This is an edited version of an article which was originally published in Current Issues in Comparative Education, Teacher College, Columbia University, Vol. 7(1), online at: columbia.edu/cice/Archives.
Abstract
The paper assesses the dominant discourse on Islam and education that argues for an education derived from an exclusively ‘Islamic’ vision. In addition to exploring the historical roots of this discourse, the paper analyses it with respect to its (i) arguments for an Islamic vision of education, (ii) conception of Islam, and (iii) proposals for the implementation of such a vision. The paper argues that, at all three levels, the discourse suffers from serious conceptual, empirical and pragmatic weaknesses. It proposes that in seeking to overcome these weaknesses, the discourse will have to reconceptualise several elements, including its conception of Islam and its approach to the history of Muslims.
Ismailimail 
A most relevant excerpt from a speech by Mawlana Hazar Imam from 1970:
Convocation Address at the University of Sind
His Highness the Aga Khan
February 6, 1970
Hyderabad, Pakistan
“Let me turn to another aspect of Islamic society: our intellectual elite. In the past, much of the dynamism of Muslim society was born from the leaders of the faith: the Imams, the Pirs and Mullahs. This identity between the leaders of the faith and the empire’s intellectual elite was a continuous source of strength both to the faith and those whose duty it was to govern the empire. How many aspiring Mullahs or Imams today enter secular universities and obtain degrees in secular subjects? And vice-versa, how many university graduates, after completing their degrees, turn their lives to directing the flock of the faithful? Let me not be misunderstood – I criticise neither Pirs nor Mullahs nor Imams nor degree-holders. I simply state that in future I believe it will be in our society’s interest to have a much wider platform in common between our religious and our secular leaders. Our religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the past in all fields.
It is through the creation of such a new elite, inspired by, and widely read in everything related to our heritage, that there must come about a revival in Muslim thought. The whole approach to education, without becoming archaic, should begin now to re-introduce, as widely as possible, the work and thought of our great Muslim writers and philosophers. Thus, from the nursery school to the university, the thoughts of the young will be inspired by our own heritage and not that of some foreign culture. Again, let there be no misunderstanding: I am not in any way opposed to the literature or the art or the thought of the West. I simply maintain that the Islamic heritage is just as great and that it is up to us to bring it to the forefront again. When our nursery school children first begin to read, why should they not let their imaginations build upon the prowess of the Great Khaled rather than Wellington or Napoleon? And if the student of philosophy seeks a degree, should he not be encouraged to read about even Al-Hallaj rather than Hegel or Kierkegaard?”
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The above and other relevant speech excerpts may be found at:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/301selected-speech-excerpts-of-aga-khan.html
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