dana

http://www.messageonline.org/2001aprilmay/cover2.htm
Secular Education:
The Insidious Erosion of Faith
Ama F. Shabazz

Truth stands out clear from Error.
Whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah
has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks.
And Allah hears and knows all things. (Qur'an 2: 256)
Many Muslim parents who send their children to American public schools have
been complaining about a very serious problem. These parents have been
noticing that as their children get older, they seem to become more cynical
and skeptical about religion. Although they were quite dutiful and earnest
about Islam as small children, as they advance through their adolescence
these same youngsters begin to doubt, question, and debate many of the
articles of faith and become increasingly lax about observing their
religious duties such as salaat and fasting. Ironically, many of the
youngsters who seem to be pulling or turning away from Islam have always
been outstanding students earning high academic marks at their public
schools. Dismayed parents remark, "We just don't understand this. Our
children have always been very obedient, very good, but lately, it's as if
Islam is the last thing on their minds. Lately, they never want to go to the
mosque, we have to scold to make them perform salaat, and when we bring up
Islam for family discussions they act bored and want to change the subject.
We taught them all the basics about Islamic concepts and practice since they
were small, but now step by step, they seem to be turning into
disbelievers." Regrettably, in many cases, there seems to be an inverse
correlation between increasing academic success and declining iman (faith).
Undoubtedly, a major contributor to this phenomenon is the underlying
curriculum agenda of public education in the United States, secular
humanism.
Secular humanism is used in educational philosophy to refer to the
philosophy of a cult that has set forth its creed in three do***ents:
Humanist Manifesto I (published in 1933), Humanist Manifesto II (published
in 1973), and A Secular Humanist Declaration (published in 1980, American
Humanist Association, Amherst, NY).
It is important to note that all of the secular humanist treatises were
signed by many influential people in government and public institutions
throughout the U. S. Among the most noteworthy of the signatures on the
first manifesto is the name of John Dewey. Aside from the library
cataloguing method named after him ("Dewey decimal system"), John Dewey is
best known for his work as one of the pioneers and primary architects of
American public education. His theories on curriculum and his writings on
the purpose of public schools are considered the foundation of public
schooling in the United States.
There are a number of dangerous concepts espoused by secular humanists that
stand in stark contrast to the basic principles of Islam. Let's examine a
few of the tenets of secular humanism:
The assertion that human beings determine their own destinies without
intervention by any divine being.

The rejection of the miraculous, the mystical, and the supernatural as
superstition.

The rejection of the creation, worship, prayer, and religious emotions and
attitudes because all of these concepts and practices are considered
impediments to self-realization and personal fulfillment.

