One in a series of posts centered around Islamic knowledge posted today on www.keepingithalal.com :
When it comes to university, we all know how learning works. If we want to become a doctor, then we know that we must start with introductory biology and chemistry so that the year after we can take organic chemistry so that we can then move on to more complicated subjects. We know that we must first build a foundation of basic essentials and then slowly build upon this foundation, layer by layer, until we eventually reach an understanding of medicine that allows us to treat people. To help us along in this process, our university devises curricula so that when we make the decision to be a doctor, we know what courses to take. After all, how are we supposed to figure out, on our own, without any knowledge, what exactly a doctor must learn? In any course, the process is similar. When learning French, we start with the alphabet and pronunciation, then some basic words, then some bits of grammar, etc. We do not start with learning the conditional if we don’t even understand the verb avoir. This is common sense. It would be ridiculous to attempt to learn medicine by simply going to a chemistry lecture one day and then a surgery training the next. We don’t create our own curriculum about a subject we know almost nothing about.
Somehow, these principles disappear when we approach Islamic knowledge.
