Syed Ali Ashraf's thoughts and contribution to the Islamisation of education

Abstract

This study examines the ideas and philosophy of Syed Ali Ashraf (1925-1998), a prominent Bangladeshi scholar, educationist and philosopher who had played a significant role in the conceptualization of the practice of Islamisation of education in the Muslim world. It outlines his biography and the background which had an influence in his future life. It examines his role and contribution to the organization of the First World Conference on Muslim Education (FWCOME) in Makkah in 1977 that is regarded as one of the five (5), a watershed in the contemporary Muslim education. He was crucial dent of organization of subsequent World Conferences on Muslim Education. He contributed as a thinker, scholar, author, academician, policy-maker, and as a high authority in the field of education. But his name and works have not been fully discussed and given due recognition. His views and thoughts on the crisis in Muslim education, his ideas on resolving the crisis through the programme of Islamisation of education were then analyzed. This study is the employed historical and analytical research methods with documents analysis (qualitative in nature). The historical method employed literature and text analysis of both primary and secondary sources. It also employed the descriptive and interpretive methods. The study was able to show that Ali Ashraf succeeded in providing a theoretical and practical framework for Islamic higher education and its policies. He had a deep metaphysical foundation of Islamic education, and conceptualized the Islamic approach to history and civilization, literature, art and culture. The study draws attention to the core issues of Islamic education, which focuses on adding one or two religious subjects to the curriculum per se, but to the restructuring of the whole system of Islamic education based on the principles enshrined in the Qur’an and Sunnah. The study recommends the urgent need for the revival of the World Center for Islamic Education (WCIE), the rejuvenation of the academic journal, Muslim Education Quarterly and a few of his other successful higher educational models such as Darul Ihsan University. Finally, this research acknowledges Ali Ashraf’s distinguished efforts across universities and various research centres in the world and, in particular, for being instrumental in the birth of a new generation of Muslim scholars, academics and researchers around the Muslim world, and hopes that the rest of the Muslim world would also give due recognition to for his efforts.