,
those who are the owners are behind it, etc. are not really that concerned about serving a law through education.
They see a need, they see the Muslim community desiring wanting
Muslim school so we say okay, this is a area of demand. So we will be the suppliers.
So we provide this institution,
but our concern is profits.
So we will cut corners,
we will not hire the proper people to do the job, the cheapest ones we can get. These are the ones which marketplace now, right? This is business, you know, we tried to get the cheapest teachers we can. And of course, as they say,
you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
So you don't get the quality that should be in the school.
And
the main concern is just roll them through, the more go through the more graduate, the more profits we get.
So the real concern in terms of standards, not be there.
So very important element is the school itself.
And that's a whole nother cup of tea.
The trustees,
the backers,
the administration.
The last concern, in terms of our philosophy is that the Muslim student
in the school and produced by the school should be distinctly different from the student who happens to be a Muslim.
And the same way that the teacher
Muslim teacher is different from a teacher who happens to be a Muslim, he could have been a Christian, or Hindu or anything. Similarly, the Muslim student studying in the school graduating from the school should also be Muslim. First.
He should not be a student who happens to be a Muslim, he could have been anything else meaning his character, her behavior is no different from the non Muslims in their schools.
If that's what we graduate, then
the school is a failure.
Financially, it may be a success.
But islamically It is, in fact, a failure.
If we look at the educator, the first of the three E's that we spoke about in the beginning, the basic qualifications
will not differ
from
the qualifications necessary for a Muslim in any other field.
Because we said
the Muslim teacher is a Muslim, who happens to be a teacher and not a teacher, who happened to be a Muslim.
So, if he could have been other than a teacher, he could have been a dentist could have been a taxi driver could have been anything else, then the basic qualifications
are the same.
So
he should have any knowledge.
He should have he man.
Faith.
He should have lost sincerity.
And he should have
good deeds XAML solid.
These are the core qualifications for the Muslim.
So whether he is a teacher or is anything else, these have to be in place.
In terms of knowledge,
we're talking about correct knowledge, not just knowledge.
Because you may have people knowledgeable and they say they're qualified,
but they really don't have correct knowledge.
They will come into the school and they will misguide
as people are misguided in the general schools across the country.
Because the process of education and we're looking at going to look at it later, is not merely one of conveying facts.
It is acculturation
it is passing on a culture,
a culture, which for Muslims
challenges, some of the basic
cultural principles that the Prophet sallallahu wasallam, left behind.
So, that teacher should be able to distinguish between what is true knowledge
and what is false knowledge.
False knowledge, for example, is
theory of evolution.
So, they shouldn't be in there teaching,
convincing
Muslim children that we are the product of evolution. That's false knowledge. And there is a body that's just one example, a common one which everybody knows, but there is a body of knowledge like that.
Also, the teacher should be able to distinguish between useful and useless knowledge,
useful and useless knowledge.
What do you mean by that? Well,
useless knowledge is, for example, spending $12 billion
to send a rocket ship to Mars,
to land on Mars and gather up dirt on Mars and analyze the composition of the dirt on Mars.
That is useless knowledge.
It's not saying it is knowledge.
But
those who study in our institutions should understand that that is useless knowledge.
Because if you spend 4 billion or $12 billion
to find out the composition of dirt on Mars, and at the same time in your country,
you have more than 4 million of your citizens living in the streets,
homeless people, more than 4 million of them.
In the United snakes of America,
4 million of its citizens living in the streets
and you spend $12 billion to find out the composition of dirt on Mars, we say that is useless knowledge.
So,
the teacher has to impart that these are principles which are based on the guidance of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu wasallam. He used to make a DA Allahumma, India also becoming elmen lionpaw.
prophets saliva seldom
used to seek refuge from knowledge which was of no benefit regularly.
Allah Khomeini are also becoming elmen lionpaw.
Knowledge is of no benefit
is either useless knowledge or it's false knowledge. Those are the two basic categories of knowledge which is of no benefit.
So when we're involved in that process of teaching, it is important that the one who is going to teach has to have knowledge to be able to distinguish between the two.
Also, that knowledge should be prioritized
Of course,
the beginning point is
the knowledge which we call far dine knowledge, which is obligatory on each and every individual.
Then knowledge which we would consider to me foreign key via
knowledge, which is
obligatory on the community, but as soon as or as long as somebody learns or gains that knowledge, then the rest of the community are absorbed.
So individual knowledge,
knowledge of tawheed that is primary individual knowledge, knowledge of Salah all of the obligations that are honest, right now 24 seven, that becomes foreign
knowledge, which we must have
detailed knowledge of hatch, when you don't have the money to make Hajj or it's not time for heads anyway, even if you had the money not required.
But when you have the money to make Hajj, it's obligate obligatory on you, and the time for Hajj is at hand, then it becomes
obligatory at that time.
And
we have effective knowledge transfer. That is
that
one who is engaged, the educator should be properly qualified for the vocation of teaching. This is far the iron for them.
For
the teacher, according to the Shetty, our
knowledge becomes compulsory, when the obligation
for an action exists.
Knowledge of that action when it becomes obligatory like the Hajj I spoke about, then having knowledge of the Hajj itself becomes obligatory
meaning that
the teacher who is hired is not hired simply because they're Muslim,
or simply because they're a relative of one of the owners or the trustees.
You know, some of our schools are famous for that.
People are in their teaching, who have no qualifications, but they beyond family ties.
So they've gotten in there, not because they're the best qualified, but because they had the best connections.
