NAME: SANGGEETHAMBIGAI d/o VIJAYA KUMAR (G1924528)

SECTION A

Explain the relationship of the Islamic Worldview and the philosophy of Islamic
Education. (10 marks)

A worldview is generally mean a set of beliefs about basic aspects of reality that controls and
influence all our perceiving, thinking, knowing, and doing. The meaning and purpose of the
two concepts “philosophy” and “worldview” are closely related. There are a lot of researches
and studies that give and compile the definitions for these two concepts. One of the
explanations was given for the relation of these two concepts is by Wolters who summarized
the relationship between worldview and philosophy as "worldview crowns philosophy", that
is, constructing a worldview is the highest manifestation of philosophy. The term
“worldview” is often used to focus a personal and historical point of view. The Islamic
worldview is simple and easy to understand and rationalize as it encompasses just three main
concepts or principles. It is based on three principles which are: Tawhȋd (theism), Khilâfah
(Vicegerency), and ‘Adâlah (Justice). Some of the relationships between the Islamic
Worldview and the philosophy of Islamic education is presented in the table below:

Islamic Worldview Aspect of relationship Philosophy of Islamic

To establish the fundamental
ethics such as justice, freedom,
thrust and dignity of human life
 Theism
 Vicegerency
 Justice
Education
Objectives To acquire intellectual
knowledge and develop
spiritual knowledge
Principles  Oneness of Allah
 Critical thinking
 Critical pedagogy
 Fardhu Ain-
Revealed Knowledge
 Fardhu Khifayah-
Acquired Knowledge
 Religious Obligatory
 Life time process
  Attitudes towards non- Moral / Values  Love for God and
Muslims love for God’s
 Communal etiquettes creatures
 Forgiveness, generosity,  Holy Quran values
compassion
- Approach  Quranic Approach
 Teaching Techniques
 The complexion of Concept of Knowledge Knowledge is the source of
revealed sciences, progress and development of
Intermediary human human
sciences and physical
and natural sciences
 Valuable information,
values and emerging of
human minds
Table 1: Relationship between Islamic Worldview and Philosophy of Islamic Education

The table shows some of the important relationships of Islamic Worldview and Philosophy of
Islamic Education. If the content of the table is viewed thoroughly, it can be said that the key
points of the Islamic Worldview and philosophies of Islamic educations are mostly similar.
The objective of the Islamic Worldview is to establish the fundamental ethics such as justice,
freedom, thrust and dignity of human life whereas the philosophy of Islamic education
focuses the aim of the process of education which is to acquire intellectual knowledge and
develop spiritual knowledge. Although the notions of the objectives are similar, the
philosophy of education focusing more on the learning process of Muslims whereas the
Islamic worldview concentrates on the holistic process of creating human life and provide a
fundamental ethics for human to follow throughout their lives on earth.

The principles of Islamic Worldview focused the fundamental elements to lead a life as a
Muslim in this World. The principles of philosophy of Islamic education focuses on the
important elements needed to create an indestructible system of education for Muslims and
how to build a holistically perfect mankind through education. The principles of Islamic
Worldview such as Tawhȋd (theism), Khilâfah (Vicegerency), and ‘Adâlah (Justice) are
important as they are the basic quality a Muslim must acquire and have. The Quranic
teaching of Tawhȋd and the explanation it offers on the concept of God and His attributes are
meant to enable humans to break free from the shackles of ignorance and enduring custom
and tradition which would not ensure eternal salvation. Vicegerency of Man in an Islamic
worldview can be noticed in through some points, which are adapted from the Holy Quran
and Sunnah such as the universe is created and administered in accordance with the
regulations set by Almighty Allah, known as “Laws of Nature” and Man and all other
creations owe their existence, to Allah alone. As for the principles of philosophy of Islamic
education, the principles are such as Oneness of Allah, critical thinking, critical pedagogy,
Fardhu Ain-Revealed Knowledge and Fardhu Khifayah- Acquired Knowledge, religious
Obligatory and life time process. These are the principles to reinforce an individual’s
knowledge about Islam through education.

