The impact of inter‐generational change on the attitudes of working‐class South Asian Muslim parents on the education of their daughters

This paper presents the findings of ethnographic research into inter‐generational attitudinal change of parents towards the education of young British Muslim women. Based on in‐depth interviews with parents of different generations, given social class and ethnicity, there is a universal belief in the importance of education for young Muslim women per se, with economic and cultural factors significant in shaping this sentiment. A range of important differences in attitudes towards Islamic schooling and mainstream education, and questions relating to marriage, however, were found. There are complex issues of identity and religion among Muslims in relation to educational issues, but there has been a move towards Islamisation among both generations; the first generations through a form of cultural traditionalism and the second generations through Islamic conservatism. Although this finding is based on a study of a relatively small and isolated working‐class Muslim community in a declining post‐industrial town in the West Midlands, it is argued that this Islamisation places both particular risks and opportunities in relation to young Muslim women in education in such isolated and disaffected communities which have a wider conceptual, theoretical and policy impact.     

Creating effective Holocaust education programmes for government schools with large Muslim populations in Sydney

Holocaust education can play a role in countering the ongoing problem of prejudice and incitement to hate that can lead to racial tension and violence. This article examines the beliefs of Muslim school children towards Jews in Sydney, Australia. It then discusses efforts to use Holocaust education to combat racist beliefs and hate language, and an alternative approach that illustrates the common values in the Abrahamic faiths. The article analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using various school programmes to counter anti-Jewish feelings amongst Muslim children and ends with a discussion of whether such programmes should be compulsory.     

论近代宁夏回族经堂教育的演变及特点

经堂教育产生于明清时期,是我国回族穆斯林接受教育的基本形式。近代以来,宁夏回族经堂教育由以往单一的宗教教育形式逐渐演变为回民小学、中阿学校、阿訇教义国文讲习所、伊斯兰教讲习所等多种形式,呈现出了种类繁多、办学方式多元,课程内容丰富、全面并与伊斯兰教积极互动的特点。近代社会思潮广泛传播的影响、回族的民族觉醒、崇尚求知的民族文化传统、上层人士的努力以及宁夏地方政府的推动作用等是造成近代宁夏回族经堂教育演变的社会、历史性原因。     

试论近代西北回族教育的几种类型

西北是回族重要的聚居区,近代以来回族社会面临重要的社会转型,回族教育也以一种多元化的不同类型呈现出来,回族传统的经堂教育、新式教育和陕甘宁边区的回族教育是其主要的几种类型,同时还有＂化彼殊俗＂的汉化教育、私塾性质的回族教育和分别由政府、回族上层人士、寺院创办的民族教育、新式回族女子教育、回族幼儿教育等类型。     

AN EMERGING FIELD OF STUDY

If we can trust to the lessons of the history of the human mind, of the history of habits of life, development does not take place chiefly by imperceptible changes but by revolutions. -Charles Sanders Peirce With the death of Martin Burnham, the hostage held by Muslim kidnappers in Mindanao, the southern island of the Philippines, one would expect more than 1,200 American troops (including 160 Special Forces, plus FBI and CIA personnel) training Filipinos for that rescue mission to be heading for home. No dice. Despite the most tenuous links with al-Qaeda, the Abu Sayyaf bandit group of less than a hundred men has been elevated to incredible prominence by the U.S. media.     

Building peace education in the Islamic educational context

Following the events of 9/11, many misconceptions entered the policy-making platform with regard to the need for education reforms in the Muslim world. Based upon Western cultural and societal norms and increased scepticism of the role of religion in violence, these assumptions have triggered a strong wave of calls for a top-down approach to reform formal state schools in predominantly Muslim countries, These calls often meet with resistance at national and community levels. This article seeks to examine these misconceptions and investigate why educational reform efforts through top-down frameworks which are especially motivated by countering violent extremism or terrorism have had only limited success. Many major international intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and governments have invested time and effort into education measures aiming to build peace and coexistence in Muslim countries, but they have been unable to build a relationship of trust with community leaders and school authorities. The authors argue that the main reason for defiance is reformers’ failure to closely examine the cultural context of their chosen setting and work with existing tools and local institutions. Illustrating their point with a case study of an intervention carried out in informal Qur’anic schools in Niger, West Africa, the authors offer an alternative method which fosters changes from within. They argue that this model has a better chance of sustainability and could thus be used as the basis for future interventions.     

