Values in Islamic Education

NY, November, 23 2006

By Rohmat Mulyana

Islamic education includes many areas of life in which students are able to experience and keep in touch with inner as well as outer aspects of life. The broadness of Islamic education is concerned with the religion of Islam itself that come to earth with blessings for the universe (rahmatan lil alaimin). Many values of life are taught in Islam such as peace, justice, freedom, moderation, tolerance, balance, consultation, equity etc as universal values. Meanwhile, Islam also has particular values that relate to how Muslim community builds specific areas of culture differed from others.

Both universal and particular values are able to be main content of Islamic education that is potentially transformed to all over generation. But there is the most important value of all the so-called faith (iman) as a core value of Islamic teachings. This is a fundamental value grounded over other values and acclaimed to be reflected in social conduct of Muslim. Iman is religious belief that is essentially related with the inner realm and metal state of person. Strengthening iman can imply on broadening perspective of outer world of Muslim.

Islamic education has appeared as long as Islam comes to the earth. Since the prophet of Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the first time taught Islam to his followers around Makkah and Medina, the process of Islamic education has been introduced to community who willingly followed Muhammad teachings. By teaching the first principle of belief in God, Islamic education puts strongly concern with tawhid (the Oneness of God) before inculcating other consciousnesses, like charity, truth, justice, tolerance, respecting others, etc.

What occurred in the life time of Muhammad (peace be upon him), of course, has any different cases from those happened in today life. At the first coming of Islam, people lived in more simple social system rather than what has been experiencing by people today. After more than 1,400 years Islam spread out all over the world, many aspects of life and value orientation come to challenge the Islamic education. Social life is changing and the world population gradually shifts every time. Islamic education, in turn, is claimed to have more flexible adaptation in its novel situation. This adaptation does not concern with belief system of Muslim community, but it is much more related to dynamic of social life in which curriculum and learning process of Islamic education must be creatively adjusted.

For this reason, Islamic education probably appears in colorful and diverse curriculum and its teaching learning process adapted to in accordance with current shifting of surrounding circumstance. In pluralistic society, for example, all efforts of Islamic education are strongly encouraged to create integrated curriculum by which social values like tolerance, cooperation, brotherhood, respect to others, or love differences are promoted in all teaching learning process. Through such approach, it is expected that Islamic education will be able to make Muslim children have better social adjustment and skillful problem solver.

Another important thing is contemporary science and technology. It also can be another challenge or even opportunity for the development of Islamic education in multicultural world. In sophisticated life of modern world, Islamic education could not remain in its traditionalism since innovations is becoming massive invention gradually created by humankind in the world. Every learning innovation technology should be deployed for creating well-equipped Islamic education, or even ideally, the seeds of innovation, or at least the spirit of it, are beard from Islamic institution. It is important, therefore, to actualize of the spirit of Islam in terms of invention of science and technology bought into more meaningful learning process.

The demands above then claim a breakthrough for Islamic education curriculum. The scope of curriculum needs to be expanded on wide range area of contemporary needs. Islamic studies must be integrated with another important aspect in the relief of teaching learning process as well as in large area of educational settings. To make a better Islamic school, therefore, the content of curriculum must perform integrated subject matter rather than separated one. Learning Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic etiquette, and history of Islam are important, but in the same time, learning mathematics, natural science, geography, history, etc are important to learn in better quality of learning.

All efforts of Islamic education must include the following three purposes. Firstly, the aim of Islamic education is to inculcate tawhid. This term refers to the bedrock of Islam that must be properties of someone who claim himself or herself a Muslim. Tawhid is the inner religious belief of Islam that everything what Moslem do must be addressed to achieve submission to God. Believe in God is the most essential religious value that must be introduced to students since early age.

Secondly, the aim of Islamic education is to make Moslem students have good relation with their social environment. Islam remarked that making harmonious relation in social life is one of the important aspects of Moslem civil society. Respecting differences, like race, color, religion, gender, etc is one of universal values in Islam. As cited in the ayah 13 of Surah al-Hujurat God say: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair of a) male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (one who is) the most righteous of you.” Here the Holy Qur’an mentions two points which can create a deep sense of unity among the diverse races and religion-cultural groups of the world, the unity of the Creator which leads us to the essential equality of humankind, and the common origin of the entire human race in the primordial pair of Adam and Eve, which can lead us to the idea of universal brotherhood.

Thirdly, the aim of Islamic education is to make a good relation with the nature. Like remarked in Islam, human being is created by God for being vicegerent of world (khalifah fil ard). This concept then imply to the importance of living in harmony with the nature. Islamic education guidelines must perform the importance of harmonious relation between humankind and the nature. For the need of such relation, therefore, Islamic education should promote environmental education in every level of education.

All aims of Islamic education can not be separated each other. Belief in God, good social relationship, and harmonious interaction with the nature are like a chain of three essential life principles. A beautiful interaction of human being with circumstance, socially or naturally, will be meaningless if it is not supported by spiritual consciousness to God Almighty. According to Islam, therefore, what makes human efforts being more rich and valuable is its inner dynamic spiritual motivation through which the efforts can always be grounded from and attached to the theistic values. Thereby, modern life, which often potentially separates the relation between creature and Creator, will exactly be a new challenge for Islamic education in preparing young Muslim generations who have high religious consciousness.***