One of the similarities and an important concept of the Islamic Worldview and Philosophy of
Islamic education is both stresses the importance of Holy Quran as the main source of
knowledge and guidance for the Muslims to lead a life on this earth. The characteristics and
etiquettes of Muslims in both of the concepts are developed from the statements sourced from
the Holy Quran and Sunnah. The moral values stressed by the Islamic Worldview and
philosophy of educations are all equally positive and the only differences found were the
pattern of acquiring them and the types of the qualities where in Islamic Worldview the
concept was to acquire the values through daily life experiences and widely focused and in
the philosophy of education the concept limited to the morals and values acquired through
education.

The morals of Islamic Worldviews are such as attitude towards Non-Muslims which is a
positive conscious attitude pertaining to socio-economic dealings, communal etiquettes which
refers to a set of rules of acceptable behaviour which governs the behaviour of a Muslim in
society, compassion which means kindness, concern, benevolence and sympathy for the
suffering of other humans and the desire to help them, forgiveness and generosity. The
morals and values focused through the implication of philosophy of Islamic education are
such as love for God and the Holy Quran values.
Reflect and analyse how philosophy of education gives major impact in your life as a
postgraduate student

The philosophy of education which emphasize the fundamental concepts of education as

accepted worldwide contributes and impact every individual life. As a postgraduate student, I
realised some of the major impact of philosophy of education in my life especially in the
educational field. Some of the philosophies and its impact in my life is summarized in the
table below:

Types Educational Philosophies Impacts

Teacher-centred Essentialism As a teacher and PG
Philosophy students I explore to acquire
basic knowledge and skills
in a traditional way when
learning something newly.
Perennialism I became a better critical
thinker and opt to create a
well-organized and
disciplined environment
Students-centred Progressivism Individual development- I
philosophy encourage problem-solving
through my experienced
knowledge
Humanism Maximize my potential
when doing something
focusing on self-evaluation
Constructivism I stressed on construct
useful knowledge in order to
achieve academic success
Socially-centred Reconstructionism I Always exploring social
philosophy issues in society and
education
Behaviourism I always make changes to
my behaviour according to
 the educational needs
Islamic philosophy Pragmatism I relate the new knowledge I
acquired to beliefs and
practices

Axiology I always ensure the morals

and manners

Table 2: Impacts of Philosophy of Educations

From the aspect of education, essentialism is about an educational philosophy or approach

which assumes and encourages that all children should learn the traditional disciplines and
basic subjects equally. Essentialism stresses the traditional ways, concepts, ideologies should
be implemented or cultivated into human beings without considering individual conditions,
ability, concerns, needs and interests. The impact of essentialism can be seen through the
traditional knowledge a person has or acquired and cultural heritage of a certain society and
civilization of that person. As a post-graduate student, I often establish some traditional
disciplines and moral values in order to become a valuable member of the society which I’m
living in. Discipline is a key characteristic for essentialist approach as the discipline we
practiced individually will bring up the discipline in life and society. As a post-graduate
student, I always convey my disciplined self, patriotism, civility and respect for all the
authorities that involved in my society and educational field. The traditional discipline is the
essential tool for people to achieve the skill of reasoning, and be able to train the mind and
ensure to be a member of a common culture for all citizens. The philosophy of education of
essentialism emphasizes on teaching basic skills and intellectual self-discipline. As a post-
graduate student, I have a lot of experiences in educational field and came through different
stages and level of education which in every stages I found that core subjects such as reading,
writing, literature, foreign languages, history, mathematics, science, art and music are
mandatorily focused and conceivably supposed to serve as transmitter of the cultural heritage.
These skills are essential because they will prepare students for an advanced education, the
world of work, and effective social and political participation (Gutek,2004). The merge of
essentialism in education had made the students (post-graduate students) develop and
transform into an intellectually and individually well developed, well characterised, indulged
with values like patriotism, discipline, respectful and hardworking citizen. The major impact
that the philosophy of education had on my life is it ensured the respect for authority, made
me appreciate the traditional discipline and cultural heritages of our society and as a teacher
the impacts are such as the practice of traditional academic disciplines to help students and
society to accumulate the wisdom and cultural heritage of civilization. The use and
appreciation for the traditional concepts and procedures throughout the learning and teaching
process are the major impact of philosophy of education in my life as a post-graduate student.

