By Shahfizal Musa
Pix by Courtesy of IKRAB
BANGI, 15 Mar. 2012- Muslim countries need to develop their own higher education blueprint based on Islamic values as the present curriculum adopted from the west has failed to cultivate an upright and virtuous society.
Adjunct Professor Dato’ Dr Abang Abdullah Abang Ali said current education system at the tertiary level such as in the west has also failed to produce graduates who are not only knowledgeable and skillful but imbued with high moral values.
He was giving a public lecture on “Higher Education in Islamic Countries: at a crossroad?” organised by Institute of West Region Studies (IKRAB), to highlight the need for change in higher education in Muslim dominated countries.
Prof Abang Abdullah is a professor with the Housing Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering Universiti Putra Malaysia. He is also an advisor to the proposed King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia and an honorary member of the Kazakhtan Engineering Academy.
He said Muslim countries realised there was a conflict of values promoted in the west against what Islam upholds. Though the conflict on values promoted in the west and Islam is striking enough, there was still a lack of commitment in Muslim countries to bring about change to conform to Islamic norms.
He said based on current realities if a system is not able to produce the result that is wanted it will also not be capable of meeting the objectives set.
Prof Abang Abdullah said the west’s education system has been adopted by Muslim countries ever since the fall of the Islamic Caliphate. Yet that system has not been able to provide a foundation for a stable civilization.
Capitalism is the master in the west, trampling everything that gets in its way. As result, there was now not only a yawning gap between the rich and poor, but morals are deteriorating, their economies are in turmoil and environmental pollution getting worse. Those are just a few of a long list of problems that beset the west, he said.
Capitalism only upholds profits and personal gains giving the arms industry, the fuel of the western economy as an example of excesses that comes with the system. The merchants of war sell their products to the world including Muslim countries which also buy the weapons only to sometimes use them to kill other Muslims, he said.
Prof Abang Abdullah recalled that attempts to shift Islamic higher education system from western approach were made in 1977 when the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) adopted such a resolution.
The matter was again discussed in a forum of Vice Chancellors and Presidents of Islamic Universities in 2010 without instituting a plan of action for its implementation. The result was merely the setting up of two institutions of higher learning; the International Islamic University Malaysia and Institute of Technology Bangladesh.
These attempts were mere cosmetic changes to the structural defects that needed to be overhauled.
Prof Abang Abdullah said it was now critical for Muslim countries to make the changes otherwise they will face the same fate as the west.
Thus a new comprehensive and integrated plan for higher learning for Islamic countries have to be drafted. The education system to be adopted should be based on the Quran and Sunnah and be provided free with the budget supported by money from Zakat and Wakaf.
There has also to be proper selection of students and teaching staff. They should not be judged purely on their academic qualifications as their characters also needed to be given due consideration.
He said Muslim countries need to have the political will to develop their higher learning institutions based on Islam that is also relevant to the needs of the industry.
Present at the lecture was Director of IKRAB, Prof Dr Siti Rugayah Tibek; Director of the Centre for Corporate Planning and Leadership UKM, Prof Dr Noor Inayah Yaa’kub; Prof Dr Mohd Safar Hasim, the Principal Fellow of IKRAB, students and lecturers.
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