Min Qadaya al-Tarbiya al-Diniyya fi al-Mujtama al-Islami
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Min Qadaya al-Tarbiya al-Diniyya fi al-Mujtama al-Islami (Issues of Religious Education in Islamic Society) is a pedagogical treatise by Kamal al-Din Abd al-Ghani al-Mursi that examines the principles, sources, developmental stages, and institutions of Islamic religious education, as well as the challenges confronting it in modern times.
Scope and Objectives
The work seeks to outline the Islamic approach to pedagogy, addressing how its curriculum is implemented and identifying the specific institutions responsible for that upbringing. It analyzes the contemporary reality of Islamic education, shedding light on the structural impediments in modern educational systems and critiquing external intellectual influences. The text concludes that adhering to authentic religious upbringing serves as a foundation for societal leadership in this life and success in the hereafter.
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into an introduction, five principal chapters, a conclusion, and an appended topical section:
- The Concept of Religious Education in Islam (Chapter 1): Defines the linguistic and conceptual derivations of tarbiya (nurturing or upbringing) and examines God's nurturing of His creation (Tarbiyat Allah li-ibadih), drawing upon commentaries such as that of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi on the divine name al-Rabb. It further explores the foundations of pedagogy established by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and within early prophetic teaching.
- Sources of Islamic Education (Chapter 2): Divides the authoritative sources of Islamic pedagogy into four categories: the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the guidance of the Companions, and the guidance of the Successors (al-Tabi'un) and subsequent generations.
- Islam's Educational Methodology and Its Stages (Chapter 3): Traces human development across four key phases: marriage and family formation, preparation for the newborn, childhood and boyhood, and early youth through mature manhood.
- Means of Implementing the Islamic Educational Curriculum (Chapter 4): Details pedagogical instruments such as instruction and habituation (talqin wa-ta'wid), exemplary role-modeling (qudwa), time management and regular devotional practices (tanzim al-awrad), moral storytelling and preaching (qissa wa-'iza), and disciplinary measures ('uquba). It addresses claims concerning human rights promoted by UNESCO, and enumerates the defining qualities of the Islamic educational approach—namely authenticity (asala), comprehensiveness and integration (shumuliyya wa-takamul), morality (akhlaqiyya), practical realism (waqi'iyya wa-tatbiq), and constancy (thabat wa-khulud).
- Institutions Responsible for Education (Chapter 5): Outlines the respective duties of four entities: the family, the school (analyzing curriculum weaknesses, contemporary schooling crises, and Islamic definitions of knowledge), the mosque and its pedagogical role, and society at large through its legal and communal frameworks.
Appendix on Cultural Challenges
The book concludes with an added thematic section surveying societal and ideological hazards facing the Islamic world. It addresses foreign cultural importation, covering issues such as secularism, the deification of the state, slogans labeling religion as an "opium of the people," westernization campaigns, and shifts in social norms surrounding dress and gender interactions.
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