Dr. Ruqayya Taha Jaber Al-Alwani
College of Arts, University of Bahrain

Introduction

Recent years have witnessed extensive efforts to reform education, with calls converging across various countries to overhaul educational systems. These calls emphasize the necessity of basing the educational process on evaluation that reveals the strengths and weaknesses of implemented systems. Arabic and Islamic heritage has not been devoid of continuous interest in the educational process and its reform, both in ancient and modern times. Several prominent figures have emerged in this field, such as Al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina, and others. Ibn Khaldun is considered one of the most prominent Arab scholars who provided methodological foundations for reformist educational thought, which are indispensable for any researcher in educational reform. This is particularly true because his ideas were characterized by realism, a distance from purely theoretical conceptions, and a focus on linking education to its functional role in life.

Ibn Khaldun's contributions were not limited to describing the methods or curricula followed; rather, he addressed the fundamentals of the curriculum and various pedagogical practices with a critical, realistic mindset that transcended the frameworks of the knowledge of his time. In Khaldunian thought, education is a social process in its content, essence, goals, and function; it cannot be separated from society, as it expresses the needs of both individuals and the community. We do not intend to claim that Ibn Khaldun is the founder of pedagogy or didactics as much as we wish to reveal the level of sophistication reached by the Khaldunian method in education and the points of convergence between Khaldunian ideas and the foundations of modern education.

This paper aims to identify the most prominent features and elements of the Khaldunian method in reforming the educational process. It also attempts to provide suggestions for reviewing the reality of today's educational process by examining and benefiting from Ibn Khaldun’s methodology, in comparison with modern pedagogical data regarding values, goals, educational content, quality, methods, and the characteristics and qualifications of the teacher in the thought of some contemporary educational reform pioneers—most notably the famous Professor MORTIMER J. ADLER—and the capacity for renewal... rather than mental energy in its narrow limits based on mere memorization of information and knowledge.

Epistemological Introductions

This study addresses the issue of reform in the educational process. By reform, we mean: working to correct errors and solve problems related to the trajectory of the educational process in an attempt to reach the best possible levels. Anyone looking at the various educational ideologies and theories throughout human history will notice that they represent a vision for educational reform and work to implement that vision whenever possible.

There is no doubt that there is a real need in every human-made curriculum to reconsider it from time to time, for the purpose of Initial Evaluation or Summative Evaluation, given that it is a curriculum designed by humans, presented in a specific context to address specific problems, direct teachings, or instill behaviors. Education is no exception to these curricula that require review, reform, and change periodically, especially under the current global circumstances. This is a reality called for by the thinkers and scholars of the Ummah, emphasizing that there is no reform for education except by making radical changes in the structure of education, basing the reform plan on developing the learner's various skills, focusing on teacher preparation, and intensifying spending on education.[^1]

The human being is the most important resource in the necessary development process, and humans have sources, influences, and foundations for their upbringing and education; education lies at the heart of those influences. Hence the importance of focusing on human education and developing all their creative capacities. Anyone looking at ancient and modern Islamic history will find a massive amount of literature addressing this issue from multiple angles. The importance of returning to this literature increases at present, as the reform process should spring from within the nation's value system and its reality, not from outside it—while maintaining the possibility of utilizing some necessary mechanisms in technical and technological matters from abroad.

Relying on foreign expertise in educational reform and "transplanting" it without evaluation, analysis, or criticism carries several risks. Their curricula and experiences are the product of research into their reality, which differs from our reality, its foundations, and its values. Education remains, at its core, a national industry; this industry benefits from the achievements of human civilization to improve its national production, not to be planted so as to produce a new industry in an unsuitable environment.[^2]

Section One: Features of the Khaldunian Method in Reforming the Educational Process

First: Realism

The Khaldunian method is characterized by realism and a distance from idealism based on theoretical conceptions. Ibn Khaldun’s interest in the subject of education was not that of a theoretical researcher unconcerned with practical application; rather, he practiced it daily in teaching circles in kuttabs (traditional schools) and madrasas. He taught in Tunis and then traveled to Cairo in 784 AH after facing difficulties in Tunis. He worked in teaching many times until he passed away in Egypt in 808 AH. He says regarding this: "When I entered it [Cairo], I stayed for a few days, and students of knowledge flocked to me seeking benefit despite my modest stock [of knowledge], and they would not accept my excuses, so I sat to teach at Al-Azhar Mosque."[^4]

What contributed to establishing his realism in the matter of educational reform was his travel across several countries in the Maghreb and Andalusia and his interaction with scholars and literati in various arts and sciences. These journeys provided him with the opportunity to observe education and its conditions in different countries and allowed him to connect with numerous scholars. This helped him understand many educational curricula and methods in the various regions where he lived. This became clear in his observations and comparisons between the methods of education in Islamic cities.[^5]

"As for the people of the Maghreb, their method with children is limited to teaching the Qur'an only, and during their study, they focus on script (rasm) and its issues and the differences among Qur'anic reciters regarding it. They do not mix it with anything else in any of their teaching sessions—neither Hadith, nor Fiqh, nor poetry, nor Arabic speech—until the child becomes proficient in it or stops short of it..."[^7]

The importance of this feature in reforming the educational process today is evident, as calls for educational reform in our countries have multiplied. This necessitates a commitment to authenticity and springing from the original values of religion represented in the Book and the authentic Sunnah during reform and change processes. Transplanting various reformist curricula without attending to the fundamental differences and structural foundations is not without many risks, as previously mentioned.

