English Education and Social Justice in Pakistan: An Islamic Perspective on Equity, Knowledge, and Opportunity

Abstract

In Pakistan one of the strongest systems of structural injustice, that reproduces class, is the stark linguistic divide between elite English medium schools and collapsing vernacular government institutions. This system of injustice has rarely been examined within the indigenous framework of moralization that holds the deepest allegiance of the Pakistani people, namely the Islamic tradition of social justice through Quran and Sunnah. This article is a sustained conceptual analysis which equates the social realities of English education in Pakistan with the theological duties of Adl (Equity and Justice), Ilm (The obligatory pursuit of beneficial knowledge) and Amanah (Sacred trust and stewardship) arguing that the state of education in Pakistan is a clear violation of the Islamic principles which call for the equitable distribution of empowering knowledge as a public good. This analysis examines the evolution of English from a colonial bureaucratic language to a 'neocolonial' marker of class which excludes others from access to the judiciary, military and the corporate elite, establishing a new ruling class in which privilege is inherited through linguistic capital rather than merit. Western concepts of social justice such as those of Rawlsian distributive justice and Fraser's tripartite model are recognized but challenged for their theological validity in a society based on belief, where the final source of justice is the divine word and not the social contract. The article introduces a faith congruent reconstructive model (Amanah Model), which reinterprets the role and purpose of English education as a Sadaqah Jariyah (continuous charity) and Fard Kifayah (collective obligation) for the State to provide to all children irrespective of their economic status. It includes a single national curriculum that is based on Islamic and literary heritage, a revolution in teacher training based on the pedagogy of the Prophet (saws) using the principles of Rahmah and Hikmah, and a creative financing process that sees the re-direction of funds from Zakat and Awqaf to a national Language Equity Fund. The author concludes that the end of linguistic apartheid is not just a policy choice but a religious duty, and the return of English as means of presentation and access to knowledge to the marginalized is a spiritual act of healing from a system dominated by Zulm. This article examines the concepts of social justice and Islamic ethics in the context of English Language Teaching (ELT) policy. This article reviews the notions of social justice and Islamic ethics in the perspective of English Language Teaching (ELT) policy in Pakistan.

Keywords: English Language Teaching, Social Justice, Islamic Ethics, Language Policy, Pakistan, Epistemic Equity