Monday 8 April 2019

Concerns on the Modern “Education” System - a Historical Perspective

There appears to have been an above average interest in a recent tweet I made (I do not know what is the correct verb here, tweet I tweeted? Tweet I posted? Issued?) In response to the outrage on a UK school teaching little children to write same-sex love letters, I responded to this outrage, expressing the following, which I paraphrase as:

  1. Muslim parents have always held western schooling to be sacrosanct and many have been willing to sacrifice their religious principles for a “good education” for their children. Thus I am not impressed at their sudden outrage. Prayer, Islamic diet, Islamic dress, separation of sexes, covering the thighs during sport, keeping a beard, etc. are amongst the many commands of Allāh we were happy to discard for decades. Arrogating to yourself the right to decide which command’s violation is sufficient enough to upset you, is placing yourself on a divine pedestal.

  2. Over and above the discarding of outward practice, is the steady erosion of faith which is intrinsic to the western education system. Muslims are incapable of thinking like Muslims. Their mental colouration is not Allāh’s [ʾal-Baqarah: 138] but that of His enemies. There are many Muslims who outwardly pray and indeed exceed me in implementing the religion, may Allāh reward them, but an examination of their faith can leave one in tears. When parents have never bothered before that their children have greater faith in what is preached at schools than what Allāh says, then really, spare me your belated outrage. You may have a child that prays, but you could not have cared less that that child believes Charles Darwin more than Muḥammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. I have touched on this topic before. For those who wish for further details, this will not be the topic here, perhaps you may exert yourself to see what is staring at Muslims in the face. For those who find what I say unpalatable, you are welcome to stop reading and tune into your favourite entertainer on certain so-called Islamic TV and Radio stations, whose job is only to make you happy and himself more popular, never speak what is bitter to hear.

  3. I must apologise for perhaps being unfair. Since my earliest memories I have always been searching out any fact of history. In the light of the troves Allāh has granted me, I tend to view matters with a different scope and often get frustrated that why do others not see what should be so obvious in the light of historical facts. Were I wiser and humbler, I would pause to reflect that others are more gifted than I in other worthy sciences (or trashy facts of indoctrination like western sports, movies and music). I do not have a right to assume that what is obvious to me should be crystal clear to all. I am therefore devoting this article to a brief overview on the anti-Islamic and indoctrinating lineage of the western education system. People who can only criticise might rightfully point out that even with a common lineage there is great diversity in educational system. True, but people who are willing to reassess and accept the truth, will admit that this system of forced education, does not only take children away from their mothers, but also creates distance between Creator and slave, long before same-sex love letters were ever thought of.


I have provided links at certain points. The least further reading you can do on your own is read those links.

 

The West


 

I would trust that the dear reader agrees that the western mandatory public schooling system is modelled on the English system, i.e. US and UK schools. Should the dear critic find a hut on some Pacific island free of this system, I would think that you should be honest enough to admit that the tentacles of the west will soon spread there as well. The founding fathers of this system were the Englishman Mathew Arnold (d. 1888) and the American, Horace Mann (d. 1859). Arnold argued for state intervention in schools and through his efforts, elementary education became compulsory in 1880. Parents who hold public mandatory schooling to be sacred, above their religion, should reflect how mankind survived for thousands of years before 1880.

Although this article aims to avoid details, the six principles of Mann, which now form the foundation of public schools, are worth mentioning. Kindly pause, and reflect what would the eventual outcome of these be and why same-sex love letters should be no surprise to anyone with two brain cells. Please note that point four in contemporary English means “secularism”, i.e. no religion:

  • that a republic cannot long remain ignorant and free, hence the necessity of universal popular education; (2) that such education must be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interested public; (3) that such education is best provided in schools embracing children of all religious, social, and ethnic backgrounds; (4) that such education, while profoundly moral in character, must be free of sectarian religious influence; (5) that such education must be permeated throughout by the spirit, methods, and discipline of a free society, which preclude harsh pedagogy in the classroom; and (6) that such education can be provided only by well-trained, professional teachers.



 

Prussia


 

Mann and Arnold received their inspiration for using the public school, as a tool for the state to control the masses, from Prussia. Now despite going to schools descending from the Mann-Arnold system, many readers might not have heard of Prussia.

Prussia was one of the German states which existed before the unification of Germany in 1871. Since the 13th century it was ruled as a monastic state by the warrior monks of the Teutonic Order. The last Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, Albert, established schools in every town of Prussia. However, as early as 1427 schools were being used as tools as part of the forcible conversion of the local Prussians to Christianity.

The commentator, Bryan Hyde, aptly states the Prussian school system to be a tool for controlling the masses, with these five aims:

  1. Obedient workers for the mines.

  2. Obedient soldiers for the army.

  3. Well-subordinated civil servants to government.

  4. Well-subordinated clerks to industry.

  5. Citizens who thought alike about major issues.


Apply this to current events, and pay attention to Mann’s 4th point and Hyde’s fifth point.

 

The Teutonic Order


 

So who were these monks to whom ultimately the brain washing western school system can be traced to? I had erroneously “tweeted” that they originated from the Knights Templar. They were however a separate order. I summarise the following from https://www.ancient.eu/Teutonic_Knight/:

The Third Crusade was called by Pope Gregory VIII following the capture of Jerusalem in 1187 CE by Saladin… some German knights pressed on and assisted in the siege of Acre which terminated in July 1191 CE. Despite other successes, the Crusaders only managed to get within sight of Jerusalem and no attempt was made to attack the holy city. Instead, control of a small strip of land around Acre was negotiated and the future safe treatment of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land.

… In March 1198 CE Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216 CE) granted its members the status of an independent military order under the name Fratres Domus hospitalis sanctae Mariae Teutonicorum (Brethren of the German Hospital of Saint Mary). Thus the organisation was born which would later become much better known as the Teutonic Order and its members as Teutonic knights. Like other military orders of the medieval period (e.g. the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller), it was a combination of two ways of life: knighthood and the monastery.

 

What’s Your Point?


 

My point is that Muslims get excited over isolated issues, which they are blind to its obvious coming, because they do not care about the bigger picture. As outrageous as making little children write love letters (to any sex) may be, it is but a ripple in the sea of drowning out Islām from our youth and future generations. Parents who help their children with homework, but never bothered to help with their children’s spiritual state, have absolutely zero sympathy from me.

 

 

سليمان الكندي
Twitter: @sulayman_Kindi