tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/islamic-education-8985/articlesIslamic education – The Conversation2022-04-29T21:08:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1821972022-04-29T21:08:06Z2022-04-29T21:08:06ZStudents lead more public schools to close for Islamic holidays<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460582/original/file-20220429-14592-n08s9e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C22%2C7337%2C4880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Several school districts across the country will close in observance of Eid, a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/writing-in-a-notebook-royalty-free-image/871328144">FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Some public school districts across the nation will be closed on <a href="https://www.mtvernoncsd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=20&ModuleInstanceID=2255&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=10277&PageID=33">Monday, May 2, 2022</a>, or <a href="https://www.philasd.org/blog/2022/04/28/eidalfitr/#:%7E:text=On%20Tuesday%2C%20May%203rd%2C%202022,to%2Dsunset%20fasting%20of%20Ramadan.">Tuesday, May 3, 2022</a>, in observance of the Islamic holiday <a href="https://isna.net/month-of-ramadan/">Eid al-Fitr</a>, a festive celebration marking the end of the month of <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-ramadan-means-to-muslims-4-essential-reads-116629">Ramadan</a>, a month of fasting observed by Muslims worldwide. In the following Q&A, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=COz6BG8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Amaarah DeCuir</a>, an education researcher who specializes in issues of concern to Muslim students, illuminates some of the forces that are moving more school districts to close in observance of the Islamic holiday.</em></p>
<h2>How common is it for public schools to close for Islamic holidays?</h2>
<p>When New York City <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/04/new-york-city-muslim-holidays-public-schools">announced in 2015</a> that it would close its public schools in observance of Islam’s two most sacred holidays, it became the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/nyregion/new-york-to-add-two-muslim-holy-days-to-public-school-calendar.html">first big-city school district in the U.S. to do so</a>.</p>
<p>The New York City public school system is the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_215.30.asp">largest in the nation</a>, and <a href="https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2008/september/post-911-nyc-muslim-public-school-students-feel-safe-but-/#:%7E:text=About%20one%20in%2010%20students,included%20focus%20groups%20and%20ethnography.">about 10% of its student population</a> identifies as Muslim.</p>
<p>By the time New York City schools began to close for Eid, several smaller school districts had already been doing so for more than a decade. For instance, the Irvington school district in New Jersey <a href="https://www.religionnewsblog.com/5039/schools-slowly-adding-muslim-holiday-to-day-off-list">began to close for the Eid al-Fitr in 2003</a>.</p>
<p>In recent years, more and more school districts have begun to close in observance of Eid holidays. Those school districts include districts such as the <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Eid+made+holiday+in+Vermont+city+schools.-a0222678917">Burlington School District</a> in Vermont, which began to close for Eid al-Fitr in 2010, and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/04/20/detroit-schools-close-muslim-holiday-eid-al-fitr/3522641002/">Detroit</a>, which began to close its public schools for Eid holidays in 2019.</p>
<p>The list also includes <a href="https://www.philasd.org/blog/2022/04/28/eidalfitr/">Philadelphia</a>; <a href="https://p3cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_166764/File/BCPS%20Calendar%2021-22.pdf">Baltimore</a>; <a href="https://pgcmc.org/eid-ul-fitr-a-public-school-holiday-in-2021/">Prince George’s County in Maryland</a>; <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/calendars/standard-school-year-calendar/2021-22-school-year-calendar/2021-22-religious-and-cultural">Fairfax County</a>, <a href="https://loudounnow.com/2020/12/02/school-board-adds-4-holidays-for-next-school-year/">Loudoun County</a> and <a href="https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/prince-william-school-board-approves-2021-22-calendar-with-diverse-holidays/article_cbf29988-1f09-11eb-aa88-bfb26f06670a.html">Prince William County</a>, all in northern Virginia; and several districts across <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/education/minnesota-school-calendars-eid/">Minnesota</a>, which has a <a href="https://religionsmn.carleton.edu/exhibits/show/history-muslims/muslims-mn">sizable Muslim population</a>.</p>
<h2>Why take a day off if Muslims are a minority?</h2>
