Muslim education is constituted by a notion of "tarbiyyah"--that is, being socialized into an inherited body of facts with little, if any, opportunity for critical appraisal of such tenets of faith. Such a notion of Muslim education is still dominant in South African Muslim educational institutions--mostly schools and seminaries--considering that the Muslim community comprising just under one million people continues to accentuate the significance of Quranic memorization and an adherence to fundamentals of the Sunnah or life experiences of the Prophet Muhammad. The argument Yusef Waghid offers in this contribution is, first, that "tarbiyyah" as socialized education is insufficient to advance some of the critical postcolonial, more specifically, post-apartheid ideals of a three-decades-old democratic society. Second, the notion of education as the cultivation of humaneness, just and truthful living, as couched through Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas's understanding of "ta'dib" (Al-Attas, 1991), is a meritorious practice and would advance equitable and transformative actions within a fledgling democratic community. However, he argues, in postcolonial times "ta'dib" on its own seems deficient in the pursuit of just and equal human co-living. Consequently, and third, he argues in defense of "ta'arruf" as a conception of education that can engender equitable, pluralist, and dissonant human relations so much needed to enhance South African Muslims' legitimate and genuine integration into a democratic society.