As stated by Professor Naquib al-Attas: “The fundamental element inherent in the concept of education in Islam is the inculcation of adab (ta’dīb).” The term contains a complex set of meanings that includes decency, comportment, decorum, etiquette, manners, morals, proprietary, and humaneness. The concept of Adab contains the keys to attain to these lofty objectives, namely: Acquiring the tools of learning; Demonstrating high moral character; Analyzing subjects in relation to each other; and Building community through service. Hence, ADAB lies at the heart of the mission of Zaytuna College.
That mission is built upon a curriculum that aims to be holistic with an emphasis on universal principles and themes rather than fragmented and isolated subjects and disciplines. Zaytuna’s holistic curriculum reflects the interdependence of disciplines. For example, the study of astronomy raises issues of theology; the study of politics is not divorced from personal ethics; the rise and fall of civilizations is contextualized through a study of world religions; while grammar, logic, and rhetoric are constantly informing the interpretive possibilities of the texts which lie at the heart of the curriculum.
The pioneering liberal arts theorist Robert Maynard Hutchins points out that “No man was educated unless he was acquainted with the masterpieces of his tradition.” The Zaytuna curriculum takes this claim to heart. The student at Zaytuna will explore both the Western and the Islamic traditions. The civilizational roots of these traditions are planted in the soil of deep and systematically thinking about the world, pondering its ultimate cause and purpose, and living ethically in the course of our individual and collective lives. Zaytuna, however, does not aspire to just transform the lives of its students. It has a higher aim, for, as Hutchins mentions, “If we can secure a real university in this country and a real program of general education upon which its work can rest, it may be that the character of our civilization may slowly change.”
As a Muslim learning community, Zaytuna acknowledges the overarching objectives of Muslim law: The preservation of religion, life, intellect, family, private property, and human dignity. These objectives provide a foundational vision for learning, character, and service that is integral to the mission of the College. This vision, focused by the trivium –grammar, rhetoric and logic– sharpened by courses in American and Muslim law, Islamic and comparative Theology, Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History and Ethics culminate in a prized Zaytuna College undergraduate degree.
A Muslim liberal arts college can play a critical role in integrating Islam, along with its own set of “great books” into the Western canon. If successful, such an effort by Zaytuna and others may go a long way toward infusing faith into civil society, thereby enhancing the commonweal. That enhancement, however, will only occur at the hands of enhanced human beings. Ultimately, the end of a liberal arts education, at Zaytuna College or elsewhere, is the formation of a healthy human being—within and without, body and mind, heart and soul.