The study of Islamic education has hitherto remained a tangential inquiry in the broader focus of Islamic Studies. In the wake of this neglect, a renaissance of sorts has occurred in recent years, reconfiguring the importance of Islam’s attitudes to knowledge, learning and education as paramount in the study and appreciation of Islamic civilization. Philosophies of Islamic Education, stands in tandem to this call and takes a pioneering step in establishing the importance of its study for the educationalist, academic and student alike. Broken into four sections, it deals with theological, pedagogic, institutional and contemporary issues reflecting the diverse and often competing notions and practices of Islamic education. As a unique international collaboration bringing into conversation theologians, historians, philosophers, teachers and sociologists of education Philosophies of Islamic Education intends to provide fresh means for conversing with contemporary debates in ethics, secularization theory, child psychology, multiculturalism, interfaith dialogue and moral education. In doing so, it hopes to offer an important and timely contribution to educational studies as well as give new insight for academia in terms of conceiving learning and education.
"Introduction Part 1: Theology and the Idea of Islamic Education 1. Philosophical Considerations for an Islamic Education of the Past and Future: Interview with Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr 2. Education as ‘Drawing-Out’: The Forms of Islamic Reason Tim Winter 3. Islamic Philosophical Traditions: Knowledge and Man's path to a Creator David B. Burrell Part II: Positioning Knowledge between the Student and Teacher 4. Spirituality in Muslim Education Abdullah Trevathan 5. ""Your educational achievements shall not stop your efforts to seek beyond"": Principles of Teaching and Learning in Classical Arabic Writings Sebastian Günther 6. Disciplinarity and Islamic Education Omar Anwar Qureshi 7. The Transmission of Adab: Educational Ideals and their Institutional Manifestations Talal Al-Azem Part III: Schools, Universities and Pedagogies 8. World Conferences on Muslim Education: Shaping the Agenda of Muslim Education in the Future Shaikh Abdul Mabud 9. Diverse Communities, Divergent Aspirations? Islamic Schooling in the West Nadeem A. Memon 10. An Olive Tree in the Apple Orchard: Establishing an Islamic College in the United States Omar Qargha 11. The 'Hadith of Gabriel': Stories as a tool for 'Teaching' Religion Steffen Stelzer Part IV: Contemporary Debates 12. Principles of Democracy in American Islamic Schools Susan Douglass and Ann El-Moslimany 13. Religious Pluralism and Islamic Education: Addressing Mutual Challenges Sarfaroz Niyozov 14. 'Islamisation and democratization of knowledge in post-colonial Muslim-oriented contexts: Implications for democratic citizenship education' Yusef Waghid and Nuraan Davids 15. Teaching Islam: Are There Pedagogical Limits to Critical Inquiry? Farah Ahmad and Ibrahim Lawson"
Nadeem Memon is Director of Education at Razi Education, Ontario, CA. Mujadad Zaman is Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Islamic Theology, University of Tübingen, Germany.