The Purpose of Creation (P/B)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Allah (SWT) says: (If you fear that you will not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or (the captives or the slaves) that your right hands possess. That will be more suitable to prevent you from doing injustice) (An-Nisa’: 3).

Praise be to Allah (SWT) who has prescribed for His Servants a religion (Islam) that is beneficial to them in this world and the Hereafter, and Peace and Blessing be upon His Messengers and Prophets who were guided by His Guidance and conveyed His Religion. The last and seal of His Messengers was Muhammad Ibn Abdillah (SAW). He (SAW) was the best to advise his Ummah and convey the True Message, by words, deeds and his character. He (SAW) was the best model and example for the believers.

A lengthy process, rich in remarkable and thought-provoking events, including compelling encounters with Islamic philosophy, led the author to embrace Islam. His experiences since that time – such as his pilgrimages to Makkah – further deepened his understanding of, and identification with, this “fastest growing religion in Europe.” This “Diary” is, however, much more than a recorded soliloquy. It is a lively introduction to Islam as such – developed in the spiritual confrontation of a Muslim intellectual of European background with the ideology and value system of post-industrial western society.

New Directions in Islamic Education explores the relationship between pedagogy and the formation of religious identities within Islamic education settings that are based in minority and majority Muslim contexts. Based on empirical research, the book engages critically with the philosophical, theological and cultural dynamics that inform Muslim educational thought and practice. The book offers an integrated model of Islamic education that identifies the heart of the Islamic educational imagination as tarbiyah, a transformative process of becoming. Overall, this book seeks to ground the theory and practice of Islamic education within the experience of the educator and the learner, and it synthesises the spiritual foundations of Islam with the tradition of critical reflection within the classical Muslim educational heritage. This ground breaking and wide-ranging work should be of interest not only to Muslim educators and education specialists, but also to social scientists, theologians and policy makers.