沧州回族经堂教育概述

始于明末的沧州回族经堂教育,是带有回族特色的一种宗教教育体系,它的主要目的是培养宗教人才和普及宗教知识。沧州回族经堂教育作为回族民间教育的主流,它在伊斯兰文化的传承、回族人才的培养以及回族社会的进步与发展等方面发挥了巨大作用。     

论1937年省立法会议选举对印度政局发展的影响

依据1935年印度政府法，印度在1937年2月举行了一次省立法会议选举。国大党、穆斯林联盟等政党参加了竞选。国大党获得了选举的决定性胜利。国大党在获胜后，拒绝与穆斯林联盟在一些省组成联合政府。穆斯林联盟作为诸多穆斯林党派之一，虽然已有30年建党的历史，但是获得的穆斯林选票并不多，尤其在穆斯林占多数的省份，穆斯林选民对它的支持率不高。真纳认识到，穆斯林联盟必须采取措施，将穆斯林组织团结在穆斯林．联盟之下，与国大党抗争。国大党和穆斯林联盟的矛盾和冲突加剧，使战后英国政府在移交政权时为维护印度统一所作的努力不能取得任何成效。     

Muslims as a minority in the United States

The purpose of this chapter is to examine how Muslims operate within and outside of the US public education system. The case of Muslims in the US is instructive because, as a group, their religious faith allows no differentiation on the basis of ethnic, racial, or linguistic lines. Thus, educational policies within the US place significant strains on American Muslims. This chapter explores social divisions among Muslims, Muslim identify and the role of education, Muslim students in public schools, Muslim schools and the development of Muslim education, and challenges facing the Muslim minority.     

近代新式回民教育的特点述论

新式回民教育产生于清末民初,贯穿于20世纪上半叶,它既不同于清代以前的回民教育,也不同于解放后的现代回民教育,具有自己的特色：以科学文化知识为主要内容,吸收了先进的教育思想、教学理论和教学方法,课程设置上有少量的宗教知识课。新式回民教育是回族教育由宗教教育向普通国民教育过渡的一种教育形式。     

近代俄国穆斯林的启蒙教育理念与实践

卡斯波林斯基是俄国近代史上最著名的穆斯林社会活动家和思想大师,是穆斯林社会运动的领军人物,故近代俄国穆斯林的教育理念与实践实际上就是卡斯波林斯基的教育改革理论与实践。他主张用提高文化教育水平促进社会进步和人与人之间的相互尊重和理解,通过启蒙教育的途径来消除人类社会生活中的暴力行为,以现代化和一体化来实现民族的复兴。     

Re‐envisioning the Future: Democratic Citizenship Education and Islamic Education

In this article we address the issue of why democratic citizenship education should be incorporated more meaningfully into Islamic education discourses in formal institutions in the Arab and Muslim world. In the Arab and Muslim world civic and national education seem to be the dominant discourses. We argue that the latter discourses are inadequate to address some of the dystopias in the Arab and Muslim world such as the perpetuation of patriarchy, uncritical obedience to the state (often dictatorships), and blind patriotism. Consequently we posit that unless a culture of acceptance and hospitality (i.e. cosmopolitanism) is cultivated at Islamic educational institutions the possibility of democratic citizenship education unfolding is quite remote. That is, the future of Islamic education can only be re‐envisioned if an amended version of democratic citizenship education can inform Islamic education discourses in institutions—one constituted by a culture of acceptance and hospitality.     

Modern Science and Conservative Islam: An Uneasy Relationship

Familiar Western debates about religion, science, and science education have parallels in the Islamic world. There are difficulties reconciling conservative, traditional versions of Islam with modern science, particularly theories such as evolution. As a result, many conservative Muslim thinkers are drawn toward creationism, hopes of Islamizing science, or other ways to retain the primacy of faith while continuing efforts to catch up with modern technology. Muslims argue that science and Islam coexist in harmony, but both intellectually and institutionally, the Islamic world harbors many tensions between science and religion.     

Public Education and Muslim Voluntary Organisations in Britain

Since the beginning of their settlement in Britain, Muslims have had to face the challenges of adapting to a new social, cultural and economic environment, and also that of responding to the opportunities provided by the new environment. A particularly sticking challenge facing the Muslim community in Britain is in the field of education. Over the last four decades, a group of Muslim voluntary organizations has emerged which is characterised by its keen interest in the public education system of this country. Muslim voluntary organizations have been playing a key role in the educational debate pertaining to the nature of religious education, and the scope of moral and spiritual development in the school curriculum. In addition, these organizations have been active, through a process of consultation and collaboration, in providing educational services to state schools, local education authorities and government departments. This paper examines the development of such voluntary organizations and attempts to discern their role and impact on the public education system in Britain.     

