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THE UNIVERSITY
: FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF
THE HUMAN HEART
AND THE INTELLECT
BY
MUHAMMAD ‘UTHMAN
EL-MUHAMMADY
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We can envisage man as being
at once endowed with the
faculties of the heart and the potentialities of the intellect and the
development of both determines the
personality of the total man and the quality of the inner and outer life which
emerges forth from the educational process
involved.
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The development of the intellect can be seen in the educational
process which develops the rational faculty (the ‘aql) seen as the ray from the
total Intellect which touches the human subject making him capable of conceiving
of the absolute and the relative, the necessary and the
contingent, the substance and the the form, the kernel and the outer shell, quality and quantity, the beginning and the
end of things. This determines the blessedness and the meaning of existence and
life and also the final ends for the human subject.
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The development of the heart (the qalb of the Qur’an and the Islamic Tradition) determines the success of the educational process
leading to the emergence of the human spiritual core
characterized by clarity and breadth of spiritual vision, the purity of
character and the realization of the virtues, the life of spiritual and
devotional collectedness freeing the human subject from the woes of mental
feverishness and agitation, and
hence leading the development of the total man characterized by serenity of
spirit and clarity of perception.
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This message is clear from the statement of the
Qur'an to the
effect: "Verily We have apportioned for the Hell Fire many from among the jinn
and mankind, they have hearts (qulub, the plural of qalb) but they do not
understand, they have ears but they do not hear, they have eyes but they do not
see, they are like cattle, (in fact) they are worse in misguidance".
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This is envisaged clearly in the Islamic tradition from the saying
of the Prophet of Islam - peace and blessings be upon him - “Verily there is in
man a lump of flesh, if it is
sound, then the whole person (al-jasad)
is sound, if it is unsound, the whole
person is unsound, verily it is the heart”. This heart refers to the spiritual and intellectual core of the human personality the
development of which results in the proper
and balanced development of the total human personality.
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The empowerment of the heart in this tradition is seen in the process of imparting the total
fundamental truth contained in the Islamic testimony meaning “There is no deity except Allah (the Absolute), and Muhammad is the
envoy of Allah”. The first statement refers to all truths about the Absolute,
the second about the Prophet, and also by extension about the whole cosmic
manifestation in so far as the prophet symbolizes the total cosmic
manifestation.
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From this fundamental and saving truth taught
and hence realized man will be able to see all other relative and
contingent truths in the balanced perspective, therefore placing him on the
Divine Axis, freeing him from
dissipation and spiritual and intellectual rebellion against his own pristine
primordial nature in which God has
moulded him.
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From this realization, the rational and quantitative sciences and
all the branches of arts taught will be placed
in an integrating focus in the epistemology
leading to the wholesome development of the deep hearted man of pure
faith, and virtues, the intellectual man of action struggling for the salvation of himself
and his nation and community - in fact for the whole of mankind, seeing that the fundamental and saving truth is meant
for all mankind.
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The combination of knowledge as integral to human right actions is
clear from the prayer taught by the Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him -
when he says: ”O Lord, show us
the truth as truth and make us put it into practice, and show us
the false as false and make us avoid it”. Hence knowledge is not merely
known but to be made a part of the practice
in the human personality.
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This combination of
profound faith and purity of morals, masterly grasp and understanding of the
sciences and the arts - to the suitable level of the person concerned - together
with the expertise of the seasoned worker, will prepare the citizen of the
nation and the world for facing life challenges of the millennium - together with
globalization, God willing. This is our
collective vocation in education -
even more in the tertiary level, since
error at this level spells far-reaching negative consequences for our national cultural and intellectual development.
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In short, the educational ideal is such that it actualizes in the
individual the intellectual, moral,
spiritual and physical potentialities in helping to develop our culture and civilization in accordance with our
world-view, epistemology and axiology, based on our belief in God, and that we are capable of maintaining this identity and we play our role in determining the directions of the globalization
process, God willing.
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Hence, when we come to the university at the undergraduate level
this ideal must be clearly focused in exposing the students
to their subjects of study. They must be trained to be men of faith and
strong morality and character, and they must be educated to be committed to the
idealism of gaining strong mastery of their subjects, together with the
necessary expertise in the subjects concerned.
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The more advanced levels of education and research in the arts and
the sciences prepare the specialists for their various fields necessary for the
advancement of civilization, the total welfare of man, and the survival of our
cultural and civilizational identity in this age of globalization and borderless
world.
