Holistic Paradigm in Islamic Education System
Humans are equipped with all the potential to carry out their mandate as prosperity of the earth (khalifah fi al-ardh). Allah has created human being with two key dimensions, the material (jasadiyah) and the immaterial dimension (ruhaniyah), including the spirit, soul, mind, and so on. He has blessed people with hearing, sight and heart as tools to enhance human potential.
Tarbiyah (education) plays a siginificant role in fostering all the potentiality and talents entrusted to humans. Therefore, Allah SWT commands each to educate others in order to know their Rabb. Including the messenger of Allah, our Prophet Muhammad SAW was sent to teach mankind at the end of time how to advance their capacity to become the best people through the revelation of the Quran and Sunnah.
In order to build an excellent human being, a total educational process with holistic and integrative concept is required. Moreover, currently, education tends to focus more on aspects of intellectual ability alone. In fact, education is not only about building intelligence, but beyond that, education is an effort to build gentle emotional and spiritual character and attitudes. However, the last two is the uppermost.
Educational success is barely measured with the ability to answer questions on the piles of paper, nevertheless, it develops by stronger Faith in Allah and moral maturity. Educational process, therefore, has to be done holistically with integration model, completing one another.
The holistic-integrative education is a challenge as well as hope. The first required determination, solemnity, precise fundamental concept, and qualified human resources. The later means to educate strong generation, in which, today, scholarship has failed in building excellent youth, especially related to spiritual and emotional character.
The concept of holistic education is an educational model, developing humans as a whole by fostering all potential including social emotion, intellectuality, moral or character , creativity and spirituality. The term holistic itself rooted from the word "whole", meaning entity. Holistic point of view conveys of the whole aspects more than the partial perspectives, having a systemic, integrated, complex, dynamic, non-mechanical and non-linear pattern (Heriyanto, 2003: 12). In addition, the term holistic is taken from the basic words heal and health. Etymologically, it has the same root as the term whole (Webster, 1980: 643). It indicates holistic thinking shows healthy thinking. It explained, in the Quran, humans were created in the finest beings. (QS. Al-Tin: 4).
They, concluded Ibnu Thufail, have three fundamental aspects of education, namely the cognitive (al-'aqliyyah) x, affective (al-khuluqiyyah al-ruhaniyyah), and psychomotor (al-'amaliyyah) domains. These are the principal requirements for achieving the objectives of education, raising an utter human being by combining science through research and religious knowledge based on revelation through the Prophets and Apostles in order to balance between vertikal (worldly) and horizontal (spiritual) life.
Holistic education as described by Ahmad Tafsir, formulates the characteristics of an ideal Muslim, involving (1) Physically healthy and strong, with the characteristics; healthy, strong and skilled. (2) Inttelligent mind and smart, with the atributs; solving problems quickly, precisely, and scientifically, developing science, and thinking philosophically and systematically. (3) His heart is devoted to Allah, with the quality; voluntarily engaging in God's commands and avoiding His prohibitions, a heart connected with the supernatural.
Based on some opinions from educational figures above, Islamic education should be managed holistically and integratively. The major goal of Islamic education is to build ideal humans. Consequently, islamic education institution is acquired to focus on building Noble character and Intelligent quotient broadly according to each level and capability.
Integration
Holistic education is able to be applied with an integrated model, a combination of the system, curriculum (material) or methods and strategies. The model has actually been the subject of discussion among Muslim scholars or intellectuals long time ago. The issue arises because of the rampant secularization of science or the separation between religious sciences and general sciences. The figures, popularising the term integration of knowledge, especially religious philosophy, are Naquib Al-Attas and Ismail Al-Faruqi with their concept of Islamization of knowledge.
Furthermore, the integration is expected to create the integrity of science itself. There is interrelationship between one science and others. In the current context of Islamic education, an interesting integration to develop is the integration model of the Quran, hadith and science. It is collaborated in every learning material. Science is integrated with the Quran and Hadith or Islamic values related to the subjects. Meanwhile, religious lessons will be integrated with science and the contextual values of the material taught.
Combining science with the Quran and hadith is aimed to rise appreciation of science (immersion of knowledge) that everything in nature, including natural events and happenings, are the verses of Allah. It will increase our closeness to Allah SWT and strengthen our fear of Allah, because we know and realize the greatness and power of Allah SWT. On the other hand, integrating the study of the Quran, hadith and other religious knowledge with science strengthens our faith in Allah SWT, since we comprehend what Allah conveys in the Quran or hadith is able to be really proved in the universe.
Chief of Education,
Thursina International Islamic Boarding School Malang