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

first relates to need—medieval Muslim scholars wrote very few works dedicated solely to pedagogy, didactics, or curriculum. The second is inextricably linked to the first—education, as a distinct academic discipline, is a relatively new phenomenon. Medieval Muslim scholars viewed the whole of Islam as a form of education in the widest sense of the word. As a result, their ideas about teaching and learning can be found expressed in a wide range of disciplines and genres.

This disparate approach to educational theory was not a weakness but rather was reflective of the state of scholarship during the medieval Muslim period. Muslim scholarship then was integrated because of the close connections between the various Islamic disciplines. In education, this may be seen as one of the strengths of medieval Muslim civilisation, wherein we observe a wealth of intellectual advancements.

The primary sources I have used in writing this book may be classified as follows: (1) texts on motivation and education, particularly in reference to children, regardless of the types of works in which they are found; (2) scholars’ narratives, biographical works, and historical compilations; (3) literary works; and (4) works on isba (regulatory practice) to a lesser extent. The titles of the specified Arabic works and their respective authors are mostly given in concise form.

1) Texts on motivation and education, with particular reference to children

Please refer to the page preceding the introduction for an exhaustive list of texts. These texts were the most important sources for this book, providing direct insight into how medieval Muslim scholars wrote about ta'db and motivation and how their ideas developed or remained consistent.

The scholars and their respective texts in that table were not preselected; rather, they represent those that espouse ideas relevant to this book. Preselection was inappropriate because medieval Muslim scholars did not always write specific works on elementary education and motivation. Some works, particularly those by Ibn al-Jawz and Ibn Taymiyya, came as a pleasant surprise in that