The Khaleefah Constitution:

Education Policy

Article 166 The Islamic creed constitutes the basis upon which the education policy is built. The syllabi and methods of teaching are designed to prevent a departure from this basis.

Article 167 The purpose of education is to form the Islamic personality in thought and behaviour. Therefore, all subjects in the curriculum must be rooted on this basis.

Article 168 The goal of education is to produce the Islamic personality and to provide people with the knowledge connected with life’s affairs. Teaching methods are established to fulfil this goal.

Article 169 A distinction should be drawn between the empirical sciences such as mathematics, on the one hand, and the cultural sciences, on the other. The empirical sciences, and all that is related to them, are taught according to the need and are not restricted to any stage of education. As for the cultural sciences, they are taught at the primary and secondary levels according to a specific policy which does not contradict Islamic thoughts and rules. In higher education, these cultural sciences are studied like other sciences provided they do not lead to a departure from the stated goal of the education policy.

Article 170 The Islamic culture must be taught at all levels of education. In higher education, departments should be assigned to the various Islamic disciplines as will be done with medicine, engineering, physics etc.

Article 171 Arts and industries may be related to science, such as commerce, navigation and agriculture. In such cases, they are studied without restriction or conditions. Sometimes, however, arts and industries are connected to culture and reflect a particular viewpoint of life, such as painting and sculpting. If this viewpoint of life contradicts the Islamic viewpoint of life, these arts and industries are not taken.

Article 172 The state’s curriculum is the only one allowed to be taught. Private schools, provided they are not foreign, are allowed as long as they adopt the state’s curriculum and establish themselves on the State’s educational policy and accomplish the goal of education set by the State.

Article 173 It is an obligation upon the State to teach every individual, male or female, those things which are necessary for the mainstream of life. This should be provided freely to all and done in the primary and secondary levels of education. The State should, to the best of its ability, provide the opportunity for everyone to continue higher education free of charge.

Article 174 The State ought to provide the means of developing knowledge, such as libraries and laboratories, in addition to schools and universities, to enable those who want to continue their research in the various fields of knowledge, like fiqh, Hadith and tafseer of Qur’an, thought, medicine, engineering and chemistry, research and development etc. This is done to create an abundance of mujtahideen, outstanding scientists and innovators in research.

Article 175 The exploitation of writing for educational purposes, such as copyrighting, at whatever level is strictly forbidden. Once a book has been printed and published, nobody has the right to reserve the publishing and printing rights, including the author. However, if the book has not been printed and published, and thus is still an idea, the owner has the right to take payment for transferring these ideas to the public, the same way he can take payment for teaching them.

Article 176 Any subject of the State has the right to issue any newspaper, magazine or book; political or not, without permission. However, any one who prints, spreads or issues anything that might destroy the basis on which the State is built will be punished.

Article 177 The State works to eliminate illiteracy and educate those who missed the opportunity of receiving an education.