The second
area of qualification is that of a man,
a man. As we all know, the six pillars of human progress are seldom left behind.
Each educator should have clear knowledge of it, not just to be able to rattle it off, but to really understand what the pillars of a man are, and what
is the impact that these pillars should have in our lives? meaning it has some consequence there is a realization of these pillars actualized in our day to day lives, a person who really knows their Islam.
And what you find when you look at the issue of education, much of it is built on patience
and where does patients come from those pillars of email
the pillars of Eman when they are understood and implemented, then they provide the foundation of patience necessary for the educational process.
The third
characteristic
which we said that
The educator must possess. And really, all Muslims, true Muslims should possess is that of a Class, Class meaning sincerity, that
the intention behind being a teacher. And this is not just for Islamic studies teachers, but for all teachers, the intention behind it
is that it should be for the sake of a law
and not just for material gain.
The educator recognizes that this process of education is in fact, a bada. They have the consciousness
that causes them to approach the subject as a way of worshipping a law and not either is the two terms in Arabic, Eva and nada, they sound quite similar. a badass worship, either is custom, habit, tradition.
So, the educator should have that point clear. When prophet SAW Selim said
I do Nia melona Malone Murphy ha, that this world is cursed and everything in it is cursed, illogical law except for the remembrance of a law and what helps us to remember a law.
Why lemon
law and the teacher, one with knowledge. And the student, this relationship, teacher student relationship is a holy relationship.
It is a sacred relationship.
It is one which the prophet SAW Sallam said, is the truly blessed relationship in this world,
the teacher and the student.
So when that teacher takes that profession chooses that profession in life, he or she chooses it, believing that this is something pleasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala
the most blessed profession that they can choose,
because the prophets are solemn, put his seal of approval on it.
And also, in terms of
a loss, the material which is being delivered must be delivered sincerely.
As they say, teaching from the heart, which is the hearts
if we're really teaching from our heart, then we can reach those
people who are teaching the children, young people, etc. But if it's just from our lips, it's just a routine. It's something we do. We've been doing it for the last so many years and it's just we're on automatic pilot, you know, we just come in, we do it, we're out. And we're just thinking about the paycheck at the end of the month, that's it.
Who is it going to reach
and the last
characteristic is that of solid, righteous deeds, foundation for righteous deeds is that it should be according to the Quran and Sunnah.
Because righteousness goodness is that which has been defined by a law as good.
That is the basis of what goodness is.
and evil corruption is what Allah defined as evil and corrupt.
That is the stable criterion. Otherwise, what people agree upon changes every day.
Satan is busy. I just finished giving a two day 10 lecture seminar in the north in Huddersfield, on Satan and his tricks.
And one of his tricks is to make good look bad and bad look good.
So those societies that have abandoned
divine revelation is the basis of defining for them good and evil.
They're lost.
What was evil yesterday is good today. What was good yesterday is evil today.
Just think I one of the favorite methodologies of Satan is
calling things by other names, giving them attractive names. So when a lot said, don't eat from that tree, and a lot didn't give the tree a name, Satan comes to Adam and says,
This tree
is the tree of eternal life shedra to hold
the tree of eternal life. So what does that do? it sparks in the heart, some kind of
the tree of eternal life.
And that's these methodology.
A long time back. The term gay meant happy.
Now, there is a bunch of people that they call gay.
Which really wretched people,
wretched people.
Gay is a misnomer.
Interest used to be called usury.
usury has a kind of a nasty sound to it. usury, you know, but interest.
Interesting.
Nice.
So
the foundation for righteous deeds has to be revelation. And our basic source of Revelation is the Quran and the Sunnah.
And the pillars of righteous deeds for that those the deeds done according to the Quran and Sunnah to be accepted by a law. One they have to be
correct needs being done correctly. And two, they have to be based on sincerity.
And from and for the teacher, the educator.
righteous deeds should be by example, we want to teach the children righteousness, then we should be the example of righteousness be what we want them to be. Because if we're not, then they won't be.
Among the qualities of the educator
is that he or she
should have a sense of mission
that they feel they have a mission to accomplish. They are driven by a mission.
There is a driving force, which is behind them.
They feel a sense of responsibility, the children, the young people that have been put in their hands, that they will have to answer to a law for what happens to these young people.
They should be merciful.
As the prophets I send them and said he was not Oh, he is not of us who does not respect our elders and show mercy to our little ones.
Mercy. Merci.
Li is a Rahmani Raheem.
It didn't just use one description of mercy he used to
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
stressing
the importance of mercy. And as the prophet SAW Selim also said men lie or hum lie or
whoever doesn't show mercy will not receive himself or herself mercy from Allah.
So that quality of mercy is essential.
When we read about
What happens sometimes different places in schools
where people take this as a job,
we find them
doing things to children.
Things we cannot imagine.
Because there is no mercy in their hearts. It's just the job.
You read about these people who are
being jailed now 10 years, 30 years, 50 years ago, they were in charge of young people.
And they abused them in unimaginable ways.
We wonder how could people do these things? No mercy.
There is no mercy there.
Unfortunately,
when we talk about mercy,
there is an element within the educational system
of Muslims, where that mercy has gone
on Unfortunately,
it is connected with the Koran.
I have met so many people from the subcontinent and outside the subcontinent, who when they look back to their childhood,
learning the Koran was a horrifying experience.
A horrifying experience.
We have a bunch of people out there in charge of my dresses, in charge of teaching the court who don't have mercy.
They're abusing our children, young people.
