Values and Aims of Islamic Education

Dr. Rohmat Mulyana

Islamic education includes large area of life where Muslim community experience and keep in touch with their environment. 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 by Islam such as universal that contain of peace (salâm), justice (àdâlah), freedom (hurriyyah), moderation (tawassuth), tolerance (tasâmuh), balance (tawâzun), consultation (shûrâ) and equity (musâwah) as fundamental to Muslim way of life. Meanwhile, another values taught by Islam is particular values that relate to how Muslim community builds specific areas of culture differed from other culture.

Both universal and particular values are able to be main content of Islamic education that is potentially able to be transformed to all over generation. But there is the most importance value of all the so-called faith (iman) as a core value of Islamic teachings. This is a fundamental value that must be grounded over the other values and a Muslim is acclaimed to reflect all his or her virtue conduct based on this value. As remarked by Ahmad (1980), iman or religious belief is essentially related with the inner realm and metal state of person by which peace and happiness come to him, meanwhile iman is the external manifestation that is potentially able to create peace and harmony among human being. Through strengthening iman and broadening perspective of outer world, Islamic education was developed in many countries including in United States of America.

Islamic education has appeared as long as Islam comes to the earth. Since the prophet of Muhammad (peace be upon him) at first time taught Islam to human being around Mecca and Medina, the process of Islamic education has been introduced to the community who willingly adhered Muhammad teachings. As the bedrock of Islam which put the first principle on believe the One God, the process of Islamic education at the time was emphasized on tawhid (the One of God) before inculcating other consciousnesses, like charity, truth, justice, tolerance, respecting others, etc. After holding the tawhid, the other Islamic teaching aspects such as prayers, fasting, alms, pilgrimage, and other social etiquette was introduced then.

What had happen in the life time of Muhammad (peace be upon him), of course, has any different cases from those happened in today situation. At the time of first coming of Islam, people lived in more simple social system rather than what has been experiencing by today people. After more than 1,400 years Islam spread out all over the world, many aspects of life and values orientation become a new challenge for Islamic education. When social life is changing and the world population gradually shifts anytime, Islamic education is claimed to have more flexible adaptation in its new situation. This adaptation does not concern with belief system of Muslim community but it is much concerned with social life and issue through which curriculum and learning process of Islamic education can be enriched.

For this reason, Islamic education may appear in colorful curriculum and teaching learning process accordance to its circumstance. Pluralistic society, for example, may take all efforts of Islamic education into more integrated curriculum and learning process rather than those in homogeneous society. In this kind of society, many social values should be accommodated by curriculum of Islamic education in order to make Muslim children being good social member and skillful problem solver. Other than this, our contemporary science and technology also can be one of more challenging issues for the development of Islamic education. It is suggested that Islamic education do not remain in its traditionalism meanwhile a huge number of innovations have been gradually created by people of the world. Ideally, the seeds of innovation, or at least the spirit of it, are beard from Islamic institution. So, it is important that actualization of the spirit of Islam in terms of invention of science and technology is bought into more colorful curriculum and teaching learning process.

Those claims then make Islamic education curriculum expand its scope on wide area of contemporary needs. The curriculum of education does not stand alone for Islamic studies only but also for academic one. One and another are integrated and incorporated in teaching learning process. In a modern Islamic school, therefore, the content of curriculum is often more loaded than in public schools. In this school, students learn Islamic curriculum as well as academic one. The Islamic curriculum consists of Qur'anic knowledge, 'aqedah, 'ibadah, Hadith, akhlaq and adab, and history of Islam, meanwhile academic curriculum consists of natural and social studies like mathematics, natural science, geography, history, etc.

To limit the terms of Islamic education for this research let us discuss this theoretical point of view in terms of formalized Islamic education. As many people know the terms of education include large area of practical effort to make young people to be well-educated and well-knowledgeable. This probably occurred in space of family life, social environment or formalized school. What we are going to concern in this theory is about Islamic education in formalized education like Islamic schools or Madrasah.

Islamic education in term of formalized school has long been developed in many countries, like in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, where Muslim live as majority and in some other countries where Muslim live as minority. The system of formalized Islamic education in all countries actually has some similarities rather than differences. All institutions wherever they are, teach the principles of Islam as a way of life, also teach the law of Islam, Qur’an, Hadits, Ethic of Islam, and the history of Islam. Those topics are being obligatory subject matters that students of Islamic school get such knowledge gradually according to their grade the school. No doubt that all subject matters above are being distinctions of Islamic School from other religious education.

Besides teaching Islamic knowledge, a modern Islamic school also introduces secular knowledge like, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, arts, etc. to their students. The curriculum of Islamic school, therefore, consists of two kind knowledge perspectives, i.e. Islamic and secular knowledge. Islamic knowledge is put to cling students belief and value on Islamic doctrine, meanwhile secular knowledge is introduced to students in order they have ability to adapt themselves in a new world. In another word, by deploying both curriculums, an Islamic school is expected to promote students for their identity as a true Muslim as well as a creative and a productive human being.

