The Obligatory Duties Regarding Educational Curricula and How to Modify Them
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Your Eminence, the Shaykh—may Allah reward you with good—what is the obligatory duty regarding educational curricula and how they should be modified?
What I see is that modifying the curricula should not be the task of a single group, but rather of multiple groups,Each in his field of specialization: some of which deal with natural sciences, and others with moral, linguistic, and other matters. Therefore, this should not be entrusted to a specific group of people.
What unites all these groups is that they possess the two qualities of strength and trustworthiness. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, referred to them in His Book when He said: [Surah al-Qasas: 26] .
And the jinn said when he committed to bringing the throne of Bilqis: [Surah al-Naml: 39] , so the committee must consist of multiple groups, it must have strength in what it examines, and it must have trustworthiness, giving priority to religious interest above all else.
At that point, we see that the modified curricula must be presented to the Committee of Senior Scholars for approval, and to remove anything that contradicts the Shari'ah; because in that lies the clearing of one's conscience—Meaning: the conscience of the one in authority—and in that, too, lies safety from the objections of any objector regarding what is adopted in these curricula.
Then, this is a matter of the greatest necessity for the affairs of the Ummah; because it will raise generations who will hold the reins of the Ummah, leading the Ummah either to the abyss or to the heights.
So the obligatory duty is to look deeply and precisely into these curricula, and I think that the state—may Allah guide it—will strive with the utmost effort for such a thing, and we ask Allah to grant it success in what is good and righteous.
What I see is that modifying the curricula should not be the task of a single group, but rather of multiple groups,Each in his field of specialization: some of which deal with natural sciences, and others with moral, linguistic, and other matters. Therefore, this should not be entrusted to a specific group of people.
What unites all these groups is that they possess the two qualities of strength and trustworthiness. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, referred to them in His Book when He said:
Indeed, the best of those you hire is the strong and the trustworthy
إِنَّ خَيْرَ مَنِ اسْتَأْجَرْتَ الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُAnd the jinn said when he committed to bringing the throne of Bilqis:
and indeed, I am for this [task] strong and trustworthy."
وَإِنِّي عَلَيْهِ لَقَوِيٌّ أَمِينٌAt that point, we see that the modified curricula must be presented to the Committee of Senior Scholars for approval, and to remove anything that contradicts the Shari'ah; because in that lies the clearing of one's conscience—Meaning: the conscience of the one in authority—and in that, too, lies safety from the objections of any objector regarding what is adopted in these curricula.
Then, this is a matter of the greatest necessity for the affairs of the Ummah; because it will raise generations who will hold the reins of the Ummah, leading the Ummah either to the abyss or to the heights.
So the obligatory duty is to look deeply and precisely into these curricula, and I think that the state—may Allah guide it—will strive with the utmost effort for such a thing, and we ask Allah to grant it success in what is good and righteous.