As a post-graduate student, I noticed the impact of perennialism, one of the important

philosophies in the history of philosophy of education in my life and the education systems
that I encountered in different stages of my life. Subsequently, the impact of perennialism can
be seen in my life when during some stages of my education, the involved educators or
teachers stressed contemplation, reasoning and thinking. Perennialism believe that the focus
of the education should be the ideas that have lasted over centuries.

I am a better critical thinker now as my former educators and education system back in the
days focused to develop my intellectual and moral qualities through emphasizing knowledge
and the meaning of knowledge, serving to enhance students’ critical thinking skills in the
search for individual freedoms, human rights and responsibilities through time. The
perennialism philosophy that turned up at times in the education system stimulated me to
think critically and thoughtfully as much as cultivating the rational mind. As an educator, I
learned the ways and concerns to transfer knowledge from older generations to younger
generations, emphasizing more on humanities aspect rather than vocational and technical
education.

Another major impact of philosophy of education in my life is that it increased my motivation

to search for experiences and give importance to learnings based on experiences. I started to
accentuate experiences in my life as to fulfil the educational needs. I rather motivate myself
to involve in many ventures, projects and activities to gain the experiences which may
contribute to the personal individual development and problem-solving scenarios. As a post-
graduate student, I had discovered different experimental learning situation throughout my
life which made a strong emphasize on problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that
humans are social animal who learn best through real-life activities with other people. The
impact of philosophy of progressivism can be seen through the importance and needs of
critical thinking and creative thinking frequently in educational field. In order to pursue a
career goal or educational achievements nowadays, a person or post-graduate student needs
to master some important skills in order to learn or work in a multidimensional scope. The
evaluation system for the post-graduate students are based on our progress and the learning
materials of the system are the tools that connected to skills. The evaluation system of the
post-graduate studies assures that students contribute independently by providing them
individual assessments and projects which will help them to navigate through work and
personal life after graduation. These are some of the noticeable positive impact of philosophy
of education in post-graduate students’ life.

Progressivism in education today foster a passion for learning new things while the higher
education back in years allows students to follow obediently and memorise knowledge from
authentic sources. The education system nowadays which follows progressivism philosophy
encourages students to participate actively in the studies and asses their performance through
their involvement in the studies. The impact that the philosophy of education made in the life
of a post-graduate student is something to be grateful for as it prohibits the narrow-minded
fashion talks, assignments and textbooks-oriented curriculum. When we criticize the impact
of progressivisms, we need to take in count how the progressivism philosophy contributes in
arguing the 21st century skills. The 21st century skills are a concatenation of high-order
thinking skills, abilities and learning dispositions that are required for success in the
consistently changing digital environment, society and workplaces. One of the major impacts
of progressivism in my life as a post graduate student is the progressive education before and
during post-graduate studies and to associate with deeper learning, which is based on
mastering skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving and teamwork. These
impacts are different and better from the traditional academic skills’ impact in that they are
not primarily content knowledge based. The education nowadays that emphasizes the
intrinsic motivation of the student gives more value to experience than formal learning. It can
be said that the progressivism philosophy encourages a holistic development of myself as a
post graduate student.

The impact of the humanism philosophy of education can be seen in my life as a post
graduate student through some massive implications such as self-directed learning that I
pursue as a student, activates self-evaluation, give importance to the learning process that
stresses the feelings and knowledge rather than learning outcome. The main proponents of the
philosophy of humanism in education are Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Malcom
Knowles. The humanism which encourages the affective and cognitive needs helps the
students to develop self-actualized characteristics in a cooperative and supportive
environment. I admire the ancient cultures which serves as an important source of growth of
human civilization. The impacts are, I respect the wisdom of the scholars as it relates to the
field of human values and as an impact from the humanistic philosophy, I respect all the
languages, differences, human rights and needs. I have a strong realisation that self-
evaluation is meaningful and work or learn or educate myself to achieve personal satisfaction
and not only for grades and ranks in my post graduate studies. As an educator, I believe that I
must ensure the cognitive and affective domain development of myself and students.

