Maulana Maududi in this books suggests that duality in education system in Muslim societies must be abandoned. There should be no distinction between secular and religious education. Islam has its own worldview and principles which govern life of Muslims and Muslim society. Hence, education in Muslim societies need to meet the needs of Muslims to govern their lives as per the teachings directives of the Creator.

Author opines that as per Islamic worldview, Allah is the only creator and the world we live in is also governed by Him. Therefore, what we should do in life has to be as per the directives of Allah, who is our creator and sustainer of life and the world.

The secular education system is oblivious and even averse and antagonistic to Islamic worldview. It tries to solve the problems of life and perform nation building on atheistic or agnostic worldview. Hence, Muslim studies studying in such institutions sub-consciously either become apologetic and oblivious to the Islamic worldview, knowledge and heritage or become outright atheist or agnostic when it comes to making decisions in the real world.

The author argues that Islamic worldview does not demand partial attention or compliance in some matters. It requires the Muslims to transform their worldview and give primary emphasis to the teachings and directives of their creator.

On the other hand, the author is also critical of traditional religious education. It focuses more on fine details of jurisprudential differences than keeping in perspective the ideological and principal teachings encapsulated in Quran and Sunnah. Religious education before the arrival of British in undivided India was also meant to prepare civil servants.

Islamic jurisprudence was governing Muslims lands before colonization. Hence, religious education was also more focused on fine tuning the jurisprudential knowledge to meet the needs of the society and state to govern matter in Muslim society at individual and collective level. When British came, they introduced their own legal system. The author contends that traditional religious education focused on jurisprudence became irrelevant and limited to individual sphere of life.

The author recommends that there should be single education system which should incorporate Islamic worldview, Islamic values, Islamic morality and Islamic knowledge in the curriculum. The author also is critical of co-education system. He also writes that students shall be regular in prayers and preferably reside full time in schools and universities. This will allow them to concentrate and avoid distraction. It will also allow better discipline and character building.

The author strongly advocates education for women. He also suggests that medium of instruction should be national language so that it allows creativity and easiness to access knowledge. Whatever impediments are there in adopting national language in medium of instruction, they shall be overcome. It is not a daunting task to design curriculum in national language while medium of instruction is even more or less in national language even if the curriculum is in English.

On science and religion, the author clarifies that when it comes to analyzing and discovering facts, there is no need for Islamic science. But, there is need for explaining Islamic approach to philosophical implications of science. Facts are perceived and responded to by different societies based on their worldview.

Islamic approach to science would not deny facts if they are proven. But, it will take up these facts to ensure consistency in God’s words and God’s works. Islamic approach and attitude to science would not promote atheism, rather it would add dimension of responsibility, ethics and custodianship. Else, scientific discoveries and advancement in a Godless paradigm can be used for destruction as the unprecedented casualties in wars of the twentieth century show.

The author maintains that in disciplines like philosophy, history, economics and politics, there is noteworthy content that should be part of curriculum. Works of Muslim philosophers, Muslim sociologists, scientists and historians should be taught in curriculum to dispel the myth of great gap between Greek period and renaissance.

The author is not just advocating religious fundamentalism as the only panacea. He presents Islamic way of life as encompassing all aspects of life. Seeking useful knowledge is also encouraged by Islam and knowledge in that context refers to i) knowledge we derive from past (سمع), knowledge we explore on our own in present (بصر), and ii) knowledge that we develop to benefit from the accumulated insights from the past and current scholarship (فواد). The author admits that Muslim societies had lost their glory because of falling behind in the last two aspects of knowledge.

In reformation, the author does not condone the attitude of apologetics. The author calls for going back to the dynamic approach of Islamic revivalism which is rooted in tradition, but which is also open to embracing positive knowledge from anywhere after critically filtering it to suit the needs and norms of Islamic norms, morality and civilization.

Since the author is convinced of the concept of political establishment of Islamic rule of law in collective and state matters, he also suggests Muslim students to be dutiful, passionate and develop readiness to achieve that goal by knowledge advancement, skills building and character building.

Even though, the author recommends emphasizes on moral behaviour, but in examples of quoting immoral behaviour, he gives examples of drinking liquor, indulging in showbiz content, such as films, music, dance and obscenity. While talking about social ills in Muamlaat, he holds civil officers and secular schools as solely responsible as these people come to hold offices of authority after graduation from secular colleges and universities.

Nonetheless, some critics note that the author loses balance of criticism. Even the general level of morality in Muslim societies in masses is in deplorable state. Fact of the matter is that morality and character building is focused less upon. Even when the author seems to emphasize on it, it is with respect to it acting as a training catalyst to prepare people for a disciplined socio-political struggle for Islam’s ascendancy at the state and political level.

In religious education, the author recommends giving more weight to understanding Qur’an and Sunnah. Islamic theology must be presented in a convincing and relatable way to the young generation so that it strongly answers the questions posed by secular, atheistic, agnostic and materialistic philosophies which are influenced by scientism.

Overall, it is an enlightening book which talks about several important aspects of education. Any social revival, be it aimed towards socio-political end or character building at personal level, education plays a critical role. What should be the curriculum, pedagogy, medium of instruction and academic atmosphere are all important aspects of educational policy.

The challenges which were foreseen by the eminent scholar are now even more prominent and pressing than ever before after the knowledge and ICT revolution in a globalized world. Thus, the book and the issues it discusses are still relevant and deserve debate and deliberation by the stakeholders including educational administrators, educational regulators, academics in particular and Muslims in Muslim society in general.