Philosophy

The Ethical Theory of Education of Ahmad Miskawayh (Continued)

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6. General rules of conduct

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Figure 8: Front cover of Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought by Michael Cook (Cambridge University Press , 2001, Hardcover, 720 pages ), a fundamental study on morals and ethics in the social history of Islam.

Concerning the ethical aspect, Miskawayh mentions another collection of rules of etiquette which the boy must grow up with, as a kind of personal virtues, which are related to his dealings with others: for example, never to swear, whether truthfully or falsely, for that is disgraceful for men, though it may sometimes be necessary. In addition to not swearing, the boy must be accustomed to talk only a little, and only in reply to questions. He must become used to listening to those older than himself, and keeping silence before them; he must be prevented from saying anything evil, from uttering insults, curses, or foolish talk; he should be encouraged to fine and elegant speech, to greet others in a graceful fashion [50].

The boy must also become used to obeying his parents, teachers, and trainers: he should regard them with respect and honour, and fear them. If the teacher chastises him, the boy must learn not to show pain, so he must not cry out nor ask anyone to intercede for him; for such is the conduct of servants or slaves without fortitude. It is vital also that the boy be accustomed to serve himself and his teacher and all who are older than him; however, it is in particular those boys who are the sons of the wealthy and affluent who most need to be brought up and habituated to this conduct. Despite all that has been indicated, the person who cares for the boy and undertakes his training has the duty to give him the opportunity for rest, and also must be kind to the boys and reward them for good conduct with something better.

Miskawayh transmits all this as it is sometimes, but sometimes changes it somewhat and expands what he takes over, in a style much finer than that of the Arabic translation in the manuscript kept in the Egyptian National Library [51]. It is most likely that Miskawayh did not continue to copy from the Greek philosopher Bryson, but rather that he added material of his own which he considered completed what he borrowed; and these opinions were influenced either by his personal experience or by his Islamic environment.

Some of the opinions he sets forth confirm his awareness of the importance of the early stages of human maturing, or the early stages of growth, for on these are built many characteristics in the person's future life, as is well known nowadays. If this is the case, it confirms the importance of the first years in the boy's upbringing, and the influence of the environment on his character in particular; and in the light of his personal experience, he makes deductions regarding what went before. This is clear in his reference to the virtuous kings of Persia, who used not to educate their sons among their retinue, their servants, and their companions, for fear that they should be influenced by them. For this reason, the Persian kings used to send their sons in the company of trustworthy men to distant regions where their education was undertaken by tough people living a harsh life, who did not know luxury or ease. These kings of Persia were imitated by many of the powerful leaders in the Abbasid caliphate at that time, who would remove their sons to distant places, so they could grow up in their character far from the people and customs in wicked countries [52].

Being at some distance from his teachers the Greeks, he quite soon differed from them; inasmuch as he states that the first of all teachings is the Shari'a, which must be inculcated into the human being while young. That is because the foundation on which character is built later is the Shari'a, and as Miskawayh affirms, it is: ‘that which reforms the young and accustoms them to good deeds, and prepares their souls to accept wisdom and seek virtues and reach human happiness, with sound thought and correct reasoning' [53]. This being so, the responsibility for children's upbringing and directing them in accordance with the law's requirements falls on the shoulders of the parents [54].

The purport of this is that the first years of education, or years of upbringing as Miskawayh calls them, are the basic years; so this demands concern for them, and therefore he confirms: Whoever in his youth happens to be brought up by the rules of the Shari'a and is made to observe its duties and provisions until he is habituated, then studies books of ethics until these manners and good qualities are confirmed in his soul by proof; then he studies arithmetic and geometry, so he becomes accustomed to true speech and correct demonstration [55].

Here Miskawayh makes religion a foundation for training and refinement; and after the supports of faith are established in the boy's soul, he can study books on ethics, then arithmetic and geometry, or whatever can be deduced or proved by rational proofs. If it can be said that in this there is much influence of the Islamic environment in which he lived, and the culture in which he was brought up, which influenced his intellectual orientation, yet as is made clear in the texts we have quoted, he does not specify any particular Law or definite religion [56]. All the same, when we take over his words, concluding that he is talking about the Islamic Law or the Islamic religion, since he lived within the Islamic community, despite this being a sound conclusion, it remains the reader's viewpoint as to what Miskawayh wrote, and is not precisely what he said.

