Getting back to the three things that brought about literacy in the Muslim world
1.) learning large portions of knowledge by rhyme
2.) memorizing the Qur’an and writing it and knowing how to recite it well
3.) beginning the path of knowledge at a young age
Learning by rhyme made knowledge enjoyable and sharpened the memory. Memorization and the writing of the Qur’an strengthened the memory and refined writing and speech and provided one with a surplus of examples that are used in grammar and morphology plus the Qur’an teacher taught you a good lesson if you did not behave and learn so you learned adab too. Learning young capitalized on unblemished character and a virgin memory.
Many of us brothers from the West harbor sadness because we did not start on the path of knowledge early on but actually there is an advantage to starting late despite the great opportunity presented by youth. The advantage of learning late is that we bring reflexive activity to learning and life experience so the key for us lies in understanding rather than memorization without understanding as is the case with early child education. But we must combine some degree of memorization with understanding.
It is by approaching knowledge through rhyme and rhythm (Nadham) that makes the process of building memory easy and light and enjoyable. In the mean time at least let us get our kids into the rhythm of learning and recognize it is not too late for us we just need time, silence and patience and to forget about the critics and the competitors and kill the ego a bit and just sit and learn a bit and tap into the right part of the brain. Knowledge comes with repetition.
The attack on the Qur’anic madrasa is an assault on educational sovereignty and the beginning of exposing the youth to other forces which undermine the process of building refined morals and good people, rather than a good citizen we run the risk of creating a psychotic consumer. There must be balance between the demands of modernity and values, we must infuse values into modernity and that begins in education, education of youth and adults.
Abul Hussein
Assalamu Alaikum,
Does anyone think that english rhymes that are written to teach Islamic principles could be of benefit?
ws
ASA
awesome point mashaAllah.
also:
“Many of us brothers from the West harbor sadness because we did not start on the path of knowledge early on…”
just wanted to point out… many of us sisters harbor the same sadness..
walHamdullilah,may Allah help us put our late realizations into action. like right now! i’ma go review Qur’an inshaAllah.
Maybe it’s because the Arabic language gave way to such rhyming ease? I love how old books the scholars used to write were even titled in rhyme. Was in Saturday morning class for Mustaleh Hadith yesterday and went over brief history of scholars and their works.
Jami’ al-Usul fi Hadith ar-Rasul (Ibn Atheer)
al-Fawaid al-Majmua’ fil Hadith al-Mawdua’ (Imam Shawkani)
al-Bidaya wa an-Nihaya (Ibn Kathir)
You Better Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself (Imam Oaklandiyyah)
😛
Abdul Satter, my cousin is getting his Master of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell. This past semester, he took an Intro to the Quran class by Dr. Shawkat Toorawa (Indian decent, grew up in Mauritius). He’s working on a rhyming translation of the Quran. Check out what my cousin sent me:
Pretty interesting!
AS
Ustadh Abdus Sattar, how are you may Allah accept from you and me akhi.
Honestly, your question is very important and timely. It is important that we implement such an effort and presenting knowledge in rhyme but it should not have the same feel and spirit as hip hop. But it would be very useful in my opinion, very beneficial.
AS
Abul-Hussein