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THE STRATEGY OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION INMALAYSIA: AN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT’S EXPERIENCE
∗
 
An article published inS. Yunanto et.al (2005),
 Islamic Education in South and South East Asia[Diversity, Problems and Strategy]
Jakarta: The RIDEP Institute and Friedrich Ebert Stiftungpp. 171-204byAhmad Fauzi Abdul HamidM.A. (Oxon), M.A. (Leeds), Ph.D. (Newcastle upon Tyne)
Senior Lecturer in Politics
 
School of Distance EducationUniversiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, MALAYSIA.Tel: 04 - 6533 888 ext. 2278 (office)Fax: 04 - 6576 000Email: afauzi@usm.my
∗
The output of a research project on ‘The Education Strategy of Islamic Movements in Malaysia’,sponsored by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), c/o AIBD, Angkasapuri, P.O. Box 1137, Pantai, 59700Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The present author would like to acknowledge Mareike Le Pelley and RaneeKumaran, both of FES Malaysia, for assistance in matters pertaining to the FES grant, which coveredfieldwork expenses, participation at the regional workshop and a modest honorarium.
 
 1
 1. Background introduction: an overview of the development of Islamiceducation in Malaysia
As Islam is a religion which comprehensively embraces diverse aspects of life,Islamic education refers to an integrated process of imparting Islamic knowledge suchthat its recipients are equipped spiritually, intellectually and physically in order toexecute their twin God-ordained roles, as His servants and vicegerents on earth (cf.Kamal Hassan 1986: 40). This process was originally carried out in the form of informaltransmission of material from the Quran and
hadith
1
collections. Later, as Muslimsocieties expanded and grew more complex, a formal process of religious instruction wasdeveloped, involving a network of mosques, schools, institutions of higher learning,teachers and students. Branches of knowledge, originally derived from the Quran and
hadith
, also expanded into such disciplines known as
tawhid 
(theology),
 fiqh
 (jurisprudence),
tasawwuf 
(sufism or spirituality),
tafsir 
(Quranic exegesis),
mustalah al-hadith
(
hadith
methodology),
tajwid 
(science of Quranic recitation), and different aspectsof Arabic grammar such as
nahu
,
saraf 
and
balaghah
. These subjects were known as thetraditional Islamic sciences, with
tawhid 
,
 fiqh
and
tasawwuf 
forming a tripartite
 fard ‘ain
2
 syllabus. As the body of knowledge further expanded, Muslim scholars mastered theworldly sciences, and religious instruction was broadened to incorporate
 fard kifayah
3
 subjects such as
al-hisab
(mathematics),
al-handasah
(geometry),
mantiq
(logic),
al-tib
 (medicine),
al-jighrafia
(geography),
al-badi’
(metaphor) and
al-bayan
(rhetoric).In Malaysia, traditional Islamic education had been rooted among the localpopulation, predating the colonial era, in the form of the
 pondok 
education system.
1
A
hadith
refers to a saying or action of the Prophet Muhammad as reported by any of his Companions orwives, and passed through successive Muslim generations until ultimately compiled by specialist scholarscalled
muhaddithin
. In orthodox Sunni Islam, the most authoritative books of 
hadith
are the compilations of Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 875), and followed by those of Abu Dawud (d. 888), Tirmidhi (d. 888),Nasa'i (d. 913) and Ibn Majah (d. 886). The
Sunnah
, a more wide-ranging term literally meaning 'theProphet's trodden path', is made up of the
hadith
, the Prophet's practice emulated by his Companions andthe Prophet's approval of the Companions' deeds.
2
 
Fard ‘ain
refers to doctrinal and ritual obligations which must be testified to and practised by every adultMuslim male and female in order to legitimise his or her Islamic faith.
3
 
Fard kifayah
refers to collective obligations i.e. duties that must be observed by at least one unit of agroup of believers so as to exempt the others.
 
 2Literally meaning ‘huts’ and derived from the Arabic word
 funduq
, meaning place of temporary residence or hotel,
pondoks
refer to religious boarding houses built in theprecinct of a
surau
– a prayer hall which simultaneously served as a teaching centresupervised by a
tuan guru
(religious teacher), whose residence was often located withinthe same vicinity. The success of a particular
 pondok 
, or
 pesantren
as was known inIndonesia, depended on the fame and reputation of its
guru
, in whom one often found acombination of the roles of an intellectual master, a spiritual mentor and an importantteacher-cum-social figure in surrounding villages. Traditional religious sciences weretaught via detailed studies and commentaries of classical Islamic texts popularly knownas
kitab kuning
.
4
The delivery method stressed rote learning, refined and followed bytutorials, usually conducted by senior students, called
mutala’ah
or
muzakarah
 (discussion). The survival of 
 pondoks
depended very much on support from the localcommunity. As
 pondoks
were independent and did not impose fees, self-financedstudents not unusually underwent vocational and agricultural training as part of their co-curricular activity and means of subsistence. Although no examination was conductedand no formal certificate was issued, a letter of testimony from the
tuan guru
was deemedsufficient for
 pondok 
graduates’ entrée into preliminary teaching and further education,including admission to Islamic educational institutions in the Middle East such as al-Azhar University in Cairo.
5
As a cornerstone of British colonial policy, differential education had the impactof secularising the social order, leading to the stratification of Malay-Muslim society.While apparently content to leave
 pondok 
education unimpaired, the British at the sametime promoted Malay vernacular education, to the extent of compelling Malay parents, bylaw, to send their children to Malay schools, as in Selangor in 1891 (Khoo Kay Kim1974: 184-185). In state schools, although religious education was not totally discarded,Islamic lessons were discriminated against and gradually weakened. Richard Winstedt,the Assistant Director of Malay Education in 1916-21, made recommendations for an endto government provisions for Quranic instructions in schools. Quranic lessons were thus
4
Literally: yellow books; so-called because the complexion of pages of the books had waned, approachingyellowish in colour, through years of intensive use.
5
For further details on the
 pondok 
system, see Rauf (1965: 22-23), Winzeler (1974: 262-268) and AbdullahAlwi Haji Hassan (1980: 190-196).
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francestay

Thank you - what an eye opener!

reply03 / 17 / 2008
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