Education Without Moral Training And Our Social Decline
By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
29 April 2024
We Have Shown In This Article
How Poor Our Education System Is And How, Despite The Existence Of Some
Educational Institutions, They Are Morally Deficient. A Nation Needs Moral
Instruction In Addition To Education For Its Development.
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Moral training is more effective than education. If moral
training teaches the constructive use of consciousness, then education creates
consciousness in individuals. If education fosters introspection, the ability
to discern right from wrong, and the ability to ask questions, then moral
education fosters the ability to respond with civility and manners. Put simply,
if people with education constitute a society, then people with training form
an organised, civilised society. It is a historical fact that Muslims have lagged
behind other nations in many areas of education, despite historical records
attesting to their significant contribution to the advancement of science and
knowledge.
In terms of educational institutions, Muslim scholars built
madrasas but ignored schools and colleges; those who achieved success after
attending school had a duty to contribute to the establishment of a quality
school. However, it appears that they are not particularly interested in
humanitarian endeavours; instead, after attaining success in their own right,
they are preoccupied with leading affluent private lives and give little
attention to improving the state of education for the citizens of their nation.
This explains why our education graph is so low, and why the moral training
graph appears to be declining in areas with educational institutions.
These days, I wonder why some Muslims hold Ulama responsible
for all of their misfortunes. With the possible exception of a few noteworthy
institutions like Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, let us
assume that their primary concentration was on the construction of madrasas
rather than schools, colleges, or universities for modern studies. However,
given that the majority of Muslims are graduates of modern sciences, why did
they not take up the task of founding modern studies schools and colleges?
The second tragedy is that, while we are beginning to pay
attention to raising the literacy rate, we are utterly ignoring the components
of moral education.
Girls' education was not given much priority in our society
until a few years ago. We attended to their education when circumstances
required it, but moral education is still lacking in this instance.
Home is seen as the primary educational setting, followed by
school and finally higher education, where Muslims have a far lower literacy
rate than adherents of other religions. Parents who possess the valuable tools
of education and training can educate and train their children on their own.
Even now, children in households where some degree of training is being done
will exhibit better morals and manners. But all in all, the training centre has
been dismantled as an institution. A primary cause of this is insufficient
education and training.
The acquisition of education and moral training go hand in
hand, according to the Qur'an and Hadith. The Holy Quran makes numerous
references to the need to contemplate the cosmos and learn about its sciences.
The first revelation of the Qur'an commands us to acquire knowledge and moral
instruction. As a result, it's critical to emphasise the value and use of
education while also concentrating on the moral education of children today.
There can be no success without education and no education
without moral instruction. When we look at the educational shortcomings of
Muslim society, we find that our children are extremely lacking in both
religious and modern education. For this reason, parents and guardians must put
more effort into education than nutrition.
Education is useless without moral guidance. The renowned
work "Muqadama Ibn Khaldun" by Allama Ibn Khaldun, the
renowned Islamic philosopher and historian, states that "a nation with bad
morals declines whereas the people who reach the heights of development in the
world always possess good morals."
The historical narratives provide witness to the devastation
and ruin experienced by the nations subjected to moral degeneration. Despite
reading these tales, people do not take anything away from them. Although our
people are trained to learn words, they do not learn how to respect them. Their
interest in raising their consciousness is non-existent. Because of this,
people nowadays appear to be in a state of disconnection from social morality
and respect. There are camps of egotism, agitation, negligence, and poor
manners everywhere. Social norms are being disregarded, and self-interest has
become so ingrained that it has made it so that people dislike one another.
The same is true of institutions that operate behind
religious guises and promote a culture of discord everywhere. Anger among
Muslims has increased, backbiting is rampant, and all of the energy is being
expended on meaningless arguments. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) defined a Muslim as "one from whose tongue and hand other
Muslims are safe."
The beauty of any civilization undoubtedly lies in its
capacity to uphold decency, justice, patience, and moderation. In the absence
of them, extremism, irresponsibility, fear, intolerance, and lawlessness
flourish, and this is the environment we currently observe.
We have forgotten that we belong to the Ummah of the
greatest Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who lived a morally upright
life, upheld justice and equity, dedicated his time to teaching humanity as a
whole, and raised his hands in prayer for his enemies even after he had been
brutally attacked in Taif. It's a space to reflect on why we behave in such an
uncivilised manner. What are the contributing causes weakening the foundation
of our society? The reason is obvious: intolerance naturally develops when
there is a lack of knowledge and training. Putting equal emphasis on moral
training and education is the only way to reverse the current social
degradation.
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Kaniz
Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/education-moral-social-decline/d/132223