Second: Authenticity

Ibn Khaldun noticed that the curricula and programs followed in his time were not in a state of balance, whether in form or substance, because they neglected many of the eternal principles brought by Islam. He believed that the educational process should begin with teaching the Qur'an; this is a clear indication of the authenticity of the reformist method in Khaldunian thought, as it is a thought originating from the methods of the Qur'an and Sunnah. He says: "Know that teaching children the Qur'an is a symbol of the religion, which the people of the faith have adopted and followed in all their cities, because of the firm belief and doctrines from the verses of the Qur'an and some Hadith texts that it instills in the hearts first. The Qur'an has become the basis of education upon which later faculties (malakat) are built. The reason for this is that learning in childhood is more firmly rooted and is the foundation for what follows; for the first thing to reach the heart is like the foundation for faculties, and the state of what is built upon it depends on the foundation and its methods..."[^6]

As for their method of teaching children in the kuttabs, the scholar Ibn Khaldun describes it by saying:

Section Two: Reforming the Educational Curriculum in Khaldunian Thought and Modern Approaches

Preamble

By educational curriculum, we mean: the effective tool for achieving the goals of education aimed at building the human being, developing their various abilities and skills, and acquiring ways of thinking. Therefore, the curriculum is considered the actual translation of the goals and orientations of education in society.

In its modern sense, the curriculum is: a set of diverse experiences provided by the educational institution to students inside and outside it to achieve comprehensive and integrated growth in the individual's construction—physically, mentally, psychologically, socially, and religiously—according to specific educational goals and a drawn scientific plan.[^8]

This definition—adopted by this study—takes a broader scope than traditional trends that see the curriculum as based on knowledge only.[^9] Such a narrow view makes the curriculum synonymous with "syllabi" and limits the teacher's role to transferring information, explanation, and clarification only. The narrow concept of the educational curriculum neglects various activities that take place outside the classroom and confines the learner between the covers of the prescribed book without focusing on helping the learner understand their environment and its problems, or developing their value and social orientations consistent with their society and lived reality.[^10]

From here, looking at the educational curriculum includes the curriculum's ability to achieve educational goals—which should precede the process of designing and describing curricula—as well as educational strategies and the roles of teachers and learners. Ibn Khaldun addressed these levels in a style characterized by brevity and depth simultaneously. Ibn Khaldun dedicated the sixth chapter of his famous Muqaddimah to researching sciences and their categories, education and its methods, and all its aspects, addressing the differences between Islamic cities in teaching methods. The Khaldunian method in reforming the educational process can be divided as follows:

First: Goals of the Educational Process

The goals of the educational process should not be directed toward the formation of knowledge only; rather, they should extend to include all aspects of human behavior. This importance of educational goals is emphasized in our current era, characterized by openness to revolutions in information, communications, technology, and media... This requires the educational process to contribute to forming a qualified cultural personality that handles the tools of the current era with proficiency and mastery, being professionally, educationally, and technically qualified.

It is worth noting in this context that the problem of defining general educational goals is still present in modern schools of education. The scholar Ronald Corwin reviewed the details of the dispute over defining these goals among educators and sociologists. Some see them as limited to mere mental achievement; others see the necessity of focusing on the link between educational effectiveness and career success; and a third group believes they should be directed toward developing personal independence, precision in work, and adaptation to the requirements of technological change and utilitarian pragmatism.[^11]

However, Ibn Khaldun, in his educational method, presents clear goals that arise from the heart of the needs of the individual and society. Ibn Khaldun focused on social aspects in his writings and considered them a source from which the educational goals of teaching are derived. This Khaldunian methodological insight is urgently needed in our societies, where the youth are subject to mental, intellectual, and value influences all related to an educational pattern far from their mother identity. The blatant intervention in shaping the youth mindset in our societies forces educational institutions to build an independent education that preserves the identity of the youth and the locality of their thinking.