Some of the brothers actually, when I was visiting the North before a few months back,
and they were driving me to the airport, we were talking about the importance of setting up Islamic school etc. And I was talking to them about their experiences.
You know, I'm the law they survived.
But what they described,
it meant that they were one out of 10.
Nine others didn't survive. Their Islam destroyed. The Quran had no meaning in their lives. Why? Because that Quran teacher used to beat them and beat them and torture them. We talk about Guantanamo, what they were describing to me. They describe this move they call the the chicken.
I see I see his brothers laughing and smiling. They know the chicken. What is the chicken?
You stooped down? Put your arms underneath your legs and hold your ears.
And if you move from that position, you got whacked. This is torture.
This is torture.
There is no mercy.
And I know personally I mean I was living in the UAE. I put my boys to memorize Quran hamdulillah they managed to memorize Quran but what they went through
incredible stuff,
saying things
tortured.
And of the group that went through and memorize Quran. Most of them forgot it after they came out. They did it their parents wanted them to do it. So they did it. But they were tortured in there.
And when I taught school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an English medium school I taught Islamic Studies.
Most of the teachers on staff were non Muslims
with the exception of the Arabic and Quran
department and me teaching Islamic Studies.
Some of the teachers from the English side non Muslims, they had the students do a survey,
a survey
to find out
opinions of the students, training them in survey taking, etc. But in the survey, they were asking the students, which was their favorite class, and which was their most hated class.
And you know what?
The most hated class was Quran and Arabic.
Most Hated class. favorite class was English, Math is not Muslims.
Why?
Because of the lack of mercy.
Teachers not properly trained, yeah, they spoke Arabic.
Er, they memorize the Quran, but they weren't trained in child psychology. And he lacked that mercy.
their opinion was, it's good enough for me. That's how I was raised. And I'm okay. It's good enough for them.
But this is not education. It's mis education.
So one of the things that I have insisted wherever I've gone,
addressing schools, staff, etc, is that
the requirements for teachers should not vary between
academic subjects and the Islamic subjects. Just because so and so graduated from Islamic University, now you're going to put him as a teacher
of Islamic subjects, Islamic Studies,
to six year olds is never thought that six year old before, what do you think he's gonna do?
If he hasn't been trained in educational psychology, child psychology, etc, what is he gonna do? He's gonna abuse those kids.
And that's what happens.
So this thing of mercy,
the mercy and the heart, if it isn't the heart of the teacher, then he will know his own limitations, and get the necessary knowledge to be able to do the job properly. To fulfill his responsibility before a law
to put a love in the children's hearts for the subject, especially Quran and Arabic. It should be the most beloved subjects in the hearts of the children. But you go across the country, here
in the UK, and in the US, and in Canada, it's unanimous.
One of the most hated subjects.
So there's failure here. They're serious failure. It needs to be addressed.
When I took my kids to the school in the UAE, put them in the school to memorize the crime.
And I told him, listen, I don't want my kids beaten. They said, they can't learn Quran without the stick.
They can't. I said, Well, listen, I will do the beating. If they have to be beating you please don't hit him,
telling you they cannot learn without it.
And the teacher when he said that he had five different sticks beside them right? From the finish to the thickest.
This is sad. We can laugh about it now. But in reality, it's sad.
And it is an example of not having mercy on our little one.
And that's why some of the brothers I know who work in the north work in the prisons in the north, told me that in all of the major prisons of the North, they found surprisingly enough
young people who had memorized the Quran in their teens, and now they were in jails in the north.
for drugs
and other serious crimes
in jail
having memorized the Quran when they were 14 or 15, and there they were
in every jail.
So what is this telling us?
We have to take another look at what we're doing here, we have to reassess. Where are we and where are we headed?
Justice, there should be
among the educators qualities, justice,
the children shouldn't feel that they are unfair.
It is the nature of people
to favor some over others.
But the teacher cannot afford to do that cannot afford to be seen as favoring some over others.
We want them to be just we want them to graduate with a firm sense of justice, then we have to show it to them. We have to be just in our dealings.
And of course, Karen concern is essential that the children should feel a care. You have teachers will be teaching a student for the whole year, and they don't even know the name of the student. What's his name?
In the corner,
we should know the name of all of the students
know something about them know something about their families haven't spoke to their parents, etc. We're dealing with Islamic education, this is not a production line. We do care, there should be a sense of concern.
And of course,
we should approach education, the process
according to a plan, we should have a clear plan.
They have lesson plans. A lot of people just
neglect them lesson plans, you know, yeah, yeah.
I know my subject.
What happens is that if you don't really make lesson plans, and look what you're doing, really, and you just keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, you don't improve, you don't build. So you just get into a rut.
And of course,
our actions in general,
whatever it is that we want to convey, then we have to ourselves, show it,
as they say actions speak louder than words.
And kids will take teachers as the final word, how many times the kids come home, we tried to tell them what it's about teacher said.
What teacher said was even more important, they were ready to obey teacher and disobey you.
Has that Why? Because they spend more time with the teacher than they do with the parents.
So it's not surprising.
So, it is very important that we be the best example that we can be.
When we look at the education, and this is the area,
which I really want to focus on.
Education is defined as the process by which a society conveys its cultural values to the next generation, cultural values.
That is what's really happening.
It's not just the facts. It is the package in which those facts come.
Our way of thinking, a way of life is being conveyed in every class.
In English, and maths, and science, social studies, geography in every class
In the body language of the teacher in how they speak to the children,
the culture is coming. That cultural package is coming at them.