Whatever the opinion, knowledge of the Law is only an introduction or a preparatory stage for souls, so that they can later accept wisdom, for with continued growth the soul can reach the stage of longing for the sciences and knowledge, and seeking virtues, and reaching human happiness [57]. By becoming habituated to virtues and persevering in them, it becomes easy for the boy to reach ‘the high rank of philosophy' [58].

7. Observations and critique

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Figure 9: Laila and Majnun at School: Page from the Khamsa of Nizami (Quintet of Nizami), dated 835 H/1431–32 CE from Timurid Afghanistan (Herat), painted possibly by Mir Khalil. (Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; ink, opaque watercolors, and gold on paper) (Source).

Maybe this is emphasized by Miskawayh's indication that he borrowed what he found suitable in the works of the Greek ‘Brusun', as he referred to him. Of all the Muslim philosophers and thinkers whose intellectual works have come down to us, he is the only one to have said this. Something which emphasizes and clarifies our view here is the fact that there are some who think that certain well-known Muslim philosophers, apart from Miskawayh, borrowed from this book of Greek origin, though they did not mention their source - such as Ibn Sina (370-428/980-1037) and al-Ghazali (450-505/1059-1111) [60].

Further clarification can be found in the work of an Orientalist M. Plessner, who in the 1920s published an ‘Arabic' translation of a Greek text entitled Kitab Brusun fi tadbir al-rajul li-manzilihi (Book of Brusun on domestic economy) (Heidelberg 1928). He observed that ‘the Book of Policy attributed to Ibn Sina is no more than a summary of the book of Bryson' [61].

When comparing the Book of Policy (Kitab al-Siyasa) published by Louis Cheikho, in a collection of ancient philosophical articles of some famous Arabic philosophers (maqalat falsafiyya qadima li-bacd mashahir falasafat al-`arab) (Beirut 1911), he found that the content is concerned with the theme that the human being is a civil animal needing to live in society for the sake of fulfilling his basic needs. He divides up man's policy for his needs or management of his affair into five sections: a man's conduct of himself, his directing his income and expenditure, his ruling his family (wife), his guidance for his children, his governing of his servants. What comes under these headings is in the Epistle of Policy, a precise summary of what is in Bryson'sbook already mentioned [62].

This is what has been said by some, to explain Ibn Sina's borrowing from Bryson. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali may have done just the same, although he does not indicate that he borrowed from anyone. However, a reading of the section in The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din) on training boys, entitled ‘Explanation of the way in the exercise of boys when they are first growing, and how to train them and improve their character' [63] shows clearly the points of resemblance between what was said by both Ghazali and Miskawayh, borrowing from another source; which has led some to say that al-Ghazali copied from Miskawayh without indicating the fact [64]. Despite this, and as it is now known that Miskawayh borrowed from and clearly defined his Greek source, then it may perhaps be said that the source of both was the same, except that it is the Greek heritage translated into Arabic in a variety of versions. In this case perhaps al-Ghazali was one who copied directly from the text of Bryson, well known before his time and perhaps also during it, and did not borrow from Miskawayh; or perhaps he read the Greek original, and also read Miskawayh, and took from them both; for not much real difference exists between the translation and the composition.

Despite all this, the fact remains that both were influenced by an Arabic translation known as ‘the Book of Brusun (or Brisis) on domestic economy'; that each of them still kept his distinctive viewpoint and his aim in training young men and boys in particular, and the aspects of his philosophy as a whole. Maybe it can be said also that although al-Ghazali was influenced by this, yet his expression of the final aim of training young boys remained closer to the spirit of the Islamic religion than Miskawayh; that is because for al-Ghazali the actual content of education, or its material, was taken from the Qur'an and the Prophet's sunna [65].

Perhaps it also needs to be pointed out that Miskawayh was content simply to talk about the training of boys, without giving any details concerning the content of this training or the educational material which should be learnt by the boy; likewise he did not refer to the teachers, nor their manners and culture, as did others whose aims were in fact to write about the educational process and things connected with it [66].

