UMMATIC PARADIGM OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION
JUNAIDI
A lecturer at STAIN
Zawiyah Cot Kala Langsa
(junaidi_al_baghdadi@yahoo.com)
Abstract
Tulisan ini adalah untuk menganalisis konsep
psikologi barat yang telah mendominasi ratusan tahun terakhir oleh tiga
paradigma utama dalam psikologi: psikoanalisis, behaviorisme dan humanisme yang
tidak mengarah pada pemahaman yang lebih baik dari sifat manusia. Gagasan
paradigma ummatic psikologi mencoba untuk mengembalikan unsur-unsur spiritual
dengan dasar materialistik, ateistik dan sekularisme pendidikan dengan
mempertimbangkan Ruh atau jiwa dalam seluruh aspek sistem pendidikan dengan
referensi khusus kepada Al-Quran.
Keywords
: Ummatic, psychology, education
Introduction
Psychology is the study of human
behavior in its observable and unobservable dimensions.[1]
Nevertheless, when we define the word ‘psychology’ based on the Greek word psyche,
meaning “soul” or “spirit”, therefore, psychology means study of the
soul. However it is now anything but, and indeed the idea of a soul or
spiritual nature are not even acknowledged in mainstream psychology. The
attitude of rejecting the spiritual can be traced to the implicit assumptions
of Western psychology rooted in secularism. In order to gain a deeper
understanding of human nature, Western psychological theories have tended to
focus only on one aspect of the self, e.g. psychoanalysis focuses on the unconscious, humanism focuses on the
values and self-actualization, and behaviorism focuses on stimulus situation
and overt response, No doubt, important insights have been gained, yet no model
is truly comprehensive in itself.
This is why,
it is very important that Muslims define and develop Islamic psychology based
on the Qur’an , which Muslims regard as the most reliable source of knowledge
possible, as it is from Allah who created us and therefore He knows absolutely
everything about us.
Thus,
the main concern of this paper is to restore the spiritual element to the
present materialistic, atheistic, and secular basis of education, (with special
reference to psychology) or to foster the consideration of the Ruh or soul in understanding human
behavior. It was found that for psychology, the starting point would be a
comparison between the conceptions of human nature in western psychology
represented by three main
system, i.e., psychoanalysis,
behaviorism and humanistic psychology on one hand and the Islamic
conception of human nature on the other.
The main difference is that in Islamic perspective of psychology the spirit (ruh) is very fundamental, and for some
other it is completely ignored.
Defenition of Ummatic Psychology
The term Ummatic,
derived from the Arabic word Ummah, exclusively refer to Muslim community or Islamic society.
Allah said:
“ And There may spring from you a community (ummah) who invite to goodness,
and enjoin good conduct and forbid indecency. Such are they who are successful”[2]
“ Ye are The
best Community
(ummah) that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right
conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah. And if the People of the Scripture had believed
it had been better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are
evil-livers”[3]
According
to Al-Faruqi as cited in Hasan[4]
the term “ummah” is not translatable
and must be taken in its original Islamic Arabic from. The “ummah” is a universal society whose membership
includes the widest possible variety
of ethnicities or communities, but whose commitment to Islam binds them to a
specific social order. It's territory is not only the whole earth, but all of
creation. Its trans-racial and regard all humanity as its actual or potential
members.
The
ummah is the social order of Islam,
and the movement that seeks to actualize its goals is called ummmatism. The ummatization and
ummaticness of psychology is to make it relevant to the soul of the ummah. The
social order of Islam, therefore, is universal, enveloping the whole of mankind
without exception. The ummah is meant
to serve as a witness to the concretization of the Divine Message as expounded
in the Qur’an or, in particular, the operationalization of both worship and
amanah.
The ummah, therefore, is the uniting force
among the diverse paradigms and communities within the Muslim community. Since
humanity’s vicegerency is necessarily social, the sciences that study it should
properly be called ummatic. By ummatic psychology we mean the social
order of Islam, the term can be used instead of Islamic psychology. This ummatic model provides for resolving
disputes among scientific communities (such as psychologist) within the ummah. The ummatic psychologist should
be able to understand both the great tradition of the past and the present
dynamic modern thought, and consider all of the process and evolution between
them so as to make the past living, active, and effective.[5]
Secularization of Psychology
The
reason for this actually lies in the Renaissance period of Western history many
centuries ago, when the church was seen to be an obstacle to scientific ad
advancement. The ideas of philosophers and scientists which were considered
contradictory to Christian teaching were banned from publication and discussion
by the church. Some of them were labeled a heretic by the church and placed
under house arrest.
But
ultimately, science was victorious over the church because the evidence of its
rational observation and experimentation just become too compelling. As a
consequence, all religion became associated with being backward, superstitious,
and regressive, and so secularism-which was a rejection of religion-became
associated with being rational, liberated and progressive. Even hundreds of
years after the conflict between church and science, the effect on the Western psyche
is still very apparent.[6]
It
is important to give this historical perspective as it helps us to understand
why it is so difficult to find any religious or spiritual elements in western
psychology nowadays (i,e., psychoanalysis, behaviorism and humanistic
psychology). As we can see, these three paradigms are product of Western materialistic,
atheistic and secularist way of conceptualizing human being.
Psychoanalysis Model of Human Nature
The
psychoanalysis school of psychology was the first school that established
itself in the West. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the founding father of psychoanalysis.
