The Concept of Education in Islam Quotes

“What has generally been understood to this day of the concept of farḍu 'ayn is the restricted form composed of a static formula taught in the childhood stage of life and limited only to bare essentials. What must be understood by that concept is its original meaning and intention; that such knowledge is fluid and increases in scope and content as one increases in maturity and responsibility, and according to one's capacities and potentials. So in the tertiary system of education the farḍu 'ayn knowledge is to be taught not only at the primary level, but at the secondary and pre-university and university levels also, the scope and content designed in gradations each as befitting each level. But the scope and content at the university level must first be formulated before they can be projected in successively lesser gradations to the lower levels, for the university level represents the highest and most complete formulation and systematization; and only when that is achieved can they become the model for the rest. Otherwise, if we commence with attempting the formulation of its scope and content from the lower levels, we shall never succeed, as no perfect and complete model of the highest order is available to serve as the criterion for the formulation of their scope and content. The core knowledge representing the farḍu 'ayn, integrated and composed as a harmonious unity at the university level as a model structure for the lower levels, and which must invariably be reflected in successively simpler forms at the pre-university, secondary and primary levels of the educational system throughout the Muslim world, must reflect not only the Sunni understanding of it, but also accommodate the Shi'i interpretation.”
― Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Concept of Education in Islam: A Framework for an Islamic Philosophy of Education