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Wholeness

Holiness

Education

An Islamic Perspective

Zahra al Zeera

the international institute of islamic thought

and

in


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To the source of my inspiration

To the twin souls of my parents, whose unwavering devotion

love for their children and humankind, wisdom, genero

purity & gentleness planted & nurtured the wholenes

and holiness of my religion in me. They allowed me to

grow freely in search of the truth of the temporary

world, & their absence has inspired me to

search for the truth of eternal life.

This work is dedicated to their

souls with my love& gratitude.


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Wholenes

Holiness

Education

An Islamic Perspective

Zahra al Zeera

and

in


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The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1421ah/

the international institute of islamic th

p.o. box 669, herndon, va 22070, usa

london office

p.o. box 126, richmond, surrey tw9 2ud, uk

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory except

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agree

no reproduction of any part may take place withouthe written permission of the publishers.

isbn 1565642805 paperback

isbn 1565642791 hardback

Cover design and typesetting by Sohail Nakhooda

Printed in the United Kingdom

by Biddles Limited, Guildford and Kings Lynn


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acknowledgements

author

publisherThe IIIT wishes to thank the editorial and production team at the L

and those who were directly or indirectly involved in the completion

Ataiya Pathan, Sylvia Hunt, Sohail Nakhooda and Shiraz Khan. We w

to express our thanks and gratitude to Dr. Zahra Al Zeera, who, th

various stages of the books production, helped by responding to our v

and suggestions.

I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the International Instit

Thought, especially Dr. Fathi Malkawi, its Executive Director, who e

idea of publishing this book, and Dr. Anas al Shaikh Ali, Academic

London Office, who undertook the painstaking responsibility of prepa

script for publication. I also extend my appreciation to all those who reviewing the manuscript and providing insightful comments and feedb

Dr. Louay Safi, Ebrahim Kalim and H. White. Finally, I thank my fam

Dr. Dolores Furlong, Dr. Dana Sheik, Dr. Asad Sheik, Adam Sheik, and

for their unflagging support, in the ups and downs of writing this book


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Foreword

Authors Introduction

i. reflections on personal experienc

1 The Spiritual and Intellectual Journey

2 Spirituality: Womans Best-Kept Secret

ii. review and critique

3 Conventional and Alternative Paradigms

4 Critical Reflection on Existing Paradigms

iii. islamic knowledge

5 The Islamic Worldview: The One and the Many

6 The Islamic Paradigm

7 Islamic Epistemology: Gateway to Knowledge

iv. transformation through educatio

8 Transformative Research Methods: An Islamic Perspe9 Transformative Learning

Appendix

Notes

contents


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In his Introduction to Malik Badris Contemplation: Psychospiritual Study, recently published by IIIT, Shayk

Qara\w highlighted the problem of the dependency of t

world on the West in all branches of modern knowledge

Muslim specialists to take an independent line and to

attitude of inquiry and criticism instead of passive a

especially in the human and social sciences, which by

nature can never be as neutral or value-free as the purnatural sciences.

This is not the place to explore in any depth the vexe

as to how truly neutral or value-free even pure scienc

especially in its unremittingly reductionist mode of blink

tism, but it will suffice to say that it takes little intel

reflection to perceive that the apparatus of dogmatic

though claiming to operate under the most rigorous co

objectivity, is nevertheless founded on a priori assumptioto the Western secular world-view of positivism whic

restricts the nature of reality only to that which is obse

measurable by quantitative means.

Implicit in this conceptual paradigm is, indeed, not o

crippling perceptual handicaps but also a set of culturally

foreword


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the underlying unity and interconnectedness of ever

tence which makes the microcosm of man a mirror

cosm and which alone endows man with the possibili

fully human by virtue of his divinely appointed role vicegerent.

This treatise, Wholeness and Holiness in Educa

Zahra Al Zeera, is a further contribution to the vit

Islamization of knowledge, of which Dr. Badris w

standing example in the field of psychology. Indeed

the tradition of reviving a truly holistic perspective

world-view founded on taw^d, the affirmation of G

the ruling idea in Islam.I say reviving this perspective, because the op

and multi-dimensionality of thought encouraged by a

unity of all knowledge are part of the rich intellect

Islam. Authentic Islamization of knowledge cannot

concern but must be an inclusive activity which avo

tion and fixity of a mono-perspective by acknowledgi

different levels of description, by synthesizing and ditional and contemporary knowledge, or perennial

knowledge, by going beyond facile dichotomies rep

peting models of reality, and by reconciling opposite

contradictions within an over-arching Islamic paradig

after all, is by definition what the doctrine oftaw^d

domain of knowledge.