This school of psychology was dominant in the west before behaviorism and humanistic
psychology came as a challenge to it.[7]
Freud’s
assumption on human nature may be summarized in the following five points:
v
Human actions are caused by mental states;
v
The most important mental determents of
individual action are unconscious;
v
Human personality consists of three domains: id,
ego, and superego;
v
Human behavior can be explained by referring to
a few basic motives, most notably, the life instinct (eros), the death instinct (thanatos),
and the pleasure instinct (libido);
v
The experiences of infancy and early childhood
are very crucial in the process of character formation.[8]
Freud’s idea
on human nature is a very pessimistic and deterministic one. According to him
man is no more than an animal enslaved to his sexual impulses. His pessimistic
view on human nature is based on his assumption that man is evil and selfish by
nature. He also believed that the concept of human is a deterministic based on
his assumption that every human being is chained to the psycho-sexual
developments of live. As such he believed
that man has no freedom to get away from the shackles of his psycho-sexual development.[9] According
to Freud, the many individual instincts can all grouped under two major
motives/drives: the life, instinct, generally called Eros or sex, and the
death instinct, sometimes known as thanatos. The life instincts
represent all that is essential for man's survival on earth, like hunger,
thirsts and sex. All these instincts function themselves by using a form of
energy called libido. This term basically means sexual energy. The death
instincts are related to aggression and destruction. The aggression tendency is
present in everyone and is the explanation for wars, atrocities, religious
persecution, and murder, as well as malicious gossip, sarcasm, and humiliation.[10]
In
explaining the level of mental life, Freud divided it into three level: the unconscious, preconscious and conscious.
The unconscious level of mind contains all those drive, urges, or instincts
that are beyond our awareness, but that nevertheless motivate most of our
words, feelings and action. Although we may be conscious of our overt
behaviors, we often are not aware of the mental processes that lie behind them.
For example, a woman may know that she is attracted to a man but not fully
understand all the reasons for the attraction, some of which may even seem
irrational. To Freud the unconscious is the explanation for the meaning behind
dreams, slips of the tongue, hypnosis and neurotic symptoms.[11]
The
preconscious level of mind is a level where man can bring to his awareness when
he desires things and event that happened some time ago. And the conscious
level of mind is a state of man’s awareness of the things and events that are
happening around him.[12]
Freud
felt that the thing that people were aware (conscious) were just a small part
of personality. Most of personality is hidden in unconscious. Then during the
1920s, Freud’s explanation of personality says that there are actually three
separate parts to personality: the id,
ego, and superego. Each one plays a different role in determining people’s
behavior.[13]
It tries to
reduce immediately any tension that might arise in people. However, Freud
suggested that another part of the personality helps to restrain the id. He
called it the Ego.
Behaviorism model of Human Nature.
The behaviorist
school of psychology came to exist in the West at the same time as the
emergence of psychoanalysis. Among the great figures in this school of
psychology were Ivan Pavlov, J.B. Waston and B.F. Skinner.
Behaviorisms
or Skinner’s conception of human nature can be summarized as follows:
v
Human behavior is determined by external
conditions, hence, identical human conditions produce identical patterns
behavior;
v
Mental structures, such as invention or will,
are insignificant to understanding human behavior;
v
Therefore, the empirical study of human behavior
is the only scientific method for making inferences about human psychology.[14]
The behaviorism does not believe
in the innate knowledge possessed by man. According to them, man is nothing
more than a mechanical object that can be conditioned and programmed to do any
task. With the general assumption that behaviors of animals and man are
basically to outcome of learning experiences, they put great emphasizes on the
classical and operant-conditioning in producing any desired behavioral change.
They believe that any human behavior can be studied by taking man to the
laboratory for observation and experimentation, and they also presumed and
generalized results obtained from that experiments and studies on animals to be
similar on human being. Moreover the behaviorists believe that all human
behaviors can merely be explained in terms of stimulus-response reactions. In behaviorism,
man’s entire stimulus comes from the environment and nothing comes from man’s
inner self. Thus, environmental (external) factors are the dominant factors
that produce the different types of human personalities. Behaviorism also
believed that only science can enable man to understand the truth about nature
and also on human nature. By giving science the priority, they advocated that
the empirical study of human behavior will be the most appropriate way to
arrive at the theory of human nature.[15]
Humanism Model of Human Nature
Humanistic
psychology which came after psychoanalysis and behaviorism has often been
called the ‘Third Force’ in psychology. This school of psychology which
developed by Carl Rogers and Abraham H. Maslow, came into existence as a
movement was not happy with Freud’s concept of human nature that depicted man
as an animal full of sexual and aggressive energy. The humanism also disagrees
with idea of behaviorism which said that man is merely a mechanical being that
reacts to the stimulus that comes from the environment. On the contrary,
humanism presents a very optimistic and positive concept of human nature. They
believe that man is good intrinsically and can guide, regulate and control
himself towards a fully-functioning person and also towards self-actualization.
Humanism
conception of human nature can be summarized as follows;
v
Man is distinctly different from any other
creature. Man has abilities which animals do not have. He is capable to plan
for his life. This process of planning is a conscious intellectual process
based on his ability to remember what has taken place in the past, to perceive
what happens at the present, and hope for what is going to happen in the
future. Another unique characteristic of man which is not present in animals is
that, he is capable of creating, developing and also of recording and
transmitting cultural heritage from one generation to the other.
v
Man , by nature is free. His freedom demands
from his responsibility of the choice that he made.
v
Human beings grow and progress in life. Man
continuously grows and advances in life for better progress and improvements in
life to attain self-actualization.
v
All psychological data pertaining to the study
of man’s behavior, personality, motivation, ect. should be collected from
people who are psychologically well and also from those who experience life in
a happy and pleasant way, and not from people who suffer from psycho-pathological
illness.[16]
Even every school of psychology
has a different conception of human nature, as we can see these three paradigms
(psychoanalytic, behaviorist, and humanistic) have a similarity, that is they
are product of western materialistic, atheistic, and secularistic way of
conceptualizing human being. They can never furnish us with the complete system
of psychological ideas that can be meaningful. Each paradigm does not hold on
the totally of human beings but focuses only on certain dimension of mankind.