<p>In some cases, significant numbers of students were not coming to school on Eid al-Fitr anyway – and school officials began to take note. For instance, a school superintendent in Burlington, Vermont, once related that <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Eid+made+holiday+in+Vermont+city+schools.-a0222678917">about 75 of Burlington High School’s roughly 1,100 students were absent on Eid al-Fitr</a> in 2009 – about 25 more than on a typical school day. In the Fairfax County Public School system, reports show that <a href="https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/Absence%20Data%20Final3.pdf">33.3% and 38.5% more students than usual were absent from school</a> on Eid al-Fitr holidays in 2016 and 2017, respectively.</p>
<p>But absenteeism isn’t the only factor at play. Some school districts are beginning to observe Eid holidays as a matter of <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/education/minnesota-school-calendars-eid/">commitment to equal recognition</a> for Muslim families.</p>
<p>In the Hopkinton Public Schools, in Massachusetts, one school board leader noted that closing school for Eid holidays could <a href="https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/news/education/2022/02/05/hopkinton-schools-add-eid-lunar-new-year-no-school-holidays/6657230001/">attract a more diverse</a> pool of educators by not forcing them to take personal days to observe the holiday. In Detroit, a school leader said that closing for Eid holidays was a statement to celebrate the <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/16/21107970/detroit-school-board-votes-to-close-schools-for-muslim-holiday-of-eid-al-fitr">diversity</a> of the community.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims across the world.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Who is leading efforts to get public schools to close for Eid?</h2>
<p>In many cases Muslim students are initiating efforts to gain support for schools to close for Eid al-Fitr. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, for instance, a <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/eid-al-fitr-to-become-official-school-holiday-in-bridgeport-schools-2023-24-school-year">group of eighth grade students in a civics class</a> got the school board to close schools for Eid al-Fitr. In Montclair, New Jersey, school officials decided to close for Eid as called for by a fifth grade Muslim girl’s <a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/montclair-schools-will-observe-eid-holiday-after-girl-s-petition">online petition</a>. </p>
<p>In Iowa City, Iowa, a Muslim high school girl <a href="https://www.kcrg.com/2021/04/14/iowa-city-schools-to-take-days-off-for-muslim-and-jewish-holidays-following-student-led-campaign/">advocated</a> for over three years to promote the observance of Eid before the school system there decided to do so. And a student in Detroit helped persuade school board members there through an <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/16/21107970/detroit-school-board-votes-to-close-schools-for-muslim-holiday-of-eid-al-fitr">op-ed</a> <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2019/01/24/detroit-schools-eid-holidays/2639980002/">in the Detroit Free Press</a> to close in observance of Eid.</p>
<p>In some cases, such as in Baltimore, efforts to get public schools to close in observance of Eid have been described as a “<a href="https://www.nassp.org/publication/principal-leadership/volume-20/principal-leadership-april-2020/pins-and-posts-april-2020/">decadeslong battle</a>.” I predict that as more Muslim students call for public schools to close in observance of Eid, it won’t take nearly as long for additional schools to recognize the value of honoring Islamic holidays as other schools have done in recent years.</p>
<h2>What about calculating when the holidays begin?</h2>
<p>Since Muslims go by a <a href="https://islamonline.net/en/ramadan-and-the-lunar-calendar/">lunar calendar</a>, which is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/lunar-year">about 11 days shorter</a> than the 365-day solar calendar that most Americans use, the exact date of Eid al-Fitr changes from year to year.</p>
<p>And not everyone is in agreement about when a particular lunar month begins. Some Muslims go by <a href="https://fiqhcouncil.org/calendar/">astronomical calculations</a> to project the Islamic calendar well into the future. For instance, one Islamic calendar has <a href="https://fiqhcouncil.org/calendar/">projected specific Eid dates into the year 2045</a>. Other Muslims prefer to use traditional methods of local <a href="https://hilalcommittee.org/">moonsighting</a>, which involves using the naked eye to actually see the crescent of the moon to determine the start and end of a lunar month. </p>