If Miskawayh wove together his thinking from both religious and philosophical sources, or he did not hesitate to take over what the minds of wise men had concluded in the moral realm and met with the objectives of the Islamic shari`a - yet his being influenced by the new cultures was not entirely good. For what is particularly noticeable in everything Miskawayh said previously is that he spoke only about training young boys, to the exclusion of girls, and he did not direct any obvious care towards them nor to women in general. In this he was influenced by the source from which he drew, or the portion of the book that he uses, and did not add to it. In this case, it would seem Miskawayh was writing for an imaginary, non-existent society, one in which women had no place, and hence he restricted his discussion to boys, the men of tomorrow, and no more. Maybe it has been said also that he did acknowledge the existence of women in his society, yet the evil opinions widespread about them, and influenced by the new cultures, caused him not to give any concern to them. For the philosophers, or those who were influenced by the new philosophies, opposed the spirit of Islam and what was decreed by the Tradition (hadith) and sunna of the Prophet, in this point in particular, where they confined themselves to men in expressing their educational opinions, and kept women well outside their concerns in the sphere of teaching [67].

If Miskawayh did distance himself from natural life on this point, yet the rules of conduct which he presents and the exercise desirable for training young boys did not show concern for this boy's existence in everyday life, and did not prepare him for customary practical human life, to the extent that it prepared him for a life closer to that of the military, harsh, tough, and ascetic. In addition to this, what he would acquire as a result of this endeavour would be much clearer when the soul freed itself from the body; for the reward is for later, when this life is finished, when the spirit will obtain closeness to the Perfectly Happy, as has already been mentioned.

Although Miskawayh indicated society in a city, and its necessity for the human being, he did not refer to the various kinds of work with its necessity and importance for the permanence of this city and also for the human beings living in it. That is, he did not speak about preparing the boy for work, and his various roles as producer and consumer, one with a profession or craft or labour by which to provide for his future. By reference to his words about the necessity of linking learning with action, the action meant here seems to be human conduct in general, and not productive work from the economic angle as we understand it today. This also places him nearer the thought of the new culture, regarding its elevation of intellectual activity and leaving work to the lower orders in society, to servants and slaves. So he did not consider preparation for earthly life, from the angle of work and acquiring a livelihood, to be among the aims of the upbringing and training of young boys. Maybe this could be interpreted as saying he did acknowledge that his book was for the few, and not for the general public; therefore that he was presenting an education to prepare a learned, thinking élite, striving to purify the soul, with sufficient time and maybe also ampleness of life-style which permitted them that, for then the aim of training was all concentrated on benefit for the individual in the first place and not for the whole community.

Although the responsibility of refining and purifying the soul is an individual one, where every human being is responsible for himself in the first place, and then to complete the virtues he can help others in following along the way - yet Miskawayh did not speak of acts of worship obligatory for mankind in Islam, for these are responsibilities which fall on the shoulders of the adult person. Nor did Miskawayh mention any one of the foundations of culture in the Islamic community, except for religion and the learning and sciences and so on, which are closely connected with it. Maybe he considered this among the matters which are completed at an early stage, which the individual can reach and practise without much assistance; or that they have their foundations to which the boy can be directed; then what he presents in his book is only concerned with particular matters known only to the privileged. This may be born out by the fact that Miskawayh's talking about training young boys was only one part of his ethical thinking, and was not one of his precisely intended aims.

To sum up the foregoing, the basic aim of training and exercise and acquisition of knowledge, and working by it, is the refinement and purification of the soul: hence fulfilling its perfection in this world, then reaching its happiness, realized by proximity to the Perfectly Happy. So the basic, and final, aim of training is an ethical aim, although it speaks of closeness to God by way of seeking to resemble Him in the hope of proximity to Him, and acquiring absolute happiness by this proximity. This idea is taken mainly from Aristotle, following what Miskawayh says about happiness by closeness to the Perfectly Happy, and is not satisfaction of God and attaining the reward in His paradise which God the Most High promised to His servants who follow His commands and avoid what He prohibits. It is confirmed that ‘the Happy' is not one of the attributes of God the Most High in the Islamic view; so bringing the human soul to realize supreme happiness by closeness to the Perfectly Happy after being set free from the body, in its picture which Miskawayh presents, expresses only an ethical philosophical aim, rather than a religious aim. Hence, although Miskawayh lived in an Islamic cultural environment, he directed his intellect to Greek thought, and his aims for upbringing and training and refinement, or education in today's language, were an expression of the culture which he had borrowed from, not the culture in which he lived. Nevertheless, the basic credit here goes to the spirit predominant in the Islamic community, which could permit at least some of its thinkers to transmit, or be influenced by, cultures of other nations previous to itself, without impediment; and it confirms also the idea of the meeting of cultures and the cross-fertilization of world civilizations and their mutual influence, in an ongoing movement of human thought.

