THE STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING THE HISTORY OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION

The limited allocation of time, which is only 2 hours per week, the curricula that often change, the stereotypes about the History of Islamic Civilization (Sejarah Kebudayaan Islam or SKI) as a merely complementary and a boring subject, are among significant obstacles for SKI teachers to deliver the learning of the subject with demands for changes in the students’ cognitive, affective, and psycho-motoric aspects,. This paper aims at studying the strategies employed by the SKI teacher at the Islamic Junior High School (Madrasah Tsanawiyah or MTs) “Bahrul Ulum” Gadingmangu – Perak – Jombang in learning the subject to the students. The study is qualitative field research and the data was analyzed using the descriptive method. The findings show that the teacher’s good preparation and mastery of the subject, the Small Group Work (SGW) technique, and self-habituation activities have helped much in overcoming obstacles in the SKI learning as well as helping students to obtain good achievement both academically and non-academically.

THE AESTHETIC DISCOURSE OF DECORATIVE ART )ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION AS A MODEL)

Islam is a major turning point in the life of the nation in particular and humanity in general, because the impact of the Arab-Islamic civilization on human life as a whole is still visible. Art was a manifestation of the Arab Islamic culture and that it represents a pattern of human civilization patterns. Arab Islamic art is one of the important tributaries that accompanied the life and development of the Arab Muslim man. Islamic religious buildings, such as statues, pictures, and other tools used by the Christian churches in their rituals, as these teachings prevented from imitating nature completely. The abstract of the reality of the Creator. This spiritual identity of art is the prominent feature that has marked the history of Islamic art, in all its diverse fields, from diagnosis to abstraction. The Arab-Islamic personality crystallized under the Islamic religion, and art and its aesthetics became a source of interest for Muslim philosophers of beauty, including Al-Ghazali, Abuhyan Al-Tawhidi and Al-Farabi, because Islamic religious thought is far from everything that is analogous in Islamic art so as not to be an emulation of the Creator. From here, the research problem started with the following question: What distinguished the decorative art from the rest of the Islamic arts through its vast civilization from the other arts? And to what extent does it include the aesthetic dimension within the opinions of Muslim philosophers who are interested in the aesthetics of art? 1-As for the importance of the research, it focused on: the possibility of considering it a source for those interested in studying decorative. 2-The possibility of seeing the aesthetics of decorative art and the artist's orientation to this type of art.

The Role of Prophets (mentioned in Quran by names) in the Evolution of Human Civilization

Civilization may be defined as set of features including Cultural, Literary and Social Advancement in a society or in similar communities. So it is regarded as sublime stage of human evolution. As Islam is a complete religion which gives directions to human being in all aspects of the life, so it claims to be the founder of civilization. The period of the advent of Islam was the period which formulated man inside the Arabian Peninsula, established the blocks of a new civilization that brought people out of the darkness to light, and placed the bases for enter man in Islamic society. However, Islam claims that lay out of Civilization was already established before the birth of Holy Prophet (S.A) and all the prophets after Hazrat Adam (A.S) were continuously preaching the salient factors of this civilization, however it was completed and declared in written form (Al-Quran) during the period of Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W). Reveletion was the core of formulating the creeds and Ideas of an individual, purifying him, creating Links and establishing the building upon which the entire nation is based. Allah said the truth when He said: "Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a light (Prophet Mohammed peace be upon him) and a plain book (Sora Al-Maida: 15:1) This Qur'an. Wherewith Allah guides all those who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness by His will unto light and guides them to to a straight way (Islamic Monothesim). Monothesim (Tawheed), Self, Purification, Dignity of Human being, Equality, Social Justice, Moral Values, Tolerance, Rule of Law and Freedom of Expression are some basic characteristics of Islamic Civilization.

Islam, Modernity and the Concept of Progress (Islam, Pemodenan dan Konsep Kemajuan)

This paper aims to review definitions and scope of modernity and analyze it in the context of a specific religion, Islam. The paper then highlights the harmony between progress and Islam based on the historical examples from the glorious eras of Islamic civilization in Andalusia and the Abbasid caliphate, in which modernity and religion were complementary in producing the novel innovations of that time. Knowledge creation and technological advancements were strongly pursued during that time by numerous renowned Muslim scholars, intellectuals and philosophers. This paper then examines the current situation in the Muslim world. The majority of Muslim nations are backward, impoverished and stagnant due to rigidity and restrictions in political and intellectual freedom, in addition to gender inequality and discrimination. As the paper finds, these unprecedented qualities are not a part of Islamic teachings, but the consequential effect of post colonialism and the politicization of religion by certain squatters using Islam for political interests and purposes. Keywords: Modernity, Islam, Islamic Civilization and innovations, Muslim Spain, Abbasid Caliphate, Modernity today, Islam and modernity. Abstrak Penulisan ini bertujuan untuk mengulas definisi, dan skop kemodenan seta menganalisa hubungan antara modernisasi dengan agama iaitu, Islam. Terbukti pemodenan boleh wujud dengan keharmonian antara kemajuan dan Islam itu sendiri dengan mengaplikasikan contoh sejarah daripada zaman kegemilangan tamadun Islam seperti di Andalusia dan Abbasiyah dimana pemodenan dan agama saling berkait rapat antara satu sama lain untuk menghasilkan inovasi yang terbaik pada waktu itu. Penciptaan ilmu pengetahuan dan kemajuan teknologi tercetus dengan kelahiran ulama, ahli intelek dan ahli falsafah Muslim. Selain itu, bahagian berikut bagi penulisan ini mengkaji situasi masa kini di dunia Islam dimana majoriti negara Islam dikatakan mundur, dibelenggu kemiskinan dan berfikiran jumud disebabkan ketegasan dan pembatasan didalam kebebasan berpolitik dan intelek, kesaksamaan jantina dan diskriminasi. Penulisan ini menemui, sifat sifat negatif tersebut tercetus bukan berdasarkan daripada ajaran Islam, tetapi kesan daripada pasca penjajahan dan pempolitikan berlandaskan agama daripada puak tertentu yang menggunakan Islam atas tujuan kepentingan politik. Kata Kunci: Pemodenan, Islam, Tamadun Islam dan inovasi, Muslim Sepanyol, Khalifah Abbasiyah, Kemodenan hari ini, Islam dan pemodenan.