Each of them also neglects the spiritual relationship with the God, thus they
refuse to recognize the needs of man towards the God.
It
is for this reason that the development of an Islamic psychology or what we
called in this paper “Ummatic Psychology”
becomes imperative. The emergence of the Ummatic Psychology in the modern
psychology which we hope will resolve the problem of the separation of mind and
body as a basis for the conceptualization of human nature. But how do we
develop an alternative? Where should we start? Naturally, our point of
departure should be an examination of the conception of the human nature
according to the guidance of al-Qur’an and al-Sunnah.
Human Nature from an Ummatic Psychology Perspective
Amongst Allah’s
creations, only human being stand on the highest position and are considered as
special beings because of their individual uniqueness. Allah creates them in
the most beautiful and excellent manner, and breathes in spirit to enable them
to perform their duties as vicegerent of Allah.
Allah says:
“Surely We created man of the best stature”[17]
“We
have honored the sons of Adam, provided
them transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure;
and conferred on them special favors, above a great part of our creation”[18]
“So, when I have made him and have breathed into him of My spirit, do
ye fall down, prostarting yourselves unto him”[19]
According
to Abbas.[20] any
account of the nature of human nature, the mould in which humans are created,
cannot be fully appreciated without an understanding of the purpose of creation
and meaning of the present life. Allah SWT states in the Holy Qur’an:
“I have only created jinns and men that they
may serve Me.[21]
“And when thy Lord said unto the angels:Lo! I am about to place a
viceroy in the earth….” [22]
According to Islamic doctrine,
the purpose of man being created is to worship of Allah. Worship is not
confined to ritual prayers, but more than that. God endowed man with some
potentialities with reference to some of His Divine Qualities, which are
described in the Qur’an “the Most Beautiful Names / al-Asma’ al-Husna” , such as; the Merciful (al-Rahman), the Compassionate (al-Rahim),
the Knower (al-‘Alim) and the Creator
(al-Khaliq). Worship, in its most
general sense, means the development and exercice of these qualities in man in
accordance with God’ commandments and guidance. The Divine Qualities can only
be manifested in man in a limited and relative manner and are to be held as a
trust (amanah), that is, at most only
by someone who is a vicegerent on earth. In other word, man has the Divane
Qualities but they are manifested in a limited way because they are amanah, and he can only function as a
vicegerent on earth.[23]
However,
man is also prone to forgetfulness (nisyan)
which is the cause of disobedience to God and injustice to himself and others.
But God, having equipped people with the faculty to distinguish right from
wrong, has made man accountable to Him. Moreover by virtue of God’s bounty and
mercy, He has provided humanity with Prophets and divine revelation to warm man
of forgetfulness and to remind him of the right path.[24]
Thus, humans ware fashioned in the best of molds possible to suit the purpose
of their creation.
God
also has endowed human beings with the faculties of Self (Nafs), Spirit (Ruh),
Heart (Qalb), and Mind (Aql) by means of which they may be able
to understand divine revelation or
recognize the Creator.
1) The Nature of the Spirit (Ruh)
The word al-Ruh with all its different meaning has been stated in 25 places
in the whole Qur’an. According to Shaikh Fadhalla Haeri as cited in Moh Abbas[25]
the al-Ruh means spirit, and what it
generally implies is the breath of life, or the origin of life. It is derived
from the root ’rāha’, which means to
animate or revive, to inhale or breathe, also to leave or to go away. The
Qur’anic verses that are explaining its meaning as the life giving entity with
its relationship with the human body and soul are;
“ They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of
inspiration. Say: ‘The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: Of knowladge it
is only a little is communicated to you, (Omen!”)
“Behold!
Thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man, from sounding clay from
mud molded into shape; “When I have fashioned him (in due proportion)and breathed into
him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him” [26]
Hasan Langgulung[27] explained
the nature of the Ruh from
theological philosophy perspective. He classified the Ruh into non-material (mujarrad) beings. The non-material beings
are free from matter, movement, change and alteration. The complete domain of
non-material is called ”Alam-‘Amr” (The World of Command). In the World of
Command every being assumes existence spontaneously on exercise of Divine will or command, without need of
preparation of any material, temporal or spatial ground.
As God said in Surah Yasin:
“His Command, when He intends anything, is
only to say to it, ‘Be’ and it is”.[28]
On the other hand, Hasan
classified human body into material (maddi)
beings. The material beings are subject to motion, change and alteration. They
are bound by time and space. The complete domain of material is called “Alam al-Khalq” (The World of Creation).
