OF ADAB (AL-INSAN AL-ADABI) AS THE MEANING and PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN ISLAM (AL-TA’DIB)

OF ADAB (AL-INSAN AL-ADABI) AS THE MEANING and PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IN ISLAM (AL-TA’DIB)

[This entry is a selected summary and reflection of the RZS-CASIS Saturday Night Lecture (CSNL) given by Prof. Wan Mohd Nor on 18th June 2021.]

by Elit Hidayat Ave  (RZS-CASIS PhD Student)

In RZS-CASIS Saturday Night Lecture 11^th Series on the purpose of education in Islam, Prof. Wan Mohd. Nor Wan Daud commences his lecture by elaborating the concept of an educated man in Islam from the view of Prof. Syed Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. According to al-Attas, an educated man in Islam is a good man and by a good man is a man possessing adab or man of adab (insan adabi). Possessing adab means being conscious of his responsibilities towards the true God, understanding and fulfilling the obligation to the self and the others in society with justice and constantly improving every aspect of the self towards perfection. Thus, education in Islam should means instilling and inculcating of adab in man (al-ta’dib). 

Moreover, since the role model for the man of adab is the Holy Prophet P.B.U.H., the Perfect and Universal man, the organization of administration and of knowledge in Islamic educational system should reflect the Perfect Man. 

Interestingly, Professor Wan does not directly elucidate in detail the reason behind conceptualizing what is called man of adab (al-insan al-adabi) and education (al-ta’dib) in Islam. But rather, he elaborates it after conveying how meaning and thus the purpose of education is understood in other civilizations which seems to be changing from one period to another  because of the changing of their worldview – such as their truth and reality, of concept of knowledge or of student and teacher. 

Along with elaborating both issues, Professor Wan  argues that the concept of education in Islam (al-ta’dib) is a holistic and unique concept. This is because the concept of education in Islam is based on the proper worldview of Islam.  He tries also to systematically clarify that al-ta’dib is the proper word denoting the concept of education in Islam instead of al-tarbiyah and al-ta’lim which are popular currently in the Muslim world. In another word, since language reflects ontology, and Islamic key terms and concepts based on the Qur’an and hadith most accurately reflect Islamic vision of Truth and Reality, therefore rediscovering the proper term for education i.e., ta’dib is a fundamental part of the process of islamization of education in our time.

Educated Man: From the Spiritual Humanistic man to the Secular Humanistic man

Elaborating how educated man is understood in various civilizations, Professor Wan  maintains that it is highly dependent on how they understand their worldview. This is due to the fact that worldview by and large will have an important role in developing the purpose and contents of education. In Western civilization, it is found how the purpose of education always changes, because the worldview always changes. But in Eastern civilizations such as in China and in India, it is found as well how the purpose of education slowly but surely changes due to the influence of secularization towards all people, even though they seemingly try to compromise between traditional ideas and contemporary ones. 

In pre-modern China whose educational ideals were mostly derived from the teachings of Kung Fu Tze from the Analects and the Great Learning,  the purpose of education is to produce people who are kind, good, respectful to their parents and at the same time they must exhibit right thinking and right behavior in everything, as expressed in the popular maxim: kingliness without, sageliness within. As for the role model of that perfect educated man, it is to the ancient kings of the first chinese dynasty, such as Yao, Sung, and Yu, the three great Kings of the earliest dynasties. This concept is understood in accordance to Kung Fu Tze’s conception of man; to him, the purpose of being human is to try to live according to propriety (Li) meaning normative attitude and behavior, or correct way of thinking and behaving. If someone has the right attitude and behavior, he will be a kind of noble person (Junzi) that reflects the attitude of benevolence and true humanity (Ren). 

Similarly, in Hinduism the teachings of which are taken mainly from the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, the goal of education is to be a person who is able to find happiness within his own spiritual and social place. This is due to the fact that Hinduism basically wanted to produce people who would achieve virtue or spiritual virtue (Dharma), who have some kind of material well being (Artha), and who were liberated from suffering (from various moral spiritual weaknesses, Moksa). But at the same time, the Hindu people believe that they are casted within a religio-social system encompassing four levels. Those are the Brahmin (priestly group), the Kshatriya (military group), the Vaishyas (artisans, merchants), the Shudras (workers, labourers).

