-
Instruction of the Student – Imam Zarnuji
Burhan al-Din al-Zarnuji (d. 620 AH/1223 CE), a Muslim scholar, is the author of the celebrated pedagogical work Ta’līm al-Muta’allim-Ṭarīq at-Ta’-allum (Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning). We took the book for our reading sessions. The following summary would be helpful for the ones who have read the text or joined us in the sessions. These bullets can help in reminding what is already learned, this cannot replace a teacher or the text. Foreword by Hamza Yusuf: Islamic Community is Rooted in Adab. Adab is knowing ones place in hierarchy. Argument for hierarchy “Are they the same – those who know and those who do not” (39:9). “I…
-
Enlightenment or Unenlightenment of our Nature – Plato
Following is taken from Plato’s Republic Book VII (translated by C. D. C. Reeve) SOCRATES: Next, then, compare the effect of education and that of the lack of it on our nature to an experience like this. Imagine human beings living in an underground, cavelike dwelling, with an entrance a long way up that is open to the light and as wide as the cave itself. They have been there since childhood, with their necks and legs fettered, so that they are fixed in the same place, able to see only in front of them because their fetter prevents them from turning their heads around. Light is provided by a…
-
Relevance of Indian Philosophical Thought
The Indian subcontinent happens to be the home to one of the oldest human civilizations in the world. This civilization that thrived in this part of the world has passed on to us an enormous wealth of literature that deals not just with ethical and moral codes, but also with Philosophy and Science. One of the defining characteristics of the Indian Civilization was its approach to knowledge. While the Greeks would develop sciences for the sake of sciences or they would gain knowledge for the want of knowledge, Indians would have a different world view altogether. They would develop sciences both for the sake of spiritual as well as mundane…
-
How to read a book – Part III
Click here for Part 1 Click here for Part 2 By now you can be reasonably sure you have understood the book. However a complete understanding of a book requires the final work of criticism, the work of judging. Till now you have been following the author, keeping your eyes and mind open and your mouth shut. From now onwards you are going to present yourself and argue with the author in the third and final state of reading of which the rules are as follows.
-
How to read a book – Part II
Click here for Part 1 Levels of Reading: There are four levels of reading, and these levels are cumulative i.e. higher level includes all the lower levels in herself.
Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment