Guides to Faith
Conscriptionist Education and Islamic Thought
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cis.36176Keywords:
Islamic reform, Modern Egypt, Mass Education, LiberalismAbstract
In this article, I examine how the project of modern mass education conscripts and alters older understandings of knowledge, vocation, and politics in Islamic thought. First, I explore how reformist 'ulama' such as Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi (1801–1873) and Muhammad 'Abduh (1849–1905) understood education as a universal human right and a moral, religious, and political obligation. I contrast these modern arguments with those of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111), who says that while all Muslims need to understand their faith, only the few who will serve as religious authorities need to spend many years in formal study. I contrast these two to show how understandings of the self and the community have changed subject to progressive power.
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