And that's why Prophet Muhammad SAW Salaam.
He summarized the essence of the message of Islam as being one
focused on moral character. It was a moral message. When he said in the Bible, as Julie would tell me, Mama Carmela Clark, I was only sent to perfect for you the highest of moral character traits, he was summing up that message in a moral context, how we relate to a last man to Allah, how we relate to our fellow human beings and to the world in which we live.
It should be from a morally sound perspective, or morally sound perspective, which has been defined by Allah and His messenger.
And don't forget, education is a bother. So now
if we look at education,
it is composed of
the material which is taught
the environment in which that material is taught,
and the methods
by which that material is taught.
Of course, those of you that are educators, trained teachers, etc, you've been exposed to issues of methodology, and teacher
teaching environments. So what I'm focusing on this evening, because it's not a class in teaching methodology, but
one in which
I'm hoping that you will reflect along with me about the need for
moving our schools up another notch.
And that, especially is in the area of the material which is thought
we should have Islamization
as a clear goal,
within or within which the curriculum exists, this shouldn't be clear for an Islamic school.
Islamization of the curriculum should be its goal, as I said earlier, that school does not truly become Islamic, until the very curriculum of the school itself that the heart
becomes Islamic.
So what does that mean?
Going down to the basic most basic level, the level of the lesson plan, this is the plan that the teacher prepares in order to teach his or her subject. That plan needs to be Islam is
Islam. Islamization has two aspects to it. On one hand, an Islamic element should be introduced in every class.
So in that lesson plan,
how that lesson is linked, somehow some way to Islam should be subtly brought across to the children, young people. Why? Because we want them to understand that there really is no separation between Islamic education and academic education in the end, to Allah either melasma akula. What did that mean? A lot taught Adam, the names of everything.
That's encompassing, what we call revealed knowledge, as well as what we call acquired knowledge.
It's all one in the end.
It is all from a law.
what's real, what's true.
It is all from Allah.
So the student shouldn't feel when he is in English class, or math class, or any other class and Islamic Studies class that there is Islamic Studies. That's one thing Arabic Quran. And then we have this other area of studies that we have to deal with, because that's what real life is about. No, it's all related. When we read the writings of the early scholars, the scientists, Muslim scientists, who were in Spain and in Baghdad, when the
texts which they left behind, which are now in the museum's when you go and you read them, you will see the scientists discussing about the refraction of light as it passes through a prism and so on. So and then he says, and our law said,
Call a law. And he goes on to discuss some other aspects of how to set up the lenses and put them this way, in that way, then he says, and the messenger of Allaah said,
wow, you know, he's talking this and he's, Koran comes in there had these come in there.
It's all a part of the same thing. That's how they were. There was no division.
Those scientists were had memorized, karandi quite knowledgeable in Hades, etc.
So they could see links, they could make references, it was all there. And that's what we want to do. This process of Islamization is that reintegration, bringing those two ends back together,
that there ultimately is, and should not be any separation. So an Islamic element should be there, it doesn't mean some people go overboard with it. So they turn their science class into an Islamic class. So they bring in all the verses, and then it became Islamic Studies. No, no, I don't mean that. Islamic Studies, focuses fine teaching science to teach science, but
the science is related. There are there implications, there are relations connections that you make you help the child to understand.
When you're speaking about the thing you say, and Allah created it that way. It didn't just say nature. It was a product of nature. And it's by its nature, no, no, in the nature, which are law created it. So just putting a law in that class, as you're explaining, that's the connection. Or it could be something historic. You're talking about teaching math. So you mentioned that Muslims are the ones who introduced zero
to the world.
They didn't invent it, but they introduced it to get from India and
developed it and presented it. And the very numbers that we call Arabic numerals were Arabic numerals
from Muslims, so we can connect them historically. Or we can connect them by the terminology that we use when we explain the class. Then, the second component of Islamization goes back now to the same statement of the profits are settled. With regards to the goal of Islam
being a moral goal,
a moral message should be promoted in every class.
A moral message meaning bringing moral values back into education systematically. Of course, a Muslim teacher teaching will tend to do this but we're talking about doing it in a way which is accessible, you know, we can assess it, how successful are we? Where have we failed, etc. It can be done systematically. That's why we talk about lesson plans. It needs to be there in the lesson plans.
How do you do it? I mean, the average teaches Okay, moral message now we're gonna put a moral message in this.
Well, the simple solution
is
We sit with
because the teacher has to have resource.
Whether it's from the Islamic perspective, they need to get out of a subject I'm teaching about the leaf, they will go to Islamic Studies Department to say, what verses in the Quran what Heidi's talk about leaves, give me them. Okay? After you have all the verses and the Hadees, then you look at what you have to teach and what is relevant and useful you can include in the course of the class, so you have to have some resource persons.
There are books which are out now on Muslim inventions, you know, some very good books have been done all the Muslim scientific contributions to human civilization, etc, has been done in huge volumes. So they should be there and the schools accessible to the teachers. Similarly, when we have to deal with the moral side,
we need the benefit of those who specialize in this field. Child psychologists, Muslim child psychologists, who can then identify for us, what are the moral issues
for six year olds,
eight year olds, 10 year olds, they give us the list,
then the teacher only has to choose one out of they get a list of 10.
Right? Every class, they have to include one, maybe that one is included in more than one class. But you have 10 you need to indoctrinate the children with. So every class has a moral message.
