The golden age of Islam in the 7th to 13th centuries CE was when the Islamic world flourished with scientific and cultural advancements. It’s centered in Baghdad, Cairo, Cordoba, and Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), where people around the globe came and studied the excellence and advancement of Islamic civilization. Nevertheless, now, Islam is left behind in the driving seat, whilst the western hemisphere rejoiced in its renaissance. At least, that was what we believed in, until the Rector of the Islamic Open University (IOU), Dr. Bilal Philipps, said otherwise in his latest invigorating visiting lecture in University Al-Azhar Indonesia (UAI) on February 13, 2025.
Dr. Bilal Philipps visited UAI to pen a collaboration venture with UAI and to deliver a visiting lecture in an effort to empower the soul and illuminate the mind of the Ummah. The visiting lecture was held in the 317 C room, 3rd floor, University Al-Azhar Indonesia.
Mukadimah
As students and lecturers from the Faculty of Education and Psychology of UAI filled the room and other students occupied the Microsoft Teams room, the Head of Educational Psychology Master Program of UAI, Faisal Sundani Kamaludin, Lc., M.ED., Ph.D., opened the program as a Moderator. He led the audience for a group photo.
Visiting Lecture Session
With the group photo finished, it ushered us to the visiting lecture session wherein Mr. Faisal introduced Dr. Bilal as the speaker.
Dr. Bilal first emphasized the importance of Islamize education and its difference with Islamic education.
There are very striking differences between Islamic education and Islamize education. Islamic education are the Fiqh, Shariah, Aqidah, Hadits, Qur’an and etc. Meanwhile, Islamize education is the methodology that we inherited from our predecessors in Cordova and Andalusia, where we are the teachers of the world. Islamize education connected us to the roots of our ancestors that were ripped away from us by the Western civilization and designed for us to be left in the dark.
He continued with how the Western hemisphere “controls” the narrative of how Muslims should perceive themselves or when they are viewed by others.
There is a book called “100 Inventions by Muslims” that is hidden by Western institutions to control the narrative that Muslims didn’t contribute anything to the world and how we’re perceived as war-mongering, fanatic and backward savages. This couldn’t be further from the truth and has caused systematic and profound damage to the minds of Muslims. Ultimately, this is how the rest of the world sees us.
Lastly, Dr. Bilal encouraged implementing comparative Islamic understanding to rectify what is wrong in the mind of Muslims.
We as educators coming out from universities such as UAI or IOU have the responsibility to correct this misleading narrative. All areas of learning and information need to be understood from an Islamic comparative lens. That doesn’t mean we reject everything the West taught us; instead, we use the Islamic perspetive to differentiate between the right and wrong from any source of learning and information in order to revitalize the Ummah.
Dr. Bilal calls for reflection, critical thinking, and discernment in understanding the knowledge and information we received have sparked a productive and insightful conversation.
Q&A Session
The Q&A session was flooded with audience members asking questions. The conversation touched upon the challenges in engaging Gen Z students in reading, navigating information in the Digital Age for Muslims, and challenges to effectively implementing in education whilst valuing Indonesia diversity. Dr. Bilal attempted to answer the question.
Each generations have its own set of challenges, including in teaching. As Generation Z revolves around digital media, it’s wise to design a project or assignment that uses digital means in researching the topics relevant to their studies. This will further incentivize students to read while using their favorite instrument.
Navigating in the digital sphere and trying to understand information or knowledge is dangerous if you don’t have any deep understanding or expertise. That is why it’s pivotal for us to reach an expert in this matter to help us understand the piece of information that we wanted to know.
In the context of implementing effective Islamic principles in the middle of Indonesia’s diversity, I believe institutions should focus on their areas of concern and have sufficient knowledge to guide their groups effectively without worrying about other groups’ cultures and religions.
Conclusion
The Q&A session brought a satisfying and insightful end to the visiting lecture. In a short moment, Dr. Bilal has left a tremendous amount of knowledge that hopefully uplifts the Ummah to reclaim its lost history and to be critical in thinking to restore Islam’s former glory, aamiin. (BR)