In this world, the existence of material beings, in addition to its essential
possibility, depends on its possibility of preparedness. That means its
materialization can take place only under the presence of favorable conditions
and readiness of ground. We can see this process in the case of the development
of sperm into human being which happened in sequence or through stages, using
psychological jargon. As Allah mentioned in Surah al-Mu’minin;
“Then we made sperm into a clot of congealed
blood;then of that clot We made a (fetus)lump; then We made out of the lump
bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another
creature. So blessed be God, the best to Create” [29]
2) The Nature of Self (Nafs)
Al-Nafs means the powers of
anger and lust in a human being. This is usage mostly found among the Sufis,
who take nafs as the comprehensive
word for all the evil attributes of a person. That is why they say: one must
certainly do battle with nafs and
break it, as is referred to in the hadith:
“You worst enemy is your
nafs which lies between your flanks” (Narrated
by Moslem)
Al-Nafs also means the spirit, the human
being in reality, his self and his
person. However, it is described differently according to its different states;
“al-nafs al-ammara bi al-su’ “,”al-nafs
al-lawwama”,and”al-nafs al-mutma’innah. Al-nafs al-ammara bi al-su’ inclines
toward sensual pleasure, passion, impulsive gratification, anger, envy, greed
and conceit. This nafs pulls an
individual from the true guidance of Allah towards perversion and transgression
in life. The nature and evil inclination of this Nafs has been mentioned in the Qur’an in order that mankind can
protect and avert its evilness. Allah says;
I do not exculpate myself. Lo! The (human)
soul enjoined unto evil, save that whereon my Lord hath mercy. Lo! My Loard is
Forgiving, Merciful”.[30]
Al-nafs al-lawwamah is the nafs
that comes in between al-nafs
al-ammarah and al-nafs
al-mutma’innah. This nafs can be
best described as the self-blaming Allah
says;
“I do call to witness the Resurrection Day:
And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit”.[31]
It has been said that this kind
of nafs is the one which cannot rest
in any one state. It often changes and alters, remembers and forgets, submits
and evades, loves and hates, rejoices and becomes sad, accepts and rejects,
obeys and rebels. Al-hasan al-Basri said: “You
always see the believer reproaching himself and saying things like: ‘Did I want
this? Why did do that? Was this better than that?”
Hasan[32]
futher explains the nature and characteristic of the nafs al-lawwamah as “a state of constant awareness. It indicates Nafs in a state of change and flux,
always conscious and vigilant, costantly examining and scrutinizing its
actions, fighting against the baser desires, never heedless and sordid. This
constant contention is the first stage of al-nafs al-mutma’innah”.
Al-nafs al-mutma’innah is the end of the
psycho-spiritual journey or development of an individual. This nafs portrays the image of those who are
at peace with their salves, Allah the Almighty, nature and also with humanity
at large.[33] Allah
says;
“O (thou) soul, in complete rest and
satisfaction ! Come back thou to thy Lord-well pleased thy (self), and
well-pleasing unto Him! Enter thou, then among My Devotees! Yea, enter thou My
Heaven!”[34]
According to
Al Gazali Al-nafs al-mutma’innah is “the soul of the believer, made calm by
what Allah has promised. Its owner is at complete rest and content with his
knowledge of Allah’s Name’s and Attributes, and with what He has said about
Himself and His Massenger (SAW), and with what He said about what awaits the
soul after death-about the departure of the soul, the life in the barzakh, and
the events of the Day of Resurrection which will follow-so much so that a
believer such as this can almost see them with his own eyes. So he submits to
the will of Allah and surrenders to Him contentedly, never dissatisfied or
complaining, and with his faith never wavering. He does not rejoice at his
gains, nor do his afflictions make him despair, for he knows that they were
decreed long before they happened to him, even before he was created”[35]
3) The Nature of Heart (Qalb
The Qalb is
refered to the subtle spiritual light that is contained within the cone shaped
structure of the human heart. The physical human heart can be considered as the
point of interaction between the body and the Qalb as a spiritual entity (Mohd
Abas, 1997:111).
Thus, the condition of the
individual’s Qalb affects his potential and goodness. As mentioned in the hadith,
narrated by Imam al-Bukhari;
“Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the
body if it becomes good (reformed)the whole body becomes good but if it gets
spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart”.
Zafar Afaq
Ansari[36] as
cited in Manzurul Haq views that Qalb represent
the faculty or capacity of human personality which enables the person to know
and understand the reality of things, make evaluative judgments, and sift the
right from the wrong. The functions of the qalb
are described quite frequently in the Qur’an along with the sensory
capacities of human beings, indicating that what the qalb does is an extension and superior function of what is being
done at the lower level by the sensory organs like eyes and ears. However, if
the functions of the qalb are blocked
the sensory organs lose their utility.
Consequently,
man can loses his honored position of being the best creation to a level below
to animal in his nature. This downfall of man is caused by the spiritual
blindness of the Qalb (subdued by the
Nafs Ammarah) that affects man’s
sensory organs, emotion, affections, cognition and personality. This condition
has been mentioned by the Qur’an;
Many are the Jinns and men We have made for
Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes, wherewith they see
not, and ears, wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle-nay more
misguided: for they are heedless (of warning).[37]
4.The Nature of Intellect (Al-‘Aql)
According to
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri as Quoted by Abbas[38] the
word al-‘Aql is derived from the root
‘aqala, which means to be endowed
with reason, to possess intelligence, to comprehend, to understand. The
intellect, in its highest sense, is a sublime power which receives the
unveilings of pure light. In its lowest sense, it is the power of ordinary
reasoning.
However,
according to Prof. Hasan Langgulung[39]
that the Sufis argued that the ‘Aql is
lower in rank compared to the compared to the Qalb for the reason; it is only capable of conceiving knowledge
that comes through man’s sense perceptions, such as; touch, sight, taste,
smell, and hearing, where as the Qalb
has the capacity to receive the divine knowledge (Ladunni) inspired by Allah.
Nature Versus Nurture
In
order to understand human nature, it is also commonly known as the nature or
nurture debate and is widely acknowledged as the longest war in the history of
psychology. Psychoanalysts strongly support a naturalistic stance, while the
behaviorists emphasize the role of nurture. The humanists believe that man is
naturally good. In other words, they seem to focus on material and physical
goodness.