Now,
how is that done? It's not done by beginning the class kids today we have a moral message, which is don't steal. No, no. That's not the way it's gonna be done. That's not the way to do it. It has to be subtly worked into the class either the subject you're actually teaching has some way that you can include it subtly without the kids realizing he is teaching us a moral message No.
Or it is something you can draw from the
things that the children do in the class sometimes you can just them just being themselves you know, you can find that spot and
this is not a good thing.
Children actually done it, you can clarify use their behavior to correct their
moral character.
And this is something which should be required of every teacher.
Even the physical education teacher, that is what physical education the sports sports teacher has to do this. Yes.
Very important. Because the worst behavior of the kids come out when
sports isn't it? That's when the worst behavior,
currency and each other, you know, you let the ball in the goal what do you do that for you don't
blame in
you know what happens. So that is the best time to correct them, catch them at play at their worst and correct them. That's why the sports teacher is key in this process, key.
But most schools don't even think about introducing Islamic elements in sports.
As long as they're ours covered class done, our covered Okay, then they can do whatever.
And this issue of the moral message, it goes even over to Islamic Studies, that Islamic studies teachers should be thinking in that way also, not just given them the this this era of the prophet SAW Salam they know his life and they memorize, know, what are the moral messages, which are appropriate for those children
that should be taught in every class.
And that's what we need to produce
a truly Muslim graduate
and that
product will have an impact on the society that we can hardly imagine.
We want to give Dawa here, this is the most powerful way to give our
we show them what Islam can do for us.
Every society, of course, they have the attitude, they have all the other things that are out there, you know, against Islam and all this is going on. But in the end,
respect will be there when they see the quality of our graduates, when they enter into the workforce, etc.
It will speak
it will speak in a way that we haven't spoken.
So this is the challenge, which is before us to bring about a change bring about something really radically different here
in the area of education.
And
just to
touch on a few points, I mean, there's a lot that can be done. This is normally a workshop done for a few days and number of sessions, just piling all of it in here at you. But just touching really the most important aspect. I wanted to just give you an idea, because
some people even after hearing that, how many of you here are teachers Put your hands up, please?
Teachers, teachers, school teachers,
school teachers, right, I was hoping actually would have been more, you know, because this is really focused more on school teachers, but the rest of you anyway. It's something that you can apply in your own life or if you're working with schools, and you're connected with the school that you can try to encourage them to take this new approach anyway.
Usually people, school teachers, when this is presented to them, they said it sounds very nice. However, the question is, how do you Islam eyes mathematics class, I gotta teach the students two plus two equals four. Tell me how do you
how do you give a moral message in two plus two equals four.
So I just have a few
lesson plans, summarize lesson plans for a few subjects with some of the teachers. And I asked them to
present to put forward and we critiqued different lesson plans from different subjects, different groups.
Just as examples for you, so you can know that this is something feasible. And I'm not talking, you know, from just theory, and wishful thinking.
This one is from a school where they call eight and nines a standard three anyway, they have mathematics, and they have addition they have to teach and the objective is to teach the addition of one a one digit number to another one digit number, like two plus two equals four. So
how do we minimize this?
First,
we can start the class with Bismillah.
Then
we give them basic word problems for two plus two equals four. We say if one prays to rock out of sunnah of fudger. And to ricotta farm, there was the total number of records have you done for a cat?
Was that so difficult?
Also, another example, prophet SAW Selim had three daughters, and he had three sons. So how many kids did the prophet SAW Selim have in total, six, three plus three equals six.
Then we also teach them from the other side.
One plus one plus one equals three. We tell them that some people say that that means equals one.
You know, those are right.
To say one plus one plus one equals one
We have a bunch of them here, right? So we also let them know that it's not very smart. One plus one plus one No way, can that equal one equals three.
Okay, so we've given them some data at the same time, some ammunition for dour.
The moral message, we give them a word problem.
A story to illustrate the word, the moral message Ollie as tutorials and loses one on the playground. So his mother Syrah gives him another tutorials. Later that day, a classmate Khalid finds the missing reality, and also returns it to Allah.
And his mom is so happy with Khalid, that she gives him a reward of tutorials. What is the total number of reels that Ali has now?
So we can put into that story, as much as many moral messages as we want.
There is a moral message in here, two parents,
Ali's mom, and he lost his two reels. What happens to most moms? Most Sarah said, What do you lose the money for? I gave you that work and you know,
take it easy.
He didn't do it deliberately wanted the money. He lost it. Be merciful.
Be merciful. So there's a message a moral message there to Syrah the mom there to that kind of reaction is not the proper reaction.
We can add other factors in there. You know, Holly, you found the two when he went home.
His father said he showed his father to reality got, you know, real happy. He said, where'd you get those two results from? Said I found him.
He said
Where do you find them? in the playground? Did somebody lose to realize? Oh, yeah, Holly did.
There is a probably Alice tutorials. Right? Yeah. But you know, Finders keepers. Losers weepers. As we say, over in our side of the world, they I don't know what you say here and UK. But that's the kind of phrase that the kids say, you know,
even though they're not belong somebody they found it, it's in the pocket, Hey, no, that's not good. Take it back.
Moral message, still talking about two plus two equals four.
And then when he gives the reality back, and Sarah gives him and his mother gives him to reality, anyway, Hey, good is rewarded. You did a good thing, you got a reward for it, too. So all kinds of moral messages can be sent in this right? So that's what I'm saying here that we don't put it, you know, out of the realm of possibility that we can Islam eyes, every single lesson that we teach in the school, there's no reason why not. But of course, it requires effort. It's not an easy job.
And really, if teachers are not committed,
they won't do it.