Ibn Khaldun (rh) on the
functions of the crafts, writing
and thinking:
In relation to the
functions of writing, thinking and experience in the process of moulding
the development of the human substance, we find the statements of Ibn Khaldun rh
in the “al-Muqaddimah” enlightening; he says:
We
have already mentioned in the book that the rational soul (the thinking and
rational aspect of the soul) exists in man only potentially. Its transformation
from potentiality into actuality is effected first by new sciences and
perceptions derived from the sensibilia, and
then by the latter acquisition (of knowledge) through the speculative power.
Eventually it becomes to be actual perception and pure intellect. Thus it
becomes a spiritual essence, and its existence then reaches perfection.
Therefore
it is necessary that each kind of learning and speculation should provide (the
rational soul) with additional intelligence. Now, the crafts and the habit of
(the crafts) always lead to the obtainment of scientific norms, which result
from the habit. Therefore any experience provides intelligence. The habits of
the crafts provide intelligence. Perfect
sedentary culture provides intelligence because it is a conglomerate of crafts
characterized by concern for the (domestic) economy, contact with one’s fellow
men, attainment of education through mixing with (one’s fellow men), and also
administration of religious matters and understanding the ways and conditions
governing them. All these (factors) are norms (of how to do things) which,
properly arranged, constitutes scientific disciplines. Thus, an increase in
intelligence results from them.
In
this respect writing is the most useful craft because, in contrast to the
(other) crafts, it deals with matters of theoretical, scientific interest. This
is explained through (the circumstance) that writing involves a transition from
the forms of the written letters to the verbal expressions in the imagination,
and from the verbal expression in the imagination to the concepts (underlying
them), which are in the soul. The writer, thus, goes from one indication to
another, as long as he is wrapped up in writing, and the soul become used to the
constant (repetition of the process). Thus
it acquires the habit of going over from the indications to the things meant by
them. This is what is meant by intellectual speculation, by means of which the
knowledge (hitherto) unknown sciences is provided. As the result of being
accustomed to the process of going (over from the indications to the things
indicated by them) people acquire the habit of intellection, which constitutes
an increase in intelligence and provides an additional insight into affairs and
a shrewd understanding of them …
Concerning
the position of man and the importance of his faculty of thought Ibn Khaldun
says:
It
should be known that God distinguished man from all the other animals
by an ability to think which he made the beginning of human perfection
and the end of man’s noble superiority over existing things.
This
comes about as follows: Perception-that is consciousness, on the part of the person who perceives, in his essence
of things that are outside his essence - is something peculiar to living beings
to the exclusion of all other being: and existing things. Living beings may
obtain consciousness of things that
are outside their essence through the external
senses God has given them, that is, the senses of hearing, vision, smell,
taste, and touch. Man has this advantage over the other beings that he may
perceive things that he may
perceive things outside his essence through his ability to think, which is
something beyond his senses. It is the result of (special) powers placed in the
cavities in his brain. With the help of these powers man takes the pictures of
the sensibilia, applies his mind to them, and thus abstracts from them other pictures. The ability to think is the occupation with pictures that are beyond sense perception, and the
application of the mind to them for analysis and synthesis. This is what is
meant by the word af’idah “hearts” in the Qur’an. "He gave you hearing and
vision and hearts" (Al Qur'an Surah 16: Ayat 78). Af’idah is
the plural of fu’ad. It means here
the ability to think.
In
his view the ability to think has its degrees.
Concerning these degrees he states:
The ability to think has several degrees. The first
degree is man’s intellectual understanding of the things that exist in the
outside world in a natural or arbitrary order, so that he may try to arrange
them with the help of his own power. This
kind of thinking mostly consists of perceptions. It is the discerning intellect,
with the help of which man obtains the things that are useful for him and his
livelihood, and repels the things that are harmful to him.
The second degree is the ability to think which
provides man with the ideas and the behaviour needed in dealing with his fellow
men and in leading them. It mostly conveys apperceptions, which are obtained one
by one through experience, until they have become really useful. This is called
the experimental intellect.
The third degree is the ability to think which
provides the knowledge, or hypothetical knowledge, of an object beyond sense
perception without any particular activity (going with it).
This is the speculative intellect. It consists of both perceptions and
apperceptions. They are arranged according to a special order, following special
conditions, and thus provide some other knowledge of the same kind, that is,
either perceptive or apperceptive. Then
they are again combined with something else, and again provide some other
knowledge. The end of the process
is to be provided with the perception of existence as it is, with its various
genera, differences, reasons, and causes. By thinking about these things, (man)
achieves perfection in his reality and becomes pure intellect and perceptive
soul. This is the meaning of human reality.