The human being will always remain capable of producing knowledge, seeking to increase it, transmitting it to others, adding to it, renewing it; which means it merits continual care and attention, to teach it, and, following Miskawayh's example, to refine character and purify the dispositions.

8. References and Further Reading

8.1. Some of the writings of Miskawayh, printed and in manuscripts

Miskawayh did not devote any one of his books to discussing education, except that his writings contained this subject; and of the most important of Miskawayh's writings, printed several times: Ahmad b. Muhammad Ya'qub (Miskawayh), Tahdhib al-akhlaq wa-tathir al-a'raq (refinement of character and purification of dispositions), Cairo, Maktabat Muhammad 'Ali Subayh, 1959. There are numerous printings of the book including the one edited by Qustantin Zurayq, Beirut, Maktabat al-hayat, 1966.

Miskawayh (Abu 'Ali Ahmad b. Muhammad), Tajarib al-umam, ed. H.F. Amedroz, Egypt, Matba'at sharikat altamaddun al-sina'iyya, 1915.

(Ibn) Miskawayh, al-Fauz al-asghar, Egypt, published at expense of Mustafa al-kutubi, 1325 H.

Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi and Miskawayh, al-Hawamil wa-l-shawamil published by Ahmad Amin in partnership, Cairo, Matba'at Lajnat al-ta'lif wa-l-tarjama wa-l-nashr, 1951.

Dr 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Izzat's MA thesis has been published as a book: Ibn Miskawayh wa-falsafatuhu al-akhlaqiyya wamasadiruha (Ibn Miskawayh, his ethical philosophy and its sources), Cairo, Maktabat wa-matba'at al-Babi al-Halabi, 1946, 125-141. The pages referred to contain Miskawayh's surviving works, printed and lists of manuscripts, still preserved in libraries around the world. His manuscripts include items written on the margins of other manuscripts and which are not independent works.

Miskawayh's advice to the seeker of wisdom, for example, we find published in the book of Yaqut al-Hamawi, the Dictionary of Learned Men (Mu'jam al-udaba') (more usually Ma'rifat al-udaba'), trans. & ed. Margoliouth, ii. 49 ff.

For more details on Miskawayh's works see also: Ahmad al-Amin al-Husayni al-'Amili, A'yan al-Shi'a (Notable Shi'ites), i. Damascus 1938; Khayr al-Din al-Zarkali, al-A'lam (Luminaries), i. Egypt 1927, al-Qifti (Jamal al-Din Abu l-Mahasin 'Ali b. al-Qadi al-Ashraf Yusuf), Ikhbar al-'ulama' bi-akhbar al-hukama' (Ta'rikh al-hukama'), Beirut, Dar al-Athar li-l-tiba'a wa-l-nashr wa-l-tawzi', n.d.; Ibn al-Nadim (Abu l-Faraj Muhammad b. Ya'qub Ishaq, known as al-Warraq), Kitab al-Fihrist, edited by Rida Tajaddud, Tehran, 1971. Of the books of Miskawayh still extant in manuscript form:

• Kitab Taharat al-nafs (purification of the soul), The Egyptian National Library, MS No. 417 Philosophy.
• Javidhan Khirad (Persian) (Eternal wisdom) The Library of Cairo University, on the margin of manuscript of Nuzhat al-arwah wa-raudat al-afrah of Shahrazuri, microfilm No. 23005.

