Historically, the dissemination of knowledge held a prominent place across the breadth of Islamic civilisation. The emphasis on education found in the Qur’an and Hadith is fundamentally premised on the seeking and imparting of knowledge. The Qur’an, Islam’s primary source of knowledge, contains many imperatives on the topic (for example Qur’an 96:1–5; 76:10; 39:9; and 20:114). The Hadith, Islam’s secondary source, is equally replete with instructions and maxims about the value of knowledge , its teaching and imparting. A few examples will suffice to elucidate the point. The Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of God upon him) said, ‘Envy is permitted only in two cases: A person whom God gives wealth, and he/she disposes of it rightfully, and a person to whom God gives knowledge which he/she applies and teaches it’. Moreover, ‘God makes the way to paradise easy for one who treads the path in search of knowledge ’.¹

The emphasis on seeking and imparting knowledge was a significant impetus for the rise of an Islamic civilisation known for its love and pursuit of knowledge . This motivation allowed it to appropriate the knowledge of ancient (‘ulum al-‘awa‘il) civilisations, such as those of the Greeks and the Indians, and spend almost three hundred years translating it into classical Arabic , and subsequently editing and adding to it significantly. The translation movement, perhaps one of the most powerful yet overlooked intellectual movements in history, masterfully rendered the ancient texts into accessible scholarly works that influenced the course of history.

A direct consequence of this immense outpouring of knowledge was the establishment of educational institutions capable of absorbing and disseminating it. Hence, the first universities in the world were established in Morocco (859 ce) and Egypt (970 ce), in addition to thousands of maktab (Kutab) and madrasas (plural of madrasa), where various branches of knowledge were taught. These educational institutions were sophisticated, structured and had their own intelligible logic. The result was a universal, cosmopolitan and highly sophisticated educational system that influenced the East and the West alike.

This rich heritage of Islamic education provides tremendous motivation for contemporary Islamic education proponents and practitioners. After disruption and stagnation resulting in an oft-recognised malaise, Islamic education as a field of study is enjoying a revival of sorts. At the same time, waves of migration have seen increased numbers of Muslims living in ‘Western’ contexts , a by-product of the colonial period and the current era of modern imperialism affecting Muslim-majority countries. As these new waves of Muslim peoples have settled and matured among long-standing local Muslim communities in Western contexts, the desire to educate their children and young people in ways that honour their religious, cultural and linguistic traditions has inspired the founding of Islamic schools in the West.² This book is therefore a timely contribution for educators, academics and students. This book brings forward an international collaboration of leading scholars, academics and educationalists as they expound on the theme of renewal of Islamic schools in the West.

The following Prophetic dictum beautifully captures the essence of renewal : ‘Faith wears out in your heart as clothes wear out, so ask God to renew the faith in your hearts.’³ This narration calls for people to renew their faith in their hearts, cautioning that faith wears out as clothes wear out. When extended beyond faith at the personal level, this narration also captures the essence of renewal in Islamic schools in both Western and non-Western contexts. Islamic schools , having to negotiate change in context , have arguably inspired Muslim communities locally, regionally and globally to renew their connections with their educational tradition. In this book, we argue for a renewal , not a reformation , of Islamic schools .

Renewal is not a ‘reformation ’ nor an effort to impose an imagined ideal past model on the present.⁴ We do not call for ‘reform’ because the label is ‘redolent of a well-articulated political and ideological position that inherently assumes [the Islamic tradition] contains deficiencies that need correction and modernizing rectification’ (Hallaq 2007). As summarised succinctly by Professor Wael Hallaq (2007):

‘Reform’ thus clearly insinuates not only a transition from the pre-modern to the modern, but also passes an un-appealable verdict on an entire [Islamic] history and a legal culture that is perennially wanting and thus deserving of displacement, and—no less—eradication, from memory and the material world, respectively. If the study of ‘reform’—as a field of academic endeavour—is thus engulfed by these ideological associations, then the scholarly trajectory and agenda can safely be said to have been predetermined.⁵

Instead, for us, renewal is a recognition that a robust heritage of education has been inspired and shaped within the Islamic tradition. It is a recognition that Islam offers an ideal theory for education, the gap being its translation into practice.⁶ Renewal is also an expression of gratitude for the tradition, and gratitude for the pioneers, in Islamic schools specifically, and Islamic education generally, in the Western context .

This book argues that Islamic schools in Western contexts have negotiated the establishment phase and must next embrace a period of renewal. Renewal relates to a purposeful synthesis of tradition with contemporary educational practice and greater emphasis on empirical research to substantiate best practices in Islamic schools . This renewal must reflect teaching and learning practices consistent with an Islamic worldview , an Islamic vision of education and appropriate pedagogy, and thereby inform all aspects of the school including character education , classroom management models and relevant and contextual Islamic and Arabic studies . This book hopes to include the reader in the conversation and acquaint them with the contemporary challenges and opportunities facing Islamic schools in the Western context .