The goals of the educational process in the Khaldunian method can be summarized as follows:

- Moral Preparation

Ibn Khaldun emphasizes the importance of religious education, which is the basis of moral preparation for the learner. Ibn Khaldun believes it should begin from childhood and considers teaching children the Holy Qur'an a priority of education. The Qur'an is the basis of education upon which later faculties are built, given that learning in childhood is more firmly rooted. Ibn Khaldun is interested in forming behavioral habits and virtuous values so that character becomes an innate disposition (jibilla) and nature in the individual. He says: "Man is the child of his habits and what he is accustomed to, not the child of his nature and temperament. That which he becomes accustomed to in his circumstances becomes a character, a faculty, and a habit that takes the place of nature and disposition."[^12]

Modern educational philosophies have addressed this aspect and studied it extensively between two trends: the first represented in Pragmatic philosophy, which saw that the individual's desires are virtues in themselves and they have the opportunity to practice whatever they wish; and the second which saw virtue as mental creations left to the individual themselves. Specialists face a crisis in defining the "minimum level of morality." John White believes the individual should be left to determine the level of morality they practice; if individual interest conflicts with the minimum level of morality, the individual may drop the minimum to zero. White believes this moral education will be adopted by a large sector of the world's population.[^13]

The difference between the Khaldunian method and modern methods is quite clear. Modern educational institutions have not been concerned with producing a human being characterized by moral and value constraints as much as they focused on dealing according to interests and desires regardless of the moral value system. It is noted that these outputs have leaked into many Arab countries today. Dr. Ammar says: "Education became linked to the certificate that measures the information a person has acquired, and the certificate became the sole right to grant the citizen a specific job. The certificate was also limited to a certain amount of knowledge that a person memorizes, allowing them to join a specific job, while production for this job requires values including perseverance, giving, and sacrifice. All these values are absent from our educational curricula in the Arab world... Rather, the educational process is limited to memorizing information and granting certificates that evaluate the citizen by the information they acquired. Consequently, other aspects are completely neglected and must take their place in our educational systems, whether physical education, spiritual and social education, or political and cultural education. Without this, our educational efforts in the sound and correct formation of the Arab citizen's personality will not lead to the required success..."[^14]

- Intellectual Preparation

One of the most prominent tasks of the educational institution at present is to prepare the individual intellectually and mentally, and to develop the learner's mental abilities for scientific thinking, so that they become capable of solving the problems they face, linking phenomena, and extracting the laws that govern them. Developing the mind is one of the most prominent means of human development. It is fair to say that educational institutions in the West have made significant progress in studying mental abilities and fields of development, and have gone a long way in employing the mental abilities of learners in a way that suits the scientific revolution and the massive explosion of information.

Among the modern educational trends in this regard is developing intellectual preparation through:

• Adopting the principle of self-learning and continuous learning to keep up with the challenges of the information explosion era and its accompanying rapid development.
• Developing the learner's ability to link what they learn inside the educational institution with the problems of their real reality outside it, which is known today as Authentic Learning.

The Khaldunian method appears advanced through its suitability for the latest educational contributions in the intellectual preparation of the learner, and even its precedence over them, but without entering into great details as is the case in our current era where specializations have branched out. Ibn Khaldun advocated for the importance of dialogue, debate, and discussion between the teacher and the learner. Dialogue helps in opening the mind, expanding perceptions, and loosening the tongue through which knowledge is transferred. Ibn Khaldun also focused on explaining the tools of knowledge such as the senses and experience and their role in developing mental abilities, such as mental reflection, experimentation, and observation. In fact, Ibn Khaldun focused on defining the levels of the human mind: the discerning, the empirical, and the theoretical.

For Ibn Khaldun, the important thing is not knowing the rules, laws, and terminology in themselves, but rather the ability to use them and benefit from them practically—i.e., application. Hence his distinction between the "industry of language" represented in its rules, laws, and terminology, and the "faculty of language."

The process of intellectual preparation is extremely important in forming "seriousness" that contradicts extremism; rationality makes a person deliberate, patient, and not rushed in decision-making. Knowing the role of the mind and adopting seriousness that avoids extremism are important matters in educational aspects. This educational insight is extremely important today, where education and its institutions have often turned into backwaters where freedom is absent, and the spirit of initiative, creativity, training, and skill formation is killed. The educational system should not be based on memorizing and storing information; rather, it should aim to encourage thinking skills—analytical and synthetic—and direct these skills toward individual research, taking into account individual differences according to each person's abilities and potential. Education is not "indoctrination" just as learning is not "memorization." Rather, on both sides, it is the exercise of mental abilities and the gaining of time in order to master knowledge in this field or that.

The limitation of educational institutions at various levels to the ability of memorization and rote learning, and their failure to engage mental processes, produces negative effects, including:

• The inability of graduates to interact, understand, and dialogue with different parties and segments of society. Discussion, analysis, and dialogue require mental skills that cannot be developed through mere memorization.
• The inability of graduates to maintain their identity in the face of incoming trends and the fierce winds of globalization.
• The inability of graduates to build bridges between authenticity and modernity and the interaction between the past and the present.[^15]

Ibn Khaldun proposed practical models for establishing and developing mental abilities, including his focus on writing and arithmetic as components of intellectual education and the development of intellectual capacities. Ibn Khaldun emphasizes the importance of teaching these two crafts because they are beneficial to the mind. Writing involves a transition from written letters to spoken words in the imagination, and from spoken words in the imagination to the meanings in the soul. This happens continuously, resulting in a faculty of transition from evidence to what is evidenced, which is the meaning of mental reflection through which unknown sciences are acquired. Thus, one acquires a faculty of reasoning that constitutes an "increase in intellect" and results in more insight and cleverness in matters due to what they have become accustomed to in that transition.[^16]