<p>This partially explains why there could be different start and end dates for Ramadan on any given year that are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/04/25/when-is-eid-al-fitr-2022-this-weekends-rare-shawwal-black-moon-will-end-ramadan-and-cause-a-risky-solar-eclipse-as-the-planets-align/?sh=2a06bd125b41">one day apart</a>. School district leaders may want to defer to whichever method is used by local Muslim authorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amaarah DeCuir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School districts throughout the nation are beginning to heed calls to give students and teachers a day off in observance of the Eid al Fitr, a major Islamic holiday held at the end of Ramadan.Amaarah DeCuir, Senior Professorial Lecturer in Education, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/490312015-10-15T10:35:47Z2015-10-15T10:35:47ZClampdown on madrassas misses the point of why parents send children for extra study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98273/original/image-20151013-31138-eym8i6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">David Cameron wants religious education to be inspected.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zurijeta/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>David Cameron <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tory-party-conference-2015-david-camerons-speech-in-full-a6684656.html">used his recent speech</a> at the Conservative Party Conference to announce that madrassas, Sunday schools, yeshivas and other religious institutions that teach children “intensively” will have to register with the Department for Education and will be subject to inspection.</p>
<p>The prime minister’s proposals mean that all religious supplementary schools in England that teach children for more than eight hours a week will be subject to inspection. Those that fail to meet the required standards or are found to be “teaching intolerence” will be shut down. </p>
<p>Cameron tried to be politically correct by referring to all religious institutions when announcing the policy. But it was obvious from his speech that it is primarily targeting Muslim madrassas. He prefaced it by expressing concern that “there are some children who spend several hours each day at a Madrassa” and that “in some madrassas we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions, being beaten, swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people”. By referring to “conspiracy theories about Jewish people” the prime minister is promoting a rift between communities which does not befit a national leader.</p>
<p>Commenting on Cameron’s speech, Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ignore-david-cameron-its-not-just-muslim-faith-schools-that-breed-intolerance-a6686121.html">said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is real cause for concern in the constant use of madrassas and Muslim schools as the only examples of fundamentalist or extremist teaching. The government must recognise that indoctrination and intolerance are found in schools of all religions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Copson claimed that “thousands of Jewish children in strictly orthodox yeshivas grow up learning no English, cut off from the rest of society and taught to fear or even hate those outside their immediate communities,” and he also mentioned indoctrination in some Christian schools. </p>
<p>There seems to be a complete lack of awareness around the challenges associated with this new policy, or why plans focused on regulating supplementary schools have been shelved in the past. A proposal for a voluntary code of conduct for some supplementary religious schools, which <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29729669">was shelved</a> by the Department for Education as recently as 2014. </p>
<h2>Muslim families targeted</h2>
<p>The real issue here is the explicit targeting of a faith community who are already faced with educational, economic and social challenges. Instead of trying to understand and attend to these issues, Muslims are being exploited politically and held responsible for extremism, so increasing their marginalisation. Many earlier government initiatives and policies that aimed at alleviating this marginalisation have fallen short for young Muslims – such as the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/34/contents">Race Relations (Amendment) Act</a>, <a href="https://www.education.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/EveryChildMatters.pdf">Every Child Matters</a>, or <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DfES%200134%20200MIG469.pdf">Building Schools for Future</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/nov/28/muslim-schools-growth">growth</a> of supplementary Islamic faith schools in the West <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11217-013-9391-2">is a recent phenomenon</a>. There are no precise statistics on how many supplementary religious schools exist in the UK, but it’s estimated to be between <a href="http://www.phf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PHF-supplementary-schools-analysis-final-report-alt-image1.pdf">3,000 to 5,000</a>. </p>
<p>These schools have gained support and popularity in the era since the fatwa on Salman Rushdie’s book <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/11/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses">Satanic Verses </a> and since 9/11 in order to resist perceived threats from secular societies to Islamic culture, moral values, and Muslim identity. They have also been created to challenge exclusion in mainstream schools, and to enhance Muslim children’s educational achievement, job opportunities and upward social mobility. </p>