Revival of Islamic Civilization: Strategies for the Development of Muslim Society in the Thought of Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (Kebangkitan Tamadun Islam: Strategi Pembangunan Masyarakat Islam dalam Pemikiran Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi)

This study attempts at analysing Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi’s suggestions towards a revival of Islamic civilization as an alternative to the Western civilization. It is based on library research and is qualitative in nature as it basically focuses on textual analysis. Moreover, the major approaches are descriptive, analytical and evaluative. This study found that Nadwi believed in the capacities of Islamic civilization to be revived if the existing challenges are overcome. For him, despite its tremendous breakthroughs in the fields of science and technology, Western civilization is bound to fail due to its moral decline. Therefore, it is only an Islamic civilization which is overtaken by the Western civilization should lead the humanity. In light of his argument, this study explores the strategies provided by Nadwi for the development of Muslim society as a revival of Islamic civilization. It focuses on three basic domains, namely, intellectual, political, and institutional aspects of reform. Keywords: Western civilization, Muslim leadership, Ijtihad, Jihad, Intellectual reform, Political reform, Institutional reform. Abstrak Kajian ini cuba menganalisis cadangan Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi ke arah kebangkitan tamadun Islam sebagai alternatif kepada tamadun Barat. Ia berdasarkan penyelidikan perpustakaan dan sifat kualitatif di mana ia pada dasarnya memberi tumpuan kepada analisis tekstual. Selain itu, pendekatan utama adalah deskriptif, analisis dan penilaian. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa Nadwi percaya kepada keupayaan tamadun Islam untuk dihidupkan semula jika cabaran sedia ada dapat diatasi. Baginya, walaupun kejayaannya yang luar biasa dalam bidang sains dan teknologi, tamadun Barat sebenarnnya gagal kerana kemerosotan moralnya. Oleh itu, Nadwi menegaskan bahawa hanyalah tamadun Islam yang harus memimpin manusia. Kajian ini meneroka hujah Nadwi tentang strategi untuk pembangunan masyarakat Islam sebagai usaha ke arah kebangkitan semula tamadun Islam. Ia memberi tumpuan kepada tiga domain asas, iaitu, intelektual, politik, dan aspek institusi pembaharuan. Kata Kunci: Tamadun Barat, Kepimpinan Islam, Ijtihad, Jihad, Pembaharuan Intelektual, Pembaharuan Politik, Pembaharuan Institusi.

EPISTEMIC RATIONALITY IN ISLAMIC EDUCATION: The Significance for Religious Moderation in Contemporary Indonesian Islam

This article discusses the concept of epistemic rationality in Islamic education and its significance for strengthening religious moderation in contemporary Indonesian Islam. The questions are: (1) How is the conception of epistemic rationality? (2) To what extent is the role of epistemic rationality in Islamic education? (3) How do classical Islamic treasures view the epistemic rationality and its significance for strengthening religious moderation in Indonesian Islam? Afterwards, the theoretical assumption underlying this article is that the strengthening of religious moderation without being supported by epistemic rationality is null and void. This article finds that the passion of reading in Islam processed through epistemic rationality has provided huge contribution for Islamic civilization so that it reaches its golden age. Hence, in Indonesian Islamic education context, strengthening religious moderation must be delivered through epistemic rationality as basic reasoning in understanding religious text and digging the diversity phenomenon in order to avoid radicalism and blind fanaticism. Epistemic rationality must be considered as starting point to build curriculum structure and learning contents that emphasize more on the competency of ‘know-how’ and ‘know-why’ rather than ‘know-what’.

