SPIRITUAL COMPETENCY, KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR
It is a fact that individuals with strong abstract thinking abilities are creative and better problem solvers. Similarly, individuals who behave in a socially responsible way perform better in academics and in the workplace. The challenge being faced by the present education system is the effective development of abstract thinking abilities and performance of socially responsible behaviour.
The most effective way of achieving this is by focusing on the category of knowledge that engages children's abstract thinking from an early stage and also aids in behaving in a socially responsible way. The category of knowledge that makes this happen is “tenets of emaan”. Firstly, it is abstract, and secondly, it plays a pivotal role in the development of spiritual competency that aids in intending actions for Allah, nurtures state of Ihsan and provides the strength and resolve to behave in a socially responsible way. Allah reveals through the Quran the critical role of tenets of emaan as the key that unlocks goodness in each and every human being:
So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him - He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path. (Al-Quran 4:175)
Doing good deeds in a state of Ihsan leads to reward from Allah. Allah says in the Quran:
The verse states that knowledge and judgment (an end product of critical thinking) are given as a reward to muhsineen by Allah. Muhsineen by definition, are individuals who do good deeds in a state of Ihsan. In other words, they do good deeds while experiencing an abstract thought about Allah which emanates from belief in Allah. This means that when we have emaan, and we reflect that in actions as per the Quran and the Sunnah, we are able to get the best out of our faculties of understanding as a reward from Allah.
NURTURING EMAAN IN CHILDREN
To develop emaan, we need to talk about it, discuss it and show the children through tarbiyah the way to reflect it in actions. Emaan is an abstract thought that develops spiritual competency. Hardly any child between the age of 6 to 14 years will take out time and ponder about the tenets of emaan. It is only through learning experiences and tarbiyah that emaan can develop in this age group. In this day and age, emaan based tarbiyah is missing from our education systems despite it having a pivotal role in achieving the purpose of education which is to enable children to create knowledge and behave in a socially responsible way.
THE WAY FORWARD
Introducing emaan based tarbiyah in schools is the way forward. This requires development of spiritual competency along with the five core competencies of social emotional learning (Self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship management and responsible decision making). Firstly such an approach caters to the human fitrah, and secondly, it trains the human will to submit itself to Allah. Fact is that Allah has made faculties of learning, understanding, and thinking in such a way that they achieve optimal level when we submit our will to Him. It is for this reason Allama Iqbal said in a speech titled "Islam as an ethical and political ideal":
“The present system of education in this country is not at all suited to us as people. It is not true to our genius as a nation, it tends to produce an un-Muslim type of character, it is not determined by our national requirements, it breaks entirely with our past and appears to proceed on false assumption that the idea of education is the training of human intellect rather than human will.”
Introducing emaan based tarbiyah in schools is the way forward. This requires development of spiritual competency along with the five core competencies of social emotional learning (Self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship management and responsible decision making). Firstly such an approach caters to the human fitrah, and secondly, it trains the human will to submit itself to Allah. Fact is that Allah has made faculties of learning, understanding, and thinking in such a way that they achieve optimal level when we submit our will to Him. It is for this reason Allama Iqbal said in a speech titled "Islam as an ethical and political ideal":
“The present system of education in this country is not at all suited to us as people. It is not true to our genius as a nation, it tends to produce an un-Muslim type of character, it is not determined by our national requirements, it breaks entirely with our past and appears to proceed on false assumption that the idea of education is the training of human intellect rather than human will.”
In the same speech Allama Iqbal says:
Education, like other things, ought to be determined by the needs of the learner. A form of education which has no direct bearing on the particular type of character which you want to develop is absolutely worthless. I grant that the present system of education in India gives you bread and butter. You manufacture a number of graduates, and then you have to send titled mendicants to the government to beg appointments for them. Well, if you succeed in securing a few appointments in the higher branches of service, what then? It is the masses who constitute the backbone of a nation. They ought to be better fed, better housed; and properly educated. Life is not bread and butter alone; it is something more. It is the healthy character that reflects the national ideal in all its aspects.
For our country to progress in an exemplary way, we need to make training of the human will the objective of education.
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