Islam in Asian Education

Overview

Islam emerged in the 7th century in Arabia as a political and religious movement. Muslims are followers of the religion of Islam. They revere [Page 1276]Muhammad as the prophet who first preached the message of Islam. Islam is the second largest religion in the world; in 2009, there were 1.57 billion Muslims across the globe, according to the Pew Research Center. Around 62% of them live in Asia, the world largest and most populous continent. The United Nations has divided Asia into these subregions: Western Asia, Central Asia, Southern Asia, Southeastern Asia, Eastern Asia, and Northern Asia. With the exception of Eastern Asia and Northern Asia, the regions of Asia have predominantly Muslim populations.

History

Islam advises Muslims to have a strong attitude toward the acquisition of knowledge, as Muhammad suggested Muslims should seek knowledge even as far away as China. Islamic knowledge is centered on the revelation of the Word of God through the prophet Muhammad (the Qur'an) and Muhammad's words and deeds, as well as through Greek and mystic knowledge (Sufism). The Islamic name for an institution of learning is derived from the Arabic word madrasah, meaning a place for learning. This encompasses all learning institutions, regardless of whether they are private or state schools; primary, secondary, or higher education institutions; and whether they are Muslim or secular schools. They function as theological seminaries and law schools, with a curriculum that is centered on the Qur'an. While most madrasahs educated only boys or male adults, in some instances, Muslim females could be admitted separately. The teachers in madrasahs were called ‘Ulama, and taught their students face to face through the recitation of the Qur'an.

Contemporary Situations

From the 16th century onward, most of the regions of Asia gradually fell under the control of Western powers, which then had a significant impact on the role of Islam in traditional Asian educational systems. From 1800 onward, in response to this Western influence, Asian countries began to establish a modern educational system in order to teach science and technology. Madrasahs also underwent significant changes. Nevertheless, the centrality of the Qur'an in learning has persisted.

Contemporary Malaysian Muslim philosopher and thinker Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas has suggested that an Islamic education progressively instills Islam into people, and aims to provide an understanding of the proper place of God. According to the distribution of the Muslim population and forms of governments in Asia, the contemporary situations with regard to Islam in Asian education can be categorized into four different areas: Islamist countries; modernist countries; secular countries in the Muslim-majority regions of Western Asia, Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Southeastern Asia; and Muslim-minority countries in Southern Asia and Eastern Asia.

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