But of course it does not mean that the Islamic per

ducive to the anything goes relativism of a construcwhich fails to acknowledge any absolute or objective

author herself demonstrates in her discussion of phe

a valid research method within the Islamic paradigm,

al-Brn, in his classical study of the religion and cu

i hi ti t d t ti i t th d f i

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and Christian concepts so as to attempt to discover

thread connecting all ancient cultures. Let it not be forgo

that al-Brn was also seeking to gain new knowledge f

culture in the same way as Greek thought was absorbed aby other Muslim scholars.

However, as the author points out, what makes such a

cially distinct from a merely relativist study is not the me

for this triangulation of methods is as compatible with

paradigm as it is with the constructivist approach - it is

framework within which the multiplicity of knowledge i

ed. The power of Islamic science is that it conceives of kno

horizontally (which, as Seyyed Hossein Nasr has observedknowledge of God and the angels being ranked on the sa

knowledge of molluscs), but hierarchically, making possib

ization that multiplicity is only the manifestation of a sin

the ultimate truth.

Through this paradigm we can grasp the underlying u

ence and religion, physics and metaphysics, knowledge

and all other domains of knowledge and activity which been pitted against each other as a battery of irr

dichotomies - the human and the divine, the phenomen

metaphenomenal, the mutable and the eternal, the mate

sacred, the personal and the social, the rational and the in

exoteric and the esoteric, the theoretical and the practica

istic and the realistic, the active and the passive, and so o

Dr. Al Zeera identifies dialectical thinking as the

transcending the limitations of dichotomization. This advof thought places the human being in an interworld, a

meeting-place or barzakh, at the intersection of interactio

to unify opposites, affirming and incorporating logica

rather than seeking to avoid contradiction and paradox th

id d dh t i l ti Of t i t

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mote spiritual connectedness) and conversation and d

enable individuals to connect with others and the so

they live).

Significantly, the author refers to the work of Rieg

fies the ability to accept contradictions, constructive

and asynchronies as the highest stage of cognitive dev

to the work of Fowler, who associates dialectical thi

development of faith. It goes without saying that

process is not one either of compromise or loose relat

of creative tension which ultimately transforms cont

complementarities, releasing the open-minded

ingrained habits and conditioned patterns of thougaffiliations, fear of change and instability, and

approach anything which may be threatening to

self.

The connection Dr. Al Zeera makes between this

state and the theory of dissipative structures developed

prize winning physical chemist, Ilya Prigogine, is in

according to Prigogine, physical systems have the through periods of instability and then self-organizati

more complex systems. Thus, instability, in its p

freedom from one-sided, crystallized thinking, is the

coherence and complexity. On a more mystical leve

resting place of the one who has attained to God

(taqwa), the station of permanent abiding in God

cally a state of total openness and surrender, a place

in which the limited self is extinguished. This can bthe sixth and final stage of Fowlers map of faith de

stage attained only through grace, in which there is a

rifice of stability.

It is this unitive vision of knowledge which is at th

Al Z t ti B h i th t th d i t

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the systematic exposition of a truly holistic Islamic paradi

transformative research tools and educational metho

generates. While we have to wait until well into the sec

the treatise for the unveiling of methods for holistic edu

reflects the broader conceptual purpose and carefully

design of the treatise, which, thesis-like, painstakingly bu

case upon which its holistic educational applications are

It would be mistaken, however, to conclude that the a

tique of existing paradigms and her espousal of a sup

Islamic paradigm are intellectual exercises divorced fro

sonal experience, for it is one of her axioms that the mi

soul of the researcher or scholar should not be artificiallin the interest of a spurious objectivity or profes

Moving away from the positivist paradigm and its fragm

the oneness of our experience demands, in her words, th

low the golden thread of [our] own spiritual experience

this ever becoming a narcissistic preoccupation divorced

ty), and she enacts her own belief in the validity and imp

personal experiences and narrative inquiry as research todidly charting her own spiritual and intellectual journey.