The repetition of this mental process involved in writing—from drawn letters to the pronunciation of drawn letters, and from the pronunciation of drawn letters to the mental image or meaning and vice versa—forms the faculty of rapid transition between signifiers and signifieds. This faculty increases the mind's reasoning, insight, and intelligence. What Ibn Khaldun proposed several centuries ago is very close to what the international educator MORTIMER J. ADLER[^17] pointed out and emphasized in his articles and books about developing the teaching of reading and writing, their laws, and their effects on the learner, including his saying:

"One learns to write and read only by performing these acts, but since reading and writing are intellectual arts, the habits must be formed under the discipline of rules of art; moreover, intellectual habits cannot be formed intelligently unless the rules themselves are understood."[^18]

Ibn Khaldun also focused on the means of learning arithmetic, for in its craft there is "manipulation of numbers by addition and separation, and a craft that requires many proofs and deductions." From this analysis, Ibn Khaldun concludes that writing strengthens mental reflection, and arithmetic strengthens the mind (formal, structural, or logical mental operations); therefore, attention must be paid to teaching them.[^19]

We can build on this by saying that every science or skill that can develop the mental abilities of learners should be given attention and provided for them within the framework of various educational institutions, such as studying computers in our era and other modern mechanisms.

Second: Strategies of the Educational Process

Strategy One: The Teaching Method

Ibn Khaldun criticized the method of indoctrination and reliance on quantitative education and the focus on the volume of information flowing into the minds of learners. Ibn Khaldun believes that the focus should be directed toward building correct thinking, even with little knowledge. He says: "Know that the teaching of sciences to learners is only useful if it is gradual, bit by bit and little by little. First, problems from every chapter of the art are presented to him which are the foundations of that chapter, and they are explained to him in a general way, taking into account the strength of his mind and his readiness to accept what is presented to him until he reaches the end of the art. At that point, he acquires a faculty in that science, but it is partial and weak, and its purpose is that it prepared him to understand the art and acquire its issues. Then he returns to the art a second time, and the level of instruction is raised higher than the first, and the explanation and clarification are completed, moving away from generalization, and mentioning the differences and their perspectives until he reaches the end of the art, and his faculty improves. Then he returns to it again... leaving no difficulty, ambiguity, or closure without clarifying it and opening its lock; thus he finishes the art having mastered its faculty."[^20]

Hence his interest in focusing on understanding and exercising the mind and operating the powers of imagination more than charging the memory. The reality of education for us today is often based on accumulation, stuffing, imitation, and revolving around the minds of predecessors, far from developing the spirit of creativity, discovery, observation, experimentation, insight, discovering error, and building an independent personality. Education for us revolves around indoctrination, memorization, and sharpening the memory far from reflection, comparison, and distinction for the development of thinking. While memory and memorization are the first functions of the mind, thinking, measurement, and comparison are the highest levels of thinking. Insisting on memorization and memory means stopping at the first levels of the mind and acting as an obstacle that contributes to repelling those with intellect and thinking. This necessitates the importance of reviewing all educational means and rote-style syllabi in an attempt to solve this crisis gradually.

Strategy Two: Content of the Educational Syllabus

Ibn Khaldun considers education to be among the "totality of crafts," and it is an art whose foundations and rules must be mastered so that the teacher practicing it can perform their task as required. Ibn Khaldun knows how to link the level reached by the art of teaching with the civilized environment in which it operates; the relationship between them is direct—wherever a group reaches an advanced stage in the civilizational arena, the art of teaching advances with it and its market flourishes.

Ibn Khaldun believes that education means communicating cognitive facts between two parties, and he pauses for a while at two types of communication formats: the oral format that takes place directly between the teacher and the learner, and the written format that takes place indirectly between them through books and compositions. This format is more widespread and prevalent; the textbook is more permanent and more capable of spreading.

Ibn Khaldun takes a middle path regarding the educational book characterized by flexibility and pays attention to what is known today as the psychology of learning and the psychological capacities of the learner. Accordingly, Ibn Khaldun rejected the concept of excessive authorship and overloading educational curricula with more books addressing a single subject, because of the resulting confusion for the student's mind and the waste of time on what is unjustified. Ibn Khaldun elevates this proposal to modern levels that impose on curriculum designers the necessity of distinguishing between scientific necessities and luxuries, which Ibn Khaldun expresses as the "simple" and the "complex," saying: "Furthermore, crafts are either simple or complex. The simple is that which pertains to necessities, and the complex is that which pertains to luxuries. The one that takes precedence in teaching is the simple, because of its simplicity first, and because it pertains to the necessary for which there is a great motivation to transmit it."[^21]

