Islamic Education in the Western Context:
Challenges & Opportunities
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Keynote
speech
Dr.
Abdullah Sahin
In
the morning session, three keynote speeches were delivered. Dr. Abdullah Sahin
of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, University of Gloucestershire
spoke about what is Islamic Education?: Rethinking Islamic Education within the
secular context of Western Europe? His paper explored the impact of Islamic
education on the identities and faith development of the learners and also
focuses on the specific issues and challenges related to the organisation and
delivery of Islamic education within the European Muslim diaspora. His paper
argued the need to invest in the development of a much needed professional
approach to Islamic educational practice and emphasized its significant role in
helping diverse Muslim communities in the West to build educational/civic
competence in order to engage meaningfully with the wider society.
Akram
Khan Cheema
Second
keynote speech was delivered by Akram Khan Cheema who spoke about How Islamic
Education developed in the West, particularly in the UK. Akram Khan Cheema was
very optimistic about the future of Islamic education in Britain and Europe. He
said, the future of Islamic education in the UK and wider Europe looks very
bright and positive from my experience, even though the irritation of the
unreasonable ‘Islamophobia’ is frustrating. He also said that there is much to
celebrate about the presence of ‘Islamic education’ in Britain and in Europe.
Practical issues related to the organisation (getting better and better with
time and effort) and delivery of Islamic education in formal and informal
modes, i.e. delivery of Islamic education in part time Madrasah –attached to
mosques and in homes, Islamic schools (state sector and community initiated),
Muslim teacher training (AMSSCITT), the role of parents in Islamic education
(Governors, PTAs, NGOs and Islamic Community and welfare agencies and
charitable organisation) curriculum development (NC and RE, daily mainly and
broadly Christian religious Assemblies, Citizenship etc), leadership in Islamic
education sector as a whole and the role of Islamic education within state
schools.
Professor Mark Halstead
The
third keynote speech was delivered as a respondent by Professor Mark Halstead
of the Huddersfield University. He defined Islamic Education as education that
is (a) provided by Muslims; (b) provided for Muslims (c) based on Islamic principles
After
defining Islamic Education, Professor Halstead explained what do Muslim
parents want? *HIGH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: good exam results, preparation
for a successful career and for full British citizenship. *CLEAR MORAL VALUES:
a disciplined and caring environment where students develop high moral
standards as a result of the example set by teachers and the values taught in
the school. *A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE FAITH: a school where faith is taken
seriously and children can come to understand fully what it is to be a Muslim.
Then,
Professor Halstead explained what Muslim schools can provide? *They
remove barriers to Islamic religious observance. *They provide a spiritual and
moral environment where children can learn sound values. *They enrich children’s
understanding of and commitment to the faith. *They present religion as a
normal way of life. *They counter the danger of cultural absorption by the
dominant culture. *They provide an environment secure from Islamophobic
bullying where children can fulfil their academic potential. *They respect
children’s Muslim identity and develop their self-esteem. *They increase
parental choice. *They demonstrate equity for Muslims in relation to other
faith groups. *They symbolise equality of respect and recognition for Islam in
the UK
Then
Professor Halstead mentioned about the four challenges: number one challenge:
overcoming prejudice against Islamic education: The MYTH; the challenge two:
Developing a philosophy of Islamic education; the challenge three : providing
effective values education for Muslim children and the challenge four is
clarifying attitudes to Western values and Western education.
Professor
Halstead raised some of the key questions for Islamic education, such as *1.
What is the purpose of education in Islam? 2. What different types of
education are there in Islam? 3. What is the relation between religious and
secular knowledge? 4. Is education about the transmission of knowledge and
beliefs, or about the capacity to think critically? 5. Should education permit
the questioning of fundamental beliefs? 6. Is it the role of the student to
listen, learn and repeat, or to become an autonomous individual? 7. How (or how
far, or how well) does Islamic education prepare students for life in the modern
world? 8. Should Islamic education exclude any subjects (or parts of subjects)
from the curriculum?
Professor
Halstead mentioned about the resources for exploring the principles of Islamic
education which are as follows:
1. The Qur’an
2. The traditions of the Prophet
3. Classical Islamic writing on
education
4. Contemporary writing on
Islamic education
5. The Islamization of knowledge
6. Dialogue with other
philosophies of education
7. The development of rational
understanding and the process of conceptual clarification
Challenges
developing Muslim Teacher
Training
Programmes in Europe
In
the second session on the Models of Islamic Education in Europe and Sharing
Good Practice after the lunch, challenges facing Islamic education in Europe
and the way forward, Amina Shaker, Director IRPA, Vienna, Austria discussed the
situation of Islamic education in Austria. She said Muslims in Europe are on
the way to establishing a new Islamic and pedagogical concept, which enables
Islamic educational workers to share modern and context-sensitive Islamic
principles and values with modern and contemporary pedagogic understanding, in
a non-Islamic environment, with future generations.
