Pedagogy, Power, and Discourse: Transformation of Islamic Education

The Islamic Quarterly, 2016

The purpose of this article is to put into context the contemporary Muslim educational discourse, especially the concept of the Islamization of knowledge by reference to the previous Muslim educational debates. Tracing back to the roots of the discourse is intended not to validate a particular approach, but to shed light on the socio-historic landscape that played a significant role in shaping the past and present discourse on Islamic education. Inasmuch as interest in Islamic education has led Muslim scholars and intellectuals to produce a large body of literature, in order to have a bigger picture of colonial and post-colonial Muslim discourse on education the works of some prominent scholars who participated in the discourse of Islamic education have been chosen. The analysis on different Islamic educational trends identifies some of the resemblances and divergences between the past and the present.

POWER AND KNOWLEDGE: FOUCAULT'S DISCOURSE ON REGULATION AND RESISTANCES , 2024

Michel Foucault's exploration of power and knowledge is central to his philosophical framework. He argued that power is not simply a negative or repressive force but rather something that permeates all levels of society and is productive in nature. Foucault introduced the concept of "discourse" as systems of thought that produce knowledge and regulate social practices. Discourses are not just ways of speaking or writing but mechanisms through which power operates. They define what is considered true or false, normal or abnormal, thus shaping social norms and behaviours. Foucault's conception of power and knowledge offers a nuanced understanding of how social control operates through discourses and institutional practices, while also providing insights into strategies of resistance and the complexities of individual agency within power structures. His work like The Archaeology of Knowledge and Madness and Civilization continue to influence fields ranging from sociology and political theory to cultural studies and beyond. Discourses regulate knowledge by determining what counts as knowledge in a given context. They establish the boundaries of acceptable knowledge and exclude alternative perspectives or forms of knowledge. For example, scientific discourse defines what counts as valid scientific knowledge and excludes non-scientific ways of understanding the world. Foucault’s concept of discourse challenges to rethink how knowledge is produced, how power operates through knowledge, and how individuals are constituted within these processes. Foucault’s analysis of discourse encourages critical reflection on how knowledge and power are intertwined.

in Laura Cremonesi et al., "Foucault and the Making of Subjects" (London: Rowman & Littlefield), 2016

In this chapter, I explore the rich and complex articulation between two of the main projects that characterise Michel Foucault’s work in the 1970s and the 1980s: on the one side, the project of a history of truth and, on the other, the project of a genealogy of the modern (Western) subject. From this perspective, the year 1980 is to be considered a crucial turning point, since it is in his lectures at the Collège de France, On the Government of the Living, as well as in those at the University of California, Berkeley and Dartmouth College, About the Beginning of the Hermeneutics of the Self, that Foucault explicitly connects and articulates in an original way these two projects. After addressing the meaning and ethico-political value of Foucault’s history of truth, focusing above all on the shape it takes in 1980—namely, a genealogy of a series of ‘regimes of truth’ in Western societies—I offer an analysis of the related project of a genealogy of the modern (Western) subject and more precisely of Foucault’s account of the processes of subjection (assujettissement) and subjectivation (subjectivation) within the Christian and the modern Western regimes of truth. I eventually argue that the essential political and moral issue that Foucault raises is not whether the subject is autonomous or not, but rather whether he or she is willing to become a subject of critique by opposing the governmental mechanisms of power which try to govern him or her within our contemporary regime of truth and striving to invent new ways of living and being.

Islamization: Reforming Contemporary Knowledge (Occasional Paper 6)‎, 1994

This book is an attempt to recapture the original vitality, which was ever concomitant with the high ‎moral code of Islam – in order to address the amazingly complex, intertwined and fluxional aspects of ‎modern life. Emphasized throughout the book is the need for reform and redefinition in areas like ijma’, ‎ifta’ and qiyas. This is also extended to such concepts as reason, knowledge, and education in relation ‎to divine revelation. Fashionable and borrowed concepts like democracy and sovereignty are examined ‎in the context of a considered Islamization of one discipline- that of a political science.‎

This article aims to generate a debate within Muslim scholarship and comparative educators to engage in analysing both the historical institutions and the philosophy of education in Islam, to understand its present challenges, and to create an environment conducive to dialogue between various civilizations and educational systems. At present Muslim parents, teachers and students in contemporary educational systems face a big challenge. On one hand, a modified system of Western education is likely to leave Muslim children exposed to a set of underlying secular values and assumptions which are alien to the spirit of Islam, but on the other hand, old style Muslim schools seem unable to prepare children adequately for the needs of the modern world or to help them take part in the scientific, technological and economic progress (Halstead, 1995). At the core of this issue lies the lack of knowledge of both Western educators and contemporary Muslim theorists regarding the rich tradition of education and scholarship in Islam that ensured the coexistence of the religious and the secular through dialogue with other traditions.

The Journal of Asian Studies, 1995

The British Journal of Sociology, 2006

IJIIS (Indonesian Journal of Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies), 2018

Southeast Asian Journal of Islamic Education, 2023

The paper analyzed Ismail Raji al-Faruqi's (1921-1986) ideas on Islamic education and its significant impact on the Islamic world. It set forth to discusses the ideas of Islamization of knowledge (IOK) as envisaged by al-Faruqi through his works such as Islamization of Knowledge: General Principles and Work Plan, and Al-Tawhid: Its Implications for Thought and Life, which has contributed to a momentous breakthrough in Muslim education through its progressive and inclusive outlook and consciousness and vision of tawhid. The study was conducted based on library research. It qualitatively documented material and sources from significant works of al-Faruqi in archives, journals, magazines, books, transcripts, and other related materials. The data were analyzed using descriptive, analytical, and comparative methods. The study concluded that al-Faruqi has brought forth a universal Islamic worldview that propounded a transcendental religious and philosophical outlook based on his rational and universal ideal and standpoint. His philosophical ideal was founded on the critical methodology of tawhid that was instrumental in projecting his Islamization of knowledge project and propounding its scientific and rational outlook that aspires to revive the spirit of reform and reconstruct ijtihad and reclaim the creative and universal religious spirit and moral dynamics of the ummah. Al-Faruqi's contribution to the advancement of Islamic Education includes outlining the systemic and comprehensive principles and framework of the Islamization of Knowledge in education, social sciences, and the English language.

Qualitative Research Review, 2021

Considering the issue of power in Foucault will always lead to comments on the issue of knowledge and vice versa. What I suggest in this paper, however, is to look into both topics presented in the work by Foucault separately, at least to a certain extent. I believe that the evolution of these two threads in his works allows us to evaluate their suitability differently as far as their relevance to contemporary culture is concerned. Foucault's approach to the issue of power and its evolution towards so-called governmentality is evidence of how accurately he sensed the direction of changes to the Zeitgeist of Western civilizations, a fact which cannot be said about the evolution of Foucault's approach to the issue of knowledge, leaning towards the question of truth and truth-telling. The aim of this paper is to substantiate the outlined and differentiated evaluation of Foucault's oeuvre while, at the same time, highlighting the predominant features of contemporary culture. Special attention will be paid to the role of sociology in governmentality.