The philosophy of constructivism gives more impacts to my life as a PG student compared to

any other philosophies as it encourages students to be critical thinkers and requires students
to apply knowledge to new situations. Constructivism is a concept that says learners construct
knowledge rather than just passively take in information. The constructivism is the
fundamental element for my knowledge and thought processes as the conceptualization of
constructivism is as a person experience the world and reflect upon those experiences, they
build their own representations and incorporate new information into the pre-existing
knowledge. All the knowledges that I gathered through my schools and colleges are
incorporated into the new knowledge I’m obtaining in PG studies to form a new knowledge
which is more complex and advanced. The impact of philosophy can be seen through how I
relate and make connections between the two types of my knowledges. I’m having a best
learning process as I engaged in learning processes rather than passively receiving
information. The learning become a social process for me because it is embedded within a
social context as I work together with my lecturers to build knowledge. As an educator, I
focus on providing experiences that facilitate the construction of knowledge. The interactive
learning, construction of knowledge, looking at process as important as product and cognitive
dissonance are some of the impacts of philosophy of education in a PG student’s life.

Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasize the addressing of social questions to

create a better society. Because of the existence of curriculum that focuses on students’
experience and taking social action on real problems such as violence, hunger, terrorism,
inflation and equality, I developed some essential social skills. The impact of
reconstructionism philosophy is I became more sensitive towards the social issues and
understood and implemented the community-based learnings.

The other impacts are behaviourism based philosophical educational impact where the good
changes in my behaviour achieved through a large amount of repetition of actions, the reward
of good habits and the discouragement of bad habits. Through behaviour philosophy, I
learned how to improve my behaviour through repetition of action. The major impact is I
started the self-reward system for my self and understands better the reward system that exist
in the educational system. Negative behaviours such as lack of engagement, negative
contributions could be minimized through the absence of reinforcer. The positive
reinforcement concept is the main contribution of behaviourism philosophy to our lives.

The impacts of the pragmatism philosophy of education in my life as a PG student are I

encourages experimental study processes. Pragmatism provides definite aims of education.
The student is prepared to live in society and learn skills and attitudes. Pragmatism
emphasizes upon activity. The principle of learning by doing is the main contribution of
pragmatism. The philosophy of axiology gave some impacts in my life as a PG student such
as moral development and spiritual development. The text and its study not only make
children aware of moral and religious truth, they also have an instrumental dimension,
namely, that they could lead to moral/ religious practice (Ashraf; quoted in Ashraf & Hirst,
1994).

SECTION B
Explain the Aim and Objectives of Education of Imam Al-Ghazali (5 marks). Analyse
main contributions of Imam Al-Ghazali in the development of education suitable to the
21 st Century Muslim ummah (10 marks)

As per the source of Islamic education, Al-Ghazali was one of the most important and
influential Islamic philosopher and theologian who developed some significant philosophies
at the time when Sunni theology had just passed through its consolidation and entered a
period of intense challenges from the Arabian tradition of Aristotelian philosophy. Al-
Ghazali’s approach to resolve apparent contradictions between reason and revelation was
accepted by almost all later Muslim theologians. It is noted by several Muslim scholars that
many aspects of Al-Ghazali’s guidance on teaching and learning are still valid (Alkanden,
2001; Nofal 1993). Likewise, researchers generally agree that Al-Ghazali’s thoughts comply
with the Quranic principles. His guidance can be directly applied to the education system of
not only Islamic World, but also to the rest of the world (Abu-Quasen, 1978; Gil’adi, 1992;
Nofal, 1993; Sherif, 1975). Al-Ghazali’s aim of education is to cultivate man so that he
abides by the teaching of the religion and is hence assured salvation and happiness in the
eternal life hereafter and this is only possible with the proper knowledge of acts of worship
(Al-Ghazali, 1962). Some other aims of education drawn from the writings of Al-Ghazali are
such as character formation, moral development, earning a livelihood and societal
development of mankind.

Al-Ghazali as a philosopher that encourage changes, restrain the opinion about the
character as a not changeable trait. As, the prophet’s saying, ‘hassinu akhlaqakum’ which
means improve your moral character. Every human has the right and ability to make some
changes or improve his character through will, advice and education. Al-Ghazali opines that
the character can be obtained and formed through education. As per his opinion regarding the
improvement of character, it is obvious that character formation was one of the aims stressed
by Imam Al-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali realises that a character-building process starts during the
childhood stage of a human and developed approximately at every stage after. He elaborates
that a good childhood will give a good character and builds positive and honourable
personality while a person with bad childhood will have a ruined character without signs of
positive personages. The education’s aim is not limited to upskill the mind of the learners by
pouring information into it, but also demands features such as religious, moral, intellectual
and physical personality of the learner.
 Mankind is believed to be born as ‘tabula rasa’ which means human mind at birth
viewed as having no innate ideas and acquire personality, characteristics and behaviour
through living in society and interaction with the environment. The mankind could learn the
Holy Quran which stresses love, intelligence, good morals, good character, abstemiousness
and truthfulness and a form of education.

