Educational Strategies Among Muslims in the Context of Globalization: Some National Case Studies (Muslim Minorities, V. 3)

293 Pages·2004·1.13 MB·English

by  Holger Daun

EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES AMONG MUSLIMS
IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION
MUSLIM MINORITIES
EDITORS
Jørgen S. Nielsen(University of Birmingham)
Felice Dassetto (University of Louvain-la-Neuve)
Amira Sonbol (Georgetown University, Washington, DC)
VOLUME 3
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EDUCATIONAL
STRATEGIES AMONG
MUSLIMS IN THE CONTEXT
OF GLOBALIZATION
Some National Case Studies
EDITED BY
HOLGER DAUN and GEOFFREY WALFORD
BRILL
LEIDEN •BOSTON
2004
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Large parts of this book are based on findings from research projects funded by
the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Educational strategies among Muslims in the context of globalization : some national case
studies / edited by Holger Daun and Geoffrey Walford.
p. cm. — (Muslim minorities v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-13675-4
1. Islamic education—Case studies. 2. Multicultural education—Case studies. 3.
Minorities—Education—Case studies. 4. Walford, Geoffrey. I. Daun, Holger. II. Series.
LC904.E39 2004
371.077—dc22
2004040770
ISSN 1570-7571
ISBN 90 04 13675 4
© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
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v
CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations .................................................................. vii
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
C O Muslims and Education in a Global
Context .................................................................................... 5
Holger Daun, Reza Arjmand and Geoffrey Walford
C T Islamic Orientations and Education ............ 37
Sherin Sadaalah
C T Education and Empowerment of the
Religious Elite in Iran .......................................................... 63
Reza Arjmand
C F Islamic and Western-Style Education in
Afghanistan—Conflictual or Complementary? .................... 81
Pia Karlsson and Amir Mansory
C F Pakistan: The Clash of Globalizing Forces? 103
Allan Pitman and Farrukh A. Chishtie
C S Modernization of Education and ur"ànic
Adaptation in Morocco .......................................................... 123
Helen N. Boyle
C S Islamic Revival and Education in Somalia 141
Mohamed-Rashid Sheikh Hassan and Salada Robleh
C E Islamic, Secular or Both—The Struggle
Over Education in West Africa ............................................ 165
Holger Daun, Michiyo Kiwako Okuma-Nyström and Abdoulaye Sane
C N Educational Strategies Among Some
Muslim Groups in Sweden .................................................. 187
Holger Daun, Åsa Brattlund and Salada Robleh
C T English Education and Immigration
Policies and Muslim Schools ................................................ 209
Geoffrey Walford
C E Muslim Minorities and Education in
Germany—The Case of Berlin ............................................ 229
Jürgen Henze
C T Education and the Muslim Minorities in
the Czech Republic .............................................................. 247
Karel Rÿdl and Marika Uiberlayová
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vi 
C T The Greek State, the Muslim
Minority of Western Thrace and Education:
Shifts Under Way? ................................................................ 263
Luciana Benincasa (with Olga Karavia and Skoulariki Despoina)
Index .......................................................................................... 281
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vii
ABBREVIATIONS
ALESCO Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organ-
ization
BREDA Bureau Regional
CR Czech Republic
EU European Union
IEA International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement
ISESCO Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture
LEA Local Education Authority
MOE Ministry of Education
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
SAP Structural Adjustment Program
SPCK Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge
TIMSS Third International Mathematics and Science Study
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
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1
INTRODUCTION
This book is dedicated to the exploration and analysis of educational
strategies among Muslims in the “core” area (countries with a long
Islamic tradition) and among Muslims living in countries where they
are minorities (in Europe and the USA). The book is intended for
students and the academic (with emphasis on educationists) inter-
ested in educational policies, and convergence and standardization
in the context of globalization, on the one hand, and increasing lev-
els of pluralism within the heightened prioritization of multicultural-
ism, on the other. Islam as a religion and Islamist revivalism as a
movement are component parts of globalization, but also a chal-
lenging force to that globalization. Trends and patterns of migra-
tion, global tourism and transnational mass media have considerably
expanded the areas of interaction between Western and other reli-
gious and secular systems of thought and education, and the reli-
giously oriented Muslim counterpart system of thought and educational
frameworks.
In Muslim and predominantly Muslim countries, educational sys-
tems may include and are permeated by religious-moral elements—
within different contexts of formal educational institutions and informal
frameworks such as supplementary and alternative schools (e.g. reli-
gious mosque schools). Among European states with growing Muslim
minority populations, it is the case that in spite of the standardiza-
tion of educational policies, in such countries, they still differ consider-
ably in their approach to religious and minority demands for special
educational arrangements. Some countries have a unitary and national
system (national curriculum and secular education), while the state
in other countries opts neither to control nor support Muslim edu-
cation as an alternative system of education or a supplementary com-
ponent of the present system. A third category of countries however
opt for a multi-cultural framework in trying to accommodate immi-
grant and minority cultures, hence opting for a “compromise” to
establish supplementary education (based on a national curriculum)
and economically subsidizing such arrangements.
Chapter 1 of the book presents elements of Islam as a religion in
general (e.g. ·ì'ism and Sunnìsm), Islamic conceptualizations of
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2 
knowledge and education and this in the context of globalization
processes.
Chapter 2 deals with different Islamic orientations and their rela-
tionship to educational issues. Using different criteria such as the
relationship between (the Islamic) religion and the state, the role of
religion in individuals’ lives, the role of education, and so on, four
principal orientations may be distinguished. These are the secularist
orientation, the traditionalist orientation, the modern/liberal orien-
tation and the fundamentalist orientation. Chapters 1 and 2 together
demonstrate that Islam as ideology and praxis is far from a homo-
geneous and unitarian force, although the Islamic educational arrange-
ments are rather similar across Muslim countries.
The remaining chapters may been seen as two sections, the first
section (Chapters 3–8) dealing with Muslim case countries, and the
second with some Europan countries and their way of handling edu-
cation for Muslim minorities (Chapters 9–13). The descriptions in
each section differs somewhat for a number of reasons. The Muslim
countries vary considerably in economic, cultural and political aspects
and in their ways of responding to global forces. Also, homogenous
and strictly comparative data has not been available on the coun-
tries included. For countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia,
it has been difficult to find accurate up to date information. The
countries with Muslim minorities in the North differ in their immi-
gration policies and in the importance given to education for minori-
ties as well as in their response to global forces.
Chapter 3 describes educational development in Iran prior to the
Iranian Islamic revolution to the present. The state run curriculum
in schools is impregnated by Islamic elements that directly reflect
the ethos and raison d’etre of the Islamic revolution and the ·ì'ite
version of revivalist Islam. On the other hand, it is interesting to
observe that a few secular schools have most recently been allowed.
They do not however serve or are accessible to a wide base, but
are more elitist in their outlook as reflected by their high fees.
Shifts in the state and Islam and different types of Western and
Islamic education in Afghanistan are described in chapter 4. The
description starts back in history and deals with the development up
until present time.
Chapter 5 describes the development of the Western type of edu-
cation and Islamic education in Pakistan. Although the former type
of education includes large proportions of Islamic thought and values