Humanist Manifesto II specifically casts aside "faith in a prayer-hearing
God, revelation of truth, divinity as a source of moral values, and
so-called "puritanical views of human ***uality."
It may be shocking for Muslim parents to learn that secular humanism has
become the prevailing philosophy in many public schools throughout America.
In addition, these concepts are clearly evident in the curriculum design and
instructional materials of public secondary schools, especially in the
science, literature, and social studies textbooks. In other words, the
underlying principles of American public education are based on a matrix of
beliefs that there is no God, that human beings were not created but were
evolved, that there are no moral absolutes, and that, consequently, it is
all right to be amoral. Quite antithetical to Islam, secular humanism
emphasizes the potential of the human being and utterly denies the necessity
to acknowledge or call upon the wisdom, guidance, or aid of Allah Subhannah
Wa Ta 'Ala. Indeed, The Qur'an Kareem has described the mindset and the
fate of the secular humanists:
They are the ones who buy Error in place of Guidance and Torment in place of
F****veness. Ah! What boldness (They show) for the Fire! (Qur'an 2: 175)
Imagine, therefore, the bewilderment and utter confusion in the highly
impressionable minds of our Muslim youths whose parents constantly tell them
that they must excel in school and learn all that they can and cooperate
with their teachers so that they can get good grades and good references for
college. Their parents, imams, and Muslim week-end schools are teaching them
Islamic concepts of compassion, unselfishness, respect, reverence for The
Creator, morality, and abstinence until marriage. Yet, for six hours per
day, five days per week, 180 days per year, they are being told quite the
opposite. (By the way, we also have to factor in the time they spend reading
secular humanist books and articles for homework.) Because of the prevalence
of secular humanism, their Islamic values are being undermined with
aspirations for hedonism, lust, domination, acquisition, materialism, and
greed.
We learn from Islam that among the ploys of Shaytan is the technique of
making what evil seem alluring and beautiful, and to disguise that which is
sinful by ascribing nice terminology to it. Thus, the secular humanists
manipulate phrases and develop euphemisms to rationalize and make evil
thinking seem perfectly acceptable. So-called "Values Clarification" courses
actually teach that the only crime is in being caught, and it's basically
okay to do anything as long as you can use so-called "Situational Ethics" to
come up with some twisted logic to justify your actions. Thus, we find that
even in the primary grades instead of reading about the traditional family
units in Social Studies and Language Arts classes, youngsters are now
reading books about "having two daddies," making it seem perfectly
acceptable and normal for a *** couple to parent a child. Even more
amazingly, we can find public schools, supported by local taxpayers in Los
Angeles, New York, and Boston, where the entire student body, faculty, and
administration are quite openly ***! Proponents of these institutions
rationalize that *** youngsters need an environment of acceptance to enhance
their self-esteem. Clearly, Muslims cannot ponder such situations without
recalling Allah's words:
These are they who have bartered Guidance for error: But their traffic is
profitless, and they have lost true direction..(Qur'an 2: 16).
Make no mistake about it. Ultimately, the underlying purpose of public
education is to produce law-abiding citizens who are willing to pay taxes
and face combat in support of the American geo-political and economic
agenda. That is why, on every level, Muslim youths in public schools are
being exposed to a curriculum that is designed to result in an erosion of
faith.
In biology, students are taught the classification of plants and animals
to support the Darwinian theory of evolution and the concept of survival of
the fittest. The notion that mankind evolved from apes instead of
descending form Adam (ahs) and quite independent of a creator, feeds the
concept of human self-actualization and eliminates the idea of
accountability to a Supreme Being. On the contrary, Islam teaches us, "He
created life and death that He may try you, which of you is best in works.
(Qur'an 30:22-25). Likewise, in history classes, students are taught that
human progress is measured in terms of material might and military supremacy
instead of moral superiority. Courses in Western Civilization glorify pagan
Greece and morally decadent Rome. Most history courses are simply studies of
invasions and wars in which nationalism and tradition are used to justify
tyranny and imperialism. In fact, the contributions of Muslims to the
advance of civilizations are usually minimized. Most textbooks claim that
Muslims simply translated the works of Greeks and Romans. In American
textbooks seldom there is acknowledgement that, in fact, Muslims rescued
Europe from the Dark Ages, through the knowledge they acquired as a result
of studying Qur'an and pursuing knowledge with ingenuity and iman. In
literature classes, students are presented with ****ographic filth and told
that it is "art". They are also taught that no one has the right to censor a
writer's freedom of expression, not even when the literature is as offensive
as the work of Salman Rushdie. General science classes emphasize Bacon's
scientific method. The underlying message is that if I cannot see it, touch
it, smell it, taste, it, or hear it, then it must not be real. Muslims on
the other hand, know that the unseen (al-ghaib) is part of reality, and just
as we cannot "see" gravity but can observe its effects, likewise though we
cannot see Allah, we constantly see His signs in the universe and in
ourselves.
In view of such a pervasive attack on every aspect of Islamic creed, we
should understand why our Muslim youths are facing a spiritual crisis.
Secular education teaches them to doubt Islam. Thus, it is absolutely
essential for imams, Muslim parents, and Muslim teachers to help our
youngsters understand what is wrong with secular humanism. Every effort
should be made to help Muslim youths to recognize secular humanism whenever
and wherever it raises its ugly head in their studies and in their classes.
Only in this way can we equip our youngsters to defend themselves from the
secularists' subtle and subliminal onslaught against their iman. We must
remind our youngsters about Allah's words:
O ye who believe! If ye obey the Unbelievers, they will drive you back on
your heels, and you will turn back from Faith to your own loss. (Qur'an 3:
149)
For Muslims, perhaps the most disturbing and alarming aspect of the secular
humanist philosophy lies in its implications. Through its arrogant assertion
that human beings have full potential to achieve whatever they wish, without
the need for any divine intervention ("I think, therefore I am"), that human
beings evolved without a creator, in fact, secular humanism actually implies
that human beings are gods. We seek refuge in Allah Believers from such
diabolic notions!
Say: "This is my way: I do invite unto Allah,- on evidence clear as the
seeing with one's eyes, I and whoever follows me. Glory to Allah! and never
will I join gods with Allah!" (Qur'an 12.108)


--
"The Declaration of Independence... [is the] declaratory charter of our
rights, and the rights of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3rd President of the United States
(1801-1809)