Osama Yamani

Teaching Division..

July 10, 2026 - 00:01 | Last updated July 10, 2026 - 00:01

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Education is the cornerstone of any development, responsible for preserving the social fabric and providing a workforce that meets economic outputs and market demands. However, religious education in some societies truly suffers from a methodological crisis when jurisprudential heritage is presented as if it were sacred texts not open to revision, while ignoring its historical context and overall objectives. This turns jurisprudential disagreement from a mercy into a fitna, and from diversity into narrowing.

The problem of education in some of our Arab and Islamic communities lies in the fact that society itself holds the perception that 'learning religion' means memorizing rulings and rigid stances, and parents may resist any curriculum that seems to them 'watered down' or 'secular'. Moreover, current curricula cannot produce individuals capable of thinking and creativity, because what they offer students — in part — is the root of the problem. The real danger is not in teaching fiqh, but in monopolizing its interpretation and linking it to political or sectarian identity, thereby producing generations that memorize differences but do not understand the essence of a religion based on monotheism and ethics.

The sanctity granted to jurisprudential opinions is the core of the crisis, because it elevates human ijtihad to the level of revelation, contradicting the very statement of the imams themselves: 'My opinion is correct but may be wrong, and the opinion of others is wrong but may be correct.' The problem lies in teaching students ideas and knowledge from jurisprudential schools that entrench division and disagreement, and the danger of these sects is that they claim sanctity, possess absolute truth, and declare opponents deviant — sometimes even excommunicating them. Jurisprudential disagreement is not the problem; the problem is its use as a tool for division. Islamic jurisprudence arose rich in its diversity of schools, but political employment created division.

Religious education needs a methodological revision that moves it from rote learning to deep understanding, from partisanship to cooperation in righteousness and piety, and separates the teaching of jurisprudential heritage from doctrinal and moral education, which should be unifying. Modern education should teach the student how to think, not what to think. It should present jurisprudential schools as methodologies of ijtihad, training students in the tools of criticism and balancing, and in understanding the higher objectives of Sharia that transcend the particulars of branches. In my view, some reforms in jurisprudential curricula have not overcome the problems of jurisprudential heritage; sectarian partisanship persists instead of unity, contrary to the Quranic directive to cooperate in righteousness and piety. Moreover, the adopted education should be unifying.

Some current curricula may contribute to entrenching division within the same nation, and this is a bitter reality, especially when detailed points of disagreement that do not touch the essentials of religion are taught, while neglecting to teach the student how to deal with those who differ. The problem is not with jurisprudential heritage in general, but with the method of selection and presentation. Heritage contains flexible opinions as well as rigid ones, and some educational institutions may choose what serves the official sect and ignore opposing opinions that might be more in harmony with the times.

Likewise, teachers need training. Modern education based on 'how to think' not 'what to think' requires teachers who are philosophically and methodologically qualified, and this is rare in our educational system, which produces teachers who memorize but do not critique.

Each educational stage needs curricula appropriate to the student's age, and education at all stages should remain based on universal values (such as justice, mercy, and tolerance) as a common foundation. Even at universities, the history and development of fiqh should be taught, not fiqh as mere rigid rulings, and disagreement should be presented as a lesson in ijtihad, not as a struggle between truth and falsehood. Focus should be on the higher objectives of Sharia (preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property) as a unifying framework, while viewing details of branches from a contemporary perspective aligned with the spirit of the times.

Education is the ship that transports societies from backwardness to advancement, but it will not sail if its curricula continue to entrench division instead of unity, and sanctify the old instead of innovating ijtihad. Reform of education begins with liberating the mind from the guardianship of human opinions and returning religion to its universal ethical essence, not to the fiqh of divisive disagreements. When that is achieved, education will truly be the cornerstone of a bright future, built by a generation that thinks, not imitates, and cooperates, not differs.