she shows how her discovery and espousal of the reconc

of dialectical thinking was not simply the outcome of

tive research design but the resolution of a major perso

between the demands of the narrowly focused intellect

expected of a researcher and her own spiritual aspiratio

for wholeness which could not be encompassed by the lim

digms on offer.The thrust of the authors critique of positivism is in

with Dr. Badris own refutation of reductionist approac

chology which would strip human beings of any conscio

or intentions, complex cognitive processes, soul or spiritu

d t th thi ki i d i l ith th h i

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however, is her realization of the limitations of c

despite its scope for naturalistic and humanistic meth

which have the appearance of a holistic approach

recognise the validity of subjective human experiences

approach is certainly less fragmented than a positivis

can therefore serve, as she says, as a back door int

it is still unremittingly this-relative and this-world

ments reality into the multiple, contextualized realit

seen, felt and perceived by people without any

given, transcendent, comprehensive, all-encompa

reality. Similarly, the single reality of positivism is

not the One Reality oftaw^d, even though it is driventive search for immutable laws and mechanisms.

Education is a field which is particularly vulnerab

ideologies, but it is far too important to be a battleg

competing paradigms. Many visionary educators

West are now advocating a radical paradigm shift aw

they consider to be an obsolete machine-age perfor

of education with its emphasis on teacher-centered tcontent through rigidly specified objectives and prescr

and the accompanying over-emphasis on the acquisit

cal reasoning skills. They favour a systemic model w

synthetic, interactive thinking and creative problem

able to yield understanding and explanation rather th

mulation of information - a learner-centered culture p

directed and lifelong learning skills, social responsibil

values.These competing models in many ways mirror th

dichotomy between positivist and constructivis

explored in this treatise, and just as the author expo

tions of both of them, so we must always bear in min

d l th d l t f l i

wholeness and holiness in educatxiv


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the primary axis of development. The horizontal and vert

sions are the temporal and perennial domains of

recognised by both Ibn Sina and al-Ghazl in their

knowledge, and it is of course perennial knowledge

Muslim strives to attain and which temporal knowledg

forms merely serves.

Only a curriculum in harmony with the teachings o

Quran and intended to integrate mans understanding

universe and his own nature can be spacious enough to

date and reconcile competing paradigms. The Islamic p

always seeking unity, harmony and balance, does not co

example, of analytic and synthetic modes of thought asstyles, the former to be superseded by the latter in the re

school of tomorrow, but as complementary capacities, e

appropriate domain. If the left side of the brain is overuse

rective is not to go overboard for right-brained think

seek a balance between the two sides. Similarly, we need

disillusioned with science because of the myopic vision o

The author refers to the important statement of al-Ghazlrious study of the sciences dealing with fact and demo

indispensable if the soul is to avoid imaginative delu

querading as spiritual enlightenment.

This is not to say that major correctives are not

required, and in many respects Dr. Al Zeera is surely righ

ing for the recognition and valuation of feminine intuitio

ituality in a world dominated by masculine rationality, a

must be careful not to fall into the trap of equating theand the feminine entirely with the male and female gend

have far greater explanatory power as complementary pr

yangand yin, within the individual. In a very real sense,

mental dichotomies explored in this treatise can be subsu

th t bj t f d l ti bj t hi h d

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part in her own personal transformation. The challe

Muslim educationalists to pursue the detailed impl

broad educational principles and methods she derives

tic Islamic paradigm.

Shawwal 1421 dr. jeremy henzJanuary 2001 The Association of Muslim Social

The Book Fo

wholeness and holiness in educatxvi


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To write about Islamic epistemology, the Islamic paradigm

education is an almost impossible task. The journey throug

for me was like trying to cross the ocean in a small boat w

skills and little knowledge of sailing. On setting out, one is m

by the beauty and majesty of the ocean, the gigantic wavaggressively on the shores, and the gentle breeze touching t

creating a mysterious feeling of love and ecstasy. At tha

seekers and followers of the path are torn between what

potential for learning while unveiling the mystery of theo

sophy, and mysticism and making it accessible to myself, m

and all seekers of knowledge. I was, however, well aware o

tions and the overwhelming scope of Islamic knowledge.

