The debut symposium spotlights the enduring work of Al Ghazali.
Qatar’s Sheikha Moza bint Nasser attended the final day of the first International Symposium on Comparative Education series.
The Qatari royal, who is also the chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), attended the event on Wednesday at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU).
In a post via Instagram, Sheikha Moza described the symposium as highlighting “Imam Ghazali’s approach to addressing contemporary issues and challenges facing humanity generally and the Islamic world in the field of education, and ways his ideas can be used to develop alternative educational models”.
The debut event for this year will follow future symposiums and was titled the ‘Ghazali on Education: Contemporary Practical Applications from an Enduring Legacy symposium’.
Al Ghazali (c 1058-1111), one of the most influential Islamic theologians, served as an inspiration for the conference.
For HBKU’s Dean of the College of Islamic Studies, Recep Şentürk, “this symposium aims to revisit al-Ghazali’s monumental legacy to help us develop contemporary Islamic applications in education”.
Şentürk added: “A millennium after his passing, it remains profoundly significant to revisit and revive al-Ghazali’s legacy and envision our future standing upon the shoulders of giants”.
The symposium attracted academic scholars from far and wide, such as Japan’s Qayyim Naoki Yamamoto. He gave a talk on Wednesday on the topic of ‘When Japanese Training (Shugyo) Culture Encounters Ghazali’s Theory of Disciplining the Soul: Reviving Multi-layered Pedagogical Practice’.
Inauguration by Sheikha Hind
The first edition of this event began on Tuesday with an inaugural speech by Qatar’s Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani. The Qatari royal is the Vice Chairperson and CEO of QF.
During her speech, Sheikha Hind said that Al Ghazali’s ideas continue to resonate, even among the new generations.
Stressing the importance of an all-rounded approach to education, she said: “A good education is not just what the student, parent or even the country desires, but rather it should orient us all to what we should aspire for, by offering a holistic world view of how one ought to live in all domains of life”.
Also speaking at the symposium was Sheikha Hessa bint Hamad Al Thani, Qatar University’s Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences.
Sheikha Hessa titled her talk ‘How Can the Shadow Be Straight if the Stick is Crooked? Al Ghazali’s Approach on Teachers Training: The Call for Holistic Self-Development in Teachers Training,’ which was part of the ‘Al-Ghazali’s Educational Philosophy and its Contemporary Relevance’ session.