Then he goes on to explain that the
world of things that come into being as the result of action, materialize
through thinking. He says:
It should be known that the world of existent things
comprises pure essences, such as the elements, the things resulting from their
influence, and the three things that come into being from the elements, namely
minerals, plants, and animals. All
these things are connected with divine power.
It also comprises actions proceeding from living
beings that happen through their intentions, and are connected with the that God
has given them. Some of their actions are well arranged and orderly. Such
are human actions. Others are not
well arranged and orderly. They are
the actions of living beings other than man.
This is because thinking perceives the order that
exists among the things that come into being either by nature or through
arbitrary arrangement. When it intends to create something, it must understand
the reason or cause of that thing, or the conditions governing it, for the sake
of the order that exists among things that come into being. (Reason, cause,
conditions) are, in general, the principles of that particular thing, since it
is secondary to them, and it is not possible to arrange for something that comes
earlier to come later, or for something that comes
earlier to come late or for something that comes later to come earlier.
Such a principle must have another principle to which its own existence
is posterior. This (regression) may
go on in an ascending order (from principle to principle), or it may come to an
end.
Now, when man, in his thinking, has reached the last principle on two,
three, or more levels, and starts the action that
will bring the (planned) thing into existence he
will start with the last principle that has been reached by his thinking. Thus,
(that last principle) will be the beginning of action. He, then, will
follow things up to the last element in
the causal chain that has been the starting point of his
thinking activity.
Then he illustrates this
thinking procedure leading to purposive action by giving the example of a person
building a shelter for himself. He
says:
For
instance, if a man thinks of bringing into existence a roof to shelter him, he will
progress in his mind (from the roof) to the wall supporting the roof, and
then to the foundation upon which the wall stands. Here, his thinking will
end, and he will then start to work on
the foundation, then (go on to) the wall, then (to)
the roof, with which his action will end. This is what is meant by the saying:
“The
beginning of action is the end of thinking, and the beginning of thinking
is the end of action.”
Thus, human action in the outside world materializes only through
thinking about
the order of things, since things
are based upon each other. After (he has finished
thinking) he starts doing things. His thinking starts with the last
thing that comes last in the causal chain
and is done last. His action starts with the first
thing in the causal chain, which
thinking reaches last. Once this order is taken into
consideration, human actions proceed in a well-arranged manner.
Then he goes on to explain the actions
of animals which are not ordered because they have no thinking capacity to
perceive the order of things, perceiving only with the senses without the
connecting link of thought. Hence they are subordinate to human actions (hence
they are aubjugated by mankind). Ibn Khaldun says:
Now the things that come into being that are of
consequence in the world of existent things are those that are orderly. Those
that are not orderly are secondary to them.
The actions of animals, therefore, are subordinate to (orderly human
actions). (Consequently, their services are forcibly utilized by man. Thus,
human actions control the (whole) world of things that come into being and all
it contains. Everything is subservient to man and works for him. This is what is meant by the
“appointing of a representative” mentioned in the Qur’an:” I am
appointing a representative on earth”. (Surah AlBaqarah: Ayat 30). (Hence, nations of orderly
actions can dominate other nations not so orderly, societies with orderly
actions can dominate those which are not so orderly and so on (El-Muhammady).
He then goes on to explain
further the eminence of man because of the thinking faculty.
He states:
The ability to think is the quality of man by which
human beings are distinguished from other living beings.
The degree to which a human being is able to establish an orderly causal
chain determines the degree of humanity. Some people are able to establish a
causal nexus for two or three levels. Some are not able to go beyond that.
Others may reach five or six. Their humanity, consequently, is higher. For
instance, some chess players are able to perceive (in advance) three or five
moves the order of which is arbitrary. Others are unable to do that, because
their mind is not good enough for it. This example is not quite to the point,
because (the knowledge of) chess is a habit, whereas the knowledge of causal
chain is something natural. However, it is an example the student may use to gain an
intellectual understanding of the basic facts mentioned here.
(Rosenthal tr. II.406, 411 ff).
After this he goes on to explain how
experimental intellect is developed in social and civilizational life, followed
by the rise of religious and rational sciences in Islam.