Amina Shaker wrote a book entitled Austria-Islam:
Fragments of 800 years of common history, published by New Academic Press,
Vienna 2013. In this book, Amina Shaker dealt with Muslim Teachers Training
College in Austria. She mentioned, “In 1998, the establishment of the IRPA (Muslim Teachers Training
College) for the unique education of future religious education teachers. In
this year, she mentioned, “The teaching of Islamic theological and pedagogical
courses in cooperation with the Azhar University and the Vienna Pedagogic
College began. Students had to manage both German and Arabic language.”
Amina Shaker said, “The Muslim Teachers Training had
been improved over time as well as the whole education of Muslims in Austria. Students
completed their study with an officially recognized Diploma Degree and were
allowed to keep the title
“Diplom-Pädagoge”. They can start with Master Studies afterward.”
This was the situation in 1998 but
by 2007, the situation changed. Ms. Shaker said, “IRPA,
now independently, offers all courses (Islamic Theology and Human Sciences)
with it’s own staff. The cooperation with the Azhar University and the Vienna
Pedagogic College was finished, because all courses now have to be in German
language (according to ministerial directions) and the Professors for human
sciences came to the IRPA to train the teacher there.”
Ms. Shaker gave a picture of the latest situation. She wrote
in her book Austria-Islam: Fragments of 800
years of common history, “By
2013, IRPA has 300 students
and 40 lecturers; New amendments of the Academy-Law
are a challenge; enhances pedagogic academies and therefore allows for a
Masters Degree to be offered. Exchange with Catholic Teachers Training College
has been increased, as well as with Islamic Universities in Indonesia,
Malaysia, Bosnia, Turkey and inshaAllah with MIHE (Leicester). A Common study
course is in future plans, which aims to combine religious education with
subjects such as Mathematics, German, PE etc.”
As a result of the improvements of European Muslims in the
field of scientific and Islamic education, there can be a model perceived off
establishing a European-Islamic identity, which takes into consideration that,
on the one hand, Muslims are at home in Europe and therefore have the right and
are even required to find their own solutions to questions regarding to their context
and their life. She said Muslims in Europe are on the way to establishing a new
Islamic and pedagogical concept, which enables Islamic educational workers to
share modern and context-sensitive Islamic principles and values with modern
and contemporary pedagogic understanding, in a non-Islamic environment, with
future generation.
Madrasah of the Khoja
Shia-Asheri community
Naushad Mehrall, Head of the Madrasah centre of Excellence UK
(Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community) spoke about the challenges faced by the
Madrasah were highlighted and possible solutions were debated. He mentioned the
history of Madrasah for children in the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri community which
has its roots in Gujerat, India and goes back about 150 years. As the community
has spread out to East Africa, Europe and North America, the madrasah has
always been an integral part of it. In February 2011, the parent body of the
community held a 3-day retreat in which madaris from different parts of the
world were represented. The theme was “Shaping the Institution of Madrasah to
deliver knowledge, spirituality and morality to our future generations.” The
challenges faced by the Madrasah were highlighted and possible solutions were
debated. A global structure (Madrasah Centre of Excellence) was set up to
provide focus and become a central place for Madaris to seek help and support
in the running of their institutions. It would realise the vision by
coordinating the four work streams.
The Curriculum Development work stream would provide a global
curriculum framework that can be tailored to individual Madrasah needs. It
would lead to standardisation because all Madrasah would use the framework of
the same broad curriculum. The Teacher Training work stream would facilitate
the provision of training to meet the training needs of the madrasah teachers.
It would also create a body that represents Madrasah teachers globally,
providing support and a forum for teachers to interact, share valuable
experiences and learn. The Learning Resources work stream would provide a
comprehensive resource centre for teachers, parents and students where
resources can be shared globally encouraging development of new ideas and
innovation. The Continuous Assessment & Evaluation work stream would create
a learning environment for all where the students, teachers and institutions
are assessed with a view to continually improve.
IRE in Swedish Muslim Schools
Dr.
Jenny Berglund, PhD of the Department of Study of Religions, Södertörn
University, Stockholm, Sweden, after giving a brief introduction about the
Muslim population in Sweden, spoke about the Muslim school which is part of the
“free-school system”. There are 54 Christian, 9 Muslim and 5 Jewish compulsory
and 6 Christian Upper Secondary schools. In Sweden, Islamic Religious Education
(IRE) is only taught at Muslim schools, within the compulsory school sector.
