The first revelation to the Prophet entails knowledge first, which is to be read or recited (al- ‘Alaq 1,3), and second, education as the systems, methods and means of teaching and learning, which is encompassed in the words that it is Allah who “taught by the pen” and who “taught man that which he knew not” (al-‘Alaq 4-5).

Knowledge is the object and education is the means. Education also serves as the pathway to attain knowledge. In addition, knowledge is seen as complete and untainted, whereas education is seen as influenced by circumstances and can be distorted or misused.

Education, whose existence is predicated on knowledge, is specifically created to optimize and facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. Both knowledge and education are valuable in their own right and should be valued accordingly. It becomes problematic when subsidiary education is mistakenly treated as primary knowledge, and vice versa.

In simpler terms, it is unfortunate that many people prioritize the reputation of schools and countries over the type and quality of knowledge they receive. For instance, it is surprising that a large number of Muslims are fixated on studying in Western educational institutions wherein they will learn nothing about the true essence of Islam, the Creator, life, themselves, their history and civilization.

On the flip side, they will be constantly bombarded with proselytizing discussions on Western secular and often ungodly history, culture, civilization, worldviews and values. The question arises as to the number of innocent Muslim souls who journeyed to the Western world with the intention of acquiring knowledge, only to be consumed by the wicked materialistic culture, liberal values and skepticism of the West.

Back in the Muslim world, it is unfortunate in equal measure that Muslim governments try tooth and nail to emulate the Western educational systems as well as standards. As a result, instead of advancing their people and societies, the same governments keep degrading them. They steer them towards spiritual and moral decline, ultimately risking civilizational failure and existential insolvency.

Even in the best-case scenario, how is it possible that after undergoing about sixteen years of education, where students are supposed to be taught knowledge and given moral guidance, the same students were not made to read even once the Qur’an as the fountainhead of all knowledge, wisdom and guidance, never mind being made to understand and implement it?
What kind of knowledge and guidance have those students received? What kind of education is that which misleads and alienates its people?

This is the unmistaken sign that most Muslim educational systems are failures – seriously flawed at best – resulting in dysfunctional societies with artificially cultured, albeit essentially confused and misguided, individuals.

It is high time for the Muslims to start realizing what is what and who is who in the grand scheme of things. They certainly more than anybody else possess the necessary devices to do so.

As regards knowledge and education, the Muslims should know that the ostensible centers of educational excellence in the West and their branches or clones in their own countries, such as MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, etc., are not what they seem or are purported to be. Certainly, those establishments are good – yet excellent - for the godless civilization, culture, worldviews and values of the West and whoever elsewhere in the world is ready to emulate the Western model.

However, as far as the Muslim tawhidic (transcendent monotheistic) consciousness, spiritual guidance and moral compass are concerned, those “centers of excellence” not only offer virtually nothing but are also incompatible and so, misguide. In consequence, as politically incorrect as it may seem, those are rather the centers of “godlessness” and “ignorance.”

They are furthermore the “temples” of the latest edition of paganism (heathenism), which are artfully veiled in the trappings of scientism, progressivism, liberalism and (post)modernism. The Muslims would be better off if they stop patronizing such establishments and embark on providing suitable replacements. So consequential is the Islamic paradigm that it cannot be put at risk in any way, not even to the smallest degree.

As a small digression, while the ethnic cleansing and genocide against the innocent Palestinians are unfolding in Gaza – a setting where the truth is pitted against falsehood, civilization against barbarism, and humanity against savagery - none of the so-called “centers of excellence” stood up for the truth, civilization and humanity. Instead, they continue to openly support the ongoing atrocities, condemning and ostracizing anyone who thinks differently, including their students and employees.

Positively, if they had any sense of the truth, true knowledge and education, and if they felt inclined to be on the right side of history, they would have shown it. However, since they did not and do not care, their genuine anti-truth, anti-knowledge and anti-education identity remains exposed for everyone to see and for history to record.

One can't help but question what it would require for a Muslim to be associated with those educational institutions – and their wider socio-political institutionalized contexts which are of the same ilk - after this.

At any rate, the most basic right of a person is the right to knowledge, which should not be confused with education. Education serves as a tool to support knowledge. Education is merely a skeleton whose elan vital is knowledge. The right to education cannot be viewed in isolation from the right to knowledge. Doing so is a deception, a decoy.

Such an approach is used to dominate and manipulate the masses, especially the younger generations, by subjecting them to a rigid educational system that does not prioritize true knowledge but rather a constructed and relativized version of it. The definitive goal is to create generations with ingrained beliefs and manipulated mindsets, so they can serve the agendas of those in power.

The ongoing cycle of dishonesty and corruption is intended to remain unbroken. That is why it is said that this type of education – and its artificial knowledge – is power, implying that it empowers some to influence and bring under control the rest.

To illustrate the point, it is often peddled that Muslim women have the right to education, but the focus is rarely on whether the knowledge they acquire is right and in line with Islamic teachings.

Instead, Muslim women's most crucial right is knowledge, bestowed upon them by the Creator, rather than education, which is often designed for them by individuals and parties that harbor ulterior motives.

Truly, knowledge and education, along with the connections they share, have depths beyond what is readily apparent. It is undeniable, therefore, that knowledge fueled the rise of Islamic civilization, but education ended up being the catalyst for its downfall.