Constructing Islamic secondary school curricula and textbooks for natural science: an integration framework based on the Ūlū Al-Albāb Model

The annals of the Islamic, modern and post-modern eras are witnesses to how science and technology have impacted humanity. Reacting against the inauspicious effects of modern and post-modern tendencies, is the distinct global phenomenon of Islamic schools offering “integrated education”. But what constitutes as integration? Analyses of various curricula, syllabi and textbooks of natural science used by several Islamic secondary schools in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Mindanao and Ontario show very little integration if any. This article puts forward an integration framework towards the construction of Islamic secondary school curricula and textbooks of natural science, based on the Qur’ānic notion of “ūlū al-albāb” with Ghazālian discourse of the qalb where certain conventional aspects of natural science undergo holistic reposition, reinterpretation and reorientation from the Qur’ānic worldview. The framework is constructed on the three-level relationships man has – with God, with humanity and with the cosmos. ******************************************************* Rentetan sejarah-sejarah zaman Islam, moden dan pasca-moden adalah saksi terhadap impak sains dan teknologi kepada manusia. Tindak-balas terhadap kesan-kesan buruk aliran moden and pascamoden, adalah tumbuhnya sekolah-sekolah Islam yang menawarkan "pendidikan bersepadu" – suatu fenomena global yang begitu ketara. Tetapi apakah dia kesepaduan? Analisis terhadap kurikulum, silabus dan buku teks sains tabii yang digunakan oleh sejumlah sekolah menengah Islam di Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapura, Selatan Thailand, Mindanao dan Ontario menunjukkan kesepaduan yang begitu sedikit, kalaupun ada. Penulisan ini mengutarakan sebuah kerangka bersepadu ke arah pembentukan kurikulum sains tabii sekolah menengah Islam dan buku teks, berlandaskan konsep ―ūlū al-albāb‖ berserta wacana alGhazālī tentang hati, di mana aspek konvensional sains tabii menjalani penataan, pentakrifan dan pengalihan-arah semula yang menyeluruh dari pandangan alam al-Qur'ān. Kerangka ini dibina berdasarkan hubungan tiga-hala manusia - dengan Tuhan, sesama manusia dan dengan alam semesta