Ibn Khaldun continues his criticism of the processes of stuffing and accumulation in education, saying: "This is the useful way of teaching, and it—as you have seen—is only achieved in three repetitions. It may be achieved for some in less than that according to what is innate and facilitated for them. We have seen many learners in this era we have reached who are ignorant of the methods of teaching and its benefit. They present to the learner at the beginning of his education the closed issues of science and demand that he focus his mind on solving them, thinking that this is training in education and correct practice. They burden him with observing and acquiring that, mixing for him the ends of the arts in their beginnings, before he is ready to understand them..." until he says: "The teacher should not give his student more than the understanding of the book he is focused on learning from, according to his capacity and his rate of acceptance of teaching, whether he is a beginner or advanced. He should not mix the issues of the book with others until he understands it from beginning to end and achieves its purposes and masters a faculty through which he can proceed to others; because if the learner acquires a faculty in one of the sciences, he becomes ready to accept what remains."[^22]

What Ibn Khaldun points out is what can be called "setting priorities in the educational process," and knowing what should be given priority in teaching at a certain stage, and what should be postponed to later stages according to the goals of the educational process—a matter that must be observed and cared for when designing various syllabi. Modern learning theories have noticed this scientific fact, considering the Hierarchical Approach developed by Robert Gagné as one of the most prominent and important approaches to organizing content, where the syllabus content is organized in a gradual hierarchical form starting from the simplest level to the most complex and complicated.[^23]

Ibn Khaldun divides the prevailing sciences of his time into two main parts:

1. Sciences intended for themselves: expressed as the "transmitted sciences" (naqliyya) such as religious sciences.
2. Sciences not intended for themselves: expressed as the "rational sciences" (aqliyya), such as the Arabic language, arithmetic, and logic, which are tools for other sciences intended for themselves.

Ibn Khaldun believes that expansion should be in the first part, saying: "And this is as the later scholars did in the craft of grammar..." Thus, Ibn Khaldun strongly criticizes the prevailing means in his era where the focus was on instrumental sciences and their branches without regard for the learner's readiness and ability. He looks at education with a utilitarian view aiming to achieve the "faculty" in the shortest time and with the minimum necessary sciences without diving deep into instrumental sciences.[^24]

In this context, Ibn Khaldun proposes the importance of defining the principles and procedures required by the educational stage through deriving science from its subject, dividing its chapters and sections, and following its issues, or deriving issues and investigations presented to the verified scholar who is keen to connect it with others to complete the benefit from it. This review is considered one of the most important problems of reforming the educational process that imposes itself strongly at present, represented in the current knowledge explosion and the major challenges resulting from it. From here came Ibn Khaldun's description of the one who undertakes this work as a "scholar"; for deriving a science from many pieces of knowledge requires arduous work and a sharp mind. Ibn Khaldun believes that this derivation requires many other stages, including division and categorization.

Ibn Khaldun, through this deep and concise description, is talking about the stage of preparing syllabi that should start from the base reaching the top. It is not a process of imitation, copying, or transplanting syllabi from different environments. From here, it is imperative for syllabus designers in every age to perform review and auditing processes in an attempt to rectify errors or transgressions that have occurred in the syllabi. This is a clear and important matter in many of our current study syllabi, necessitating several measures for review and correction. Ibn Khaldun expresses this with a precise term, which is "organizing those sciences" (nazm tilka al-ulum), saying: "That the issues of science be scattered in their chapters from other sciences, so some virtuous people notice the subject of that art and all its issues, so they do that, and there appears from them one who organizes it among the totality of sciences that humans adopt with their thoughts..."[^25]

Ibn Khaldun proposes the mechanism of "summarization and abbreviation" (talkhis wa ikhtisar) in educational syllabi by linking the selected principles to each other; without this, the principles remain scattered and lacking in the formulation of their contents in a way that makes them a single whole with scientific harmony and cognitive arrangement, to suit the stage of their employment and the circumstances of their use. This is what Ibn Khaldun expresses as summarization. It means presenting issues of a general and summary nature from every chapter to be the foundations, taking into account the mental level of the learner and observing their readiness to accept that science. The goal of this initial presentation is for the learner to acquire a partial and weak faculty that helps them enter the studied science or art and acquire its issues. This matter should be observed when designing and planning curricula and syllabi; every syllabus has its various references, differing in their levels in terms of scientific material and simplicity. The best way to benefit from them is to summarize what is in them without compromising their scientific material: "That something from the compositions which are the mothers of the arts be long and detailed, so the composition aims to summarize that by abbreviation, brevity, and deleting the repeated, if it occurs, while being careful not to delete the necessary so as not to compromise the purpose of the first author."

