Seminar: Rethinking of Islamic Education in the era of Globalisation

A seminar titled RETINKING OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN THE ERA OF GLOBALISATION was held on the 21st of June 2009.
To give this meaningful talk,Lajnah Ta’lim invited Doctor Rosnani Binte Hashim,an educationist and lecturer at UIA.

During the seminar, Dr. Rosnani touched a couple of important points for the participants to note. Among them, she reiterated how we as future Da’iees need to master both the Arabic and English Languages. Arabic is as important as English,since English is the current lingua franca of the world while Arabic is the language of the main sources of Islam,the Al-Quran and Sunnah. For us to convince people about the beauty of Islam, we need to be able to articulate clearly to the masses which embrace English in their daily lives.

Dr. Rosnani also stressed that to be all-rounded ‘Ulamas, we are obligated to expand our knowledge as much as possible. She explained that even if we are specialised in one particular field, we need to master other subjects outside the curriculum too, for example, Philosophy etc.
The way to achieve success in Islamic education, Dr. Rosnani said, is to contribute new and original ideas to the society. The most important thing is to allow students to question openly. For us to teach effectively, we need to give the students chances to question or share thoughts for them to ponder upon. A successful Islamic education produces Muslims who can originate ideas, are able to create changes in the society and can defend Islamic principles and values. According to Dr. Rosnani, the problem with the Islamic Education back home is that it stresses too much on grades and the likes. Thus we really need to rethink the goals of Islamic Education.

Dr. Rosnani also shared the role of preachers by quoting from the Quran, Surah Al-Jumuah verse 2:
هو الذي بعث في الأميين رسولا منهم يتلوا عليهم ءايته ويزكيهم ويعلّمهم الكتاب والحكمة وإن كانوا من قبل لفي ضلال مبين
“He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad PBUH) from among themselves, reciting to them His verses, purifying them and teaching them the Book and Al-Hikmah. And verily, they had been before in manifest error”.

Madam Rosnani divided this verse into four parts:
1)Preachers need to show Allah’s signs to their students.
2) Preachers need to purify their hearts and the students’ too –Hearts here refer to: akhlaq and emotions. This can be done by teaching ‘ilm Tasauf.
3)Prechers need to teach students the Al-Quran and let them reflect(tadabbur) on the aayaat.

4)Preachers need to have Wisdom of thinking (hikmah)- the ability to put things according to their places.

Lastly, Madam Rosnani advised us to widen our knowledge by reading as much as possible. And if we have acquired much knowledge, “Be as humble as we can” and “never be arrogant with what we have gained”.

Infomedia Team and the whole of the Dmasyq Family wish to express our deep-felt gratitude to Dr. Rosnani for her time and motivating insights. Jazaakillahu khairal jazaa’. And 2 thumbs up for Lajnah Ta’lim for organizing this short yet meaningful talk! Jazakumullahu jamee’an!