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Al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
By: Munir
Fasheh
Feb. 29, 2004
{It is
important to stress here that what I am writing is neither a definition nor a
law concerning al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ but a personal opinion in how I personally
perceive it at this point. Others who are inspired by it and see themselves as
co-partners in it are encouraged to express their perceptions and share them
with others.}
Since September
1998, the Arab Education Forum has been active in embodying – in its work,
thinking, and expression – the centrality of learning in life, and the
centrality of initiatives in learning.
 One
aspect that characterized AEF has been stressing values, principles and
convictions more than rules, laws, strategies and goals. A most fundamental
value that we tried to embody in our practice and expression, from the very
beginning, has been diversity (diversity in learning, knowing, relating, living,
perceiving, doing, and developing). This diversity is built on the fact that if
every person is attentive to one’s surrounding and reality, and is honest in
expressing that lived reality in a way that is in harmony with one’s inner
convictions, then diversity emerges naturally. In addition to embodying
diversity, walking this path constitutes freedom. This is manifested best in
having the freedom (and right and duty) to independently investigate the meaning
of words/ terms that one uses, and to independently investigate the measures
that are used to decide what is valuable and what is not – i.e. to co-author
meanings and measures. Such co-authoring requires maturity of experience and
long deep reflection/ contemplation of what the person experiences and does, and
it also requires warm and on-going discussions with friends and others who share
similar concerns. Such co-authoring forms an important part of the basis for
building thought and knowledge. Within this approach, competition, contests,
prizes, and comparison (along standards that claim to be objective, universal
and absolute) have no meaning. Every experience, story, and expression is
valuable in its own way. Equally obvious (within AEF’s perspective) is that
only the claim to universal thinking needs to be overcome. Nothing else stands
in the way. Universal thinking here refers to the belief in a single
undifferentiated path for progress; one that owns universal tools through which
that universal claim can be imposed on all peoples. This is the only thing that
AEF actively and consciously works to overcome. Part of this claim is the
refusal to acknowledge, for example, knowledge that is gained through the
hands, the legs, the eyes, the ears – the senses – and which cannot be put in
terms of language and concepts. In al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
, diversity in knowing and in ways of knowing are legitimate and, in fact, are
much closer to what we might refer to as wisdom. A lot of knowledges cannot be
frozen in words and concepts, and cannot be commoditized.
 Before I
go on, it is worth saying few words about the Arabic equivalents to words that I
am using here. I like to use the word “project” to refer to al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
because its Arabic equivalent mashroo’
ãÔÑæÚ
is very appropriate. Mashroo’
ãÔÑæÚ
in Arabic means legitimate. The other word is the name of the project:
Al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ. Al-Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
is the Arabic word for university and its meaning in Arabic is also appropriate
to the idea. It means “something” that gathers everything: people, experiences,
ideas, visions, resources, groups, views, worldviews, knowledges – all what
could nurture and enrich the growth of others and be nurtured and enriched by
them. Obviously, there is no “board of trustees” for al Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
but there are co-partners who choose to be so.
The
second meeting (which we are inviting you to be part of) is itself a
manifestation of al Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
. It is a gathering of many groups, persons, dreams, cultures, experiences,
institutions, resources, ideas, initiatives, and activities… Our working
together, and bringing our resources (human, cultural, …) together, is a
manifestation of the meaning of Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
as a gathering. Although, initially it was perceived as a project for the Arab
world, it is becoming increasingly obvious that that would contradict the spirit
that it embodies. We already have many friends (and resources) around the world
that together can nurture and enrich one another as well as others. If, for
example, a person from the Arab world is involved in organic farming, then India
is a good part of the “campus” for that person to visit, interact, grow and
learn. If, as another example, a person is involved in creating with others a
learning community where institutions have been paralyzed for a number of years,
then Palestine is one useful address. One concrete example is an
apprenticeship, which AEF has just done in Cairo, where 10 illustrators from 9
different Arab countries spent two to four weeks with Mohie Eddin Ellabad
in January 2004. [More on this can be found in AEF’s web site
www.almoultaqa.com ]
The basic element in learning is a learner; everything else
is there. Any person who is working on some initiative ( something that springs
from an inner conviction/ passion through one’s interaction and attentiveness to
his/her surroundings) and wants to understand it more and do it better [I will
explain what I mean by better below] is automatically “accepted” as a student/
learner in al Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ;
there is no other requirement for “admission”. And every person who can be
helpful or inspiring to a learner and ready to open his/her heart, mind and
space is part of the “faculty”. Every place where people can meet and learn, or
that has resources, experiments etc that could be helpful to people in their
search for understanding, knowledge, and for their own path in life is part of
the “campus”. In other words, the campus literally is the whole world – any
person, any thing, any place… that the person needs and can reach and is open
for learners is part of the campus. Obviously, every person can be a student in
one setting and a teacher in another. There is no full time student or full
time faculty. The idea that a person needs permission to learn is absurd.
Similarly, the idea that the vast majority of students at the end of the
secondary cycle are told they cannot go on learning (building that judgment/
decision on narrow tests and artificial measures) is inhuman. The very idea
that learning cannot happen outside institutions, guarded by licensed
professionals, is a very recent and distorted picture of human beings, of
learning and of life.
From the very beginning, one statement that formed a
guide/ principle in our understanding,
thinking, and doing within
 AEF (and which we used as the title of our series of
publications) has been a statement said by Imam Ali more than 1,400 years ago:
qeematu kull imri’en ma yuhsen
ÞíãÉ ßá ÇãÑÆ ãÇ íÍÓä.
In English, it says that the worth of every person is what s/he yuhsen.
Yuhsen in Arabic has several meanings that embody the spirit of al
Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ:
1) what the person
does well, which requires what is usually referred to as theoretical knowledge
and technical skills, 2) what is good for the community, 3) what the person
gives of herself/ himself, 4) what is beautiful, which embodies the centrality
of the senses, 5) being respectful in debates and discussions. These meanings
embody what we can refer to as wisdom and faith in people – both of which are
part of the spirit and “philosophy” of
al Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ.
Thus when I use words such as “better” and “more”, I am not measuring along a
universal objective measure, but I am using them in the meanings that are
embedded in the word yuhsen.
Obviously,
al Jame’ah
ÇáÌÇãÚÉ
is not for those who are driven by degrees/ certificates in order to be
employed. It is geared more towards those (who actually form the vast majority)
that either were told they couldn’t study in existing universities or who
themselves are not interested in learning according to dominant ways. They are
those who like taking initiative and learning from real settings in life and
walk their own paths in life, including the path of making a living.
One clarification
is in order here. I am not suggesting that we abolish universities in their
current form. For some people and for some purposes, they are useful. What is
not acceptable however is the monopoly of existing forms over the process of
learning, of who can learn and who cannot, and what and where a particular
person can learn.
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