was driven to the ocean of Islamic knowledge by some unkn

a quiet inner voice and an aggressive intellectual passion t

ded to know, I did not have much choice. The decision t

book was extremely challenging, but the seeds were plante

my doctoral thesis, when I was ten years younger and m

challenges and risks. I had to go through the ebb and flow o

tic of the adventurous spirit of risk-taking and the wisdo

The result was this book.I sailed: with me were the excitement of venturing on a

journey, an intellectual passion, a little knowledge, and an u

faith in God that He would lead me to the right path to see

the Truth. My compass on those rough seas and during

nights was my unquestionable trust in God My intention

authors introductio


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Besides trust, faith, and hard work, thinking dialec

balance between demands of the mind and those of th

tical thinking is the backbone of this book. So it will

detail in Chapter 9 owing to its importance as a way

understand wholeness in life and, God willing, produce

ledge. The reader, therefore, is advised to read the sect

cal thinking with an open and fresh mind, leaving asid

notions of the dialectics and its association with Ma

realism and Hegels dialectical idealism. The concept

used in this context because the word dialectics ha

encompass opposing ideas so as to integrate and create

an original idea. Without dialectical thinking, I believe,dly make sense of the contradictions embedded in who

sciences are so diverse, vast, and complex that opening

to other doors and one can easily feel happily though

is lost from the very beginning. It is the wholeness and t

acteristics of Islamic knowledge that intermingle and

knowledge. There are no barriers between different field

the name of God and all end with the name of God. All

the Truth by understanding the microcosm and th

Realization of the Absolute Truth is at the center and the

what the subject or the field natural and physical scie

ences, cosmology, or geography and that is what

science unique. The method of dialectical thinking is imp

it leads to a realization of oneness and unity in the unive

The dialogue or the conflict between contradictory idea

ally to one original idea that is the synthesis of the oppThe chapters that follow seek to present certain asp

epistemology from an educational point of view rathe

sophical or theoretical perspective. The emphasis, h

methods used for the production of knowledge that a

I l i i ti d I l i lt Th h i f

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play in social and personal research? How are we to und

relations between them? Questions such as these are of ma

in this book. Transformation through research methods a

strategies are therefore also major concerns in the following

In addition to issues related to knowledge production,

concerned with methods of knowledge acquisition and tran

from teaching and learning. Wholeness, unity, harmony, a

are important concepts not only in the development of I

grams and educational systems, but also in all situation

microcosm to the macrocosm, from the self to the unive

zation and contradictions are inherent in all life. Negative a

forces interrelate continually to maintain living beings atribute to their evolution, growth, and development. Aw

the principles of wholeness, unity, multiplicity, and the r

between them helps one develop understanding, openness

and integrity. This awareness helps people to operate on a

of knowledge by which they can see above and beyond th

tion provided by the senses. It also helps individuals to exp

realize unity through the very multiplicity of the self, natu

universe. In this way, individuals can learn that God created

tions not to be fought against, but as the means to discover a

tand the subtle intelligence of the One and the many at va

and different dimensions. People can then realize the force

and evolution and work with these forces instead of against

Part I comprises two chapters. The first chapter deals wi

experiences and includes a brief reference to my intellectua

tual journey. The second chapter presents spirituality fromperspective. It is this part that contributes, I hope, to the par

in contemporary Islamic literature. By that, I mean the inclu

sonal experiences as the base for discovering and revealin

events in the past and the way in which those events have p

i k l d i iti d k l d t ti

authors introduction


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believe, is crucial for both students and scholars. If the

tribute to the creation of Islamic knowledge, as most

Muslim scholars advocate, then an examination of th

essential. In personal experiences are hidden stories of t

that touch the core; we know that they are not only

sacred too. We treasure those experiences because we

real, and only we know that. Islamic knowledge is used

mean knowledge that is based on an Islamic paradigm

from Islamic epistemology and Islamic methodology. So

students and scholars are able to create and produce kn

appropriate for Islamic communities and addresses the

problems. Production of Islamic knowledge is a majbook; reflection on personal experience provides resea

immediate, real, and original course of knowledge whic

lected and downplayed by positivists for so long.