However,
regarding to al-Ghazali as cited in Abbas[40]
that the essence of man is spiritual goodness. In the same time, the
environment is equally important in preserving or spoiling the purity of the
human soul. Therefore, Islam put great emphasis on the role of parents and
society in the formation of the personality of man. A hadisth tell us that “no
one is born except on innate character. His parents turn him into a Jew, a
Christian or a Magian.”[41]
Freewill Versus Determinism
Freewill
versus determinism also becomes one of the problematic issue in modern
psychology. It has also been discussed in Islamic theology and the various
Islamic school if the thought are not in agreement about it. But Muslims have
to be satisfied with what the Qur’an clarifies. Muslims have to hold the
balance between determinism and freedom. The uniforms succession of events is
predetermined, but man’s ikhtiyar/choice is an essential element of his own
will. Freedom carries with it, its own consequences and responsibilities, and
if man has a choice between faith and disbelief then he has to bear the responsibilities
of his choice. If he is free in his behavior, then he mentioned in the Holy
Qur’an :
“Say,
the Truth is from Lord. Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject
(it). For the wrongdoers we have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames) like
the walls and roof of a tent will hem them in. if they implore relief they will
be granted water like melted brass that will scald their faces. How dreadful
the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on![42]
Meanwhile, Al-Attas as cited in
Abbas[43]
argued, ikhtiyar does not simply mean choice, rather, it is bound in meaning
with its roots “kh-y-r” which implies
good. Thus opting for a bad choice is not ikhtiyar.
In
sum, man’s liberty entails responsibility. And, despite this complete freedom
in belief and behavior, the Qur’an tells man very clearly that his abilities
are limited, and consequently his freedom is also limited. For example, man
cannot choose when to be born. Nor can man choose when or where to die.
Historical Emphasis (Past, Present, or Future)
Time
factor also become problematic issue in modern psychology. Psychoanalysts put
much emphasis on early childhood in shaping man’s personality. Freud believes that
an individual’s personality is established by the end of the first five or six years
of life. Hence, past experience is decisive and final in shaping the way an
individual thinks, feels or behaves. However, time factor is not important
among behaviorists. They put much emphasis on whether an experience is
reinforced or not. Human are capable of learning, unlearning. While, humanists
give greater consideration to adult experiences[44]
Islam
pays great attention to the childhood period as it has a vital role in the
formation of personality and behavior. Islam views the period of childhood as
the time for learning and training. Parent should educate rather than dictate
their children. They should use intrinsic methods of reward and punishment only
during childhood and strive to punish psychologically rather than physically. Islam
also puts emphasis on the source of sustenance itself; whether food was
acquired by parents or guardians through lawful means. It is the period when
the person is not held answerable until he reaches puberty
While
man is answerable to his past, there is room for repentance to change the
consequences of that past if it is marred with sins and bad deeds. In Islam,
the future also is an important dimension in the formation of the personality
of the Muslim. This is because in Islam is not limited to this world alone, but
extends to the Day of Judgment. Allah says;
“But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has
bestowed on you, the home of the hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this
world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee.”[45]
There is the
wisdom which may express this attitude; “Do
for your present world as if you were to live forever, and for your life in the
hereafter as if you were to die tomorrow”.[46]
A Comparison between Islamic Assumption
about Human Nature and Those of Western Psychology
|
|
Ummatic
Psychology
|
Psychoanalytic Psychology
|
Behaviorist Psychology
|
Humanistic
Psychology
|
|
Central Concept
|
Man
is of dual nature
|
Unconscious
experiences
|
Stimulus
– Response unit
|
Self
– actualization
|
|
Locus of influences
|
Spiritual
(internal)
|
Biological
(Unconscious)
|
Environment
(external)
|
Self
(internal)
|
|
Nature v/s Nurture
|
Spiritual
goodness
|
Man
is evil by nature
|
Nurture
|
Man
is good by nature
|
|
Freewill v/s Determinism
|
Predetermined
and Freewill
|
Deterministic
|
Deterministic
|
Freewill
|
|
Historical emphasis
|
Past,
present and future (hereafter)
|
Past
|
Irrelevant
|
Here
and now
|
(Cited
in Abbas, 1995:61)
ISLAMIC EDUCATION
Definition of Education
The meaning of education in its
totality in the context of Islam is inherent in the connotations of the terms Tarbiyah, Ta’lim, and Ta’dib taken together. What each of
these terms conveys concerning man and his society and environment in relation
to God is related to the others, and together they represent the scope of
education in Islam, both formal and non-formal[47]
However,
according to al–Attas as cited in Wan Mohd Nor[48] the concept of ta’dib, if propely understood and competently explicated, is the
correct concept for education in Islam, and not ta’lim or tarbiyah which
are currently in vogue. He states: “Ta’dib
already includes within its conceptual structure the elements of knowledge (‘ilm), instruction (ta’lim), and good breeding (tarbiyah),
so that there is no need to refer to the concept of education in Islam as tarbiyah-ta’lim-ta’dib all together. He
rejects tarbiyah because it pertains
only to the physical aspect in the case of plants, and only to the physical and
the emotional aspects of growth and development in the case of animals and man.
As for the term ta’lim, it is
generally limited to the instructional and cognitive aspects of education. Al-Attas
refers to the hadith which recordd
the statement of the Holy Prophet:
“My Lord has instilled adab in me (addabani) and so made my education (ta’dibi) most excellent.” He has carefully translated the verb addabani in that hadith as has educated me, and has rendered ta’dib as education, hence: “My Lord has educated me and so made my education most excellent”. Thus, al-Attas defines education as “the instilling and inculcation of adab in man- it is ta’dib.
“My Lord has instilled adab in me (addabani) and so made my education (ta’dibi) most excellent.” He has carefully translated the verb addabani in that hadith as has educated me, and has rendered ta’dib as education, hence: “My Lord has educated me and so made my education most excellent”. Thus, al-Attas defines education as “the instilling and inculcation of adab in man- it is ta’dib.