The two sides of curriculum above mean that Islamic education reflects the importance of both sides for its purposes. Beginning from very mystical to actual, the basic purposes of Islamic education can be described below:

The first and foremost purpose is to inculcate tawhid. This term refers to the bedrock of Islam belief that must be properties of someone who claim himself or herself as a Muslim. Tawhid is an inner religious belief of Islam that everything of what a Muslim does should be addressed to get submission to God only, not to the others. Believe in One God is the most essential religious value that must be introduced to students since they are in early age. This first purpose of Islamic education needs the process of learning process of Islamic schools which can facilitate students to a deeper religious consciousness through many ways. A teaching learning process should promote the importance of living in a community on the basis of inner religious faith to God. Because of this reason, it is easy to find a teaching learning process in some Islamic schools that include the lesson unit of creed of Islam for making students believe in one God, and always hold on their belief and attitude in a conscience of no gods other than God (Allah).

This first purpose of Islamic education particularly concerns with the relation between human being and God. In another word, this relation can be said as transcendental relation, in which human being as creature are able communicate his or her spiritual conscience directly to God. Doing prayer, experiencing fasting, sharing alms, and conducting pilgrim are the ritual and spiritual ways through which Muslims can directly transcend their personal and spiritual consciousness in the submission to God. The fruit of tawhid is called iman. For someone who gets completely this fruit of tawhid, he or she will get happiness and free from the all kind of doubt. As noted by Abdullah (1994) iman can completely make those who obtain it free from all anxiety and fear, and his mind and heart experience a bliss which can be felt but cannot be described in words. This is, what Ramadan (2004) called as the heart of education as well as the education of the heart in Islamic perspective.

The second purpose of Islamic education is to make Muslim students have good relation with their social environment. Islam remarked that making harmonious relation in social life is one of the important aspects of Muslim civil society. Respecting differences, like race, color, religion, gender, etc is expected in Islam. For that diversity, Islam has a message of peace, love, and harmony for the interim period as well. Islam provides us with two cardinal principles, on the basis of which the peoples of the world can be united in global harmony. Thus, the ayah 13 of Surah Al-Hujurat reads: “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 leads us to the idea of universal brotherhood. This ayah then becomes reference for all of humanity and not just the Muslim community to make harmonious social relation each others.

The third purpose of Islamic education is to make a good relation with the nature. As Islam remarks that human being is created by God for being vicegerent of world (khalifah fil ard). This concept then imply to the importance of living in the world in harmony with the nature. On the other hand, applying Islamic guidelines to modernity also become a current issue that is expected to a trigger of Islamic society progress. Brockwell (2002) says that the application of Islamic guidelines in a modern context can help eliminate the notion that Islam is an historical relic that benefits only the antiquated university historian or the casual investigator. In fact, learning and acting upon the Qur'an and Sunnah facilitate the instruction and education of youth in a traditionally non-Islamic society. The discussion of Shariah (Islamic law) and its implications relevant to the current issues of cloning, genetic engineering, etc. will advocate an increased knowledge of Islam and its relation to ethical conduct.

What was said by Brockwell can be an internal criticism for today inclination of Muslim world which need to put Islamic view as guidelines to solve the problem of modern inventions by since and technology. Ideally, in creating harmonious relation between humankind and the nature is initiated from the world view of Islam as what have been done in the work of prominent Muslim scholars like Avicenna, Averous, and some other outstanding Muslim scholars. It is true that in some case regarded with the shift of contemporary knowledge that facilitates human life, Muslim community seem to be coped by outer overwhelming modern innovation. Frequently Muslim world has become the object of innovation rather than being the subject of it. Such tendency therefore emphasizes the importance of revitalization of Islamic principles related to the natural management and settlement. In another word, the summons for using intellectual (ta’qilum) and moral (tasykurun) declared in Qur'an and Hadits need to be put as the power for changing a new expected world. That is why, Ramadan (2004) remarks that Islamic education is expected to join the education of mind and heart to make it possible for all Muslims to enter into personal growth and consequently to become autonomous in their lives, their choice, and more generally, in the management of their freedom.

All purposes of Islamic education can not be separated each other. Belief in God and creating good relationship with social community as well as 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 fruitful and valuable is its inner dynamic spiritual motivation through which the efforts can always be grounded from and attached to the theistic values. In modern life in which humankind commonly lives in good service of high technology facilities and more civilized society, the refill of human spirit by inner spiritual motivation comes to be urgent. Thereby, modern life, which often potentially separates the relation between creature and Creator, will exactly be a new challenge for Muslim, particularly for young Muslim generations, in sharpening religious consciousness.

Bibliography
Abdullah, A. et al. (1994). Pokok‑Pokok Keimanan. Penerjemah Tarmana Qosim.
Ahmad, A. (1980). Qur’an and World Peace. Internet: http://www.irfi.org/ articles/articles_451_500/quran_and_world_peace_by_dr.htm
Brockwell, J. A. (2000). Principle of an Islamic Education. Internet: http://www. soundvision.com/Info/umracontest/principles.asp
Ramadan, Tariq. (2004). Western Muslims and the Future of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.