|
Read
Me, My Teacher
The
knowing “self” of us humans is somehow wrapped in many layers of
modern ways of thinking. The very concept of knowledge and its
attainment is considered a given under modernity; one, and only one,
is the author of his/her own judgments. Against the modern, and
principally Western, mode of learning, all traditional ways of
learning are assumed to be uncritical and irrational.
One
that is bound by will to true and absolute knowledge must step back
and look at the systems of knowledge on hand, yet with inviting new
possibilities. The theory of knowledge (epistemology) and the existing
paradigms of knowledge, falling under scientific rationality, are all
already well-established themes that we do not need to dwell into.
With
that, reading--as an individual act to pursue knowledge--can as well
be looked at through alternative eyes.
Individualistic
Reasoning
Among
the main axioms of modernity is the freedom to read a text, interpret,
and judge. That freedom hosts a new dual relation between the book and
its reader. The book here is the text and the teacher— all at once.
Yet, the book, serving as a teacher, merely discloses its structured
message: no room for a two-way discussion between the book as a
teacher and the reader as a student. As a result, readership gives
itself an authority over the authorship. And in its most overconfident
manifestation, interpretation becomes on par with criticism – a
crisis of post-modernity. Perhaps that form of criticism (mainly
destructive, pursued for its own sake) is a result of individualistic
reasoning.
Summarizing,
and breaking away from philosophical argument, there are two values
that accompany the term “reason”: objectivity and freedom. In the
western paradigm of thinking, objectivity became synonymous with
“empirical” and “worldly.” Rationale fenced itself within the
experienced world. All that is beyond that world became out of the
limits of reason, irrational to think of.
As
for freedom, perhaps it can be better understood while looking at the
“causal” development of history. Freedom, which troubled Europe
throughout its dark, feudal and totalitarian phases, and within the
intellectual and religious oligopoly of the Latin-affluent elite,
became the honest evolutionary response to humanity’s classical
existential question. No wonder religious freedom and freedom of the
press, became the main motifs in Enlightenment, Renaissance,
secularism, and the Magna Carta.
Reading
in a Triangle
It
was a radical and doubtful frame of mind that shaped the mode of
learning in the age of enlightenment. It allowed the Western mind to
bypass religious authority and secularize; bypass intellectual
authority and deconstruct; bypass experienced authority and
experiment, and it was all for the sake of not “irritating”
reason.
This
is the basis upon which our reading manner was formed. Yet one can
still “rationally” and “freely” read and neither of these
rights can be violated if one can find a good teacher or
author, per se.
When
it comes to deciphering the Divine message in monotheistic scriptures,
reading takes an altogether different form. Instead of the chain
shaped relationship between the reader and the text, reading takes
place through a triangle; for the teacher becomes the third party. The
teacher here is another “human” figure: either a prophet or a
religious teacher.
Such
a figure is needed to educate and orient the recipient. This structure
has been stressed throughout the monolithic faiths. Specifically in
Islam, the role of the teacher, exemplified in the functions of
Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him – and the ulama
(scholars) after him, is brought to the forefront in dealing with the
Qur’anic concept of ilm (knowledge).
And
in reading the text, whether religious or not, this triangle proves
itself to be more effective, insightful, and in tune with the
sincerity of learning. It sharpens both the comprehension and the
resulting articulation. It can be further applied to teachers,
professors, writers, or even trainers and couches. In line with the
need to have a teacher or master to help guide the reader through the
text, Islam specifies this relation in many incidents in the Qur’an
and the stories of the Prophet. The teacher, whether a religious one
or not, must have the right qualifications (i.e. knowledge and the
experience).
As
the first revealed verses in the Noble Qur’an read:
In
the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful;
“Read:
In the name of thy Lord Who createth
Createth man from a clot
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous
Who teacheth by the pen,
Teacheth man that which he knew not.
Nay, but verily man is rebellious
That he thinketh himself independent!
Lo! unto thy Lord is the return.”
(Pickthal interpretation of the Qur’an, 96:1-8)
The
words of advice that these verses suggest are simple; reading with a
higher cause in mind and where Divine blessing is guaranteed;
recognizing human mental abilities; writing, or rather taking notes as
an essential part of learning; not believing in absolute independence
in attaining knowledge, where the role of the good teacher always
fits.
Tarek
A. Ghanem is an Egyptian freelance writer based in Cairo,
Egypt. He is specialized in comparative politics and is currently
assistant to the English section in Al-Siyassa Al-Dawliya
(International Politics), a quarterly journal published by Al-Ahram
Foundation, Cairo, Egypt. You can reach him at t.ghanem@islam-online.net
|
