Digital Islamic Studies and the Pedagogy: Non-Specialist Undergraduate Crossing into the Study of the Qurʾān

Muhammad Fawwaz Bin Muhammad Yusoff

Authors

Muhammad Fawwaz Bin Muhammad Yusoff Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

Keywords:

Qurʾān, Ontology, USIM, Digital Islamic Studies, Pedagogy, Undergraduate, Medicine

Abstract

In acquiring knowledge and skills to practise medicine and health sciences integrated with Islamic studies, several courses are introduced in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. The present paper documents one such course on the thematic study of the Qurʾān, undertaken by second-year undergraduates of the second year in an introductory level on the science and medicine in the Qurʾān and Sunnah. Students in the course combined the traditional tools of Qurʾānic studies with computational tools to discover, depict, and develop new insights into the scientific, cultural, and educational exegesis of the Qurʾān. Also, the present paper has attempted to shed light on how the various methods and approaches emerging under the umbrella of digital Islamic studies hold great promise for any undergraduate students, faculty, and independent researchers in academic programmes. Although several factors may explain the insufficiency of the integrated approach, the primary hindrance for undergraduates in the Malaysian context is plain to see: the scarcity of digital sources in Malay and English. While this impediment remains a constraint for all but a few undergraduates who have a reading knowledge of the Arabic language, the recent publication of several Malay and English translations of the Qurʾān and key exegeses has begun to open the door for digital Islamic studies projects in the teaching of non-specialist undergraduate context. Finally, it seems optimistic to advance the study of the Qurʾān introduced by scholars of our generation and earlier through these digital tools to make sure that they are preserved and practised for the future.

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Author Biography

Muhammad Fawwaz Bin Muhammad Yusoff, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Qur'anic and Sunnah Studies, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia

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