This book is rooted in my personal experiences. I t

of personal experiences from Plato to Dewey and trus

of my professor, M. Connelly, who encouraged me to te

he likes to refer to personal experiences, and to reflect

ted the journey reluctantly, believing this undertaking

and not academic nor professional. I felt uncomfortabl

bling in the darkness of the subconscious. Gradually, I

glimmer of light here and there. Then suddenly I was on

with a blue sky flooded with sunshine. In a moment o

saw the tapestry of my life in front of me. I saw the go

spirituality and love woven in that tapestry from one en

realized the conflict between the intellectual and spiritbeing, and I perceived the conflict between the East and

and in my society. After struggling through the confl

stage of reconciliation in myself and hoped that it woul

ciety too. From dialogue, conversation with the other,

f l t f ili ti

wholeness and holiness in educatxx


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my culture, I started reading Islamic classics and encycloped

great Muslim scholars in 1989 after the realization of spirit

life, or what I call the golden thread. Ever since, I have been

the notions of the Islamic paradigm and tried to interweav

teaching and my theories of learning and teaching. Educat

more meaningful to me and my students at the University w

pursued from an Islamic, holistic perspective. On being in

the Islamic paradigm and Islamic epistemology in courses

tion and research methods, my students began analyzing a

tanding theories of psychology, sociology, and education

perspective. Their exposure to Islamic epistemology af

entire university life. They were set on journeys of self-explreflection.

Although part I of this book might seem rather unus

unacceptable to some scholars belonging to conventional

thought, because of the inclusion of my personal experienc

larly work, to me it is this part that contributes to the adva

an alternative paradigm that is a major theme of this book

of regaining our wholeness and holiness in education is by

to our inner selves through our intimate experiences. Ret

experiences, however, allows us to reconstruct them and ev

in a different light. Reconstruction of experiences, I believ

transformation that should be the aim of education. The

readers of this book should remember that this is a differ

scholarly work that aims at integrating the personal and

sional, the intellectual and the spiritual, the inner and the

to fulfill the thesis of wholeness and holiness in education.My aim in writing this book is to encourage Muslim

North America and Europe to reflect on their personal exp

find the golden thread in their lives, to acknowledge it and

their personal and professional lives. I want to encourag

h l d k l d i th S d th t i i id



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they start analyzing theories in those fields from an Is

tive, the spiritual and the sacred permeate naturally and

Chapter 2 is a reflection on spirituality from a wo

tive. Some readers might wonder: Why womans spiri

cular and not spirituality in general? The answer is s

review of what has been written on Islamic spirituality

men do most of the writing and that reflects the male

spirituality. Being an academic woman who has a cert

on spirituality and on knowledge rooted in spirituality

chapter to present my views and to encourage women w

rent or similar views to acknowledge them and share th

Giving a voice to womans spirituality as a major coIslamic theory of knowledge is, I believe, crucial for

concept of wholeness and holiness in life and education.

this chapter is to give an account of womans spiritu

and its effect on creating an Islamic knowledge that is w

for the mind and the soul. Some readers may wonder

vance of spirituality to theories of knowledge. This will

detail in Chapter 2 to show the wholeness of Islamic ep

to explain that knowledge is both intellectual and spirit

this book is to develop an education based on Islami

that caters for both the intellectual and spiritual needs of

Islamic history is full of spiritual female luminarie

with their love and spirituality men and women who

became great Sufi masters, scholars, and faithful believ

ded Islam to the last drop of their blood. However, h

focus on womans spirituality, assuming it to be one oqualities, especially the women of the ahl al-bayt(th

Prophet of Islam). In published literature, in both the Ea

the only woman that has attracted the wide attention

Rbiah al-Adawiyya, the mystic Sufi whose selfless

k ll th ld D it th i f R

wholeness and holiness in educatxxii


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am acknowledging and honoring this type of spirituality,

practical spirituality: it is practiced by millions of Muslim w

East and the West. Spirituality is womans best-kept secret

ers her, enhances her, and hence provides her with differen

means of knowing in both knowledge acquisition and

production, which are major themes in this book. Cha

inspired by three sources: Rbiahs mystical journey, a

theory of knowledge, and the Chinese concept ofyin and

Part II contains two chapters. Chapter 3 is a review of l

both the conventional and alternative paradigms, and it p

ground for the Islamic paradigm. For both paradigms, iss

cussed at three levels: ontological, epistemological, andlogical. The emphasis of the discussion is on the philosop

underpinning research methodology. Chapter 3 sheds so

two major theoretical perspectives that have dominated

sciences, that is, positivism and constructivism/interpretivi

ter also called the naturalistic paradigm.

