I have been arguing that Islamic teachings are just as revolutionary today as they were 1450 years ago. Furthermore, Islam has the capability to revolutionize all fields of knowledge – even those areas which are considered “SECULAR” (independent of religion) BECAUSE this is the way that they were developed and treated in the West. This applies especially to economics.
To prove this, I have been developing a course on statistics over the past fifteen years. This is now the THIRD generation of the course, which I hope to teach online to TEACHERS of statistics. The First Generation was an attempt to take EXISTING courses from the West, and turn them into the USEFUL knowledge that the Prophet SAW prayed for, and to REMOVE from them the elements of USELESS knowledge that the Prophet SAW sought protection from. The Second Generation actually made substantial changes in the substance and methodology in order to develop USEFUL skills in students, and to teach them to apply these skills to the solution of real world problems. This third generation course is founded on entirely different foundations from Western courses. The epistemological basis of the course has been changed, as described in the post below:
I am attaching slides for a lecture about this course – these you can quickly look through to see the big ideas involved in creation of the course. These same ideas can be used to create a revolutionary approach, based on radically different foundations, to economics, politics, psychology, and social sciences in general. These approaches would build on the intellectual heritage of ISLAM rather than the West.
I would appreciate members of the email list to forward this message to TEACHERS of statistics courses, and encourage them to participate in my online course, which will be starting on this Saturday 27 July 2019. There is a REGISTRATION form for the course which is linked in the first paragraph of the post above. Those who register will receive weekly assignments of readings, video lectures, and other exercises to complete in connection with the course. Those who take this course will learn an entirely new approach to the teaching of statistics, which has proven efficiency in creating excellent learning outcomes, improved concpetual understanding and computational skills, as well as the ability to look through many deceptions created by statistical theory which have led to the famous aphorism: “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”.
A Sequence of Four Posts Describes a Draft of an Introductory First lecture on the topic of Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach
RSIA-01 An Islamic Approach to Knowledge: Summarized first two section of the first lecture of ISM01 – Introduction to Statistics for Muslims – The Introduction explains the importance of knowledge in Islam, and how, because the whole religion is built around the concept of knowledge, it has a unique approach to knowledge. Some of the key features of this approach are explained. The Second Section explains how knowledge is among the Greatest Gifts of God to mankind, and How Islam provides us with guidance in all dimensions of human knowledge.
RSIA-01b The Value of Knowledge. Section 3 explains the Allah alone possesses all knowledge of what we know and what we do not know, and grants some portions to whomsoever He pleases. To acquire knowledge, we must approach the SOURCE of all knowledge in the proper way, taught in Islam. This starts with Istighfar, seeking forgiveness for sins, to purify our hearts, and to prepare them to receive the NOOR of knowledge from Allah. Section 4 explains how the thirst for knowledge, seeking knowledge from cradle to grave, is a key component of Islamic teachings.
RSIA-01c: Training the Heart: Section 5 explains how Islam differentiates strongly between useful and useless knowledge, and strongly encourages learning the first kind, and NOT learning the second kind. It describes the differences between the two. Section 6 explains that we must engage in the struggle to change the world for the good – we cannot be neutral and detached in this struggle. So useful knowledge enters our hearts and drives our actions to try to make the world a better place by Amr Bil Maaroof and Nahi anil Munkir.
RSIA-o1D The Struggle For Knowledge: Section 7 explains that knowledge is obtained in the PROCESS of struggling to change the world for better – a very action oriented approach to learning. Section 8 explain the unity of knowledge. All of our knowledge is directed to the sole purpose of human beings learning to be the BEST of the creations, to acquire Ma’rifat of God. Section. Thus all knowledge serves a common purpose, and forms a unity. Section 9 explains the Islamic etiquette of knowledge – the rules which teachers and students must follow in the Islamic approach to knowledge. Section 10 provides exercises, which are actions students must struggle with, in order to acquire knowledge
END of explanation of lecture 01 of Intro Stats: An Islamic Approach
For a more detailed discussion of the underlying concepts which led to the creation of this course, see Real Statistics (1/4), Real Statistics (2/4), Real Statistics (3/4), and Real Statistics (4/4).
AZ Students 