Unlike what happened in Eastern civilizations – such as in China and in India – what has happened in Western civilization shows how the purpose of education changes from period to period, even from place to place within similar periods. In ancient Greece especially in Sparta,  educational excellence is more to produce a warrior’s spirit. In other words, it is a person who would become a great warrior, and whose morality is very puritanical and strict. The source of this concept is the Iliad of Homer, one of most influential poets in ancient Greece. Here the advice of Pileous to his son Achilles who later on become the most feared and the most able warrior in Greece mythology, became a popular educational maxim: “Always be the best and keep ahead of the others.” 

In the same period, in other cities, especially Athens, the purpose of education is no longer to produce a warrior but to produce a person who has philosophical virtues; even though there is dispute pertaining to the characteristics of what constitutes these philosophical virtues. In consequent, the content of education is different as well. For the Sophists, who were among the more influential Athenian teachers – whose basic philosophy of knowledge is that there is no certainty in truth – regards what is important in their education is to produce people who are able to win arguments or debates; be it in senate or in market places, and to convince people in elections. When you debate with the opponent, the Sophists say, make sure that you win. Therefore, Logic, Philosophy, History and Language are important contents of their education. As opposed to the Sophists, Plato, the disciple of Socrates, contends that knowledge, truth, and justice can be known for certain. Virtuous life is not about winning arguments and about trying to win battles or to have followers. Rather, it must be for arriving at the truth as well. Therefore, in his Republic, Plato mentions that the purpose of education is to be a philosopher and the ruler of the perfect republic. The educational ideal of a perfect man is to be a philosopher who becomes a king, a philosopher-king, who has attributes of temperance, self-control, courage, and justice.

At the same period of Plato, there was a more influential thinker who was concerned with education, Isocrates. Unlike Plato who writes his Republic as the reaction for the popular sophistical educational philosophy, Isocrates is not as idealistic as Plato. Although he also criticized the Sophists, he still emphasizes the importance of rhetoric, like the Sophists. Hence, the purpose of education, according to him, is to produce individuals who can argue and write eloquently. Later on, this concept of educated man has influenced the Romans. The art of rhetoric, then, becomes most influential. Modifying the Greek concept of education, Quintillian, a Roman thinker who wrote On Oratory, added to his science of rhetoric and the importance of morality. Therefore, unlike Isocrates, he suggests that the purpose of education is to produce a good leader, that is, one who can speak and argue very well and at the same time, is a good person, a good man, or man of moral excellence. 

Having elaborated how Eastern civilizations  as well as early Western civilization, such as Greek and Roman, developed their concept of educated man, Professor Wan subsequently continues his elaboration on how the concept of educated man in the Western civilization slowly but surely becomes more secular.  According to him, it seems not only due to the occurrence of what is called secularization but it seems also due to the absence of a clear and distinct concept of ‘educated man’ in Christianity during the western scholastic period. In this case, Professor Wan refers to the observation of the late Heinrich Emil Brunner (d. 1966), A Swiss Christian Reformed theologian and priest, who said in Christianity and Civilization ( 2 vols) that unfortunately there is no proper philosophy of education in Christian history until the 19^th century even though they talked a great deal about how to produce good Christians with certain beliefs and practices. Perhaps it is due to that, many modern Western thinkers of education consider the Greek concept of educated man as among the most comprehensive, even though they made certain modifications. 

Among the Catholics, Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas who have had great influence in doctrinal and moral teachings. Although they did not write on education or philosophy of education, some aspects from their notion have influenced the concept of educated man in Catholic Christianity. Through the Neo-Platonic school of thought, Augustine unifies aspects of the Greek conception of God, truth and happiness with that Christianity. Thomas Aquinas on the other hand, utilizes certain Aristotelian thought which he regards as suitable for Christianity such as the idea of body and soul, form and substance, logic, universal and particular, and the importance of justice. However in the Christian worldview, man is born sinful, so undoubtedly he cannot improve himself. In order to elevate himself from the state of sinfulness to the state of happiness, to the state of being accepted by God, he requires God’s grace. Hence, the purpose of education, according to Christianity, is to produce a person who is accepted by God through exercising right belief and ethical living.

