'Cognitio singularium non perficit intellectum' (St. Thomas)
Yes, this is charity money that finds its way to these schools, instead of teaching 'fusion of cultures' these schools if one can call them so produce people who think that they are the holders of ultimate truth and 'pax Islamia' becomes the objective.
I think that the government does not collect money however 'Zakat' is one of the five pillars on which Islam rests. 'Zakat' a religious obligation on every Muslim instituted to help the poor and sick within the society is at the root of this flow of money where religious schools turn out the biggest beneficiaries of 'zakat. To expect that Saudis or Gulf countries will stop 'zakat' is not possible but usage of ' Zakat' for proper education and redesigning the syllabus of these religious seminaries is a global challenge. To show their enmity towards women, the Taliban had converted girls schools into religious seminaries, and had posted their own signs in the place of the names of schools. They, however, have forgotten that the medieval age is gone and sooner or later women will retain this very basic right.
The recent changes in Kabul is also a dawn for new age for women, nearly 50,000 girls have started attending schools and by 2003 nearly 250,000 will be in schools in Kabul alone, sadly enough Saudi money does not goes to these schools, the Saudi money was willing to support seminaries that are absolutely medieval but schools that impart modern knowledge as first step of cultural literacy are avoided like plague by the supporters of religious zeal. Islamic world did not produce like of Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas the Practical Men of theology.
Within the Islamic seminaries ‘reason needs to be applied to revelation,’ defending, systematizing, explaining and developing the mysteries of faith. Averroes, the son of an Arabian physician, was born at Cordova, in the beginning of the twelfth century is the most illustrious representative of the Moorish school of philosophy, and was remarkably well versed in grammar, medicine, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology. He is best known as the great "Commentator" on the works of Aristotle perhaps but philosophical enquiry in faith was considered as heretic and Imam Ghazali wrote a famous book that killed intellectual enquiry within Islam the dialogue with reason never really happened as it was in case of Christianity.
He wrote that ‘we sought after knowledge for other than Allah’s sake, but He refused that it be for anything other than Him.’ He further expended that to counsel others is an easy matter, the difficulty is accepting advice since it is bitter for those who follow their own inclination and desire. They love the forbidden from the depth of their hearts. This is more applicable to seekers of knowledge and students of learning, those of them who are busy with the benefits of this world. They believe that mere abstract knowledge, without proper action, will rescue them. This is the belief of the philosophers. Praise and Glory be to Allah, the Greatest of all. They do not know this much, that when they acquire knowledge, if they do not work according to it, the indictment against them is certain.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said "The person most severely punished on the Day of Judgment is the learned one who did not follow Allah's guidance and did not benefit from his knowledge" The fear and regimented thinking encouraged by Imams led to the present situation of the Islamic world it has been left behind in the race to the top. It was 13th century where the real break was made by the Christian clergy to see reason in faith, whereas writ of Allah became law of Islam in the Christian orders the search of truth continued..
As Jacque Martin puts it < 'in the thirteenth century the human race attained the summit of intellectual greatness." Before that time Plato and Aristotle had carried human reason as high as unaided reason could go; but they were pagans and, great as they undoubtedly were, they made many mistakes. The study of their works will convince any candid mind of a truth which was defined by the Vatican Council, viz., that revelation is necessary for the human race in its present condition, in order that even those truths about things divine which of themselves are not beyond reason may be known in a short time, by all, with certitude and without error.
In the thirteenth century intellectual progress, under the guidance of faith, had reached that point where it could be said with truth: "Reason could go no higher; faith could not receive more numerous or stronger arguments from reason to explain and defend her dogmas." This perfection was attained only after St. Thomas had lived and had written his immortal Summa. This is the great accomplishment which, according to Leo XIII, made St. Thomas the prince of all Christian philosophers. Towards this object were directed, under the the guidance of Providence, the mightly efforts made in those times for the progress of mankind in all branches of knowledge. Paris, Bologna, Padua, Toulouse, Montpelier, Bordeaux, Siena, Bourges, Orleans, Salamanca, Valladolid, Vienna, Heidelberg, Cologne, Oxford, and Cambridge -- to say nothing of less important places -- are indebted for their universities and for their renown as seats of learning to that grand movement of intellectual activity which was at its height in the thirteenth century, and which continued in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so that, before the period of the Reformation, sixty-six such institutions had been founded in various European countries.
The world was progressing rapidly. Man is naturally inquisitive, anxious to know; hence there has always been an effort to establish schools and to perfect methods of training young minds. The history of these schools in various countries, from the birth of Christianity, when St. Mark established the first Christian school in Alexandria down to our own times, forms one of the brightest and most interesting pages in the history of the Catholic Church.
In the thirteenth century men were no longer satisfied with the old Christian schools and seminaries. For years the Trivium, i.e., grammar, logic, and rhetoric, had formed the standard of perfection for the ordinary schools, whilst the higher schools taught the Quadrivium, which embraced arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. To these was added in the episcopal seminaries a practical training in chant and the liturgy, together with the study of the Scriptures. Cognitio singularium non perficit intellectum, is a principle laid down by St. Thomas.’>
Unless the Islamic world goes through some similar kind of religious reformation or reawakening they have a serious problem at hand, that of a serious dialogue between reason, science and faith. There has to be total conformity of faith with logic, reason and science. Fatih and reason goes hand in hand. The best they can do it to secularise their curriculum with needs of present day. Al-Azhar is a great Islamic University but has not benefited the global fountain on scale of more open European institutions that owe their origin to 13th century renaissance of knowledge like even present day Paris, Bologna, Padua, Toulouse, Montpelier, Bordeaux, Siena, Bourges, Orleans, Salamanca, Valladolid, Vienna, Heidelberg, Cologne, Oxford, and Cambridge. Although the effort in the thirteenth century was to Christianize philosophy and to systemize theology. The was the life work of St. Thomas, whom Cardinal Bessarion called "the most saintly of learned men and the most learned of the saints." helped achieve theology developing with knowledge, it was philosophy and science that played a far greater role to modernise Christianity, in Islam ‘philosophy and science became subservient to Allah in Christianity due to efforts of the likes of St. Thomas, Christianity took an entirely different trajectory of progress. Luckily for mankind, the seminaries of Christianity became the Oxford and Cambridge of today. |
