Abstract
Education is important for every Muslim society as the Prophet made it incumbent on all Muslims. However, the issue of what category of knowledge is permitted for Muslims, the method for imparting this knowledge, and what to impart (content) are arguably the main challenges in Islamic education. Many Muslim scholars have looked at the concept of knowledge from various perspectives. In his monumental work, Ta‘līm Al-Muta‘allim, the classical Muslim scholar, Al-Zarnūjī, expounds the basic principles of education in Islam, which, indeed, have been used as the teaching methodology by many scholars throughout the Muslim world. Using content analysis, this article evaluates the concept of knowledge and its imperatives in Islam from the perspective of Al-Zarnūjī. It was found that Al-Zarnūjī classified knowledge into two main categories. One is perceived as the core of society’s survival and is thus seen as binding on the entire society. This is known as farḍu kifāyah. The other is individually required and is called farḍu ‘ayn. He argues that both should be guided by the Islamic religious values. Therefore, Al-Zarnūjī considers knowledge as a means for advancement and the perfection of the individual and the society both in this world and the hereafter. This makes his concept of knowledge inseparable from the Islamic ethical values. Al-Zarnuji’s contribution to knowledge lies in the packaging and dissemination of the Islamic academic heritage, particularly, the methodology for teaching and learning which is relevant to all the levels of the education ladder.
Highlights
Since the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, it spread through several processes and brought about many developments
The article engaged the concept of knowledge and its significance from the perspective of one of the Muslim educational pedagogues of all times, Burhān al-Dīn Al-Zarnūjī, according to his popular treatise titled Ta‘līm al-Muta‘allim. It explores its relevance to the contemporary education system and the teaching and learning process
He argues that any of these categories of knowledge that are necessary for the individual’s own well-being is obligatory. This includes jurisprudence, which is meant to bring about equilibrium or balance between the spiritual and material aspects to promote well-being in the society. We found that his main emphasis was on religious knowledge, which was the main objective of education from the classical point of view
Summary
Since the emergence of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, it spread through several processes and brought about many developments. Extensive resources could be found in the books and treatises, compiled by numerous past Muslim scholars in the field of education, which discuss topics from the perspective of Islamic theology (Bakar, 1998) These treatises, which have been transmitted over the ages, form what is known as Kitab Kuning in the Malay terminology, a term denoting the whole of the transmitted written heritage of Islam (Van Bruinessen, 1994). Al-Zarnūjī’s best seller, Ta‘līm alMuta‘allim, is one of the classical Islamic collections It explains the Islamic concept of education or knowledge, and it is widely used in the Muslim world but has been transmitted over generations as part of the tradition of the Kitab Kuning. The aim is to find out how this concept can contribute to the dispensation of knowledge in the contemporary era
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