Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam: Perspectives of Med ...

certain aspects of day-to-day life were experienced in medieval times. For example, the complex relationship between the mosque, the kuttb, and the madrasa in the undertaking of education becomes apparent. The kuttb is shown not to have been a place for memorizing the Qur'an solely, even if, in the end, the additional parts of the curriculum remain historically vague due to a lack of sources that can tell us much about it. This also speaks of a larger context of discussions of literacy in medieval Islamic society, and we gain insights into the extent to which the goals and ideals of the education of youth meshed with the aspirations and principles of other social strata and age groups.

One central concept that emerges from Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam is the way in which notions of children and education flow from the Muslim theological idea of fira, the natural disposition of humans. In this we see the way in which a theological notion makes itself felt on the social level. That concept, especially when combined with the idea of ‘etching on stone’ as a way of instilling resistance to the temptation of sin, brings the medieval Muslim conception of education into one coherent whole. Education of children becomes a parental duty that fulfils the common saying about fira, that we are all born Muslim and it is our parents who make us Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

Further, Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam provides an excellent glimpse of the rhythms of daily life in the medieval world, as seen in the use of Fridays as a day of rest, the notion of holidays, and the structuring of the day around prayer times, all as revealed within children's educational practices. That the resistance to change in the approach to education is grounded in Muslim values (as seen in the general attitude towards the transmission of knowledge) is a valid observation, but, as the book points out, education in itself is necessarily a conservative preoccupation, regardless of the society in which it is found. That said, we also cannot help but notice that the shifts in the rhythms of daily life are painfully obvious in the contemporary world, as are the resultant disconnects within the educational system. We can learn lessons from the past through a study such as Elementary Education and Motivation