Monday, August 29, 2011

HEART-TO-HEART EDUCATION

Another topic that seems to be liked by Indonesian colleagues in Medan was what I called Heart-to-Heart Education, or before this, Heart-to-Heart Method in Learning-Teaching Process. During the July trip, two universities requested me to talk on this topic. The first was Universitas Pembinaan Masyarakat Indonesia (UPMI) and the second was Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara (UMSU).

Prior to this, in May 2009, I have actually delivered this topic for the first time in Medan as a keynote address at an International Conference at UMSU. Subsequently in August the same year, Universitas Asahan Sumatera Utara invited me to deliver the same at the university. Altogether, to date, it is already four times that I was asked to talk on this topic in Medan. And the colleagues in Medan seem to still like it.

Actually, the idea on this topic is not new. I first threw the idea in October 1984 at One-Day Forum on Integrated Education, organised by Education Centre, National University of Malaysia (UKM). In my solicited paper entitled "Some Integrated Aspects of Knowledge in Islam: The Case of Islamic Development Knowledge" (in Malay), I pointed out that Allah SWT has bestowed human beings with two tools of learning and teaching, viz. `aql (literally, the mental) and qalb (literally, the heart).

However, I said, more popular tool used is the `aql, and seldom the qalb, whereas from the story of Prophet Khidr and Prophet Musa, as well as the story of Syeikh Abdul Qadir Jailani, teaching-learning process via qalb was more effective than the `aql.

Unexpectedly, my idea attracted a hot discussion, some in favour of me and some others against me. As those who were speaking were too many, and I myself was actually still not having an in-depth knowledge on the idea then, I changed to become an interested observer rather than a defender. Moreover, another panel who was against my idea was the one I respected, the former Rector of International Islamic University Malaysia, Professor Muhammad Kamal Hassan himself. He was a lecturer of Islamic Studies at the National University of Malaysia then.

I reiterated my idea in public only 17 years later, in 2001, in my Professorial Lecture which was then subsequently published by USM Publisher in 2003. In this lecture, I talked specifically, inter alia, on the Teaching-Learning Method of Islamic Development Management. This time was no more based on merely theoretical and preliminary idea. It was rather based on my practical experiments of the usage of the heart-to-heart education method in my own teaching process. Subsequently, beginning from 2005, I used it in the teaching of the ISDEV graduate courses. The result was fantastic as is reflected by the interest of the Medan colleagues who have the intention in implementing it in their respective universities. Alhamdulillah!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

HAPPY EID MUBARAK


WISHING ALL A HAPPY EID MUBARAK.
May Allah SWT accepts our ibadah during Ramadhan and qualifies us to celebrate the Eid.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

MORE NEWS IN MEDAN

During my last trip to Medan, one idea that seems to attract newspapers most was my argument on the dynamics of Muslim in Southeast Asia. I said at the Public Lecture of Universitas Medan Area that Indonesian Muslims possess knowledge, while Muslims in Brunei are bestowed with wealth, Malaysians with organisational expertise,  Singaporeans with brilliancy, and Thais and Phillipinos with bravery. If these are combined, Muslims in Southeast Asia would be able to create a forceful ummah, contributing to the peaceful development of the region. Below are some of the newspaper coverages on the idea.

Coverage in Analisa
Coverage in Andalas
Coverage in Jurnal Medan

Monday, August 15, 2011

AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN MEDAN

While in Medan, an article of mine on `Penumpang Gratis' Dunia Akademik" (Free-Riderism in Academic World) was also published in Waspada, a mainstream newspaper. My concern on the overwhelming practice of the free-riderism amongst the academics nowadays was first published in Utusan Malaysia, in conjunction with the 1st Congress of the Council of National Professors. Interestingly, the article attracted subsequent responses from other academics through the same daily, supporting my views. I expect the article published in Medan too would attract similar responses, InshaAllah.



 http://waspadamedan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13289:penumpang-gratis-dunia-akademik-&catid=59:opini&Itemid=215