<h2>Why a faith education</h2>
<p>Concerns over low educational achievement of second, third or even fourth generation Muslims in the state system and the social, economic, and political marginalisation of Muslims in wider British society have acted as major drivers for some Muslim parents to send their children to full-time Islamic faith schools even when they have to pay fees.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GZPwtfbs93EC&lr=&redir_esc=y">higher performance</a> of Muslim children in these full-time faith schools increased the incentive to send children to faith schools. Yet there are a limited number of full-time Islamic faith schools in the UK. So, many Muslim parents whose children go to mainstream schools send them to supplementary Islamic schools, mosque schools and private part-time Islamic schools in after-school hours or at weekends to develop their sense of community and faith identity.</p>
<p>The prime minister is concerned that some children spend “several hours each day at a madrassa”. But the reason why many black and ethnic minority communities send their children to supplementary schools remains key here. The government needs to address the inequalities and discrimination in society – which Cameron also mentioned in his speech – that give people from ethnic minorities different life chances and can result in social divisions and <a href="https://theconversation.com/young-british-muslims-alienated-by-us-versus-them-rhetoric-of-counter-terrorism-46117">alienation</a>. </p>
<p>Dubbing Islamic supplementary schools as incubators for extremism and intolerance, and subjecting them to special regimes of inspection, could be as counterproductive <a href="https://theconversation.com/radicalisation-on-campus-why-new-counter-terror-duties-for-universities-will-not-work-43669">as other counter-terrorism measures</a> aimed at universities and schools. The educational, social and economic factors affecting the choices of families who send their children for supplementary education are being ignored in the political hype. Short-term political agenda is the priority here, rather than long-term societal cohesion. </p>
<p>But politicians should have learnt from the so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/trojan-horse">Trojan Horse affair</a> in Birmingham in 2014 that educational issues need to be attended to by educationalists – not by politicians or police. Political statements may win applause at party conferences, but they can also add to the estrangement of communities already at the receiving end of social alienation, economic marginalisation, and political point-scoring.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saeeda Shah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dubbing Islamic supplementary schools as incubators for extremism and intolerance could be counter-productive.Saeeda Shah, Reader in Education, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/462792015-08-19T15:39:19Z2015-08-19T15:39:19ZIslamic climate declaration converts religious principles into greener practice<p>Muslims have a religious duty to take action against climate change, according to a declaration released by a major group of Islamic scholars, faith leaders and politicians from 20 countries. The <a href="http://islamicclimatedeclaration.org/islamic-declaration-on-global-climate-change/">Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change</a>, launched in Istanbul, is aimed at the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims and suggests mosques and Islamic schools should immediately take action. </p>
<p>In using religious authority to call for stronger climate change policies at the UN summit in Paris this December, the Islamic declaration follows a similar intervention <a href="https://theconversation.com/popes-climate-letter-is-a-radical-attack-on-the-logic-of-the-market-43437">by the Pope</a> earlier in the year. </p>
<p>There is a solid religious case for this declaration. Muslims around the world take the Qur’an and the prophetic tradition (<em>sunna</em>) as the main two authoritative sources of the Islamic legal system (Sharia). You won’t find any direct references to carbon budgets or biodiversity in the sacred scriptures of course – the global environmental crisis is far too recent.</p>
<h2>Five principles</h2>
<p>However there is an environmental framework inherently embedded within the traditional principles of Islam, and it is possible to extend these principles to consider contemporary changes. Traditionally there are five major obligations for all Muslims: proclamation in the oneness of Allah, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and alms-giving (charity towards the poor). Each can help the environment.</p>
<p>The concept of oneness may be extended to the unity of creation – the idea that there is one planet for all humanity to share. Thus Islam teaches an inter-connectedness between the environment and human beings. </p>
<p>Prayer is about seeking guidance from Allah. Similarly, the environment has a purpose and forms another kind of revelation, which may be seen as a source of guidance for humanity.</p>