Whereas, Khan[49]
defines Islamic Education as “the nature of the various gifts and abilities of
the individual so that he may attain his full stature, both psychologically and
intellectually, as well as the development, by various means, of the
capabilities of society, with the similar aim of bringing about a better form
of progress and sounder social development in accordance with the values of Islam”
Meanwhile,
Prof Hasan Langgulung views that education could be seen from two different
angles (individual and society). From the individual
perspective, education could be seen as the cultivation of potentials.
Education is a process through which we manifest what is latent in the child,
such as intelligence, personality, and creativity and so forth. From societal perspective, education could be
seen as a cultural transmission. It is recognized that man has natural
abilities, but it also should be stressed on the ability of man to acquire
knowledge by searching them in the man’s environment. Here, the searching is
more a process of bringing in something that exists outside the learner rather
than bringing them out. In sum, both perspectives cannot operate independently and
in isolation of one from the other.
Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education
The aims and
objectives of Muslim education is the creations of the “good and righteous man” who worships Allah in the true sense of
the term, builds up the structure of his earthly life according to the Shari’ah
and employs it to sub serve his faith.
The
meaning of worship in Islam is both extensive and comprehensive; it is not
restricted to the physical performance of religious only but embraces all
aspects of activity, such as faith, thought, feeling, and work, in conformity with
what Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Qur’an:
“I have created the Jinn and man only to
worship Me”[50]
“Say, O my Lord, my prayers, my sacrifice,
my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the World Who hath no peer.”[51]
This good
man deeply believes that he is the vicegerent of Allah on earth. Allah says:
“And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo!
I am about to place a viceroy in the earth….”
Therefore he always aims at
perfection in his deed, personality as well as his behavior, although he is
aware that absolute perfection only belongs to Allah.[52]
For this
purpose He has sent the guidance of prophets and divine relevation, as
mentioned by the Prophet (SAW): “I was
only sent to complete the perfection of morality”.
With
a good and righteous man, Islamic education also aims to develop a “good society”. The good society is a
society who believes that they have a message for mankind, which is the message
of justice, truth and virtue, a message which is permanent and is not bound by
time and place[53] (Hasan,
1999:154). Allah says:
“Ye are the best of people, evolved for
mankind; Enjoining what is right, Forbidding what is wrong and believing in
God”[54]
Meanwhile,
according to Wan Mohd Nor[55],
the aim of Islamic education include in his definition of ta’dib; “the recognition and acknowledgement, progressively instilled
into man, of the proper places if things in the order of creation, such that it
leads to the recognition and acknowledgement of God in the order of being and existence”.
The First
World Conference on Muslim Education in Mecca has passed the following
resolution;
“Education should aim at the balanced growth
of the total personality of Man through the training of Man’s spirit,
intellect, rational self, feelings and bodily senses. The training imparted to
a Muslim must be such that faith is infused into the whole of his personality
and creates in him an emotional attachment to Islam and enables him to follow
the Qur’an and the sunnah and be governed by the Islamic system of values willingly
and joyfully so that he may proceed to the realization of his status as
Khalifatullah to whom Allah has promised the authority of the universe”[56]
Thus, education by precept and
example should instill piety and encourage self-purification as a means of penetrating
the deep mysteries of the universe and opening the heart to the fear and love
of Allah. Education also should promote in man the creative impulse to rule
himself and the universe as a true servant of Allah not by opposing and
Coming into confect with Nature
but by understanding its laws and harnessing its forces for the growth of a
personality that is in harmony with it.
As a conclusion, we can see that
through this recommended aim of education, the spirituals element has been
restored and put in consideration. Hopefully, this aim can give form and
direction for a number of purposes and objectives of education.
However,
according Hasan[57] the
above aims is a general statement which gives form and direction for a number
of purpose and objectives. Whereas, there are also teaching objectives, which
mean the desired change of behavior of students that can be observed. Thus, in
the process of Islamization of teaching objectives, Prof Hasan believes that
there is no harm in applying The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which
classifies the educational objectives into the following domains:
Cognitive Domain
- Knowledge
- Comprehension
- Application
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Evaluation
Affective Domain
- Receiving
- Responding
- Valuing
- Organization
- Character
Which are
categorized as internalization
Psychological Domain
- Reflex movement
- Fundamental movement
- Physical Ability
- Skill movement
- Non-discursive communication.
Basic Principle of Islamic Education
Prof Hasan[58] has
listed basic principles of Islamic education which could be used to achieve the
ultimate aim of education as follows;
Ø Comprehensiveness,
which means it is concerned with all aspect of man’s physical, psychological, intellectual,
and spiritual development.
Ø Integrated
in approach, that is the integration of all dimension of man, as mentioned
above, plus the integration of every Muslim society to all other Muslim
societies throughout the world. Also the levels of education should be
organized in integrated manner.
Ø Continuity
which means that education takes place throughout one’s life from the cradle to
the grave. Additionally education should be innovative.
Ø Originally
which mean that Islamic education has to draw its objectives, curriculum, and
methods from Islamic heritage. But that does not deny the fact that it is also
open to other civilization. The priority should be stressed on spirituality of
Islam. Even when sciences and modern art taught it should be kept in mind that
Islamic faith must remain at the centre of these objects.
Ø Scientific,
which means that sciences and technology are important component of modern
civilization, and learning sciences and technology is a must for Muslim world,
otherwise it will be left behind.
Ø Practical
which means that work is the most important component of daily life as well as
in the spiritual life in Islam. Work is considered as a worship of God.
Ø Solidarity
which is one of the most important teachings of Islam as it includes
cooperation, brotherhood goodwill and integration amongst Muslim. Islamic
education, therefore, has to grow and strengthen the spirit of solidarity among
individuals and community.
