Islam and Higher Education

Book excerpt: This book explores the different concepts of 'a university' and the way they shape practice in Muslim contexts, with a particular focus on the Islamic republic of Pakistan. Higher education in Muslim contexts is often criticised for being incapable either of contributing to the socio-cultural and civilisational developments of society or of doing research and producing knowledge of a high standard. While the international organisations accuse universities of not helping the societies to become knowledge based and to compete at the global level, some Muslim scholars call for the creation of 'authentic Islamic' educational structures that would, as they think, solve the problems of higher education.