Western vs Islamic Education: Do We Have to Choose?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious the Most Merciful
Should Muslims pursue only Islamic education, or secular Western education? This question is often considered by Muslim parents when planning their children’s schooling. The answer arguably lies in Islamic history, which offers many examples of righteous Muslims who successfully engaged with both systems, each serving distinct purposes and goals. This article explores the history and aims of modern Western and traditional Islamic education, and examines how engaging with both can benefit contemporary Muslims.
Islamic Education: Knowledge as Worship
The purpose of Islamic education is based on one foundation: knowing your Creator. Allah the Almighty tells us in the Quran:
I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me.
Before a young person learns a trade, vocation or skill they must understand their life’s purpose through interacting with the Quran. All Islamic sciences: Fiqh, Aqeedah and Tafsir and others come from the Quran’s teachings and rulings, supported by the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ. Even learning the Arabic language is a requirement to fully understand and appreciate the Quran. Therefore a Muslim child must be raised upon learning the Holy Book before they navigate the world.
This is why Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz was left in Medinah as a child to study under his great uncle Abdullah ibn Umar, who was known for his piety and scholarship. He learned the Islamic sciences in youth and grew to become a righteous leader and parent, who would read the Quran with his children every Friday. (Kamdar, 2019, 147)
Imam Al Bukhari was encouraged by his mother to memorise the Quran which he completed by six years old. He became a scholar at age 10, having learned the Quran and memorised thousands of hadiths. Imam Al Bukhari stayed in Medinah to study under scholars before writing Sahih Al Bukhari, known as the second best book after the Quran. By 16, he was already an Imam and taught countless students. (Miftaah Institute)
Ibn Sina, a famous Islamic scientist and philosopher during the Islamic Golden Age, memorised the Quran by age 10 and began the study of medicine by the age of 13 at the instruction of his father. He later wrote over 200 works in nutrition, good health, exercise and hygiene. (Liedstrand, C. 2023)
For all these figures of Islam, the Qur’an was their foundation, memorised from a young age. Guided by righteous parents, their formative years were devoted to Islamic learning, which led to success across fields such as science, politics, leadership, and scholarship.
Western Education: Producing Compliance
The primary goal for Western education is to produce docile, compliant citizens who follow state orders. Children do not attend public school to gain intellect but become the next generation of workers to boost the economy. This was stated by Alonzo Potter, an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the mid 1800s. He claimed the purpose of public schools was for economic benefit:
“To make men (a) more industrious (b) more active and systematic…more economical, as producers and preservers of property.”
The foundations of the American education system lie in the 18th-century Prussian model. This was after Horace Mann travelled to Prussia in 1843. He was the Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education and travelled extensively to review and inspect school curriculums, influencing his trip to Eastern Europe. (Talbert, 2022)
Mann became enamoured by the Prussian education system which created disciplined soldiers who followed orders without question. Their model was adopted after their defeat by Napoleon, partly caused by soldiers rebelling against military orders. In response, Prussian leaders devised a plan to produce a generation of soldiers loyal without question, who were well trained and supported the state’s ‘military and political objectives.’ (Hoben, 2024)
Interestingly, American education pre-1850 was incredibly fluid. Grading systems didn’t exist, there were no attendance lists and students largely engaged in discourse with their teachers. Examinations were uncommon, and oral exams were at the end of their studies. The quality of a student’s performance depended on their ability to influence an exam panel, who agreed whether the student should graduate or not. Public schooling was not mainstream, and schools were either private or religious. Each had their own curriculums and evaluation guidelines. (Talbert, 2022)
Horace Mann took the Prussian model back to America, leading to the compulsory American education system. The school curriculum became a standardised model which trained students to listen and obey instructions, becoming submissive to authority.
Mann later wrote in the Common school Journal:
Order is essential in all business; in none more so than in keeping school.”
Islamic Education: Interactive Learning is the Prophetic Way
The essence of Islamic education lies in creating an environment where learning and growth can flourish. Teaching is not limited to memorisation; rather, it involves active engagement between teacher and student, working together to expand ideas and develop new insights.
Islamic sciences are taught through the Prophetic way, which makes young Muslims not regurgitate information but practically apply, understand and connect with the content.
For example, in the second hadith of Imam Al Nawawi, it is narrated by Umar ibn Al Khatab that Jibril عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ took the form of a man and sat with the Companions. He asked questions about Islam, Iman and Ihsan while the Prophet ﷺ treated him like a student, despite knowing his identity.
Once Angel Jibril leaves the Prophet ﷺ tells the Companions: “This was Jibreel who came to teach you your religion.” This shows the Prophetic tradition is one that is interactive and engaging. (Imam Al Nawawi, hadith 2)
Similarly, Imam Malik was known to teach fiqh on an interactive level and disliked abstract teachings. He encouraged students to ask questions and focused only on practical, real-life issues rather than hypotheticals. His literal approach to Islamic law reflected a strong grounding in reality, allowing students to learn through direct, lived case studies that were relatable and meaningful.