Ibn Khaldun believes that neglecting this can lead to dangerous educational pitfalls, resulting in other lengthy works that do not suit the nature of the intended stage, or useless stuffing, which results in the necessity of permanent review and evaluation of syllabi. Among the problems that educational syllabi suffer from today is the abundance of compositions and the multiplicity of methods and styles of their designers and the repetition of efforts. Despite the importance of encyclopedic knowledge and cognitive abundance, it does not, in fact, suit all stages and levels. Ibn Khaldun points to this by saying: "Know that among what has harmed people in acquiring knowledge and reaching its ends is the abundance of compositions, the difference in terminology in teaching, and the multiplicity of its methods, then demanding the learner and student to be mindful of all that. Only then is the position of acquisition granted to him, so the learner needs to memorize all or most of them and observe their methods. His life does not suffice for what was written in one craft if he dedicated himself to it, so deficiency occurs."[^26]

It is appropriate for us to adopt this saying of Ibn Khaldun in designing our curricula and syllabi today. Whoever has struggled with the differences in compositions and syllabi realizes the importance of Ibn Khaldun's words. From here, the task of the syllabus designer is not limited to the preparation stage and being satisfied with designing the major frameworks for composing the scientific material or refining terminology, or clarifying some of them or explanation and interpretation; rather, it extends to the evaluation stage through auditing, scrutiny, and refining the knowledge it contains. Ibn Khaldun says: "The later scholar comes across a mistake or error in the words of the predecessors whose virtue is famous and whose reputation for benefit is far-reaching, and he confirms that with clear proof in which there is no room for doubt, so he is keen to convey that to those after him, as it has become impossible to erase or remove it due to the spread of the composition across horizons and ages, and the fame of the author and people's trust in his knowledge, so he deposits that so that the clarification of it may be known."

In contrast, Ibn Khaldun does not consider education based on "abbreviations" (mukhtasarat) to be the alternative; rather, he sees that the abundance of abbreviations is detrimental to education. He attributes this to the fact that they compromise communication (balagha: the communicative relationship between the sender and the receiver, the teacher and the learner) and make understanding more difficult, as well as preempting methodological stages and presenting the "ends" to the beginner in learning before they are mature enough to receive and understand them. The result is that "the specific faculty of education in those abbreviations, if completed correctly and not followed by a blight, is a faculty deficient compared to the faculties acquired from simple, detailed subjects..."[^27]

We conclude from Ibn Khaldun's words three stages of learning: the stage of beginning, the stage of deepening, and then the stage of completing expertise. We point out here that Ibn Khaldun did not fail to warn that acquiring a strong faculty is not necessarily linked to this order (sequence); rather, a strong faculty can be acquired without the need for these stages. Professor Adler approaches Ibn Khaldun's ideas on this specific point, and his position can be summarized by his emphasis that education is continuous and is not a dose given once and for all; rather, it needs continuity because science always has something new to provide us with, and the appropriate teaching method is the one that relies on dialogue, problem-solving, and self-learning. The professor believes that school curricula must keep pace with the changes that occur in life. The curriculum changes, the goals change, and the methods change.[^28]

Strategy Three: Teacher Preparation

Ibn Khaldun provides excellent material in this field, emphasizing the inevitability of the presence of the "teacher" as a basic party in the educational process, whether it aims to produce scholars or craftsmen.[^29] Not just any teacher, but the "skillful and capable teacher" is required to achieve the best result. We find Ibn Khaldun focusing the issue on a clear, simple, but necessary principle: "According to the quality of teaching and the faculty of the teacher, so shall the learner be." Thus, the teacher occupies their appropriate place.

Ibn Khaldun goes on to say that the task practiced by the teacher is not an independent work in itself; it needs auxiliary factors just as it needs time. The teacher's task is not limited to teaching this aspect or that of knowledge matters only; rather, it extends to include all aspects—i.e., what is scientific and what is practical at the same time. Ibn Khaldun addressed several issues related to teachers and their role in the educational process, which can be summarized in the following points:

First: Qualifying and developing educators in a way that suits the presented proposal; because "one who lacks something cannot give it," and because there is a defect in this aspect, it was necessary to work on establishing qualification institutions that graduate, re-qualify, or develop the male and female educators and teachers who oversee the educational process. Ibn Khaldun realized the importance of the teacher in the success of the educational process, and that reforming curricula loses its importance if a competent teacher is not available. The requirements for such a teacher are: that the teacher be proficient in the sciences and arts they undertake to teach, understanding their details and branches, and be familiar with the principles of the "art of teaching" so they can influence their students and treat them according to what suits them in cognitive and behavioral aspects. Among the most important things needed in this regard is knowledge of methods of explanation, understanding the psychology of learners, being gentle with them, and taking their understandings to where he wants them to go, according to their level and readiness. Ibn Khaldun preceded modern educational theories that emphasized the importance of considering the learner, their circumstances, and their ability.

Second: Ibn Khaldun criticized several wrong educational practices performed by some educators and teachers, such as practicing authoritarianism and entrenching passivity in the minds of learners. Among the issues resulting from rejecting authoritarianism by the educator is teaching and raising generations to reject pedantry and lighten the constraints of rejected extremism; this is done by adopting moderation and balance as a method for scientific, cultural, and practical life as well. In his Muqaddimah, he dedicated a chapter to the fact that "severity toward learners is harmful to them," in which he pointed out the dangerous damages that return to the individual in the stage of adulthood, and to society as a whole, as a result of severity and violence in disciplining children in childhood, and the resulting corruption, bad character, and habituation to lying, malice, repression, cunning, and deception.[^30]

