Childhood education concepts of Islamic educators: Examples of Ibn Khaldun-al-Amâsi-Tashkubrizadah

The religion of Islam attaches great importance to education and training. The education process that started with the first verses that are sent and it has found its application in the hadith and sunnah of the Prophet Muhammed. The companions, the tabiin and all subsequent Muslim communities took the education process they inherited to a higher level. In this study, the childhood education and religious education understandings of the Islamic educators Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), Hussein al-Amasi (d. 1470) and Tashkubrızadah (d. 1561) were examined. In the study, primary sources were tried to be reached, and books, articles and papers related to the field were examined by subjecting them to content analysis. The main subject and question of the study, what are the childhood education understandings of Ibn Khaldun, Hussein al-Amasi and Tashkubrizadah, who are Islamic educators? An attempt has been made to answer the question. In this study, Ibn Khaldun's work called Mukaddime, Hussein al-Amasi's work called Tariku'l-Edeb and Tashkubrizadah's works known as Mevzu'atu'l-Ulum were examined as the main sources. The fact that the works of all three scholars have survived to the present day has made it easier to obtain data in the research. As a result of the findings obtained; First of all, it was observed that all three educators accepted the childhood period as a period with its unique characteristics and developed an understanding of education that took these characteristics into consideration. It was concluded that they classified education as education in the family and at school, and that they started moral education in the family. It has been determined that all three educators draw an ideal student and teacher profile by drawing on Islamic sources and see education as a tool to raise a servant in accordance with the will of Allah. In the study, it is seen that Ibn Khaldun, Hussein al-Amasi' and Tashkubrizadah followed certain principles and methods in education, such as relativity to the child, from easy to difficult, discussion and gradualism, and that they recommended these to all educators. Educators, who seem to have an educational approach centered on the Quran and Hadith, highlight similar methods for child education. This situation was interpreted as a general understanding of education that was accepted and continued in the centuries they lived in. It can be said that some small differences in the opinions of scholars occur depending on the region they live in or the time they live in.