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Our Pedagogy
Seeking knowledge that is necessary for salvation is farḍ ʿayn, an obligation for every Muslim, male and female. At the Dār al-ʿUlūm al-Imām Muḥammad Ādam al-Islāmiyyah we have facilitated the acquisition of the Islamic scholarly tradition by offering a dynamic integrated programme of study, which allows our students to learn the sacred tradition, in addition to, attaining the necessary skills which will equip them in the modern world.
How do we facilitate the means of success in this life and the next? We believe the answer lies in inspiring the Islamic intellectual scholarly heritage through a nurturing education which is infused with tazkīyah (internal spiritual purification) built on a sacred foundation of the Holy Qurʾān and Sunnah.
We believe that the purpose of enhancing ones Islamic knowledge is to learn more about our beautiful religion, whereby an individual is supposed to make positive change and transform their lives into one that is more in line with the Qur’anic injunctions and Prophetic personality.
Company of the learned
We feel that true Islamic knowledge requires the tutelage and company of a learned instructor. Our pedagogy emphasizes on-site classes, with close interaction between teachers and students. This allows the students not only to learn the subject, but ask questions, benefit from visual demonstrations, review with other students, and immerse themselves in an overall educational environment. Scholarship cannot be attained merely through books; a teacher is essential.
Education instilled with tazkīyah
We believe an education without tazkīyah is an edifice without any foundation, soon to crumble upon whimsical fancies. Hakim al-Umma Mawlānā Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (d. 1362/1943) explains the true meaning of esoteric internal spiritual reformation, or otherwise known as tazkīyah:
"After rectification of beliefs and external acts, it is compulsory (fard) upon every Muslim to rectify his internal acts. Numerous Qur’ānic verses and an untold number of ahādīth explicitly indicate the obligation (fardīyya) of this. However, most people of superficial understanding are heedless of it because of their subservience to base desires. Who is not aware that the Qur’ān and ahādīth are explicit regarding the significance of abstinence (zuhd), contentment (qanā‘a), modesty (tawādu‘), sincerity (ikhlās), patience (sabr), gratitude (shukr), love of Allah (hubb al-Ilah), contentment with the Decree (ridā bi’l-qadā’), trust (tawakkul), submission (taslīm), and so on, while they emphasise the attainment of these noble attributes? And who is not aware that the Qur’ān and ahādīth condemn the opposite of these noble qualities: love for the world (hubb al-dunya), covetousness (hirs), arrogance (takabbur), ostentation (riyā’), lust (shahwa), anger (ghadab), envy (hasad), and so on, and warn against them? Is there any doubt that the noble qualities have been commanded, and the base traits forbidden? This is the actual meaning of reforming the esoteric acts, and the primary purpose of the spiritual path. That it is obligatory (fard) is without doubt an established fact. Along with this, experience tells us that reformation is contingent upon the companionship, service, and following of those who have already reformed themselves." (Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi, Haqiqat al-tariqa min sunnat al-aniqa in Al-Takashuf min muhimat al-tasawwuf. 256-257)
Inheritance of the prophetic personality and knowledge
We believe the study of Islam is not simply an area of academic investigation. It is the continuation of a legacy, a legacy that was initiated with the revelation of ʾiqraʾ, whose foundations were laid over the twenty three years of Prophethood, and whose edifice was raised by successive generations of keenly devoted scholars for well over a thousand years. The type of individualism that places the investigator in the centre and ignores the legacy of the discipline is foreign to Islam. Knowledge is handed down through a legacy of scholarship. The student, as the recipient of knowledge, becomes heir to that legacy. By inheriting the legacy, the student becomes part of it; subsequently, it is through this student that the legacy is perpetuated.
The legacy itself transcends time, but every subsequent age brings with it unprecedented challenges. It is only when the challenges of an age have been met that the claim of preserving a tradition becomes tenable. The dynamism inherent within the legacy of knowledge in Islam makes it possible for it to meet all challenges. Every instance of interaction between challenges and the legacy adds to the wealth of the legacy itself. Thus does the legacy progress and develop.
In this way, preservation and the progression, hand in hand, allows the legacy of the Islamic scholarly heritage to be traced all the way back to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ allowing students to inherit the prophetic personality and knowledge.