Knowledge is absolutely central to the deen of Islam as recorded in a multitude of texts, among which is: "seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim," men and women, not confined to the acts of worship, and indeed not restricted to what are thought to be 'Islamic' sources. Thus it is certainly time to take a long and careful look at the institution of education.

It seems we have three perspectives on this:

First, an unquestioning embrace of academia and existing secular educational institutions from the creche, kindergarten and primary school upwards;

Second, a retreat from the above to purely 'Islamic' sources, or what we might call 'the madrasa';

Third, a syncretic combination of both of those hoping to gain the best of both worlds.

A fourth way is here explored by the authors: gaining from the insight of the late Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi that, "Islam is not a culture, but a filter for culture," assiduously and critically taking the best of the Western canon along with the most traditional possible Islamic perspective.

It must be emphasised that this is not a theoretical text, for it emerges from communities that have consistently engaged with their own educational models which these papers represent.