Ibn Khaldun analyzes, in a style that rises to precise psychological analysis, the phenomenon of violence and its negatives by saying: "Whoever was raised with harshness and coercion, whether among learners, slaves, or servants, coercion overcomes them and restricts the soul in its expansion, takes away its energy, and calls them to laziness, and carries them to lying and malice—which is pretending to be other than what is in one's heart—out of fear of the hands being extended in coercion over them. It teaches them cunning and deception for that, and this becomes a habit and character for them, and the meanings of humanity that they have in terms of social and civilized life are corrupted—which are courage and defending oneself and one's home—and they become dependent on others for that. In fact, the soul becomes too lazy to acquire virtues and beautiful character, so it shrinks from its goal and the extent of its humanity... and returns to the lowest of the low."[^31]

The bold Khaldunian proposal for the role of the teacher and the importance of staying away from practices of authoritarianism and intellectual coercion is no less than what Professor Adler proposed when he criticized various coercive practices practiced by some teachers on their students through imposing a "single truth" that does not accept any kind of dialogue or discussion. He also pointed out the effects of those negative practices in stifling intellectual freedoms.[^32]

"...teachers who expect students to accept what they tell them simply because they occupy the position of teachers"

Strategy Four: Vocational Education

In his educational method, Ibn Khaldun focused on the "industrial sciences," emphasizing that they must be based on thought. Science is essential for industrial progress and prosperity, and industrial sciences in Khaldunian thought are considered among the "mothers of crafts," which is expressed in our time as applied and vocational sciences. Ibn Khaldun points out in his Muqaddimah two types of crafts: the simple and the complex. The simple is the necessary, such as agriculture, construction, and carpentry; and the complex is the luxury aspect, such as bookmaking (waraqa) and the like.[^33]

It is worth noting that UNESCO called for an international conference on technical education and training, aiming to address the issues raised. The conference was held in Berlin, Germany, where member states agreed to develop an international action plan to promote technical and vocational education and develop foundations for international cooperation in this field, with a new agency called the United Nations Vocational Education Program (UNEVOC) undertaking this task. Among the most prominent calls of the conference was the necessity of innovating methods and styles and improving the technical and vocational education system in the concerned countries. It also emphasized the importance of vocational education providing a qualified workforce within a constantly changing labor market as a result of continuous technical development.

In the past, technical education and training policies aimed to develop the competencies and qualifications of graduates so they could join jobs. They are more capable of production, and to keep pace with technical progress and compete with others in fields of work, one should be following and in constant contact with fields of education and training. Furthermore, one must continuously seek to research and investigate information, and absorb new knowledge and modern possibilities that fall under their specialization, in addition to training, which has become a vital element in employee recruitment policies. In fact, there are institutions that invest in training employees, as the process of developing their human resources gives them a greater opportunity for competition.[^34]

What the aforementioned conference proposed is close to what Ibn Khaldun pointed out several centuries ago when he discussed the importance of learning industries and how to learn them, explaining that proficiency and skill in an industry can only be achieved through actual practice and exercise—or what is known as training today. He says: "And the transmission of observation is more comprehensive and complete than the transmission of reports, and the knowledge and faculty resulting from it are more complete and firmly rooted than the faculty resulting from reports."[^35]

The steps for reforming the educational process in Ibn Khaldun's method can be summarized as follows:

• Conducting review, auditing, and correction processes continuously to identify areas of strength and weakness in the educational path.
• Reforming the teacher and focusing on their preparation is one of the most important reform steps; education should not be viewed as a source of livelihood or gain only, but is primarily a mission whose importance must be felt by those performing it. Hence, the teacher's specifications should not be limited to university degrees only, but must extend to include all their scientific, moral, spiritual, and cultural abilities, and a sufficient degree of awareness of what is happening in their society and the world around them.
• Focusing on primary education—what is expressed in our time as elementary—as it is the base of the educational pyramid and the foundation of educational construction. Hence, Ibn Khaldun's interest in teaching children and his focus on them was extremely intelligent and deeply realistic; the focus on primary education reflects its effects on secondary, preparatory, and university education as well.
• Focusing on vocational education and training and the continuous link between applied and intellectual education.

Conclusion of the Study

This study attempted to reveal the most prominent features and elements of the Khaldunian method in reforming the educational process. It also attempted to provide suggestions for reviewing the reality of today's educational process by looking at and benefiting from Ibn Khaldun's method, in comparison with some modern educational data regarding values, goals, educational content, quality, methods, and the characteristics and qualifications of the teacher. The study resulted in several findings, most notably:

