COMMODIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: WHERE IS THE SEAT OF MAQASID AL-SHARI’AH AND ISLAMISATION?

Abstract

The condition of knowledge in the globalization era can be easily
commercialized with the support of advanced technology. The
transformation of technology in the 21st century has changed the way
learning is acquired and exploited. Globalization also has brought
new challenges to higher education in terms of economy, politics,
culture and technology. This scenario has expedited the process of
adopting commodification of education. As a result, higher education
institutions are becoming more like suppliers of the education market
where students are primarily consumers. Educators and policy
makers have drifted away from advocating integrated education as
social good to produce good human beings (al-Insan al-Saleh). Some
educational programs have been commercialized in pursuit of
monetary gain for the survival of universities’s life span. Instead of
preserving the noble maqasid of al-shari’ah and Islamisation,
integration, and comprehensive excellence, universities have been
pressured to generate income. This influences the quality of
education and has jeopardized the noble mission and vision of the
Universities, particularly the principles of maqasid al-Shari’ah and
the Islamisation agenda in Islamic universities. Taking into account
the dilemmas of these Islamic universities in balancing its
Islamisation agenda with pressures of commodification of
knowledge, this article argues that the concept of Islamization of
knowledge can be preserved within the context of social welfare.
From the Islamic perspective, the principles of maqasid al-shari’ah (the purposes of Islamic Law) have significant impacts on social and
cultural circumstances. It is also due to the fact that the concept of
maqasid al-shari’ah include the preservation of five basic
foundations, i.e. religion (din), life (nafs), mind (‘aql), offspring
(nasb), and wealth (mal). Since universities, including Islamic
universities do not have much choices, we argue that adopting the
principles of maqasid al-shari’ah to commercialize educational
programs is promising and can be made plausible.