8.2. More materials about Miskawayh

• Sa'id al-Diwaji, ‘Ibn Miskawayh' in the book Min a'lam al-tarbiya al-'arabiyya al-islamiyya (some luminaries of Arabic Islamic education), ii. Maktab al-tarbiya al-'arabi li-duwal al-khalij, Riyadh, 1988, 221, 242.
• Nadia Jamal al-Din, Ma'a kitab tahdhib al-akhlaq wa-tathir al-a'raq, published in the book of Hassan Muhammad Hassan (jointly), Madaris al-tarbiya fi l-hadara al-Islamiyya (Schools of education in Islamic civilization), Cairo, Dar al-fikr al-'arabi, 1984, 268, 301.
• See also the article on Miskawayh in Arabic translation in: Da'irat al-ma'arif al-islamiyya, vol. 1, Cairo, Dar al-sha'b, n.d. 388, 389. See also: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, and Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, Supplement, Leiden, 1937.
• Ibn Miskawayh, Tahdhib al-akhlaq (Cultivation of Morals), ed. C. Zurayk (1966), American University of Beirut Centennial Publications, Beirut; trans. C. Zurayk (1968), The Refinement of Character, American University of Beirut, Beirut. (A summary of Ibn Miskawayh's ethical system; this work is also known as Taharat al-a'raq (Purity of Dispositions)).
• Arkoun, M. (1961-2), 'Deux épîtres de Miskawayh' (Two Treatises of Miskawayh), Bulletin d'Études Orientales (Institut Français de Damas) 17: 7-74. (A clear account of Ibn Miskawayh's general metaphysics as well as his ethics).
• Arkoun, M. (1970), Contribution à l'Étude de l'humanisme arabe au IVe/Xe siècle: Miskawayh, philosophe et historien (320/325-421) = (932/936-1030) (Contribution to the Study of Arab Humanism in the 4th/10th Century: Miskawayh, Philosopher and Historian), Paris: Vrin; revised 2nd ed, 1982. (The standard exegesis of Ibn Miskawayh's contribution to philosophy and history).
• Fakhry, M. (1975), 'The Platonism of Miskawayh and its Implications for his Ethics', Studia Islamica 43: 39-57. (A careful account of the Platonic and Neoplatonic influences on Ibn Miskawayh).
• Goodman, L. (1996), 'Friendship in Aristotle, Miskawayh and al-Ghazali' in O. Leaman (ed.) Friendship East and West: Philosophical Perspectives, Curzon, Richmond, pp. 164-91. (A range of views on friendship, and their philosophical significance explained.)
• Kraemer, J. (1984), 'Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam: a Preliminary Study' in Journal of the American Oriental Society 104 (1): 135-64. (An account of Ibn Miskawayh's place in the culture of Islamic humanism).
• Leaman, O. (1996a), 'Ibn Miskawayh' in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman (eds.) History of Islamic Philosophy, Routledge, London, pp. 252-7. (An account of the context within which Ibn Miskawayh worked and the influence of his views).
• Leaman, O. (1996b), 'Islamic Humanism in the Fourth/Tenth Century' in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman (eds.), History of Islamic Philosophy, Routledge, London, pp. 155-61. (survey of a group of thinkers including Ibn Miskawayh, al-Tawhidi and al-Sijistani).
• Leaman, O. (1996c), 'Secular Friendship and Religious Devotion' in O. Leaman (ed.) Friendship East and West: Philosophical Perspectives, Curzon, Richmond. (account of Ibn Miskawayh's notion of friendship and a comparison with contrary views).
• Miskawayeh's books in arabic from Maktabat al-Mostafa al-iliktruniya (Al-Mostafa Electronic Library): Tahdhib al-akhlaq; Tajarib al-'umam; Tajarib al-umam wa ta'aqub al-himam.
• Miskawayh and al-Tawhidi, Al-Hawamil wa'l-Shawamil. Edited by A. Amin and A. Saqar. Cairo: Matba'a Lujna al-Ta'lif wa'l-Tarjama wa'l-Nashr, 1370/1951.
• Miskawayh, Al-Fawz al-Asghar. Edited by Tahir Efendi. Beirut, 1319/1900. Translated by J. W. Sweetman, Al-Fawz al-Asghar: The Shorter Theology of Ibn Miskawayh. In Islam and Christian Theology, 2 vols., 1945,1947. London: Lutterworth Press, vol. 1, Part One, pp. 93-185.
• Miskawayh, Jawidan Khirad. Edited by A. R. Badawi. Beirut: Dar al-Andalus, 1983.
• Miskawayh, Kitab al-Sa'ada. Edited by A. al-Tubiji. Cairo: al-Madrasa al-Sina'iyya al-Ilahiyya, 1335/1917.
• Miskawayh, Tajarib al-Umam. Edited by H. F. Amedroz and D. S. Margoliouth in The Eclipse of the `Abbasid Caliphate, 2 vols, 1914/1916. Cairo: Matba'at al-Tamaddun al-Sina'iyya. Translated by H.F. Amedroz and D.S. Margoliouth. 1920-1921. TheEclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate. Oxford: Blackwell. Vols. IV, V and VII.
• Miskawayh, Tahdhib al-Akhlaq. Edited by C.K. Zurayk. Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1966. Translated by C.K. Zurayk, The Refinement of Character. Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1968.

