Excellence in Islamic Education

Key Issues for the Present Time *

(Part 14 of a Series)

Love for children; love for the profession of education; humility without weakness; health and vitality of the body; psychological health and emotional balance; neatness, cleanliness and good appearance; eloquence and good pronunciation; intelligence and deep understanding; understanding students and their needs; strong command of the subject; broad and deep reading and knowledge; punctuality and respect for time; co-operation with the school system and policies; being courteous with students and fellow teachers; socialization with people and no isolation; knowledge and practice of Islam; to stay away from questionable sayings or deeds, even if it is lawful to do so; and sincerity.

- ISNA handout, 1994, quoted in The Purpose of an Islamic School and the Role of an Islamic School Teacher

What is Islamic education and what role can it and Muslim teachers play in developing the whole person in present times?

I find it astonishing what low expectations can be held of young people. In a way this is symptomatic of a culture which itself has dismally low expectations of what a human being is, and projects this onto the young because the adults themselves are incapable of rising to higher expectations of themselves. Young people are never to blame because of the poor standards they are expected to reach. The idea that students can only learn if they are being subjected to trivial entertainment is a denial of human capacities and an impoverishment of their learning experience.

Young people have a fierce hunger for the truth and all of them respond to the message which is pitched at the highest level if it is delivered with sincerity and passion as well as obvious depth of knowledge and understanding. They home in immediately on second-class goods, they see through those who try to patronize them, and they are not truly inspired by styles of delivery which dilute, sanitize, or prettify the message in order to make it apparently more palatable.

I believe that young people are often grossly underestimated in our educational systems, and that their hunger is not being fed because of a failure to speak directly to their hearts, which is actually a failure to speak the truth. Leaders in so many areas (politics and education included) have lost the will and the courage to engage directly with the truth, and in so doing to speak directly to the core of human beings. The worst of our education systems is in essence a ministry of disinformation, a covering-up and denial of the truth. Young people can respond directly to the strength and clarity of the unadorned message.

Next: Charity: Values and Ethics in Action

* Republished with the kind permission of the author from Excellence in Islamic Education: Key Issues for the Present Times.

Jeremy Henzell-Thomas, a curriculum development specialist, is the coordinator of the Curriculum Project, formerly director of studies at a leading independent school in England. He holds degrees in English and applied linguistics, and a PhD in the psychology of learning. He has served as an executive committee member of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (UK) and the Chairman of the Board of FAIR, the UK Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism.