The role of International Islamic University in the development of Islamic education system (the philosophical basis)

Abstract

Generally the education principles being adopted in most Muslim countries today are derived from the West through the influence of Western Colonialism. It is a system generally described as secular, which separates the spiritual from the physical aspects of life, rendering such subjects as the Sciences and Humanities devoid of moral values related to religion. Religion may be taught in some instances in the same institutions as the secular subjects. However, there, they merely coexist with no integrations or infusions between the worldly and the religious. When morality is taught, it would be in the form of civics or scientific humanisms, where God can be omitted, and morality becomes a matter of personal choice, totally and absolutely within the discretion of individuals. So strong has been the influence of secular morality, that it is not suprising that a great majority of our scholars who are Muslims by birth have imbibed the secular attitudes in their approach to education and their daily life. "Give unto Ceasar what belong to Ceasar, unto God what belongs to God" (Bible). In secular education, compartmentalization of knowledge has been the rule rather than the exception, although lately there has been some trend towards interdisciplinary approach, which was moved principly by the concern for environmental education and followed by curriculum revisions at lower grade schools. However, the lack of moral education through the integration of religious values in the new trend of interdisciplinary approach is still evident.