Critical thinking has been embedded in Islam and how it gradually erodes as civilisations change and pass.

1. TITLE: CAN AN ISLAMIC
EDUCATION PRODUCE
CRITICAL THINKERS?
AUTHOR: PROF. DENNIS HAYES, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
REVIEWED BY: AIN ATIYA AZMI BINTI NAZMI
MATRIC NUMBER: 1710222
UNGS 2090 SECTION 5
PRESENTED TO: DR MOHD ABBAS ABDUL RAZAK
Following the growth of non-governmental free schools in the UK education system, there
has been rampant debate among the society. Some groups espoused that Islamic free
schools or euphemistically labelled "faith schools" are indoctrination centres whereby the

2. teachings of religious beliefs are done uncritically. Islamic madrasas, in general, do not aim
to produce critical thinkers and this allegation has historical proof dating back to the
Nizamiyyah era. Its establishment has marked the closing down of Islamic openness that
characterised the Golden Age. The great cultural epoch has remained a historical artefact
ever since.
The author offered two junctions to deny this accusation and uphold the Islamic education.
Firstly, from the point of view of religion, a moral paradigm that we can learn from the story
of Prophet Abraham in Sodom is religious belief is not a matter of blind faith. Abraham
demanded that his world makes sense and was critical even of the highest authority. He
questioned the angels that brought the news of the impending destruction of Sodom which
was at odds with the concept of grateful acceptance of creation. Secondly, a general fact
about life is there will be “hard knocks” or accidental experiences that will propel our minds
into criticism, no matter how strictly we have been reared. The author concluded that as
opposed to secular state schooling, the Islamic education system is more valuable due to its
wealth of culture and history.
Looking back at the period from 8 to 13th century A.D. when Islam was the beacon of
knowledge, it is difficult not to notice the blatant disparity with the current scientific inquiry
which is now in a dismal state. Muslims used to be actively involved in the conversion of
works of classical Greeks into Arabic. We had pioneered and developed the fields of
philosophy, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, geography, optometrics, mathematics and the
list goes on. We had Avicenna and his widely renowned “Canon of Medicine” who was
acclaimed as the greatest physician since Hippocrates. Al-Khwarizmi invented algebra. On
top of that, we had polymaths who were experts in various fields like al-Biruni and al-Farabi.
Islam used to be in the forefront, but regrettably it is only contributing to 1% of the world’s
scientific literature and only two scientists from Muslim countries have won the prestigious
Nobel prize. What went wrong? The author is perhaps correct to pinpoint the exact period in
which Muslims began to turn away from scientific innovation.
When Nizam al-Mulk was the grand vizier of the Seljuq dynasty, Shia Islam was gaining
prominence and these groups called Batiniyya began to take root in Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
Nizamiyyah colleges were an academic movement to counter the non-Sunni currents.
Religious studies were focused at the expense of independent inquiry. To make things
worse, these schools adopted a narrow curriculum which was only based on Shafi’i
jurisprudence and disdained other rationalist approaches. They stifled scientific discoveries
by emphasising religious studies to achieve a political end. As a result, the cleansing of
Islam from newfangled practices lead to impeding progress and rising religious intolerance.
I am affirmative with the author’s view that an Islamic education can produce critical thinkers.
Medieval Muslims took religious scholarship very seriously, and some scientists in the region
grew up studying it. Avicenna, for example, is said to have known the entire Quran by heart
before he arrived at Baghdad. It might be fair then to say that Islam itself encouraged
scientific enterprise. There are many verses in the Holy Quran that motivated the believers
to ponder and reflect on natural phenomena for example Allah has stated in surah ali-Imran
3:190-191, “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the
night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing
or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the

3. earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a
thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”
A key differentiation of Muslims from others is that Muslims believe in Wahy or revelation.
Humans are poised with error and there comes a time when their minds will fail. As in the
case of Abraham, some matters are out of reach from our minds and we were only asked to
believe in. There is no possibility of error in revelation and He stated this in Al-An’am 6:103,
“No vision can grasp Him: but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension,
yet is acquainted with all things”. There was even a time when Prophet Musa was critical
about the existence of Allah, albeit being a very devout and pious messenger of Allah, he
wanted to see Allah to strengthen his belief. As a result, the mountain collapsed to dust and
Musa turned unconscious.
Therefore, regardless of the “hard knocks” we need to remember that we are bounded in our
rationality and while we quest to seek for explanation, there are things in Shariah that cannot
be merely criticised. We can contemplate to find meaning but the order of nature or
sunnatullah is not questionable. Other than that, it permissible for Muslims to be critical in
other aspects for example in fiqh we have four different mazhab symbolising four different
interpretations of the law governing human behaviour. We only need to hold fast to the
Oneness of Allah and that all creations are His servants and this opens door for independent
thinking that leads us to the grand era of science. We are even allowed to learn about
theories that contradict with religious tenants for example the evolution of human beings
from apes. There is a vast difference between learning and believing. It might be beneficial
for us to learn about broad secular approaches so that we can make an analytical
comparison and be further convinced of the trueness of Islam. Verily, the purpose of all
learning is to get closer to Allah, the All Knowing.
To summarize, it is dissonant to say that Islamic education is an indoctrination centre to
propagandize militant Islamic beliefs and influencing little boys to become warriors of the
next jihad. Islam is a religion of peace and contemplation. While we are unswerving in our
aqidah, we are also tolerable enough to live in a multicultural environment and be
respectable of each other. When barriers to learning are abolished, the interchange of
knowledge is convenient for us to become a more advanced ummah. The era of knowledge
enlightenment in the Muslims world is already extinguished, it is a torch that has not been
relit and is buried in profound darkness. Nevertheless, it is not too late for us to return to our
glory days and it can only be realised through being critical thinkers who are steadfast in our
religion.