{bit.ly/IR4rpit} This is lecture 4 (of 8) of “How to Launch an Islamic Revival?”; for access to all lectures, register for free online course at: http://bit.ly/IsRv00; For previous lecture, see IR3 Origins of Western Social Sciences. The one hour video lecture is followed by a 750 word brief summary.
This lecture in particular, and the whole course of eight lectures in general, is addressed only to committed Muslims. Our faith does not allow us to accept the conclusion that the message of God is not adequate to solve our modern problems. This confronts us with the questions:
- What is revolutionary in the message?
- Why do Muslims fail to see and utilize this revolutionary potential, to create desperately needed changes in the condition of the Ummah?
The goal of this lecture is to answer these questions. We begin by noting key revolutionary elements of the message:
- Intention is the heart of action: What is the PURPOSE of our lives?
- Useful knowledge enters our hearts, and informs us about HOW to achieve our PURPOSE.
Why are Muslims unaware of these central features? Because a western education, now universally in use throughout the Islamic countries, teaches us the OPPOSITE lessons. If we look at the curriculum of what is taught in Western (and all) universities, we find the lessons that:
- Purpose of our lives is pursuit of pleasure, profits, power.
- Any kind of knowledge which can provide us with fame, popularity, money, respect is useful.
The antidote this poisoning of our brains by Western education lies in recognizing our unique and precious lives:
- Human Lives are infinitely precious: See “Learn Who You Are” (bit.do/azwya)
- Useful knowledge enters our hearts, transforming us, and thereby the world.
Note that these are in direct conflict with lessons we learn from our university education, which teaches us that our lives are just commodities for sale in the labor market. Also, useful knowledge is that of the external world, because it enhances our price in the labor market.
After these ANSWERS:
- The message is revolutionary because it gives us purpose and makes our lives meaningful
- Muslims do not recognize this because our Western education teaches us otherwise.
We turn to provide an ACTION plan, required to implement these revolutionary teachings in our personal lives, communities, and society.
he FIRST step to change is to achieve clarity of purpose. Say my prayer and my struggle, my living and my dying, all is for the sake of Allah the Creator of the heavens and earth. Achieving this single-minded focus on the sole purpose for our lives is difficult because the environment – friends, families, media, society, education – are all giving us exactly the opposite message nearly constantly. Our nafs is attracted by the glamor, the goods, luxuries, careers, and all of the other popular diverse goals (gods) being pursued by others. The solution is to make D’awah toward the good, to protect yourself from the Da’wah towards evil that surrounds us. This has the dual effect of creating change within our own selves, and transmitting the correct effort for change to others.
- Focus on the intention for teaching and learning. This should be for the purpose of serving the creation – the family of God – for the sake of the love of Allah.
- Ensure that knowledge is USEFUL – it is capable of changing lives. Recognize and reject useless knowledge that forms a large part of current university & school curriculum.
This last point is very important for teachers. Think about your own life experience: how much knowledge which you acquired did you use in your life. Think about the movie “To Sir, With Love”, where the teacher throws the books in the garbage can and starts teaching students how to live.
LINKS: PPTX Slides for the video are embedded below. For previous lectures, see