Maximalist Islamic Education as a Response to Terror: Some Thoughts on Unconditional Action

Inasmuch as Muslim governments all over the world dissociate themselves from despicable acts of terror, few can deny the brutality and violence perpetrated especially by those in authoritative positions like political governments against humanity. Poignant examples are the ongoing massacre of Muslim communities in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan by those government or rebel forces intent on eliminating the other whom they happen to find unworthy of living. This article attempts to map Islamic education’s response to violence and terror often perpetrated against people considered to be in vehement disagreement with another, for instance, Muslim rebel forces assassinating Christians in Syria and destroying ancient monasteries, Muslim jihadist fighters kidnapping and assassinating people in revengeful acts of terror and Muslim government militia quelling resistant forces that oppose the government’s so-called reformist agenda. In arguing against any form of violence, we show how Islamic education cannot and should not be associated with any act of violence. Put differently, we take issue with any act of violence even if minimally applied to disrupt acts of violence. On the contrary, we argue that Islamic education is intimately connected to the practice of public deliberation that engenders a community of becoming that will always undermine violence. We develop our argument in the following way: firstly, we give an account of a maximalist view of Islamic education in relation to the notion of a Muslim community in becoming; secondly, in relation to Agamben’s seminal thoughts on potentiality and becoming, we show that a Muslim community in becoming is averse to violence; finally, we argue as to how forgiveness, risk-taking and civility as instances of deliberation can counteract terror, more specifically on the part of a Muslim community in potentiality and becoming.     

Antisexist/Antiracist Education ‐‐ a False Dilemma: a Reply to Walkling and Brannigan

Abstract

Writing in the January 1986 issue of the Journal of Moral Education, Walkling and Brannigan draw attention to an apparent conflict between antiracist and antisexist education. They argue that antiracists, by accepting demands from sections of the Muslim community for single‐sex and denominational schools, may be seen as inhibiting the emancipation of Muslim girls. We attempt to highlight the conservative implications of their argument and show, among otherthings, that it is premissed upon an impoverished understanding of both antiracist and antisexist initiatives, a simplistic and misleading portrayal of Muslim culture (and in particular family life), and a specious juxtaposition of state education as ‘transformative’ and single‐sex Muslim schools as ‘transmissionist’.     

A model for Islamic education from Turkey: the Imam-Hatip schools

The aim of this article is to examine the Imam-Hatip schools and their basic features, the characteristic model of Islamic education in Turkey that was proposed as an alternative model for other Muslim countries during their madrasa reform movements in the aftermath of the September 11 events in the USA. In the continuation of the madrasa tradition during the Saljuki period under state supervision, along with the modernisation efforts in education since the late Ottoman period, these schools have been revitalised and adapted to the contemporary conditions of educational institutions. At the foundation of these schools, there lay a notion of reconciliation between the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’. Throughout the years of the Turkish Republic, these schools have constantly become a controversial issue in terms of their number, structure, and student and alumni profiles. Especially after the opening process of the Turkish people and Turkish foreign policies to the world, the issue has become an international one since the 1980s. After the events of 11 September 2001, these schools were offered as an alternative model for madrasas in Muslim countries and therefore drew international attention to themselves.     

Gender-preferential intergenerational patterns in primary educational attainment: An econometric approach to a case in rural Mindanao,the Philippines

This study investigates the factors determining children's educational attainment, focusing on gender-differential intergenerational patterns, by employing a case study from rural Mindanao. The result mainly shows, unlike general trends in developing countries, educational attainment is more favorable for girls; maternal education level is equally associated with daughters’ and sons’ education levels, and paternal education level is preferentially favorable to their sons. To reduce the disparity, suggestions include providing boy-specific interventions to enhance the magnitude of the father–son educational virtuous circle and comparing the magnitude of gender-equal maternal and boy-preferential paternal education influences to specify which effect is larger.     

Contested womanhood: women’s education and (re)production of gendered norms in rural Pakistani Muslim communities

In a world marred by the fears of religious extremism, Muslim women have become subjects of various global projects that aim to modernize ‘traditional’ Muslim societies through women’s education and empowerment. Embedded in these discourses is an assumption that all educated Muslim women will empower themselves through challenging the ‘oppressive’ structures of their families and communities. This paper challenges these homogeneous narratives of education and empowerment through highlighting the complexities of educated women’s daily lives in rural Pakistan. We situate the lived experiences of rural educated Pakistani women in global mainstream as well as in local historical narratives regarding the role and purpose of education for women. Our analysis reveals how the educated women participants’ lives were shaped by a complex gendered hierarchy that facilitated educated women to take on new roles while simultaneously requiring them to maintain harmonious relationships with family and community members.     

Modern Traditions? British Muslim Women and Academic Achievement

Participation rates in higher education for British South Asian Muslim women are steadily increasing. The aim of this article, therefore, is to explore motivations and influences for entering higher education and to consider how these may contribute to current discourses surrounding Muslim women in Britain. The possible impact higher education may have on their future relationships and lifestyle choices is also briefly considered. Various notions of 'agency' have been expressed that are characteristic of the ongoing complex assessments made by these women in relation to both perceived familial obligations and their own aspirations. Their articulations suggest that higher education is increasingly viewed as a necessary asset in maintaining and gaining social prestige. This preliminary research indicates that young South Asian Muslim women are continually negotiating and renegotiating their cultural, religious and personal identities and that these processes operate in complex and sometimes contradictory ways.