Tarbiyat al-Quran ya Waladi
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Matba'at al-Sha'b
Tarbiyat al-Quran ya Waladi (The Quranic Upbringing, O My Son) is an educational treatise by the Egyptian scholar Mahmud Muhammad Gharib, outlining the Quranic methodology for cultivating human intellect and rectifying the soul through dialogue .
Background and Purpose
The book was written in Baghdad at the onset of the fifteenth century AH and published in its first edition by Matba'at al-Sha'b in 1400 AH / 1980 CE . It forms part of the author's broader "Ya Waladi" educational series, designed for university and institute students in Iraq and Egypt .
Gharib composed the work to present the Quranic approach to intellectual and moral nurture, arguing that contemporary humanity has failed to establish an insightful educational method because of its inability to comprehend the intricacies of the human psyche. Since the soul stems from the spirit—regarding which God states: قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي ("Say, 'The soul is of the affair of my Lord'")—only the Creator possesses the ultimate authority to cultivate and reform it, in accordance with the verse: أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ ("Does He not know who He created, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted?") .
Structure and Content
The text is structured in the form of an intellectual dialogue designed to combine conceptual depth with clarity of style . It is divided into four main parts:
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Covers the comparative principles of educational theory and family foundations, including discussions titled "Between Two Methodologies," "The Mother First," "Names: A Mark or an Honor?," "No, Mr. Freud," and "Diverse Dispositions, One Path" .
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): Examines the role of revelation and reason, containing sections such as "The Creator of the Soul Has the Utmost Right to Nurture It," "Can Science Guide People?," "Building the Individual Is Building the Ummah," "The Intellect Intended by the Quran," "A Quran for Everyone," "Truth Without Philosophy," "Quranic Argumentation Between Severity and Gentleness," and "Either Us or You" .
- Part Three (al-Bab al-Thalith): Focuses on theological convictions and the hereafter, under headings including "An Incomplete Play," "The Court of Absolute Justice," "Origination and Recreation," "Bringing Forth the Living from the Dead," and "In the Arena of Reckoning" .
- Part Four (al-Bab al-Rabi'): Titled "The Best of Stories" (Ahsan al-Qasas), it analyzes Quranic storytelling and pedagogy through topics such as "Characteristics of Quranic Narrative," "When the Quran Mentions Time and Place," "Why the Quran Avoided Naming the Protagonists," reflections on the verse إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ("Indeed, we see you to be of the doers of good"), "Satisfying the Imagination Paves the Way for Convincing the Intellect," and "No, Doctor..." .
Reception
The treatise was adopted as a teaching text for students across various higher education institutes and universities .
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