Chapter 3 is based mainly on ideas developed by Guba a

on paradigms. Scientific inquirers tend to view the world,

quently any phenomenon with which they deal, as discove

trollable, and fragmentable into discrete, independent atom

izing the problem, scientists investigate and control the vari

certain conditions, and manipulate specific ones so as to co

and randomize others. By doing so, constraints are impose

antecedent conditions and outputs. Naturalistic inquirer

opposite assumption of multiple realities that are interrelat

parable. Phenomena are considered to diverge, not to consingle truth as in a scientific inquiry.

Each paradigm is based on assumptions about the inqui

pant relationship. The scientific paradigm assumes that no r

exists between the investigator and the subject of inquiry. T

b li it i ibl t k bl di t f



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The paradigms are founded on differing assumpt

nature of truth. Scientific inquirers assume that the nat

singular and that reality can be segmented and con

quently, inquirers force conditions for convergence and

rities. Obviously their concern is to generalize and de

rules to constitute theories, which are to be imposed

social settings. Naturalistic scientists rely heavily, for

data and understanding the situation, on the intera

themselves and their participants, which is a basis for

descriptions. Generalization is not usually the concern o

tic inquirers because their focus is on differences, u

idiosyncrasies, rather than on similarities. Naturalistleads to the development of a specific, nonuniversal k

which focuses on the understanding of particular cases.

Chapter 4 provides critical reflection on positivism

tivism and the inappropriateness of both paradigms for

of Islamic knowledge. All existing paradigms are fr

reductionist and have either/or qualities. None of

even alternative paradigms such as the naturalistic para

cal theory, has the capacity for dealing with both contra

time: absolute and relative, objective and subjective, fix

ral, and so on. My argument is based on the assumpti

from an Islamic point of view, is one; that reality con

apparent opposites that, in fact, complement each othe

side of reality, the subjective or objective, causes a spl

sciousness and hence in our ability to perceive the who

One needs a balance between the intellectual and spones being, leading to wholeness and holiness. I furth

limitations of both paradigms with respect to encompas

ical issues and concepts such as the world of the unseen

of Judgment, and the hereafter. The Islamic paradigm is

t h i l t

wholeness and holiness in educatxxiv


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act of affirming God to be the One, Absolute, Eternal, and

dent Creator.

Since taw^dis the essence of Islam, it will be discussed i

the concept runs through this book as a river runs through

and plains and brings life to the lands nearby. The dialectic

is the basis of this book, uniting ideas and giving life to them

cept of the dialectics oftaw^d its differing and apparen

manifestations might cause unease for some because of th

cal meaning that it carries. Taw^dmeans oneness and uni

dialectics means opposing ideas and conflict. However,

another way of understanding the One and the many. D

embedded in taw^dnaturally, as will be explained later:thedialectical path that leads to taw^d.

The Islamic worldview is not purely a religious one. The

of Islam is in this profound and challenging belief in both t

and the religious worlds. Muslims should live this life and e

gifts in moderation, yet believe in the hereafter and conside

a purposeful journey that should be cultivated from kno

good deeds. The knowledge and good deeds are to take them

the ladder of humanity and perfection, to bring them closer

therefore to eternal life. This blend of the two extremes is w

about: a combination of religious and material life.

Chapter 6 proposes the Islamic paradigm for Islamic

and the production of Islamic knowledge: a holistic, com

and integrated paradigm that can encompass the wholenes

thought. One of the objectives of the book is to present an

the underlying principles of an Islamic paradigm which willnerstone for Islamic theories. The proposed Islamic paradig

six principles that aim at developing

1. Islamic spiritual psychology and the unity of the sel

2. Islamic epistemology and the unity of knowledge;



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The common theme in all the principles of the Islam

the dialectics oftaw^d. The Islamic paradigm as a hol

paradigm is divine, spiritual, religious, eternal, constan

ideal. On the other hand, it is human, material, ration

mutable, and relative. These two opposites are intimat

by taw^d.