• Confirming that the Khaldunian educational perspective includes original and advanced ideas compared to the historical era in which it appeared (1332–1406 AD). When Ibn Khaldun wrote what he wrote, sociology, psychology, dialectics, behavioral goals, and others had not yet come into existence. Despite all that, he criticized many educational realities specific to his era with a unique critical spirit in its presentation and cognitive precedence.
• Ibn Khaldun's theories in pedagogy and education included a large part of contemporary theories. What Ibn Khaldun mentioned is suitable to be a core for a common Arab educational philosophy, because he started his theories from an Arab-Islamic environment that resorts to reason, logic, and psychological sciences in discussing and addressing its issues.
• Ibn Khaldun gave science and education the functional role it performs in life. It performs a constructive, formative role through acquiring the "unique mind" and forming the "faculty" by linking education and practice—a matter for which the need is increasing today.
• The subject of education in Ibn Khaldun's work has not received great attention from many educational researchers despite the importance of the educational ideas contained in the Muqaddimah. This is in view of their strength and logical consistency, as well as their distinction, precedence, and effectiveness at present—a matter that requires conducting more studies and research in this field.
• The comparison between the Khaldunian educational perspective and modern educational models reveals a strong symmetry in concepts that almost reaches the point of claiming that the Khaldunian method was the pioneer of the educational reformist system.
• Reconsidering curricula and the educational process is one of the most important reasons for intellectual development among generations and is considered one of the necessities of the current stage. It is an extremely important and necessary cumulative process that requires the formation of several specialized committees in various colleges and departments.

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Footnotes:

[^1]: See what was written, for example, by Hamid Ammar, the Sheikh of Arab Educators, in the meeting "Concerns of Education in the Homeland," Majallat al-Ma'rifa, Issue (11), Sha'ban 1419 AH - December 1998 AD.
[^2]: Adapted slightly from Hamid Ammar, op. cit., p. 7.
[^3]: Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun, Al-Ta'rif bi-Ibn Khaldun wa-Rihlatuhu Gharban wa-Sharqan, edited by Muhammad ibn Tawit al-Tanji, Committee for Authorship, Translation, and Publication Press, 1951 AD; quoted from Abd Allah al-Amin, Al-Manahij wa-Turuq al-Ta'lim 'inda al-Qabisi wa-Ibn Khaldun, Jihad Center, 1980 AD, p. 24.
[^4]: Ibid., p. 248.
[^5]: Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah, Dar al-Qalam, Beirut, 5th Edition, 1984 AD, Vol. 1, p. 537.
[^6]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 527.
[^7]: Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 538.
[^8]: Adapted from Fathi Yunis et al., Al-Manahij: Al-Usus, Al-Mukawwinat, Al-Tanzimat, Al-Tatwir, Dar al-Fikr, Jordan, 2004 AD, p. 17.
[^9]: The curriculum in traditional trends was limited to information and knowledge presented to learners inside classrooms; as for other various activities necessary for developing skills, they were not included in the curriculum. See Sarhan al-Demerdash and Munir Kamil, Al-Manahij, Dar al-Hana for Printing, Egypt, 2nd Edition, 1969 AD, pp. 4-8.
[^10]: Regarding criticisms directed at traditional definitions of the curriculum, see ibid., p. 16.
[^11]: Ronald G. Corwin, Education in Crisis, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, 1974, p. 13.
[^12]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 125.
[^13]: John White, The Aims of Education, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1982, pp. 80-86.
[^14]: Hamid Ammar, op. cit., p. 5.
[^15]: Adapted significantly from Majid 'Irsan al-Kilani, Ahdaf al-Tarbiya al-Islamiyya min Tarbiyat al-Fard, International Institute of Islamic Thought, USA, 1997 AD, p. 106.
[^16]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 429.
[^17]: An American polymath famous in the field of educational development and philosophy, born in 1902 and died in 2000. He is considered one of the most prominent educators who had the greatest impact on developing and reforming education in America in the twentieth century. He taught at many American universities and worked as an administrator in them, which made his writings characterized by realism in addressing educational reform issues. He worked on editing and reviewing the famous Encyclopaedia Britannica. He authored a massive number of books and articles in the field of educational development, including The Crisis in Education, Reforming Education, The Opening of the American Mind, How to Speak, How to Listen, How to Read a Book, The Idea of Freedom, and many others. See his biography in the Encyclopaedia Britannica on its website.
[^18]: Adler, Mortimer J., "Britannica Student Encyclopedia" 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Social - Mortimer J. Adler, THE CRISIS IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION, The Social Frontier, February, 1939, Vol. V, No. 42, pp. 140.
[^19]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 179.
[^20]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 532.
[^21]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 100.
[^22]: Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 522.
[^23]: Fathi Yunis et al., op. cit., pp. 103-104.
[^24]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 401.
[^25]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., p. 20.
[^26]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 531.
[^27]: Al-Muqaddimah, ibid., same page.
[^28]: Mortimer J. Adler, THE CRISIS IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION, The Social Frontier, February 1939, Vol. V, No. 42, pp. 140-145.
[^29]: Al-Muqaddimah, p. 431.
[^30]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 540.
[^31]: Al-Muqaddimah, ibid., same page.
[^32]: Mortimer J. Adler, Teaching, Learning, and Their Counterfeits, http://www.thegreatideas.org/adler/llc.html
[^33]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 400.
[^34]: Report on vocational education and training in Europe at the beginning of the twenty-first century, a group of researchers and specialists, United Nations Vocational Education Program (UNEVOC), 1998 edition; presented by Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Huwaishil, Deputy Director of the Research Department at the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training in Riyadh.
[^35]: Al-Muqaddimah, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 100.