8.3. Education, teaching and learning institutions on www.MuslimHeritage.com

• Ibn Sina on Education
• Muslim Heritage and Education
• Education in Islam - The role of the Mosque
• Al-Azhar University - 1000 years of Scholarship
• Al-Ghazali's Views on Children's Education
• Ottoman Educational Institutions during the Reform Period
• Madrasas of the Ottoman Empire
• The Development and Decline of Ottoman Madrasas
• Madrasa Education during the Early Ottoman Period
• Islam, Science and Learning
• General Organisation of Education and Teaching Methods in Islamic Civilisation
• Learning Institutions in Islam
• Knowledge, Learning Institutions and Libraries in Islam: Book Publishing and Paper Making
• Al-Ghazali's Views on Children's Education
• Ranking of the Ottoman Madrasas
• The Development and Decline of Ottoman Madrasas
• Curricula in Ottoman Madrasas
• Primary Schools under the Ottomans
• Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University
• Learning Institutions in Islam
• Islam and Learning
• The world-class University of Sankore, Timbuktu
• The Ottoman Madrassa
• Karatay Madrasa, Konya 1252

Footnotes

[50] Ibid., 64.

[51] 'Izzat, 43.

[52] (Ibn) Miskawayh, 66.

[53] Ibid., 35.

[54] Ibid., 104.

[55] Ibid., 51.

[56] Ibid., 35.

[57] Ibid., 35-36.

[58] Ibid., 65.

[59] 'Izzat, 137.

[60] Hisham Nashaba, al-Turath al-tarbawi al-islami fi khams makhtutat (The Islamic educational heritage in five manuscripts), Beirut, Dar al-'ilm li-l-malayin, 1988, 8.

[61] Ibid., 9. See also, 'Izzat, 367, 425, 430. There is one copy of the manuscript of ‘Brusun', in Dar al-kutub al-Misriyya (the Egyptian National Library), Taymur Pasha No. 290, Ethics, entitled ‘The book of Brusis on domestic economy'; also under the title, ‘from the words of the sage Brusun on domestic economy'; published by the Orientalist Paul Kraus, authenticating this, in the Journal of the College of Arts, Fu'ad I University (now Cairo University), Egypt, vol. 1, May 1937. 'Abd al-'Aziz 'Izzat gave many details in his book, q.v.

[62] Imam al-Ghazali, Ihya' 'ulum al-din (Revival of the Religious Sciences), foreword by Badawi Tabana, Egypt, Dar Ihya' al-kutub al-'arabiyya, n.d., iii. 69-72.

[63] Zaki Mubarak, al-Akhlaq 'inda al-Ghazali (Ghazali's Ethics), Cairo, Dar al-kitab al-'arabi li-l-tibaca wa-lnashr, 1968, 224 ff.

[64] For more detail, see: Muhammad Nabil Nawfal, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali wa-ara'uhu fi l-tarbiya wa-l-ta'lim (Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and his views on education), unpublished MA thesis, Cairo, Maktabat Kulliyat al-tarbiya, 'Ayn Shams University, 1967, 339.

[65] See, e.g., Ben Sahnun, Adab al-mu'allimin (Manners of teachers), and al-Qabisi (Abu l-Hasan 'Ali b. Khalaf), al-Risala al-mufassila li-ahwal al-muta'allimin wa-l-mu'allimin (Detailed epistle on the conditions of learners and teachers), both published in: Ahmad Fu'ad al-Ahwani, al-Tarbiya fi l-Islam (Education in Islam), Dar al-ma'arif al-misriyya, 1961.

[66] See, e.g., Nadia Jamal al-Din, Falsafat al-tarbiya 'inda Ikhwan al-Safa' (Philosophy of education in (the views of) the Brethren of Purity), Cairo, al-Markaz al-'arabi li-l-sahafa, 1983.

[67] For more details on the sources of this objective see 'Izzat, 368.

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by: Dr Nadia Jamal al-Din, Sat 31 January, 2009