Islamic Omnagogy: The Missing Meta-Framework for Holistic Education in Islam

Abstract Contemporary educational theory is fragmented. Pedagogy, Andragogy, and Heutagogy each illuminate a segment of the learning journey but remain structurally isolated, failing to offer a unified vision of human development. This fragmentation is especially acute in Muslim educational contexts, where imported models often overlook the integrative, soul-centered vision inherent in Islamic tradition. This article introduces Islamic Omnagogy—a revelation-rooted, holistic meta-framework that unifies these “-gogies” into a continuous, purposeful arc of lifelong learning. Derived from the Qur’an, the Prophetic Sunnah, and classical Islamic scholarship, Islamic Omnagogy asserts that true education must be lifelong, lifewide, and lifedeep, engaging the intellect, moral conscience, emotional heart, physical self, and transcendent soul in a simultaneous process of tarbiyah. The article makes three core contributions: (i) It defines and legitimizes Omnagogy as a higher-order category in educational philosophy. (ii) It demonstrates how the Islamic tradition embodies this integrated model, predating modern constructs. (iii) It argues for the framework’s urgent relevance in reforming Muslim education from atomized instruction toward transformative human flourishing. This is not merely another “-gogy”; it is the unifying logic behind them all.