Discuss Imam Al-Ghazali’s views about teaching?

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Until recently, Islamic thought as propounded by al-Ghazali constituted the predominant school with regard to the theory and practice of Islam (and, in particular, Sunnite Islam). With his immense intellectual stature and his encyclopaedic knowledge, al-Ghazali has influenced Islamic thought and defined its practice for nearly nine centuries. He was a representative of ‘conciliatory Islam'.

Over the past three decades, a new current of ‘combative Islam' has appeared and grown rapidly, and is attempting to gain control of the Islamic world. Some observers see this trend as a new revival movement, while others perceive in it a threat not only to the Islamic countries, but to the entire world, and a source of destabilization, taking Islam and Muslims back fourteen centuries.

This new movement derives its intellectual foundations from the teachings of Abu-l-A‘là al-Mawdudi, Sayyid Qutb and Ruhollah Khomeini, as well as their hard-line followers active in any number of countries. It advocates the proclamation of society as impious, the forcible elimination of existing regimes, the seizure of power and a radical change in social life-styles; it is aggressive in its rejection of modern civilization. The adepts of this trend hold that Islam, as professed and practised over many centuries, provides the solution to all the political, economic, social, cultural and educational problems facing the Arab and Islamic world, and indeed the whole planet.

The struggle between the thought of al-Ghazali and that of al-Mawdudi is still under way and may turn out to be one of the most important factors in shaping the future of the Arab and Islamic world.

Whatever the outcome of this struggle, al-Ghazali remains one of the most influential philosophers (although he objected to being described as such) and thinkers on education in Islamic history. His biography —as a student in search of knowledge, as a teacher propagating knowledge and as a scholar exploring knowledge— provides a good illustration of the way of life of students, teachers and scholars in the Islamic world in the Middle Ages.

Aims and principles of education

Al-Ghazali's philosophy of education represents the high point of Islamic thinking on education, in which al-Ghazali's inclination towards reconciliation and the integration of various intellectual schools is apparent. Here he achieves a synthesis of legal, philosophical and mystical educational thinking. Al-Ghazali was not a ‘philosopher of education' (even though he did work as a teacher at the beginning of his career); he was a philosopher of religion and ethics. When he had completed the outlines of this great philosophical edifice, and begun to put it into practice, al-Ghazali found himself turning to education and teaching, in the same way as the great philosophers before him had done. Al-Ghazali's philosophy was more an expression of the spirit of the age in which he lived than a response to its challenges; his thinking on education, as indeed his philosophy, favoured continuity and stability over change and innovation.

For Al-Ghazali, the purpose of society is to apply shari‘a, and the goal of man is to achieve happiness close to God. Therefore, the aim of education is to cultivate man so that he abides by the teachings of religion, and is hence assured of salvation and happiness in the eternal life hereafter. Other worldly goals, such as the pursuit of wealth, social standing or power, and even the love of knowledge, are illusory, since they relate to the transient world.

Man is born as a tabula rasa, and children acquire personality, characteristics and behaviour through living in society and interacting with the environment. The family teaches the children its language, customs and religious traditions, whose influence they cannot escape. Therefore, the main responsibility for children's education falls on the parents, who take credit for their probity and bear the burden of their errors; they are partners in everything the children do, and this responsibility is subsequently shared by the teachers Al-Ghazali stresses the importance of childhood in character formation. A good upbringing will give children a good character and help them to live a righteous life; whereas, a bad upbringing will spoil their character and it will be difficult to bring them back to the straight and narrow path. It is therefore necessary to understand the special characteristics of this period in order to deal with the child in an effective and sound manner.

It is important that boys should begin to attend maktab (elementary school) at an early age, for what is learnt then is as engraved in stone. Those entrusted with the education of the boy at school should be aware of how his motivations develop and interests change from one period to another: a fascination with movement, games and amusement, followed by a love of finery and appearances (in infancy and childhood), then an interest in women and sex (adolescence), a yearning for leadership and domination (after the age of 20), and finally delight in the knowledge of God (around the age of 40). These changing interests can be used by educators to attract the boy to school, by offering first the lure of ball games, then ornaments and fine clothes, then responsibilities, and finally by awakening a longing for the hereafter.

In the elementary stage, children learn the Koran and the sayings of the Prophet's companions; they should be preserved from love poetry and the company of men of letters, both of which sow the seeds of corruption in boys' souls. They must be trained to obey their parents, teachers and elders, and to behave well towards their classmates. They should be prevented from boasting to their peers about their parents' wealth or the food they eat, their clothes and accessories. Rather, they should be taught modesty, generosity and civility. Attention is drawn to the potentially pernicious influence of the children's comrades on their character. They must therefore be advised that their friends should possess the following five qualities: intelligence, good morals, good character, abstemiousness and truthfulness.

Education is not limited to training the mind and filling it with information, but involves all aspects—intellectual, religious, moral and physical—of the personality of the learner. It is not enough to impart theoretical learning; that learning must be put into practice. True learning is that which affects behaviour and whereby the learner makes practical use of his knowledge.

The children's tutors must devote attention to religious education. First, the principles and foundations of religion are instilled into them such that by the age of about 7 they can be expected to perform the ritual ablutions and prayers, and to undertake several days of fasting during Ramadan until they become accustomed to it and are able to fast for the whole month. They should not be allowed to wear silk or gold, which are proscribed by the Faith. They must also be taught everything they need to know about the precepts of religious law, and must learn not to steal, eat forbidden food, act disloyally, lie, utter obscenities or do anything which children are prone to do.

Naturally, at this early age they will not be able to understand the intricacies of what they are taught or expected to practice, and there is no harm in that. As they grow older, they will come to understand what they have been taught and what they are practicing. At times, al-Ghazali the Sufi overshadows al-Ghazali the educator: for instance, he advocates cutting the boy off from the world and its temptations in order for him to renounce it, and accustoming him to a simple, rough life in poverty and modesty.

And yet the educator quickly reappears, for he feels that once the boy has left the school premises, he should be allowed to play suitable games in order to recover from the fatigue of study, and be freed from the constraints imposed upon him. However, he must not tire or overtax himself at play. Preventing the boy from playing and burdening him constantly with learning can only weary his heart and blunt his mind, spoiling his life and making him so despise study that he resorts to all manner of tricks to escape it

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