Furthermore, with the influence of Protestant movement in 17^th century, the attempts to modify certain teachings and practices of Western Christianity became stronger which were reflected in the discourses on producing right Christian leaders.  John Amos Comenius, in this case, conveys that the purpose of education is to produce a Pansophos, i.e., someone who has good morality, who studies sciences and who believes in God. In the same period of Comenius, there was Erasmus of Rotterdam who wrote a book Education of a Christian Prince. Reacting to the mistakes of the Church of the Middle Ages, he says that the purpose of education is to produce a Christian humanist: a proper leader with classical Greco-Roman tradition who is also a Christian. Concurrent with Erasmus, there was Machiavelli who lived in Italy and wrote The Prince. Unlike Erasmus he maintains that education aims at producing a leader who succeeds in attaining and maintaining power at all costs. According to him, a leader can make promises but, if necessary to attain his objectives, it is prudent for him to break them. Moreover, to the question whether leaders should be loved or be feared by the people, he advises since people seldom follow or obey those whom they love, but people always follow those whom they fear, it is more prudent to make fear more dominant.

In 18^th century onward, when secularization became more and more dominant in Western thought and education, the concept of educated man is no longer religious humanist but scientific humanist. In this case, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (d. 1778), the writer of novel Emile and book Social Contract, proposes education for freedom. He was among the first to be regarded as one who makes the child as the center of education. Letting the child be a child, not forcing parental or social values on the child in order for him to grow and find himself, naturally. The purpose of education is to be a Natural Man. By Natural Man he did not mean a Wild Man or a totally selfish man. Rather, a natural man, in his sense, is a man who is cultured, cultivated and civilized on the basis of his own thinking not on the basis of societal pressure and convention.

Similar to Rousseau who criticizes the problem of society, John Locke, a 19^th century England thinker, talks about the purpose of education which is to produce a gentleman in the sense of English aristocrat who is moderate, kind and well-mannered as well as believes in God. Even though there is a religious element in his concept of educated man, the secular element seems to be most dominant with greater emphasis on the study of natural sciences. A more explicit statement regarding scientific humanism as the meaning of educated man, comes from Thomas Huxley in his many essays. He conveys there that the purpose of education is to produce a scientific humanist who is not necessarily religious.

Unlike Rousseau and John Lock, Karl Marx calls for a Communal Man or man who belongs to the community as the meaning of educated man. He bases his concept from the view that individuality is submerged in the requirements of his community. In the same period of Karl Marx, there was John Dewey, an American philosopher, who sees the role of community in producing the educated man. Since he is not as extreme as Karl Marx, he suggests that education should produce a reflective man, that is, a man who contemplates his position in society, about himself and about his role in his community. Another prominent American, a behavioral psychologist who has been influenced by the ideas of Karl Mark, is B. F. Skinner (d. 1990) has an important influence in modern education. In his influential novel Walden Two, he sees that a man, an individual man, is no longer governed by his own soul or spirit, but by his society. If one can change the structure of the society, one can change the condition of the individual man. So, to him, education is to produce a Planned Man. It means that society must carefully plan and program what individuals should think and do. 

More extreme view than what has been conceived by B. F. Skinner pertaining to how the environment can control how man should behave and think, is the view of Yuval Noah Harari (b. 1976) who wrote a book called Homo Deus (2016). In his book he talks about Dataism as a form of new religion in which truth and falsehood, consciousness of individual and society are depended on how much data is being manufactured or controlled by people. The whole world, even our reality and consciousness according to him, is controlled by constantly flowing data. Perhaps, in close connection with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the purpose of education is further narrowed down to only producing a Data-centric Man. 

Educated Man: Good Man or Man of Adab

Having conveyed how the concepts of education  and of educated man as  can change because of the changing worldview, Professor Wan  then elucidates how the concepts of education and of educated man in Islam, which Prof. al-Attas has cogently argued as ta’dib and Man of Adab (Insan Adabi) respectively have not been as yet properly understood and accepted among contemporary Muslim educationists.  The more popular Arabic terms being used for education by modern Muslims have been tarbiyyah and ta’lim  separately or joined together, tarbiyyah wa ta’lim. 

Prof Wan thinks that it is so because there has been a shift in certain aspects of the worldview of many modern Muslims due to secularization and confusion and error in knowledge which Prof al-Attas has long identified. In addition, Prof Wan asserts that since the concept of adab has also been much used by the Sufis, the rise of the negative Salafism and Wahabism, which generally are extremely critical of Sufism, in such a way that anything belonging to Sufi tradition was rejected. The word adab, in this case, was reduced to mean manners, and literature and the word al-ta’dib was limited to only as physically disciplining of students who make mistakes. 