Ø Openness
which means that education ought to open human psyche to universe and its
creator, toward life, and its organism, and toward one’s own nations and other
cultures. Islam does not recognize fanaticism or color and social difference,
because in Islam there is no racialism, no differences among men except on the
basis of their piety and faith.
Curriculum or Contents of Islamic Education
Education also
could be seen as a scientific discipline, as all other disciplines. It has
among its components which are considered as a queen of that discipline. Thus,
educational sciences considers curriculums the queen among its components.
Curriculum is
a combination of a number of educational, cultural, social, sport, and artist
experience provided by the school for students in and school for the purpose of
helping them develop their behaviors in accordance with the aims and goals of
education.[59]
Since the aim
of Islamic education is the actualization of our status as a Khalifatullah in a
social context, the content or curriculum of Islamic education must necessarily
on the one hand contain that type of knowledge, which, when imparted will
provide the basis from which we may find the guidance to submit to God’s will
and hence come to know ourselves, our place in the universe and relationship to
God. There is also a type of knowledge which expressly takes into account the
needs and rights of society. This is respectively fard ‘ayn knowledge (the
revealed sciences) and fard kifayah (the
acquired sciences). Fard ‘ayn knowledge refers to the knowledge which is
acquired through revelation, whereas, the fard kifayah is acquired through
observation, research, speculation and rational enquiry. The revealed sciences provide
human beings with permanent objective truths which are important for their
guidance; the acquired sciences provide the knowledge of sensible date
necessary foe daily practical use. The revealed sciences reveal the true
relationship between people and their Lord. Without the guidance of this
knowledge, the knowledge of the acquired sciences cannot lead to the good life,
but will instead sow the seeds of corruption and confusion.
The
Revealed Sciences (Fard ‘Ayn Knowledge)
Imam
al-Ghazali and many other classical scholars as cited in Abbas[60]
support the distinction between the revealed sciences and the acquired
sciences. In his terminology he refers to the revealed sciences as al-Ulum
al-Shari’iyyah (religious sciences) and the acquired as al-Ulum al-‘Aqliyyah
(rational sciences). Fard ‘ayn knowledge refers to that body of knowledge that
Muslim males and females must learn;
“The
seeking of knowledge is compulsory on every Muslim male and female”
Muslim will be receptive to this
kind of knowledge because of belief in the Qur’an as the final revealed word of
God. Since human nature is to believe and worship God, the core content of
Islamic education must therefore of necessity provide knowledge which will
guide us to believe and worship God. Since the revealed or God-given sciences
are compulsory on every Muslim by virtue of the fact that we are dependent on
this knowledge for daily Islamic worship, it is given priority over the acquired
sciences. Fard ‘ayn knowledge therefore serves the needs of the soul and
prepares us for salvation in the hereafter.
Wan Mohd Nor[61]
provides an outline of what revealed knowledge constitutes:
ü The
Quran: its recitation and interpretation.
ü The
Sunnah: the life of the Prophet (pbuh) – the history and the message of the
prophets before him, the hadith and its authoritative transmission.
ü The
Shari’ah: jurisprudence and law, the principles and practice of Islam.
ü Theology
(al-tawhid): God, His Essence, Attributes and Names and Acts.
ü Islamic
Metaphysics (al-tasawwuf): psychology, cosmology, ontology, legitimate element
of Islamic philosophy including valid cosmological doctrines concerning the
hierarchy of being.
ü Linguistic
sciences: Arabic, its grammar, lexicography and literature.
The
Acquired Sciences (Fard Kifayah Knowledge)
The second category of knowledge
which helps people to fulfill pragmatic ends in the this world is referred to
as acquired sciences or fard kifayah knowledge. This knowledge includes the
social, natural and technological sciences. It is compulsory on some members of
the Muslim society but not all. For example; if some members of the society
become doctors to serve the needs of the sick, then the rest of the society is
absolved from such a responsibility; if no one becomes a doctor then the
society is held responsible.
Al-Attas
as cited in Wan Mohd Nor[62] refers
to the fard kifayah knowledge as the rational, intellectual and philosophical
sciences. They include:
ü The
human sciences
ü The
natural sciences
ü The
applied sciences
ü The
technological sciences
ü Comparative
religion
ü Western
culture and civilization
ü Linguistic
sciences: Islamic languages, and
ü Islamic
history
According to al-Attas, these
sciences must be Islamized and each branch must be imbued with Islamic elements
and key concepts after the foreign elements have been isolated from its very
branch.
The
priority given to the revealed sciences should not be misconstrued to mean that
we are to neglect the acquired sciences. Without the acquired sciences we
cannot live a complete life in this world. However, the Qur’an states that the
Hereafter is better than the life of the world because it is more abiding and
everlasting. This does not mean that the Qur’an derogates this world, or
dissuades us from contemplating the wonders and beauties of this world. What
the Qur’an rejects is not the world itself but the world (al-dunya) without the
Hereafter (al-akhirah), that is, a world without God. The worldly life refers
to a way of life, a life which is godless, unguided by divine revelation and
prophets.
Therefore, Islam does not discount
the other branches of knowledge such as medicine ,physics, psychology, biology,
etc, as unimportant. They certainty have a place in the life of a worshipping
being. Every action of a Muslim, in whatever sphere of human endeavor, ought to
be with the intention of please God. If the intention is fulfilled in a truly
Islamic manner, the action will become an act o worship, although it is worldly
in nature.
The
other reason why the revealed sciences are given priority over the acquired
sciences is that the revealed sciences themselves become the criteria by which
we judge the acquired sciences. The acquired sciences become fard kifayah only
after they are perceived from an Islamic perspective.
