Education as seen through the Qurʾānic lens
Muslim Education Foundation is dedicated to re-rooting education in the vision of the life and learning as illuminated in the Qurʾān and the Prophetic Sunnah. The Qurʾān draws its material content from the three realms accessible to all human beings: the cosmos, the human history, and the nafs: We will show them Our signs in the cosmos and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things? (Q 41:53)
MEF uses the Ten Foundational Principles, first conceived by Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan ibn Fūrak Abū Bakr al-Asbahānī al-Shāfiʿī (d. 406/1015)—the foremost theoretician of his time, Qurʾān exegete and Hadith transmitter, an authority on Arabic language, grammar, and poetry, orator and jurist of the 4th/11th century—to construct a framework for rigorous sifting of contemporary knowledge. Ibn Fūrak had synthesized a rigorous methodology to sift through the enormous amount of received Greek learning which had come into Arabic through the Translation Movement (mid-eighth to the mid-tenth century). His Ten Foundational Principles (al-mabādiʾ al-ʿashara) were later further refined by successive scholars and put into a succinct form:
Indeed the foundational principles of every branch of knowledge are ten:
Its definition, subject matter, and fruits,
Its lineage, virtues and its founder,
Its name, its sources, and its status according to the Lawgiver
Some will content themselves to learn just some of these
But whosoever knows them all has attained true nobility.
Helping educators develop and teach all subjects as viewed through the Qurʾānic worldview
After three hundred years of false starts, a vanguard of Muslim educators from around the world are now cognizant of the need to develop authentic content and re-root education in the Qurʾānic worldview. This awakening has taken almost three centuries because of certain historical circumstances but MEF believes that time has now come to reconnect Muslim education with its roots. For further clarity an objective analysis of the past three centuries is a sine qua non; this is the road to recovery and a way for moving forward. MEF provides cutting-edge analysis of the past efforts and current state of Muslim education in various geographical regions.
The Framework of teaching the four core subjects
One of our short-term goals is to produce classroom and homeschool ready teaching content in the four core subjects. These resources bring to Muslim educators a new level of integration of faith and learning.
What we do
Content Development
A sine qua non of an authentic Islamic education is content that is thoroughly rooted in the Qurʾānic worldview and is delivered in a manner taught by the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, in a setting that is full of remembrance of Allah Most High. MEF helps educators produce such content through the application of Ten Foundational Principles.
Advisory Services
MEF provides advisory services to schools and eudcators.
Teacher Training
Teachers are at the front-line of education. MEF supports them through well-designed professional development.