Reconstruction of Dhaka City in the 18th Century by the Nawab Family in the Light of Islamic Civilization

The Khwaja family of Dhaka having obtained the title of 'Nawab' from the Government of British India reconstructed the city of Dhaka in the 18th century following the light of Islamic civilization. ‘Knowledge’ and ‘charity’ were the basic foundation of Islamic civilization. Similarly, In islamic civilization it was the regular activities to maintain sustainable public welfare oriented architecture. The contemporary period of the Nawab family, they made name and fame for themselves to perform their humanitarian activities. Through business income they developed a waqf system and spent it for various welfare purposes such as: patronage of modern education, institutions, medicine and technology; assistance to the people who were suffering in natural calamities in national and international arena, and they maintained friendship with government bureaucrats. In Islamic civilization we see various attributes such as: human rights, freedom of thought and practicing religion, Muslim family bondage, social welfare, medicine, orphanage, architecture, aesthetics of utensils, library, beauty of modern and scientific discoveries, beauty of environment, gardening, characteristic beauty, fine taste etc. In the eighteenth century, we found similar characteristics in Dhaka City which inspired us to compare the ‘Dhaka city’ reconstruction according to the light of ‘Islamic civilization’. If we see the nature of muslim’s city in medieavel period around the globe, then we found similar features. In this article we try to learn the hidden power of the Nawab family which led them to ‘reconstruct’ the `Dhaka city' through the exploration of various historical books, to see the current activities of their organization, trustees and observing their way of life.

THE FORMATION AND INFLUENCE OF THE MILITARY ARCHITECTURE IN OMAN DURING AL-YA'ARIBA PERIOD (1034-1162 AH/1624–1749 AD)

Despite its richness, the research corpus published about Islamic architecture presents some discontinuities in the knowledge of the architecture in the lands ruled by Muslims. Similarly, the dynamics of influence that might have operated between the "monumental" architecture in these lands and their popular architectures are insufficiently addressed. Moreover, the material culture related to the Islamic civilization is almost exclusively studied as a product that has stopped evolving. The architecture produced during Al-Ya'ariba (Al- Ya'rubi) Imamate (1624-1749) is an instance of these understudied topics in the history of Islamic architecture. This research argues that Al-Ya'rubi Imamate is not only an important chapter in the history of Oman, the Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean, and Eastern Africa, but also the architecture of this period has created the identity of Omani architecture as we know it today. Nonetheless, there is no architectural production in this era both in the major references and scientific publications of Islamic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Through field research, comparative analysis, and literature review of the history of Omani architecture, especially in the 17th -18th centuries, this research examines the military architecture in Oman during Al-Ya'ariba Imamate including its reference, and its influence on other architectures. It is a contribution to the scientific endeavour to address this specific architectural typology from the perspective of its mechanism of (trans) formation and its continuity of forms until the contemporary architecture of Oman.

Decoding the Spatial Configuration of the Ottoman Palace “Khdewedj El Amia” in Algiers (Algeria) through Space Syntax

Palaces of the Ottoman era, the Golden age of Islamic civilization, bear witness to a prestigious know-how, drawing its rules from a way of life governed by the Islamic Sharia, the socio-cultural context of the Berber-Arab population and the climate-physical environment. The palace of Khdewedj El Amia is one of the majestic palaces located at the Casbah of Algiers and constitutes the subject of this article whose objective is to decode its genome in order to understand the social logic of a space inhabited and designed by a princess who lost her sight. Hence the name El Amia, which means blind in Arabic. The decoding of this building used the space syntax approach via a visibility graph analysis (VGA) performed by the Depthmap tool and a quantitative analysis of the graph justified by the Agraph tool. It is about taking into account the way in which vernacular architecture can stimulate the direct perception of space and participate in the construction of the user’s path. It was found that the palace is made up of two entities; one is of public order highlighting the resident/alien interface, and another intended for the private apartments, the harem of the princess, isolated from the outside world.

ŪLŪL ‘ILMI Generation as a Basis for Development of Islamic Educational Objectives

Education is a process of developing the potential that God has given to humans. In reality, the potential that God has given has not been able to be developed perfectly in the world of education. Low morale and spiritual awareness often mushroomed, which resulted in severe moral degradation. There is a need to embed the Islamic spirit into the system, concepts, and educational material so that education is no longer partial. The Koran provides comprehensive and integrative guidance for humans concerning education. The proof of the perfection of the Koran is illustrated by the concept of ūlūl ‘ilmi. In this study, researchers sought to explore and understand the concept of ūlūl ‘ilmi in the Koran by referring to tafsīr mu’tabaroħ. The purpose of this research is to formulate the generation of ūlūl ‘ilmi as the basis for developing the goals of Islamic education. This research used a qualitative approach through analytical methods. Based on the findings and analysis in this study, it was found that the generation of ūlūl ‘ilmi is someone who has knowledge based on reality, is broad-minded, his intelligence can reach makrifat, and his heart is united in monotheism because it has a level of khasyyah like the clerics (ulama). The ūlūl ‘ilmi generation has different characteristics from the others, which have the nuances of Ilāyyah, spiritual, and bathiniyyah. This characteristic covers six domains, namely cognitive domain, affective domain, psychomotor domain, social domain, ethical domain, and spiritual domain. Therefore, the development of Islamic education goals into a generation Ūlul Ilmi is expected to be able to develop quality human resources and become a superior generation of the nation's hopes in building the progress of Islamic civilization.