They won't do it. I've set up a website called curriculum islamization.com.
And
it is an open website for teachers around the world, who are committed to this idea to share their experiences, what they have done, benefit from what others have done, because, of course,
every country has its own national curriculum. Maybe they have more than one national curriculum. But in the end, everybody teaches two plus two equals four. So what can be shared is the core which is everybody's teaching it. Now you can't set
one curriculum for everybody as much as it would be nice could be simplified like that. What it means is every country has to develop their own
Islamic curriculum, but we can benefit a lot from the experiences of others.
Okay, anyway, for those people who are interested in working towards this type of an effort,
you may contact me at Bilbao 17
At Bilal philips.com and I will forward you on to those that are working on the website, and to the other teachers in the other institutions that I've been working with, shall I just try to be a middle person to help bring you all together to work on this? I mean, of course, I am also helping with it in terms of overseeing how the Islamization process is going on. So there are other examples here, but you know, time doesn't permit for us to carry on much further. And, as is our usual practice, I'd like to give you an opportunity now to ask some questions.
As a science teacher in Islamic school, I have to teach Darwin's theory
as part of the GCSE syllabus, how do I teach evolution in a way that does not compromise my Deen
you teach evolution as it is
a theory
not a fact. But a theory
and you
lead the children through
demonstrations, show them how
you can have facts and they may be interpreted in more than one way.
So, they will get the idea that simply because there is a theory and it has facts, which it uses, it doesn't necessarily mean that the theory is correct.
There is a theory and there are facts.
The theory may not necessarily match the facts, and you can demonstrate it to them.
You know, you can tell them for example, or show them
where
you have a matchstick.
Then you have a
torch,
then you have
a flashlight, and then you have a floodlight,
right? So you're starting off with a little thing which makes light, then a bigger thing than a bigger and a bigger and a bigger thing, right? Okay? So you say what if 1000 years from now people dug these things up, and somebody lays them out in front of you and says, you know, this little matchstick, it became that torch, you know, that torch, it became a flashlight. And you know, that flashlight eventually became a floodlight?
That's a theory. Is it true?
No. That's what a theory is. And
it might look nice, it seems to gradually increase. But that's really not what it was.
So, I mean, I'm sure as a science teacher, you can be a lot more.
Well, you know, some people say this theory is now void. But don't tell the evolutionist that they'll have another explanation for it and they just listen up. Let me just tell you, okay. Over the years, different things have come up which explode elements of the theory, but they are like a rubber band. They keep bouncing back.
And believe me, they will bounce back.
But yeah, this is more information. It's good. I think I know which one you're talking about the recent skeleton they found in. In Ethiopia. They call it the, the
Ardipithecus, using rd from earth. The earth ground, man. Yeah, I read it. It's interesting. But it's not enough to stop these guys. They're on a real serious mode.
Anyway.
Are we allowed to work in state schools as a teacher or teachers
sistent it's permissible. Not teaching is halaal profession.
Should we be in an Islamic school? It's better place to be. But if there is none available, but if we're there because we get more money, really there is an Islamic school available, but the skate state school pays us more money. So we're there instead of there, then
we have to question, you know, what are our motives? Where are we relative to a law, right.
But as a general principle, it is permissible. I've completed a degree in sociology with with a first class islamically, where
what field jobs would be suitable for me? Is it okay for me to become
a
sociology teacher, I would say,
the field of sociology has benefit, especially when it deals with
psychology related topics.
If you find that
you can't work islamically with it, then I would suggest that you go ahead and try to do a master's in
education, educational psychology, or educational or where sociology fits into the educational
scheme. Because all the people who go into the educational system, I try to encourage them to go as far as you can, don't stop, adjust like a BA, if you can go through and do a master's in a PhD, it is better. Because if we are to build alternative institutions, we want people qualified to the highest levels possible in those fields. So that we can also be about establishing institutions where we can train our own people. Because if you only come out with a BA, rarely, you can just teach people who don't have ba. But if you come out with a PhD, then you can be a part of setting up at Teachers Training College for Muslim teachers, for example. And also you can have a much greater
impact with your skills.
What would you advise a newly revert to
acquire knowledge of the dean? How he begins carries forward acquiring knowledge? Well, I mean, this depends on the person's circumstance. What opportunities are available to them? You know, as I just mentioned, you got Islamic Islamic online university.com, you can go there and study your basic studies of the course they're called foundations of Islamic Studies, you work your way through that. There's another one called
there's one on taharah there, there's all your basic Islamic knowledge, fasting, Hajj, these type of things are there, go and pick up and also pick up books, attend circles that are available in the masjid, you know, just start to systematically gather the knowledge that you can,
I would advise you also to finish off whatever educational things that you were involved in. And if you have a desire to study
in greater depth, that you can look to study overseas, etc. Whether it's in Medina or wherever else if you have an inclination towards Islamic Studies in otherwise
you I would welcome you to study at our college Islamic Preston International College there in India, because one of the conditions that I made when we set up the college is that any convert Muslim who applies there should automatically get a scholarship if seats are available.
What are the chances that an anti Islamic group disrupting,
changing what lectures and information on your website for
what are the chances that the anti Islamic group disrupting or changing lectures and information on your website for something, again, make it up against his possible marketing, my website was hacked. You know early in January for about three months it was down you know, they just gone in and messed up.
The site and my email was shocked and but I'm the lights been restored as possible. Maybe some of the information got messed up. If you do have doubtful things on the website, please do write me and tell me what you have found that so we can correct it. I sister is 20 or over. If she's doing Islamic Studies, Should she complete it or get married first, which is more important?