Another key purpose of education of Imam Al-Ghazali is the moral development of

the mankind. Al-Ghazali persuade that youngsters’ moral development is one of the
fundamental focus of education. The education should guide to the realisation of religious
goal and moral character which is raised from the intention to get closer to Allah. Al-Ghazali
stresses on educating the moral education of children from early age, which is conceptually
significant to the thoughts of educational philosophers of the century about the importance of
character building. Al-Ghazali education views are considered more excellent, systematic and
comprehensive than the other philosophical figures at that times. As a philosopher, Al-
Ghazali’s thought and opinion on education has affected the educational thoughts of the next
figures. As stated in one of the Al-Ghazali’s books, Ayyuhal Walad about the reviews of
thoughts of character education based on moral character, the education should be started
from the starting point of Prophet’s mission that is to build a good character. The goal of
education as Al-Ghazali viewed is children must be educated to view the world for the
hereafter purpose.

Besides that, another aim of education as viewed by Al-Ghazali is to lead the

humankind to get closer to Allah SWT. Al-Ghazali view is to make the children become the
human who know about their responsibility as a servant of Allah as well as to his fellow
human beings. It can be seen on Al-Ghazali’s advice in Ayyuhal Walad (2005), such as the
children should know the importance of getting closer to Allah, the children interact and
associate with polite, friendly and introspective peer, the children should learn the useful
knowledge, especially one that can improve the state of heart and clean the soul, the children
is not greedy for property but only for the sufficient need. The education must lead the human
to get explanation lean on ‘naqliyah’ and ‘aqliyah’. Naqliyah law is derived from Holy Quran
and Sunnah, while Aliyah law is a rational explanation. In this context, the rational
explanation must lead the children to get closer to Allah SWT. Al-Ghazali views the role of
various people as an important part in influencing the moral development of a child,
especially the parents, peers and teachers (Al-Ghazali, 1962).
 Earning a livelihood is also considered as an aim of education as viewed by Imam al-
Ghazali. Human beings have to fulfil the responsibilities which include feeding himself and
his family which is also a requirement of Shariah through education. A person needs to
educate himself, get a great amount of knowledge and learn a certain art which could earn
him a livelihood. Education in the context of Islam is regarded as a process that involves the
complete person, including the rational, spiritual and social dimensions.

Other than that, as viewed by Al-Ghazali, the aim of education is societal

development where Al-Ghazali emphasized that part from individual’s responsibilities of
self, Allah has entrusted him responsibilities pertaining to the society’s development as well.
Islam stresses the ethics of living among society, especially towards the Muslim community.
Living among the society with ethics is considered as an attitude that must be cultivated,
cultured and made as a guidance by Muslims and one of the ways to cultivate this attitude is
through education. The ethical living among society’s concept according to Al-Ghazali
(1999) can be understood based on the term Al-Suhbah which refers to interaction of fellow
human beings in societies. Every human on earth somehow needs to contribute to his
community and society. A societal development can occur effectively through a good
education.

