The Present Moment

THIS IS a remarkable time in world history. We have arrived at a new and critical stage in the relationship of Islam and the West. Our world is fast becoming inter-connected through information technologies and through the spread of mass culture. Both Europe and the Americas have received millions of Muslim immigrants, and now a new generation is being educated in the West.

At the same time the West is having an impact on many traditionally Muslim societies. Often the impact arrives as a whole package: science, technology, secularism, personal freedom, ecology, consumerism, mass entertainment. Meanwhile, many Westerners would agree that Western cultures are experiencing a breakdown of values and loss of confidence in their purpose. This has led to an increase in the thirst for an authentic spirituality.

Thus, these two worlds have become increasingly interdependent, and we are forced by necessity to understand each other and to determine what is most valuable in our respective civilizations.

While the Islamic world may not have done an adequate job communicating the real message of Islam, and while too many misunderstandings and stereotypes have taken over the public consciousness, Islam nevertheless offers a universal message for all of humanity-a message which must play a part in human destiny.

The Education Project aims to create publications and other learning resources for Islamic schools and individuals. We wish to equip Muslims with the knowledge and inner substance to survive spiritually in the contemporary world, as well as the ability to make a contribution to world culture that is consistent with Islamic values.

This will be based on a clear and deep understanding of the essential truths revealed in the Qur'an and the lived example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings upon him), as well as the best elements of the Islamic tradition.

Even though the essential message and values of Islam have a remarkable power to endure through time, the formulations of the past may become worn out. Tradition must not be static but dynamically self-renewing. The traditional wisdom of Islam needs to be freshly expressed because human minds are conditioned differently in each age. The nature of the questions and the challenge facing each generation undergoes subtle and dramatic changes.

The Education Project is an attempt to offer the knowledge, values, and practice that could inspire and guide the soul toward wisdom and maturity. We wish to do this in a language that is fresh and clear, and with an aesthetic sense that will equal the best that the "secular" world has to offer.

Some of the key contributors in this project are Western Muslims who have proven themselves as cultural innovators and leaders. It is our firm intention to draw, as well, upon the deepest contemporary wisdom and talent that can be identified in Muslim countries. In addition, we are developing an advisory board which will include Muslim scholars and educators, who will both support and critique our efforts.