Well, it depends on how
serious she is about Islamic Studies. You know, it's just something that's nice that you'd like to do,
then get married first. But if she sees that it's something she really wants to do. It's something that she feels that she can contribute something out and she's thinking in terms, you know, really dedicated in that sense that I would say finish your education first, then get married.
If there is
money
lying around in the road instead, instead of druggies using it. What should I do if I find it?
Funny Finders keepers.
Well, you can
technically speaking it's found in the road is nobody seems to be looking like something fell out of their pockets and you don't see anybody anywhere. Okay, keep it
there, it's small amounts. Maybe it's like a million dollars something Hey, now you know, you have something serious you need to go to the authorities and
hand it in.
Now we spread.
Now we will about Islamization of education. First is about curriculum or you have a plan about training and certification.
The training of Muslim teachers we have one brother,
Accra, McCann Chima, in the north, who runs training programs for Muslim teachers, he can be contacted his specialist education list.
I am just here trying to stir up some concern, some awareness, you know, to influence people to move in this direction. I don't live here, I only come here on occasion, you know, so, the job really has to be done from within.
What is the protection from sue her? What is the cure of the illness?
Of
being scared of dolls,
terms of Sahar, etc. The
book which I wrote called the exorcists tradition in Islam goes into it in detail, explaining the prophetic methodology for treating this
should be looked at, seriously, if one really has
cases. And we should make sure that what we're doing or how we're doing it is really in, in conformity with the method which the prophet SAW Selim taught, because there are many quacks out there, you know, offering all kinds of treatments, which have nothing to do with Quran and Sunnah, and which only increases in illness.
Can you further explain as to why sending our child to a
or this
school maintains state schools is fundamentally Haram, as this affects the majority of Muslims in this country.
But I think the point is clear. The point is clear. We just start from the basic responsibility. The basic responsibility is that parents teach their children
the right of the Muslim child is that they be taught by their parents, or those who their parents have asked to stand in their stead.
Now, does it make sense that a parent would ask a non Muslim to come and teach their child in their stead and expect that
Child to grow up properly islamically it's common sense tells us that's wrong
is a mistake. It's illogical. So I think just common sense tells us that this is not right. The fact that most Muslims in the country are thereby labeled as being in major error.
As they say, if the shoe fits, wear it. That's the reality.
That's the reality.
What we should be doing instead is finding alternatives. If we don't have one here, there are other ones elsewhere in the country, if it means packing up bags and making hedra to Leicester or to Birmingham or to some other parts of the country where there are Islamic schools where you can put your children in school, then it is your responsibility to do it.
That is what you will be asked about. Why didn't you move?
If state schools are fundamentally haram and Islamic schools are charging sky high prices? What do I do when I have a few kids and can't afford it? Well, reality is not all of the schools charge sky high prices, other schools and other parts of the country, the prices are not sky high. But what happens is that we don't want to move.
We don't want to move. One of the ideas that I mentioned in the seminar, the prophet SAW, Selim talked about Satan's strategy.
He said that I Satan said, I will stand in all of the paths of human beings
to divert them from Allah. So I will stand in the path of the one when he wants to accept Islam and say to him, are you going to abandon the way of your forefathers, your family? Are you going to desert them? Are you going to disarm them?
Who got caught by that?
Who is the famous person in Islamic history? Who was caught by that trap?
Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet sighs,
the uncle of the prophets of Salaam who knew he was a prophet.
You can't get any closer.
He raised him in his own.
He saw the signs. But Satan was there and got him
on that point, pride in the ancestry. And even today, you go to a Muslim who is practicing wearing amulets or charms and you tell them listen, brother, this amulet thing, you know, it's puram start from Islam. Professor Salaam didn't do it. His Sahaba didn't do it. And
my parents did. And they're good people. My grandparents did my great great grandparents did you know my great great, great grandparents, he was a scholar of Islam. And he did do
that dealing with the issue.
ancestor worship,
you get lost.
So the prophet SAW Selim said,
When the man or the human being the person ignores Satan's suggestions, and he accepts Islam, then what does he do? He sits in the path of his euro
hedra leaving his home for the sake of Allah. And he tells him when he's thinking about leaving home for the sake of Allah, are you going to give up that familiar place that you were born in and raised in that sky that you lived under all those years? You're gonna drop that and go.
That's it. That's what we're talking about. sky high prices, not everywhere in the country. Yeah, I can identify someplace in the north or the west or the east or whatever, where there's an Islamic school. That is not charging sky high prices. The question is, are you ready to make hedra
That's what the question is hedra for the sake of Allah.
No. So that's why you're where you are.
If you have a school with everything
in it, for example, prayer hall, Juma and also have Muslim teachers teaching religious classes, or have a non believer who teaches, will, who teaches religions. With that still become an Islamic school, a non believer who teaches religions.
re teacher.
Well, see, the thing is,
it's like asking, you know, if a person is a Muslim is praying five times a day, he's fasting in the month of Ramadan, being in the car, he makes Hajj, but he listens to music?
Is he considered a Muslim?
is a Muslim who listens to music?
Right? Okay, the music is listening to maybe haram wrong. But that doesn't cancel Islam. So similarly, this school, which has all the other Islamic elements in place, if it has this error, if it is, in fact an error, I mean, I'd have to speak to the people of the school and hear their side of the story, because of course, we're going according to one side of the story, right? And it's, we have to be aware of making judgments and, and rulings when we only heard one side of the story. So hearing that one side of the story, assuming that it is what the person said, we can still say that, okay, it's an error. It's wrong. But it doesn't take the school out of being an Islamic school. It's
an Islamic school with an error in this area.
is an Islamic school only the perfect one, with no single errors in it? No.