<p>Fasting is performed for Allah but recently <a href="http://wisdominnature.org/">Muslim faith-activists</a> have fasted for the planet. For example representatives from Wisdom in Nature, an ecological activist group in Britain, would <a href="http://www.fastfortheplanet.net/About/aboutus.htm">fast</a> so they could contemplate the human impact on the environment. Also, during pilgrimage Muslims must be considerate to animals and vegetation in designated areas.</p>
<p>Finally, the process of alms-giving indicates Muslims are thoughtful and effectively share resources. This means there is already an Islamic ethic for sustainability, particularly equity within and between generations.</p>
<h2>How to get the mosques on board</h2>
<p>Climate change affects us all, and by taking action, mosques can make themselves vital and accessible parts of civil society. In Western states, action will present an opportunity to build bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims, emphasising the importance of mosques in the public sphere. </p>
<p>Of course, such action depends on the people responsible for running each mosque. Generally each follows a particular way of Islamic thinking and the leadership may be reluctant to take on climate change, particularly when other issues, such as the conflicts in Syria and Palestine/Israel dominate current affairs. </p>
<p>Even so, mosques will need input from <a href="http://www.ifees.org.uk/">environmental NGOs</a> to improve their understanding of the Islamic perspective on climate change. And, as climate change tends to be of interest to younger people, mosques will need to keep young people on board, many of whom now feel alienated from the Islamic establishment.</p>
<h2>Climate education</h2>
<p>It will be vital to encourage climate change action through the various Islamic schools across the world. These children could have a big impact, as it’s a very new field – academics and Muslim scholars are only just catching up with the ways Islam can be applied to today’s climate problems. Whether young Muslims choose to join campaigns, become scientists or simply decide to lead more sustainable lifestyles, they will help develop the idea of Islamic environmentalism and what it could be. </p>
<p>However, there are great global disparities with regard to the importance of Islamic schooling. In Indonesia, for example, it is <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/jais/volume/docs/vol14/v14_03_tan_047-062.pdf">particularly significant</a> and climate education would make a huge difference. On the other hand, the operation of Islamic schools is more difficult in the West, where Muslim children tend to assimilate into mainstream state-owned schools. </p>
<p>There is certainly an environmental ethic in the Islamic faith, but those behind the declaration need to consider the challenges facing Muslims, mosques and Islamic schools – it’s easy enough to have sustainable principles, but putting them into practice is much harder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Khyas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Islam may predate climate change, but ancient principles can be applied to modern problems.Adam Khyas, PhD student in Islamic Environmentalism, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/434332015-07-06T04:18:34Z2015-07-06T04:18:34ZSenegal’s teachers struggle with the clash between science and faith<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86999/original/image-20150701-27151-oysy6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Senegalese boys learn at a koranic school. Even in secular schools, religion dominates class time.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Senegal is a deeply religious country. About 90% of the West African nation’s residents <a href="http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/senegal.html">are</a> Muslim, about 5% are Christian and the rest identify as animist – they believe that natural objects, idols or fetishes have magical power. Many Senegalese embrace at least some elements of animism even if they are Muslim or Christian.</p>
<p>In spite of its citizens’ beliefs, the West African nation is a secular state. This was <a href="http://www.gouv.sn/-Constitution-du-Senegal-.html">enshrined</a> in its 2001 Constitution – as was religious freedom. This disconnect between people’s daily experiences and the country’s guiding legislation has set up an interesting battle in Senegal’s classrooms. </p>
<p>Schoolteachers who are personally religious must work in a secular space that marginalises religious discourse and knowledge. But <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cbre/2015/00000037/00000001/art00004">how</a> do they balance their beliefs with their responsibility? And how does it affect their students’ learning?</p>
<h2>Resistance to science in the class</h2>
<p>About 73% of Senegal’s children <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR">are enrolled</a> in primary school, and the retention rate into secondary school <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/senegal/progression-to-secondary-school-percent-wb-data.html">is high</a>. Literacy rates were <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.1524.LT.ZS">last measured</a> in 2011 at about 66%.</p>