The aim of education as viewed by Al-Ghazali, can be achieved through objectives

that so much relevant to multidimensional areas which would contribute to the educational
fulfilment of purposes. The Al-Ghazali’s educational objectives can be classified into
guidance related to the role of parents, role of teachers, role of students, curriculum and
environment. The foremost objective of education as considered by Al-Ghazali is role of
parents. Generally, a child interacts with his parents the most compared to any other person
and parents have an influencing role in a child’s life. Al-Ghazali focuses the responsibility of
parents in developing all aspects of a child’s initial education. Character education,
personality building based on moral ethics and Islamic thoughts needs to be given to the
children in the early ages. The result of the education process cannot be obtained in a short
time and needed to be start at a very early stage of life of a child. Parents are the most
significant people in a child’s life and the first influencer of a child’s thought and morality.
According to Al-Ghazali, the children is like a blank paper who receive anything given to
them. As an interpretation from the prophet Muhammad SAW saying, “Every child is born in
a state of Fitrah, then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian”. The children’s
development always depends on the educational environment his parents could provide them.
According to Al-Ghazali, the children need to be educated so that they have the
responsibility, awareness, characteristics, personages such as forming the habit to avoid the
bad manner, ignorance and immoral. Parenting is a duty of every parent. A successful and
effective parenting requires parenting skills attributes in nurturing the children to success in
the world and hereafter. Imam Al-Ghazali developed some parenting skills attributes model
in order to understand the required parenting skills attribute from the Islamic perspective and
worldview which we can refer to form the role of parents’ in children’s education basis. The
Al-Ghazali’s model of parenting skills attributes consist of four important element which
encompass knowledge and education, relationship with Allah, relationship with children and
relationship with others. In strengthening the relationship with Allah, parents must have the
basic knowledge on tawhid, tasawuf or the knowledge which related with human heart such
as sincerity and sharah, ‘Islamic law’ such as permissible and non-permissible in the matter
of Ibadah, ‘Worship Allah’, mu’amalah, ‘soacial ration’, manakahat, ‘manage’ and jenayah,
‘criminal law’.To strengthen the relationship with children, parents must obtain basic
knowledge on childcare, child growth and development as well as the rights of the children.
Without maintaining and creating a good relationship with children it is extremely difficult
for parents to educate their child and play the role of parents in achieving child’s educational
aims. Accordingly, parents are admired if their child develops a good character and held
responsibility if their child develops unacceptable traits (Al-Ghazali, 1962).

The aspects that a parent should focus on the child’s initial education are language,
cultural traditions, religious and moral benefits. Quran recitation enables parents to purify
heart, evade wrongdoings and guide them and their children to the right path (al-Baqarah:2).
These may ease the parents’ path in educating their children to achieve the educational aims
as viewed by Al-Ghazali. Maintaining a close and trustworthy relationship with children
enables the parents to effectively nurture their children. There are seven significant elements
in the parent -child relationship to ensure the bonding with the children are holistically
develop in order to assure the child’s initial education development. It covers lawful earnings,
show of affection, maintain close relationship, discipline the children, equal treatment, fulfil
their needs and develop their potential. Parenting is human effort for child upbringing and
development in their lifetime. In Islamic perspective, children are the trustee from Allah.
Thus, it is considered as every child’s rights for being nurtured with love and get initial
educations from their parents.
The second objective of A-Ghazali’s educational aim is the role of teachers. Other than
parents, teachers play a significant part in a human being’s life and Al-Ghazali emphasizes
that the role and impact of a teacher is actually more important than parents (Al-Ghazali,
1962). One of the major roles of a teacher is to be sympathetic to students and treat them as
his own children. Al-Ghazali in one of his books said, “Educating children is like graving on
the stone”. In educating children Al-Ghazali expound that a person should love the children
whom they teach, not focusing material-oriented gains, have realisation that the main purpose
in educating the children which is to build good character and have ability to practice, and
constantly reminding the children that the purpose of learning is not for self-pride or self-
profit, but it is because Allah. The teacher also plays a vital role in encouraging the children
in seeking the useful knowledge which can bring them to the happiness in the world and
hereafter. By focusing in these elements, the objective of education which is the role of
teacher can lead to the achievement of bigger educational aims of Al-Ghazali. A teacher
should give the children a good model and figure, such as courteous, broad-minded,
charitable and good deeds. Al- Ghazali emphasizes that the educator or teacher’s own life
must be filled with qualities which he instructs to youngsters to attain. Al-Ghazali (1962) in
his master piece Al-Ahya Ul Uloom Uddin book 1 titled Book of Knowledge distinguishes
the following eight standards of behaviour for teachers, the main themes of which are:

