Education of the Interior: Essays in Honour of Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

Education of the Interior: Essays in Honour of Professor Syed Ali Ashraf
Edited by Shaikh Abdul Mabud
Foreword by Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Afterword by Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia

Honouring a Visionary of Faith-Based Education

What happens when an education system touches not only the mind but also the soul?

This illuminating volume honours the legacy of Professor Syed Ali Ashraf (1924–1998)—a pioneering educator, literary critic, and Sufi scholar whose ideas continue to shape the discourse on Islamic education around the world. Through over 40 deeply engaging chapters—including reflections by friends, former students, and globally respected scholars—this festschrift offers the first comprehensive English-language exploration of Professor Ashraf’s life, philosophy, and far-reaching impact.

Professor Ashraf believed that true education must cultivate the “interior”—the heart and soul of the human being—as well as the intellect. He devoted his life to challenging the dominance of secularist models and instead developed a powerful, Qurʾān-based framework that integrates spiritual, moral, and intellectual development.

“By any measure he was an outstanding person, showing clearly by his life and actions a combination of outstanding scholarship with deep personal piety.”
— Peter Mitchell, University of Cambridge

“I criticised the modern education system because it is based on a concept of human nature which does not recognise the human spirit and its relationship with God...”
— Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

Contributors include Professor Osman Bakar, Distinguished Professor at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC-IIUM), and Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, whose afterword highlights Ashraf’s enduring significance for the Muslim world and beyond.

From his key role in organising the First World Conference on Muslim Education in Makkah (1977) to founding the Islamic Academy in Cambridge, Professor Ashraf’s work established the foundations of the global Islamic education movement—one that calls for a holistic model rooted in divine purpose and human dignity.

Why This Book Matters

• The definitive source on a transformative figure: This is the first comprehensive English-language tribute to Professor Syed Ali Ashraf—an intellectual, educator, and spiritual guide whose influence has reached scholars and institutions across the Muslim world and the West.

• A new paradigm for education: At a time when secular systems dominate and values are often sidelined, Ashraf’s model offers a compelling integration of revelation and reason, ethics and excellence, faith and pedagogy.

• Global vision, timeless relevance: From his early teaching days in Dhaka to his leadership in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the UK, Ashraf’s educational reform was deeply international in scope—uniting diverse Muslim communities under a shared vision of God-conscious education.

• For educators, scholars, and seekers: Ideal for academics, curriculum developers, Muslim teachers, and anyone concerned with rethinking education through a spiritual and ethical lens. This book is both a tribute to a pioneer and a roadmap for transformative practice.

• A work of enduring intellectual and spiritual depth: With contributions from world-class scholars and testimonials from those who walked alongside him, this book provides a rare blend of analytical rigour and heartfelt reflection—an invaluable addition to contemporary Islamic thought.

CONTENTS

Part I: Reflections

1. Seyyed Hossein Nasr – Civilizational Dialogue and the Islamic World

2. Osman Bakar – The Aims of Education: The Forgotten Truths

3. Ahmad Salah Jamjoom – Islam and the West: Meaningful Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence

4. Akbar S. Ahmed – Islam and the West in the Twenty-First Century

5. Ghulam Nabi Saqeb – Islamic Education and the Challenge of Secularism: Professor Syed Ali Ashraf’s Critique of Secularism in Education in Muslim Countries: A Personal Appraisal

6. J. Mark Halstead – The Islamic Concept of Knowledge: Some Reflections on the Epistemological Assumptions in the Educational Thinking of Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

7. Syed Ali Ahsan – Poems of Syed Ali Ashraf

8. Abdullah Omar Nasseef – Islam and the West

9. Shaikh Abdul Mabud – Exploring Professor Syed Ali Ashraf’s Views on Religious and Secular Education

10. Peter Mitchell – Faith-Based Education

11. James Kinnier Wilson – Abraham, The Babylonian

12. Syed Farid Alatas – The Definition of Religion

13. Sarah Smalley – Professor Ashraf and His Contribution to Religious Education in England

14. Syed Ali Naqi – Syed Ali Ashraf: Exploring Education through a Spiritual Lens

15. Iftekhar Iqbal & Asiyah Kumpoh – The Cosmic Triangle: God, Man and Nature in Syed Ali Ashraf’s Philosophy of Education

16. Brenda Watson – Skills of Discernment: An Essential but Neglected Aspect of Education in Religion

17. Mujadad Zaman – Islamisation and Higher Education: Syed Ali Ashraf and the Secular Consequences of Religious Ideas

18. Nadeem A. Memon – Education of the Interior: Reflections on the Legacy of Syed Ali Ashraf

19. Mashhad Al-Allaf – The Moral Theory of Five Cosmic Values: Islamic Moral Theory Based on Reason and Revelation

20. Muḥammad Al-Sayyid Al-Sayyid Al-Ṣafṭī – Spotlights on the Islamisation of Education from Syed Ali Ashraf’s Perspective

21. Mahmud Shah Qureshi – Literary Activities of Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

22. Magnus Bradshaw – Between Utopia and Despair: The Impact of Environmental and Technological Millennialism on the Young

23. Hazim Shah – Natural Philosophy and Islamic Science: Is the Lack of Natural Philosophy the Reason for the Decline of Islamic Science?

24. Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf – Syed Ali Ashraf: The Spiritual-Intellectual Guide on Islam and English Literature

25. Emajuddin Ahamed – Islamic Scholarship: A Gateway to a Grand Destination

26. Ahmed Farid – Islamisation of Education: Contribution of Syed Ali Ashraf and a Global Muslim Perspective

27. Mohammad Nurul Haq – Syed Ali Ashraf’s Contribution to Teacher Education in Bangladesh

28. M. M. Roisuddin Ahammad – Islamic Education in the Light of Professor Ashraf’s Philosophy

Part II: Reminiscences

29. Peter Mitchell – Professor Syed Ali Ashraf: An Appreciation

30. Norman J. L. Howlings – A Few Memories of Syed Ali Ashraf at Cambridge: 1950–1952

31. A. M. M. Azhar Hussain – Professor Syed Abu Nasr Ali Ashraf: A Friend I Miss Forever

32. Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg – Reflections on the Life of Syed Ali Ashraf: Based on an Interview with His Sister-in-Law, Mrs Selina Ali

33. M. Harunur Rashid – Dignity Wrapped up in Humility: A Tribute to Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

34. Muhammad Ahsan – In Memory of Syed Ali Ashraf: Reminiscences and Reflections

35. Rhoda Jal Vania – Professor Syed Ali Ashraf: A True Believer

36. Farogh Naweed – Dr Syed Ali Ashraf: Memoirs of a Student

37. Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg – Remembering Syed Ali Ashraf

38. Imran N. Hosein – My Memories of Professor Dr Syed Ali Ashraf

39. Waffie Mohammed – Professor Syed Ali Ashraf: Visits to Trinidad

40. Zainol A. Khan – Reminiscing on Professor Syed Ali Ashraf

41. A. K. M. Mohiuddin – Visionary Legacy: The Life and Dreams of Professor Ashraf

42. Tosun Bayrak – In Remembrance of Syed Ali Ashraf

Join the global conversation on faith-based education.
Reclaim the heart of learning.
Discover the legacy of Syed Ali Ashraf.

Available now from Beacon Books in Paperback, Hardback, and eBook editions.
ISBN: 978-1-916955-39-4 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-916955-40-0 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-916955-41-7 (eBook)