Conclusion
This
paper ‘ Ummatic psychology and Education” has tried to highlight the crisis of
education in Muslim world which due to the wrong understanding of the original
of Islamic foundation in educational system with special reference to the
western paradigm of psychology.
Western
psychology was dominated the last hundred years by three major paradigms in
psychology (psychoanalytic ,behaviorism and humanism) which did not lead us to
better understanding the human nature. As a result, it will affect the whole
educational system planning in Muslim world.
Thus,
with the idea of Ummatic Paradigm of Psychology and Education, we attempt to
restore the spiritual element to the present materialistic, atheistic, and
secular basis of education, or to foster the consideration of the Ruh or soul in whole aspects of educational
system, such as its aims and objectives, curriculum and methods, etc.
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[1]
Zulkifli.L,Psikologi Perkembangan,Cetakan
IV,( Bandung: Remaja Rosda Karya,2009),
p.244.
[2] Al-Qur’an 3;104
[3] Al-Qur’an 3:110
[4] Langgulung, H. The
Ummatic Paradigm on Psychology, ( Kuala Lumpur: Univision Press,1999),
p. 99-100.
[5] Khaleefa O.H., The
Imperialism of Euro-American Psychology in Nonwestern Culture:An Attempt Toward
an Ummatic Psychology.(The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences,1,1997), p. 44-69
[6]
Salma Yaqoob, Towards Islamic Psychology,
Presented paper at International Conference on Muslim Women in Science:A Better
Future.( Fez, Morocco,22-24 March 2000),
p. 3
[7] Zulkifli.L, Psikologi Perkembangan…, p.
311
[8]Langgulung, H. Ibn
Sina as an Educationist. The Islamic Education
Quarterly,Vol.XXXII. Number 2.Second Quarter.1998. p. 120.
[9] Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature:A Comparative Study between Western and Islamic Psychology, ( unpublished M.ed thesis: Kuala
Lumpur,1997), p. 41
[10]
Jess Feist & Gregory J.Feist, Theories
of Personality, 4th Edition,( USA: McGraw-Hill
Companies.1998), p. 29-31.
[11] Ibid.,
p.22-24.
[12]
Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human…, p .41-42.
[13]Robert S.Feidman & Joel A.Feinman Who
You Are:Personality and its development (USA: A Venture Book Franklin Watts.1992), p. 23-24.
[14] Langgulung,
H. Ibn Sina…, p. 121.
[15]Mohd
Abas Abdul Razak, Human…, p.53-54.
See also James F. Brennan, Sejarah dan system psikologi, edisi 6
(Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada, 2006),
p. 343
[16]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic…, p.17-18
[17]
Al-Qur’an, 95:4
[18]
Ibid 17:70
[19] Ibid 15:29
[20] Abbas H.Ali, The
Nature of Human Dispotion: Al-Ghazali’s Contribution to an Islamic Concept
of Personality,Intellectual Discourse,(Islamic Education Quoterly Vol.3,No.1,
1995), p. 57
[21] Al-Quran 51:56
[22] Ibid 2:30
[23]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic…, p.22-23
[24]Langgulung, H. Teori-teori
Kesihatan Mental, ( Kajang: Pustaka Huda.1983), p.14
[25] Mohd
Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature: A
Comparative Study between…………….p.108
[26]
Al-Qur’an, 15:28-29
[27]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic Paradigm on
Psychology…………….p.147-149
[28]
Al-Qur’an, 36-82
[29]
Ibid 23:14
[30]
Al-Qur’an: 12:53
[31]
Ibid 75:1-2
[32]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic Paradigm on
Psychology…………….p. 6
[34]
Al-Qur’an, 89:27-30
[35]Langgulung,
H. Ibn Sina…, p.
[36]
Manzurul Huq, In Quest of a Meaningful
Model of Human Self and Behavior,Intellectual Discourse.Vol.2,No.1,1994.
[37]
Al-Quran 7:179
[38]
Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature:A
Comparative Study between…………….p. 117
[39]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic Paradigm on
Psychology…………….p. 26
[40]
Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature:A
Comparative Study between……………., p. 61
[41]
Mustapha Achoui. Human Nature from
Comparative Psychological Perspective. ( The American Journal of Islamic
Social Sciences,1988), p.86
[42]
Al-quran 18;29
[43]
Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature:A
Comparative Study between……………., p. 62
[44] Ibid., p. 63
[45]
Al-quran 28:77
[46]
Mustapha Achoui. Human Nature from Comparative
Psychological ……., p. 85
[47] Conference Book, The
First World Conference on Muslim Education in Mecca, (Jeddah: King Abdul
Aziz University,1977), p. 88
[48] Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud (1998) The Education Philosophy and Practice of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Altas.(
Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC,1988), p. 133-135
[49] Khan M.Sharif, Meaning,
Aims and Objective of Education in Islam, (New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1990), p. 43
[50]
Al-Quran 51:56
[51] Ibid., 6:162
[52]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic Paradigm on
Psychology……………., p. 153
[53]
Ibid 154
[54]
Al-Quran 3:110
[55] Wan
Mohd Nor Wan Daud (1998) The Education
Philosophy and…… , p. 139
[56] Conference
Book, The First World Conference on
Muslim….., p. 89
[57]
Langgulung, H.The Ummatic Paradigm on
Psychology……, p. 24-25
[58] Ibid.,
p. 157-158
[59]
Khan M.Sharif, Meaning, Aims and
Objective of Education… , p. 160
[60]
Mohd Abas Abdul Razak, Human Nature:A
Comparative Study between……………., p. 44
[61] Wan
Mohd Nor Wan Daud (1998) The Education
Philosophy and Practice…. , p. 190
[62] Wan
Mohd Nor Wan Daud (1998) The Education
Philosophy and Practice…. , p. 167
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