 The teachers should be sympathetic towards students and they should treat them as
their own children.
 The teachers must follow the noble example of the life of Prophet Muhammad
(P.B.U.H.) and teach for giving knowledge only and not for seeking praise or fee.
 The teachers should adopt progressive methodology whereby, they should make
students learn gradually by mastering one stage and then proceeding to the next.
 The teachers should also encourage students to leave bad habits in a suggestive
manner and compassionately, rather than aggressively and embarrassingly
 The teachers should respect all sciences, including those that they are not teaching and
should not derogate them.
 The teachers should ensure that the knowledge being imparted to the students is not
very difficult for them. The teachers should also ensure that the students enjoy
learning continuously
 Al-Ghazali (1962) proposes that individual attention should be given to the students,
especially the weak ones. He asserts that the teachers should ensure that only things
 which are clear and suitable to the students’ limited understanding should be taught to
them
 The teachers should practice and teach what they know and not allow their work and
behaviour to contradict their words, because knowledge is comprehended through
mind, while it works through the eyes

The role of teachers is considered as the main objective of education of Imam Al-Ghazali as
it builds the path for mankind to achieve the educational purposes in life.

Some of the main contributions of Imam Al-Ghazali for the development of education
which suitable to the 21st century Muslim Ummah are his views in child psychology,
reconciliation and integration of various intellectual school, guidance in art of teaching, code
ethics for students, integration of religious education in curriculum and guideline for the role
of teacher. The contribution of Imam Al-Ghazali in education through his views in child
psychology and early child education suits the 21st century Muslim Ummah as the child’s
education and achievement goals remains the same. His explanation on children’s early
stages of life such as children acquire personality, characteristics and behaviour through
living in society and interaction with the environment and views regarding the surrounding of
the child such as the family teaches the children its language, customs and religious traditions
whose influence they can’t escape give the parents nowadays a guideline and forms an aim
for the parents on what to focus through their child’s early educations. Al-Ghazali stresses the
importance of childhood in character formation. It is therefore necessary to understand the
special characteristics of this period in order to deal with the child in an effective and sound
manner. Al-Ghazali also stresses that the children learn the Quran and the sayings of the Holy
Prophet’s companions. In order to educate the next generations, the Muslims of current time
needs to acquire knowledge regarding the Holy Quran and the important prophets of all time.

One of the major contributions of A-Ghazali to the educational field is his guideline
for the art of teaching which can be followed by the Muslims even now who aspire to educate
and teach others. Among the principles of the art of teaching of Al-Ghazali is that Teaching
should be linked to concrete situations and emphasizes the need for various types of
knowledge and skills. Whenever a particular knowledge or skill is needed, it should be taught
in such a way as to meet that need should be functional. He also stresses that learning is only
effective when it is put into practice, and is aimed at inculcating the right habits rather than
simply memorizing information. With respect to religious education, Al-Ghazali recommends
an early introduction to the fundamentals of religion through inculcation; memorization and
repetition, thus he feels no need for understanding at first. Al-Ghazali also introduced the
ethico-psychological principles where he stresses about the principles which must be
followed by the teachers. According to Al-Ghazali, the teacher should cultivate an
imaginative commiseration with his taught. This is a very suitable key point for the Muslim
educators of the 21st century where they have to encourage creative and critical thinking of
the students. The teachers should take into account the difference in character and ability
among pupils, and deal with each one of them appropriately. The teachers should not push
the pupils beyond their capacity, nor attempt to bring them to a level of knowledge, which
they cannot absorb, since that is counterproductive. In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet says:

((‫))أمرت أن أخاطب الناس على قدر عقولهم‬

I have been ordered to talk to people according to

their wisdom.

To feed someone with the right food is to give life to burden someone with what is not right
can only cause ruin. This characteristic of the philosophy is well suiting the Muslim Ummah
where they should communicate, help and support each other according to the needs and
necessities.

Other than that, the ethics of learner as proposed by Al-Ghazali can be considered as a
contribution to the educational world and even can be followed by the Muslim Ummah of the
21st century. Some of the code of ethics of the learners as proposed by Imam Al-Ghazali are
ensure that they are spiritually pure before they undertake the quest for knowledge, diverts
themselves of their worldly possessions, respect the rights of their teachers and behave in a
civilized manner, master the fundamentals of the praiseworthy sciences (linguistics, tafsir,
hadith, fiqh and kalam) and have as their main goal in their search for knowledge the
cultivation and perfection of the innermost set in this world and proximity to God in the
hereafter rather than the attainment of high office or the acquisition of wealth or fame.
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