There is no national syllabus for the subject, but instead all schools write
their own syllabi. Since the Muslim schools, like all other schools in Sweden are
state funded, they have to abide to the rules stated in the Educational Act.
Despite these rules, Muslim schools and IRE in Sweden shows a wide variety in
terms of organisation, content and outlook. In her short presentation, she
presented an overview of how Swedish Muslim schools are organised and what
distinguishes the different forms of IRE that is taught within them.
Dr. Jenny Berglund mentioned that Swedish Muslim Schools
are fully governmental funding; they have to represent and impart “fundamental
values”; have to follow the National Curriculum. They are also non-confessional
RE; National Agency of Education controls; Possible to add Islam as extra
curricular subject (IRE) and Islam as school ethos
While mentioning about the National Curriculum and “Fundamental
Values”, Dr. Berglund said, values that all schools should represent and impart:
The inviolability of human life; Individual freedom and integrity; The equal
value of all people; Equality between women and men and Solidarity with the
weak and vulnerable.
She also mentioned about the School Ethos which are:
Morning gatherings; Celebration of Holidays; Dress-code and Halal-food. She
also mentioned that there is Co-Education. No
tradition of girls/boys schools in Sweden.
Islamic schooling in Austria
and Germany
Elif Medeni of Halit Akpinar, University of Vienna, made
her presentation on Islamic schooling in Austria/Germany. This paper of Elif
Medeni gave a brief overview of Islamic schooling in Austria in the light of a
pilot study undertaken in the wider context of a Ph.D. research. During the
piloting phase of eight month, classroom observations, document analysis and
semi-structured interviews with teachers and parents have been undertaken.
Islam was recognised as a religion in Austria in 1912. The
Islam Law acknowledges the IGGiO as an umbrella organisation and representative
of the Muslims and moreover guarantees Muslims to establish Islamic schools as
well as to maintain Islamic Religious Education (IRE) in public state schools.
Islamic Religious Education was introduced as a regular subject in 1982. Thus,
Austria has the longest experience and tradition in Islamic Education in the
public sphere among European countries. Despite this unique situation and long
tradition of Islamic instruction in public schools, Muslim parents search for
alternatives such as private schooling.
In contrast to other European countries Islamic schooling
is at the very beginning in Austria. Currently, there are six Islamic private
schools among the state-funded denominational schools. Although their
reputation is discussed controversially in public, the few existing Islamic
private schools are often preferred to public schools by some Muslim parents.
Islamic schools were ‘condemned’ to promote parallel societies;
allegation of poor conditions, lack of
trained teachers and a general lack of quality were raised, although Islamic
teaching and denominational aspects in state-funded Islamic private schools are
supervised by specialist inspectors of the Islamic Religious Community in
Austria (IGGiO). Until now, there is no research undertaken on Islamic
schooling.
Reflections on the experience
of
Shakhsiyah schools in the UK
In
this presentation Farah Ahmed looked at the experience of Shakhsiyah schools in
developing alternative educational provision for Muslim children through
briefly examining some “Principles of Shakhsiyah Education” and their organic
growth and realization in Shakhsiyah schools. The principles are: Niyyah,
Shakhsiyah, Qadwa, Halaqa, Minhaj al Diraasiyah, Balagha and Taqdeer.
Religious Education in Turkey:
recent policy developments
Professor Dr. Muhiddin Okumular made a presentation
which focussed on the recent debate about the growing role of religious education
in the Turkish educational system. Turkey has a rich experience in this regard.
The different options in the religious education are tested as a compulsory,
elective and not given. From 1982 to the present day religious culture and
ethics courses are taught in schools as a compulsory. In 2012, the Government
has realized major reforms of education systems and compulsory education has
been turned into 12 years and formulated in the form of 4+4+4.
Two
of the most important innovations by these reforms are the opening of Imam
Hatip Middle schools (religious schools) and the increasing number of elective
religious courses within the mainstream system. New elective courses are Quran,
the Life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Basic Religious Knowledge. Within these new developments there is a
strong possibility that minority religions such as Christianity and Judaism
will also be taught. Professor Okumular critically examined these recent
significant developments in the field of religious education in Turkey.
Parallel
Workshops
The
session Three was Parallel Workshops on Educational Leadership by Edris
Khamissa; Islamic Curriculum and Educational Leadership by Basma. Elshayyal;
Towards a Transformative Model of Islamic Educational Leadership by Imran H
Khan Suddahaza and Teaching and Learning linked to Qur’an by Dr.Bill Gent
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