Western Education: Passive Retention, No Critical Thinking
As shown, the purpose of Western education was to produce a generation of obedient workers. By shaping an education system to create compliance, the state could influence and mould its citizens. The biggest threat to the elites was a system which encouraged critical thinking, as thinkers could challenge the interests of those in power. For this reason, the ruling class felt it necessary to keep education tightly controlled.
This led to education becoming not a means to think, but to memorise. Western Education is exam based - focused on memory retention, regurgitation, filing and storing information. Students are tested and graded to measure progress. Such a system discourages critical thinking and questioning, while reinforcing the authority of the teacher.
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Brazilian author Paulo Freire describes this system as a 'banking model' of education where knowledge is treated as a commodity. Teachers deposit information to passive students, who memorise and re-produce absorbed information.
Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor.
(Freire, 1970, 2)
This style of learning does not give any room for students to think critically or develop their own consciousness to question social realities. They simply repeat what they have already been told. This produces a generation of students unable to critically analyse books and texts. It allows them to be unquestioning to authority, incapable of exploring new ideas.
This was intentional, as Frederick T. Gates, founder of the General Education Board, explained when outlining his vision for shaping education in the United States. He wrote in the General Education Board:
“We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or men of science. We are not to raise up from among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply…”
(General Education Board, 1913, p. 49-50).
As a result, Western education has little influence on a person’s intellectual development as it is simply a means to acquire a job. The system creates individuals disconnected from learning beyond memorising textbook facts.
Islamic and Western Education: Why Not Both?
Now that the functions of both Western and Islamic education have been explored, it is important to consider whether they can coexist in a Muslim’s life, or whether one must be pursued at the expense of the other.
Islamic education has often been viewed as a primarily spiritual pursuit, suited to those with scholarly inclinations and treated as a matter of personal choice. For those engaged in work or formal study, Islamic learning is frequently postponed to gap years or confined to short summer intensive programmes.
Western education is perceived as necessary for employment and career opportunities, pre-occupying much of a student's formulative years. This leads to secular education being the priority, undermining a Muslim’s religious education.
In reality, studying Islamic sciences is a lifetime commitment which every Muslim has a responsibility to learn. It was not reserved solely for the scholar but the layman too.
In the Golden Age of Islam, the average Muslim would listen to scholars debate, attend classes, read Islamic books and eagerly discuss them. They would constantly throughout their lives balance their Islamic studies with their trade and personal commitments.
They would never stop learning until they return back to Allah.
Islamic education was first taught in youth, forming the foundation of their life. Learning the Quran was a prerequisite to navigating the world - not a college degree.
The state did not mould a child’s character but it was Allah the Almighty's words in the Quran, narrations of the Prophet ﷺ and Islamic history to formulate role models.
Religious studies was immersive and took years, and parents ensured their children absorbed it in childhood. ‘Secular’ vocations were learned and mastered later in life, but it wasn’t the foundation in which they saw the world.
Imam Al Bukhari only became a scholar after memorising hadith and Quran. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz became caliph after he grew up in the company of scholars. Ibn Sina mastered the sciences only after he memorised the Quran.
All these men in today's age would’ve been leaders of politics, medicine, academia and religious sciences. This shows that Islamic education does not limit one’s career opportunities but bolsters it, giving them a solid religious foundation to solve the world's societal problems.
This is what puts barakah (blessings) in a young Muslim’s life and gives them the ability to benefit the ummah.
In conclusion, Western or secular education must be viewed through an Islamic lens. Its purpose should be to serve the ummah in whatever field one chooses. We need lawyers to defend Muslim prisoners, IT developers to build platforms for Islamic learning, educators to guide the youth, and writers to create children’s books that highlight the role models of Islam. Our talents are for the sake of the ummah, not for ourselves.
Therefore, the strongest approach is to ground children in the Islamic sciences before adolescence, giving them a firm religious foundation to face the world. If this means entering Western education later in life, it is a necessary sacrifice to raise a righteous generation of revivers and Muslim leaders.
May Allah bring forth righteous revivers from this ummah to benefit and aid the Muslims, Ameen.
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Jazakallah khair for reading. Please benefit the ummah by sharing this knowledge and downloading a transcript below. Feel free to use it for your own research or personal study.
Bibliography
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General Education Board (1913) Occasional Papers No. 1. New York: General Education Board. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/441703733/General-Education-Board
Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated by M.B. Ramos. New York: Continuum,
Hoben, T. (2024) The Prussian model of education in the US should be reexamined. Cardinal Institute, 14 November. Available at: https://cardinalinstitute.com/the-prussian-model-of-education-in-the-us-should-be-reexamined/
Kamdar, I. (2019) Productivity Principles of ʿUmar II: ʿUmar bin ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz. Independently published.
Liedstrand, C. (2023) Scientists and Scholars of the Islamic Golden Age: Ibn Sina. Inspire the Mind. Available at: https://www.inspirethemind.org/post/scientists-and-scholars-of-the-islamic-golden-age-ibn-sina
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Miftaah Institute (n.d.) Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari: The Imam of Hadith. Available at: https://www.miftaah.org/articles/muhammad-ibn-ismail-al-bukhari-the-imam-of-hadith
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