This kind of reduction and transfiguring the meaning of some important key terms and concepts in Islamic intellectual tradition actually happened also in the time of Imam al-Ghazali. In his Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din, Imam Ghazali conveys how the word fiqh was reduced to mean law; the word ‘ilm reduced to means Hadith; the word al-hikmah used only for certain kinds of medical practices.  Such attitude of reducing and transfiguring the proper meaning of an important key term such as adab, according to Professor al-Attas, is dangerous. It causes cultural and intellectual dissonance and confusion and error in knowledge. In short, that is what is called deislamization. Professor Wan stresses that the insistence on using the more proper word or term is a matter of fighting about a word. This is because Arabic language basically is a scientific language. Its semantic field has been preserved through the roots of each word. Therefore, the meaning of key terms cannot be changed arbitrarily. Also, this is because language, especially its key terms and concepts, reflects a worldview. It also reflects ontology, the nature of Reality, even though it is not Reality itself. It conveys what is understood as right and true about Reality. The right understanding of it, particularly that which is used in the Qur’an and the Hadith established by Rasulullah P.B.U.H., will lead to the true and right knowledge about Reality. In the contrary, the false understanding of it will lead to the wrong and false knowledge about Reality. 

Hence Prof. al-Attas strongly and cogently argued for ta’dib as the proper term for the concept of education in Islam with all its intellectual and moral implications at the First World Conference on Muslim Education in Makkah in 1977 and further elaborated on it at the Second World Conference on Education in Islamabad (1980). In his article submitted to the first and second world conference on education he carefully and academically argues why it is al-ta’dib and neither al-tarbiyah nor al-ta’lim that become proper and suitable term signifying the concept of education in Islam. Because of al-Attas’ powerful arguments at the First World Conference on Muslim Education, its Resolution Committee made a sort of compromise by stating that education in Islam is conveyed by the terms al-tarbiyah, al- ta’lim and al-ta’dib.

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73249/page/n7/mode/2up

Prof Wan adds further that even though adab and ta’dib are not found in the Qur’an, the entire Quranic worldview and moral-ethical and civilizational orientation reflects the concern for adab. Furthermore adab and its various derivations are much found in hadith collections. For example, in A Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition by A. J. Wensinck, it is found at least 18 entries on al-ta’dib, addaba, and adab, etc. Later on, adab used a lot not only by the Sufis, but also by some philosophers, such as al-Farabi and Ibn Maskawaih in his Tahdhib al-Akhlak.

https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-105255-185/page/n4/mode/2up

In Prof Attas’ careful analysis the word adab basically means disciplining mind, body and soul; it is about training individual’s spiritual, intellectual and physical capacity; about the ability to recognize things in the right and proper places until one is able to put things in the right and proper places. Adab in this regard is not just having the right knowledge but also the right practice of that knowledge. Therefore, education in Islam (al-ta’dib) does not only instill right knowledge to the students, but also trains them to properly act in accord with that knowledge.

Professor Wan underlines that unlike the term al-ta’dib which means basically to educate people from childhood until death, the word al-tarbiyah, when it refers to human beings, seems to be more relevant for infants and younger children. In the Qur’an it basically meant cherishing, caring and loving  young children. In surah al-Su’ara’ [26:18], Fir’aun asked Moses: “alam nurabbika fina walida” meaning “were we not cherishing you when you were a young child?” Al-Attas argues that here,  the verb nurabbika from rabba from which the word al-tarbiyah is derived, means cherishing or taking care for the emotional and physical needs of the children. It does not mean instilling knowledge as well as spiritual value in the proper sense. Similarly, in surah Bani Isra’il [17:24], we pray to Allah to show His mercy to our parents: “rabbi irham huma kama rabbayani saghira” meaning “My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.” Again, the word rabbayani, (the root of the word al-tarbiyah) means both have cherished me when I was young. It is clear that there are inherent meanings of raising, training, cherishing, and loving in the word al-ta’dib but there is no inherent meaning of instilling intellectual, moral and spiritual discipline in  the term al-tarbiyah. Hence al-ta’dib is more holistic than the word al-tarbiyah.