This spirit of intellectual
inquiry as a part of religious has led to the emergence of the
mosque-universities, the madrasas, the nizamiyas, and so on, which became the
forerunners of the universities of Europe. By reason of this spirit of inquiry
there emerged men of learning in the arts and the sciences like Ibn Sina, al-Biruni,
al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Umsar Khayyam, al-Idrisi, ar-Razi, and many others whose
works had been studied by Europeans.
It is natural that the impetus
to thinking given by the revelation of the Quran and the tradition of the
Prophet led to the emergence of the intellectual culture of Islam, which further
led to the rise of the Renaissance of Europe.
The influence of Islam on
Western intellectual culture:
In connection with the subject
of the relationship between Islam and the West -especially with reference to the
emergence of intellectual culture of Europe initiated with the profound aid of
Islam-- the HRH The Prince of Wales has accurately portrayed the situation:
…We
have underestimated the importance of 800 years of Islamic Society and Culture in Spain between the 8th and the
15th centuries. The contribution of Muslim
Spain to the preservation of classical learning during the Dark Ages, and to the
first flowering of the Renaissance, has long been recognized. But Islamic Spain
was much more than a mere larder where Hellenic knowledge
was kept for later consumption by
the emerging modern world. Not only
did Muslim Spain gather and preserve the
intellectual content of ancient Greek and Roman civilization, and made a vital
contribution of its own in so many fields of human endeavour - in science,
astronomy, mathematics, algebra (itself an Arabic word), law,
history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture,
theology, music.
Averroes and
Avenzoor, like
their counterparts Avicenna and Rhazes in the East,
contributed to the study and practice of medicine in ways from which
Europe benefited for centuries
afterwards.
Islam nurtured and preserved the quest of
learning. In the words of (Prophet’s) tradition
“the ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr”.
Cordoba in the 10th century was by far the most civilized city
of Europe. We know
of lending libraries in
Spain at the time of King Alfred was making terrible blunders with the culinary
arts in this country. It is said that the 400,000 volumes
of its ruler’s library amounted to more books than all the rest of
Europe put together. That was made possible because the Muslim World acquired
from China the skill of making
paper more than four hundred years before the rest of non-Muslim Europe .many of
the traits on which Europe prides itself came to it from
Muslim Spain. Diplomacy, free trade, open borders, the techniques of
academic research, of anthropology,
etiquette, fashion, alternative medicine, hospitals,
all came from this great city of cities. Medieval Islam was a religion of
remarkable tolerance for its time,
allowing Jews and Christians to practice their inherited
beliefs, and setting an example which was not, unfortunately, copied for
many centuries in the West. The surprise,
ladies and gentlemen, is the extent
to which Islam has been a part of Europe
for so long, first in Spain, then in the Balkans, and the extent to which it has
contributed so much towards the civilization which
we all often think of,
wrongly, as entirely Western. Islam
is part of our past and present, in all
fields of human endeavour. It has helped to create modern Europe.
It is part of our own inheritance, not a thing apart.
(http://www.twf.org/Library/Renaissance.html).
In connection with the contribution of
Islam to the Renaissance - and hence to the modern world - it is stated:
It is well to recall that Islam not only caused
Islamic civilization to develop but also enabled the European Renaissance to
take root and grow. The time when Islam was most strongly established was also
the time when art, culture and literature flourished, whether in Spain or,
later under the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals, Christian Europe was
enveloped in darkness until Islam came to the Iberian Peninsula. For centuries
Islam fed Greek, Sanskrit, and Chinese ideas into Europe. Slowly and steadily
Europe began to absorb those ideas. In England, France, Germany, and Italy
society began to explore literature and art with a new perspective; thus the
seeds of the Renaissance were sown …
(Akbar S. Ahmad, “Living Islam”, p.
15. In http://www.twf.org/Library/Renaissance.Html).
The influence of Islamic intellectual
culture on Europe is very much emphasized by Dr Hans Koechler in his paper
entitled “Muslim Christian Ties in Europe: Past, Present, and
Future” (September, 1996 in Kuala Lumpur). He says eloquently and cogently:
It is a historical fact that the shaping of a genuine
European intellectual life in the Middle Ages was the result of the flourishing
Islamic civilization in Spain. During
five centuries – from the eighth to the thirteenth century exactly - the
history of world civilization was that of Islam. In comparison to the Christian
civilization of Europe at that time, Islamic civilization was much more refined
and enlightened. Over a crucial period of roughly two hundred years Europe’s
encounter with Islamic civilization enabled it to develop its skills in all
scholarly and scientific fields, particularly those of philosophy, medicine,
astronomy, chemistry and mathematics. It is one of the greatest achievements of
Muslim scholars in the Middle Ages to have preserved the treasures of ancient
Greek philosophy and science for posterity. Christian scholars only came to know
about the concepts of Aristotelian metaphysics through the Arab philosophers in
Spain and their translators and commentaries. The Arab philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes),
born in Cordoba in 1126, exercised the biggest influence through his commentary
on Aristotle. The Arab school (Universities) in Cordoba, Seville, Granada,
Valencia, Toledo attracted great number of Christian scholars.
