Islam, Education and Reform in Southern Thailand: Tradition and Transformation

4. Pedagogies, Curricula, and Texts

100 100 Islam, Education and Reform 4 PEDAGOGIES, CURRICULA, AND TEXTS Islamic education in southern Thailand has traditionally been based on the Kitab Kuning or Kitab Jawi (classical Malay religious literature written in Jawi script by Patani scholars), and “the ideas passed in these texts and explanation pursued orally by scholars have tremendous impact on their followers: for a simple reason, the widespread [sic] of their use and the nature of teacherstudent ties in religious circles”.1 These Kitab, authored by Patani scholars out of both Mecca and Patani in the nineteenth century, were written to provide instruction in Islamic subjects for students who were not conversant in Arabic. Because the standard of Arabic remains generally weak among the Muslim student population in southern Thailand, these texts remain in circulation today and form critical parts of the curriculum. From the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, Patani was an established centre for the dissemination of Islamic knowledge through the efforts of presses such as Patani and Nahdi Press.2 While their publishers’ output has declined somewhat over the years, some such as the Saudara Press continue to reproduce the writings and publications of prominent Pattani Islamic scholars. The writings of traditional scholars such as Abu Hamid Muhammad AlGhazzali (1058–1111) and Sheikh Nawawi Al-Bantani (1230–1314) have long dominated Patani scholarship and instruction on fiqh (jurisprudence), aqidah (theology), tassawuf (spirituality), and ethics.3 Correspondingly, Patani ulama played an instrumental role in editing, translating, and authenticating these works for use in Islamic schools throughout Southeast Asia.4 Beyond 100 04 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 4 4/23/09, 2:33 PM 100 101 Pedagogies, Curricula and Texts 101 this, prolific local luminaries such as Sheikh Daud Al-Fatani, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fatani, and Sheikh Wan Muhammad Ismail Al-Fatani were known also for their own works of Islamic scholarship which continue to be used in Islamic schools across the Malay world today. The more popular works from this genre include Faridatul-Fara’id (on Ash’arite theology) by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fatani, Aqidatul-Najin (on Ash’arite theology) by Sheikh Zain al-‘Abidin Al-Fatani, and several titles by Sheikh Daud Al-Fatani, namely MunyatulMusalli (on fiqh concerning prayer), Furu’ al-Masa’il (on fiqh concerning advanced fatwa or legal opinion), Bughyatu’t-Tullab (fiqh on Shafi’i spiritual devotions), and Kashf al-Litham (fiqh on Shafi’i jurisprudence). As highlighted in the previous chapter, early reformist influence mostly centred on the works by Muhammad Abduh and Jamaluddin al-Afghani that became popular among the Patani ulama and Muslim intelligentsia in the early twentieth century. Haji Sulong, for instance, was profoundly influenced by the teachings of Muhammad Abduh, and he subscribed to the latter’s teaching that the selective adoption of Western innovations and technology for the advancement of the Muslim community was not antithetical to Islam. KAUM TUA-KAUM MUDA REDUX Attention has already been drawn to the tensions and contestations embedded in southernThailand’s Muslim landscape and which have come to be expressed in Islamic education. Not only have reformists not ingratiated themselves to the traditional religious leadership in southern Thailand with their “new” perspectives on Islamic knowledge and lifestyle, but their ideas on epistemology, methodology, culture, and identity have been greeted with circumspection, if not outright hostility, in some traditionalist quarters. Consequently, debates over authenticity and legitimacy within the Muslim community are beginning to redefine the terrain of Islamic thought and praxis. Describing the impact of the reformists on traditional Islamic education and the challenge they pose to the traditional commissars and custodians of the faith, Horstmann surmised that “the religious style differs from that of the imam who is respected for mystical qualities. The new religious style is rule-oriented and anti-esoteric. The imam marks special events such as marriage. The new style is sober and puritanical. The imam is looking for a mystical relationship. The new style is literalist and shari’a-oriented”.5 A major epistemological distinction between the two schools relates to their position on fiqh. The predominant school of jurisprudence taught in the majority of pondok and Islamic private schools in southern Thailand remains Mazhab Shafi’i.6 Schools associated with traditional Shafi’i Islam place much emphasis 04 IslamEdu&Reform Ch 4 4/23/09, 2:33 PM 101 102 102 Islam, Education and Reform on fiqh and its role for Muslims in the modern world. Traditionalist scholars argue that...