Here’s a brave piece from Aaidh Al-Qarni, Islamic scholar and author of Don’t Be Sad, published as an op-ed in Asharq Alawsat. Al-Qarni writes that Saudi education, wrapped as it is in rote memorization and an over-emphasis on religious texts, does a poor job preparing Saudis for any job, including that of Islamic jurist. Worth reading in full.
Our Religious Education: A Critical Look
Dr. Aaidh al-QarniReligious education in our country from a jurisprudence aspect has been unchanged for the last 1,000 years.
It consists of sectarian jurisprudence texts devoid of evidence, written centuries ago that our student have to memorizes verbatim, like the “Zad al-Mustanqi” in Hanbali jurisprudence, “Mukhtasar Khalil” in Maliki jurisprudence, “Al-Taqrib” by Abu-Shuja in Shafi’I jurisprudence, and “Al-Quduri” in Hanafi jurisprudence.
These texts are written with extreme brevity in words, puzzling sentences, and a reduction of meaning. The faults in theses texts can be divided into two parts:
First: They lack all Koran and Sunnah texts. This is because they are supposed to be used for deduction using Shariaa evidence, and not the other way around.
Second: Many people understand these jurisprudence opinions to be categorical, and anything else is false, and this has led to sectarian fanaticism, and the move away from evidence. For instance, when you read the beginning of Zad al-Mustanqi you will find the phrase “The water is of three categories,” which is wrong as there are only two. Then the book says: “If clean clothes are suspected of being mixed with dirty ones, then you perform a number of prayers equal to the number of the clothes plus one;” this means if you have 20 items of clothing, then when there is suspicion you perform 21 prayers, which is wrong, because you ought to investigate and ascertain.
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February:03:2008 - 13:38
I am pleased that people like him are taking a serious look into this subject!
February:03:2008 - 15:07
Excellent article. Note this also has an impact on other studies like science, not just religion.
As a high school student in Saudi, I had to deal with the 17 subjects he stated. There was not enough time to reach the a level of understanding that qualifies a student to move to the college level studies in any of the topics. Luckily I was a natural Mathematics and Sciences and eventually I was successful at the university level. Many students are not so lucky and get lost in the overwhelming amount of studies they need to do. This may also be one of the reason why Saudi Universities perform so poorly. I think there is a need for a higher degree of specialization in certain fields as early as 9th grade.
February:03:2008 - 17:12
I tend to agree, but it can be taken too far. Many European school systems still force a child in 9th or 10th grade to make academic decisions that close off many future opportunities. Make the wrong choice and there’s little room for recovery.
That’s why I asked my son, who had nine years of schooling in the UK, to do his university studies in the US.
February:03:2008 - 18:02
John,
I think we agree. What I am promoting by higher degree of specialization is not to eliminate general education.
I can demonstrate my view by an example. When I was going to high school I chose science. Although that choice meant I had to study 4 difficult topics in science and another 4 in mathematics, I still had to deal with 3 Arabic topics and 4 religion topics in addition to English. I am promoting the simplification of general education studies. So if you take the Science route you should study the 8 science/math topics, add to that to 1 English, 1 Islamic studies, 1 Arabic studies and 1 arts/humanities studies. By the way the arts/humanities studies are neglected at the high school level if you chose science. I did not get exposure at school to many important fields like psychology, sociology, philosophy, etc. I had to get that exposure through my own readings. I added that topic as General Ed. In my time computers were still big mainframes and were not relevant. But I will add that as part of mathematic studies.
Similarly, other groupings can be established for other areas of specializations. This should include 4 categories: 1) Sharia and Islamic studies 2) Science and Mathematics 3) Social Studies 4) Arts and Humanaties
These are just some thoughts, but someone smarter than me in developing school programs can make the concept of specialization into a working model for schools.
February:03:2008 - 18:38
I have nothing at all against specialization, but I think it can be a mistake to impose it on high school students. Maybe even university students, though it’s far easier to justify in most instances.
My university education ended up with five ‘majors’: history, government, economics, language, and theology. I had enough credits to claim a major in any of them, though my ‘field’ was international relations.
February:26:2008 - 23:46
I am back!Oh no, you’re not!