We're human beings. As we accept errors from ourselves, and we don't take ourselves out of Islam, then, hey, have mercy.
Have mercy.
Should Islamic schools be nonprofit organizations? Well,
not necessarily.
But they should be.
We could say, financially viable.
If you're going to set the school up, then it should have a way of paying for itself. So you're not running around begging all the time. Maybe you have to beg in the beginning to get the ball rolling, but not It shouldn't be just like, that's it every year, we're out there, you know, begging? No, it should be financially viable. If we have people in the community who set it up, make it financially viable, provide the services and make a profit. But their goal is not the profit, then it's still workable.
It's workable. We don't have to say that the only condition for a school to be Islamic is that there is no profits involved. It is only a nonprofit. No, I wouldn't want to say that.
I'm a business student. Good in finance studies.
Can I complete my education in MSc in finance? Is it haram? No, I would not say it's Haram. I would say that if you're going to go into you're in finance then this is what becomes waje Bonnie when we talk about further it knowledge.
Since you have chosen the area of finance as your area of specialization, this the area that you like, then it is far the iron on you to know the Islamic point of view on whatever it is that you're studying.
So you either do some courses by correspondence, you buy up all the books that are available on Islamic finance. So you are up. You have a clear understanding from an Islamic perspective of what it is that you study. It's far behind on you to know that for you to just go ahead and study in the standard mode and you come out you know
No islamically is not acceptable. You have not fulfilled your, your father, I'm responsibility with regards to that knowledge.
Okay, when
I was shocked
in France, I saw one book
of history validated by the government. It was inside, I guess inside the title picture showing the Prophet sallallahu wasallam wanted to kill himself.
And an angel, Angel jabril stopped him. What can I do in this situation?
Burn the book.
Such things where we have
government institutions producing anti Islamic or corrupt Islamic material, then we have to
try to inform the community about it and its seriousness and raise our voice to the authorities and have it corrected or stopped.
This the idea of Islamization is good, but shouldn't we expose our kids to the reality of the society we live in? and teach them? What is wrong in it? let them read
Harry Potter
and teach them about magic in Islam and shirk?
Well,
any serious education list will tell you that that is the wrong philosophy.
That is the wrong philosophy.
We don't put our children in corruption in order to teach them what is right now, our responsibility is to put them in the purest, the safest, the cleanest environment that we can. And of course, just living here, you must come in contact with the other one, when they see the other one, we point out to them that that is wrong, they will know. They will know.
They will know they will be the first to say it's not wrong. Yeah. That's how we do it. We don't put them in corruption, and then expect
them to be able to figure their way out and you teach them through their errors. No. I mean, when I was teaching in,
in Dubai, and the American
University in Dubai, teaching Arabic and Islamic studies there. I did it for some years because the person who was teaching Islamic studies there before me, actually students came and asked me to
come forward, they gave my name to the university, whatever. But the person was teaching Islamic studies there before me was a American homosexual, who was telling the students that you know, Islam is okay with lesbianism and homosexuality and this and that, and kids even though these kids were sort of whacked out anyway, but they, they knew that much that this was not right. This can't be right. So they complained to the administration, you know, so I'm glad they suggested me because I was doing programs and they, I started teaching there. So try to do some what they call damage control, right? set up a Masjid there and the Students Union and these kind of things. But anyway,
the point is that one of the female students had come to me and said, You know,
I'm in love with this student, or the student, right.
And what should I do?
Because my father, when he put me in this university and his co Ed, co Ed, American,
when he put me in this university, he told me, I trust you.
You will not talk to any boys. You will not get involved in any relationships. You know, our family is a strict family.
I'm putting into school but I trust you
ludicrous.
ludicrous, is put her in a class with other males who are going to chat. Maybe the first time she got there, she's shy, she doesn't talk to anybody. But you know, enough guys chatting and this new venture, she starts talking and falls in love. What do I do?
Yeah, this is that philosophy. You know, we put them in there and they have to know about the real world. No, no, they don't put her in an all girls school. That's better.
Last question.
last questions, okay. What is the ruling on getting a salary to teach the crime is permissible. You don't what we do, what we how we look at it is that you are given a salary to take care of your needs to free you up in order to teach the client don't look at it as this money I'm getting to teach the client so if I don't get this money, no teaching
because that's when we know why we're teaching the grant. Right? Because if we're teaching it for the sake of a law, even if they don't pay us money will still teach
Could you please repeat the website address? Which one?
There is Islamic online university.com
there is for Preston it is Preston chennai.ac dot i n
my website, of course is bow phillips.com. And the website that we're setting up I'm not sure that it's up and running right now. curriculum islamization.com but as I said, if you send us your teacher, if you send in your contact address to send me an email, let me know that you want to contribute you want to benefit from this website. If you already have some things that you're working on. You can send it to me and I will pass you on to those in India who are developing the website inshallah.
Okay, that was the last the questions and Charla, I hope that at least some of what I shared with you this evening was of benefit and whatever I've said which is incorrect, asked a lot Forgive me, and I hope I haven't offended anybody
in some of my jokes.
I don't mean to but inshallah I hope that you all will pray for me as I pray for you. So panic alone will become deca shadow lala land. The stock Furukawa to Lake