In brief, the Islamic paradigm is all-encompassing,

purposeful, and integrated. It is based on the Quranic

derives its principles from the Sacred Text. Thus all th

the Islamic paradigm lead to the realization of the uni

principle. Spiritual psychology integrates body, mind,

unified whole. Because Islamic epistemology is holistthe worldly and the scientific as well as the religiou

aspects of knowledge. In addition, Islamic ontology an

address the wholeness of the cosmos and the natural o

with nature and universal laws scientifically and spir

over, Islamic eschatology deals with issues of the he

here-and-now. This draws students to think of both

remember that this world is the means to be cultivated

hereafter. Furthermore, the Islamic methodology of

Muslim students to understand the controversial iss

education. It also helps their dialectical and critical thi

considered to be the highest stage of adult develop

Islamic sociology deals with social and community issu

sidered to be the duty of every individual to participa

and improve societal life.

Part IV of the book presents transformative inquirytwo chapters. After outlining the theoretical basis

worldview the Islamic paradigm and Islamic epist

part addresses the goal of providing practical methods

for university students to implement ideas presented i

i f th t ti Ch t 8 T f

wholeness and holiness in educatxxvi


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theory of dissipative structures explains irreversible

nature: the movement toward higher and higher orders of l

sented in this context because it explains the mystery o

mation and its ability to offer a scientific model of transfo

every level, making it relevant to everyday life. The theory

tive structures is explained in detail in Chapter 8 to show i

to transformation and production of Islamic knowledge

what makes any research method Islamic is not only t

but also the Islamic paradigm used to guide the research an

the data.

The combination of transformative methodology and

paradigm as a means of interpreting and analyzing the data mmethods suitable for the production of Islamic knowledge

nology, hermeneutics, heuristics, and narrative inquiry ar

as alternative research methods that can help students and

in studying major sensitive issues, both holistically and me

Phenomenology and hermeneutics can be used for socio

cultural issues, but one needs a more holistic perspective,

phenomena and requiring participants to reveal their stori

struct meaning from their experiences. Thus heuristic an

approaches lend themselves more easily to personal and int

riences, and so stories of the soul and the heart can b

The intimate relationship between the researcher and the

under study transforms all parties to higher and deeper le

importantly, during the transformation, researchers becom

controversial and contradictory issues and gradually realize

ness and oneness of the macrocosm and the microcosm.As chapter 8 deals with methodological issues from the

of research and knowledge production, so chapter 9 deals w

dological issues from a teaching/learning perspective and

knowledge acquisition. For a student to be able to think

h h t b t i d d i d ith th d th t



26/27

Methods that are suggested here are dialectical thinking

meditation, conversation, and dialogue.

The first approach is dialectical and creative thinkin

students to develop their intellectual abilities and thus

lectual connectedness. Simply put, it will establish

connection. In their educational experience, some stud

countries feel a spiritual vacuum that needs to be addres

fulfill the mission of wholeness. Students are disconne

inner selves. Second, prayers, reflection, and meditatio

with as worshiping rituals and therapeutic methods for

dents with their inner selves. Spiritual connectedness c

by this so that she or he becomes a whole person. It musthat no clear-cut division exists between the various h

The categorization here is to clarify the ideas of connect

ences, and the inner self. The third approach in the pro

students with their inner selves and their surrounding

understanding of others by hermeneutic methods, as b

In this way, communication and dialogue are establish

viduals in society, between parents and children, betwe

students, and so on. This will help students to unify the

society and encourage communication. In this process,

son is connected with a unified society.

wholeness and holiness in educatxxviii


27/27

the international institute

of islamic thought

ISBN 1-56564-280-5

critically examining the western, secular approachto formal education the author contests the value of an education

system focusing solely on the intellectual and physical aspects of

human development. The methodological aim and structure of this

approach are compared to those of Islam which Dr.Al Zeera notes

gives credence to the importance of spiritual and religious factors, aswell as scholarly ones, with the overall objective of forming a whole

and holy human being who, instead of resisting the paradoxes of life,

uses their interrelatedness as a means of personal and societal

development. One interesting factor examined within the broader

framework of the study is the area of female spirituality,an element,

which the author argues, is vastly under-represented in prevalent

Islamic literature.

This study is a holistic view of knowledge and a sociological

discussion adopting an unconventional approach of using theauthors own personal experiences as the basis for debate and

analysis. We are invited to enter the world of understanding and

observation to experience for ourselves an unusual approach to

dialectical thinking.

dr. zahra al zeera is Director of the Oriental Printing andPublishing Groups,Manama, Bahrain. She was former Visiting Prof-

essor in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada, and has

contributed a number of articles in journals.

Preamble Wholeness v3

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