Great Christian thinkers of that time, such as Albertus Magnus, Roger
Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Gerbert of Aurillac, later to become
Pope Sylvester II , to mention only a few, developed their intellectual skills
in those centres of learning”. (http://i-p-o.org/ice.htm).
Concerning
further intellectual influence of Islam on Europe, especially in studies and
research relating to medicine, he writes:
The “Great Library of Europe” in Toledo (in
Islamic times) -where in 1130 a school of translation was founded- attracted
students and researchers from all over Europe. Arab-Islamic medical science had
an enormous impact on the development of the medical discipline in Europe. The
first professors of medicine at the newly established European universities in
the 12th century were all former students of Arab scholars. The basic
work of the most famous medical scholar, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Qanun (Canon
medicinae) was taught in all major European faculties of medicine over six
centuries. As late as 1587 King Henry III of France established a chair for
Arabic language at the College Royal in order to promote medical research in France….
Concerning developments in other fields
he writes:
Similar
influences on the development of scientific methods can be traced in the fields
of mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, architecture, music and industrial
techniques. The Arab astronomer al-Battani (Albatenius, 858-929) authoritatively
disproved the Ptolemaic dogma of heliocentrism long before Copernicus published
his famous treatise De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in the 16th
century. The Roman period of European art was deeply indebted to Islamic
architecture particularly in Spain. Without going
into further detail one can rightly state that the Islamic civilization
– that flourished in the South of Europe until the late 12th century
and its universal achievements even surpassed the earlier contribution of the
Roman Empire to the development of civilization - awakened Europe from its
“dogmatic sleep” in the Middle Ages and thus prepared an early European
Renaissance in the sense of an enlightened, rational, non-dogmatic world vision.
Then he goes
on to explain the unfortunate prejudiced attitude of Europe towards Islam and
Muslims which makes objective intellectual and civilizational dialogue
difficult, in spite of what has happened throughout the centuries.
Before
concluding this brief talk, as a student of Islam and Islamic thought, I humbly
would like to submit the following for our collective consideration as Muslims
and as citizens on Malaysia in this Malay World; and this has been mentioned
many times on several occasions:
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One, the primacy of the
Islamic Sunni world-view and epistemology which must be kept in mind and
understood up to the relevant degree as an intellectual perimeter for
structuring of thought.
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Two, among Muslims, the primacy
of the Sunni theological framework which should be upheld in the Malay World,
for spiritual and theological stability and authenticity, keeping in mind all
the relevant developments necessary for contemporary intellectual and
theological guidance.
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Three, in matters pertaining to
the Islamic Sacred law-the Shari’ah - the Shafi’I Sunni school is upheld,
together with the necessary additions of legal decisions made pertaining to
contemporary issues.
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Four, in matters pertaining to
Islamic spirituality and ethics, the Ghazali corpus should be the source for
guidance, together with the necessary additions made by reason of the demands
due to changes in culture and thought.
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Finally, the “Muqaddimah” of
Ibn Khaldun should be utilized in matters for cultural and civilizational
empowerment, together with additions made whenever necessary because of
developments in contemporary culture and thought.
From all the above it is clear
that intellectual culture must be fostered to the maximum degree at all costs -
of course without losing sight of the integral nature of knowledge combining
with high degree of spiritual awareness and moral excellence - beginning with
the schools and then reaching its zenith in the university.
It is here, if we understand Ibn Khaldun correctly, that humanity reaches
the peak of its intellectual and human perfection, for humanity is perfected
through the perfection of the intellectual function. This is done not only for
extrinsic reasons for survival and development in the conventional sense, but
also for the intrinsic reason due to the demands of the nature of man and the
prerequisite for his blessedness and meaningful existence. And this can succeed
only - Allah willing - with synergistic cooperation of those concerned: the
teachers, students, administrators, funders, the government, and in fact the
whole nation.
Wallahu a’lam.
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