Like the word al-tarbiyah (raising, training, cherishing, loving) those meanings are aspects of the meaning of the word al-ta’dib, the meaning of the word al-ta’lim (instruction) is an aspect of the meaning of the word al-ta’dib as well. Unlike the word al-ta’dib which means instilling knowledge together with acting based on that knowledge which involves  training and disciplining the body, mind and soul; the word al-ta’lim basically means just instructing, teaching or instilling knowledge. Not everyone who has the right knowledge has good morality (al-akhlaq). In surah al-Baqarah [2:151], it is said “wa yu’allimukum al-kitab wa al-hikmah” meaning “He teaches you al-Qur’an and Wisdom.” The word yu’allimu from the root of ‘allama from which the word al-ta’lim is derived, means he instructs you al-Qur’an. Hence, it is crystal clear that due to the fact that the word al-ta’lim means just an instruction in knowledge and the word al-ta’dib means instruction as well as training of acting on the basis of that knowledge, the word al-ta’dib is more inclusive than the word al-ta’lim. 

Hence it is better and more proper to use the more inclusive and comprehensive term al-ta’dib to refer to the process of education in Islam.

The late Professor of Arabic Literature from Jordan, Nusrat Abdurrahman politely attempted to disprove the meaning of al-adab discovered by Prof. al-Attas, investigating the meanings of the word al-adab in more than 50 sources in classical Arabic literature to that al-adab was not only meant for man, but it is also for animals. For example, there was the one saying “addaba khisanahu” meaning “instilling adab to his horse.” Responding to that study, Professor Wan thinks that Professor al-Attas would consider that the application of the word al-adab for animals should be interpreted metaphorically, not normatively. When addaba (to discipline) is used for an animal, it is no longer simple or normal animal, but a special one. In the case of a horse, it is one that has been specially trained and loved by the owner, and has served the owner well. In the olden days, such a  horse may have been used during wars. 

Illustrating how the word adab refers to a special status of an animal when it is attached to it, Professor Wan explains how the word didik, a Malay word signifying the meaning of adab, has been used in his home state of Kelantan. The term didik (discipline, education) was commonly applied to a beloved fighting cock or rooster, ayam didik. This is because it is not simple rooster that is slaughtered for dinner. But it is a rooster that one trains for fighting, a fighting cock that gives pride, income and honor to the owner, and that is regularly bathed and put in a special cage.  

Prof. Wan then relates with the wide meaning and application of adab as understood and applied by Prof. al-Attas especially in his acceptance speech of al-Ghazali chair in ISTAC in 1994. He explains the various adab towards oneself and the others, towards knowledge, language, sounds, colors and the natural world.

 Finally, in the end of his lecture, Prof. Wan reminds again that when Prof al-Attas stresses that education in Islam focuses on the individual, it does does not mean that institution, community, ummah and nation are not important. What  it means is that to reform society or ummah, it must be start by reforming as many  individuals as possible. These individuals possess the correct worldview, right knowledge and comprehensive adab who know how to act rightly toward everything and everyone, every time.  That is why, he ensures, al-Qur’an said that such an individual man, like Nabi Ibrahim is like a society or ummah. In surah al-Nahl [16:120], it is said “inna Ibrahim kana ummatan” meaning “The                                                fact is that Ibrahim was a community in himself.” There is an intricate relationship between individuals and humanity in general such that if one unjustly kills an individual, one destroys the entire humanity.  In surah al-Maidah [5:32], it is said as well “man qatala nafsan bighairi nafsin aw fasadin fi al-ardhi fa kaannama qatala al-nasa jami’an wa man ahyaha fakaannama ahya al-nas jami’an” meaning “that he who slays a soul unless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief on earth shall be as if he had slain all mankind; and he who saves a life shall be as if he had given life to all mankind.” Wa Allah A’lam.

Next CSNL will be on the 10th July 2021 or via Zoom, click here to register. To read the previous summaries of the 10th RZS-CASIS Saturday Night Lecture Series:

• July 2020 “Arriving at the Problem of Knowledge” 
• August 2020 “Knowledge and Islamic Creed in the Context of Contemporary Challenges”
• September 2020 “The Past and Present Attitudes Towards Possibilities of Knowledge”
• October 2020 “Significance of Defining Key Terms in Islam”
• November 2020 “On The Importance of Definition: Greek Struggles and Islam’s Emphasis on the Proper Places of Things”
• December 2020 “On Al-Attas and Al-Faruqi, Studying Philosophy and Matters Concerning the Representation of Islam”

Below are the summary for the 11th RZS-CASIS Saturday Night Lecture Series

1. March 2021“Knowing Knowledge Through its Classifications”
2. April 2021 “The Meaning and Purpose of Education” 
3. May 2021“The Importances of the Individual as a Matter of Principle and Practice”