<p>The Senegalese educational system is managed by multiple operators: the state, religious authorities and private groups. Some are registered with the education ministry. They are French language schools, inherited from <a href="http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac64">the colonial era</a> with curricula defined by the government. Most of these schools are secular, though some are run by the Catholic church. </p>
<p>The second category of school is not registered with the authorities. This includes <em>daraas</em>, or Koranic schools, and schools which offer a Muslim education in the French language. In <em>daraas</em>, the curriculum is mainly based on reciting the Koran and learning about Islamic studies and law. Scientific subjects are not part of the teaching programme. </p>
<p>Research <a href="http://www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/IMG/pdf/JobMarket-2ndpaper-ANDRE-PSE.pdf">indicates</a> that many Senegalese children will attend at least a year or two of Koranic school before moving into the formal system.</p>
<p>There is no blackboard and no exercise book, only a Koran and a wooden tablet called an <em>aluwa</em> on which the master and pupil write with a feather dipped in ink. The <em>daaras</em> use a different cognitive style from the one we know in Western education. It uses oral learning and memorisation to influence the pupils’ behaviour and the reproduction of the moral and societal values which are passed onto them.</p>
<p>The pupils are also expected to spend several hours of each day begging for food and money. Corporal punishment is common, and is considered by the <em>marabouts</em> (religious teachers) as having an essential religious dimension.</p>
<p>In the formal schools, science (including the theory of evolution) forms part of the curriculum – but I discovered that teachers who are religious try to manage how it is taught in three ways. The first kind of teacher presents both the science curriculum and religious beliefs about science as theories. He will appear to be neutral in his views, while subtly presenting religion as “better” than science.</p>
<p>The second sort of teacher will stick to the official curriculum – at least until the formal lesson is completed. When it is over, the teacher will tell her class that she was just doing her job and does not believe what she has said. This is obviously a far more explicit approach to placing religion above science.</p>
<p>Then there’s the third kind of teacher, who sticks mostly to the curriculum and, in the last moments of the class, inserts biblical or Koranic knowledge. This approach differs from that of the first group of teachers because it doesn’t openly question the superiority of science. Instead, these teachers throw religious ideas or beliefs into the mix almost as an afterthought.</p>
<h2>Teachers face no opposition</h2>
<p>The teachers I interviewed believe these practices can be justified. They say everybody has the right to choose between science or religion, but one should not be allowed to dominate the other. They are opposed to scientific processes that they feel allow humans to substitute themselves for God. Some told me that if intellectuals and academics read the Bible or Koran more, science would progress faster – because these holy texts inspire discoveries.</p>
<p>The teachers in secular schools who prioritise religion don’t face any real opposition. Their pupils often come from religious families and they openly denounce the theory of evolution when it is discussed in class. They accept that they must learn about it for their exams and to complete school successfully. </p>
<p>The Ministry of Education does not intervene, partly because its own officials are religious and do not think there’s anything wrong with what the teachers are doing. The state also seems to know that there are far too many teachers for it to fight.</p>
<p>Perhaps what the teachers are doing is a form of decolonisation. Some of the Senegalese, particularly those from working class areas, believe the secular schools represent French colonisers. They work within these spaces but bring their own beliefs to their classrooms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Croché does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In Senegal, schoolteachers who are personally religious must work in a secular space that marginalises religious discourse and knowledge. They have several ways of subverting the system.Sarah Croché, Associate professor, Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/322392014-10-15T05:24:13Z2014-10-15T05:24:13ZHow Muslim faith schools are teaching tolerance and respect through ‘Islamicised’ curriculum<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/shadow-of-extremism-scandal-lingers-as-birmingham-goes-back-to-school-31028">Trojan Horse extremism affair</a> that hit a group of Birmingham schools this summer and the ongoing <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/news/extremism-in-schools-3/">inquiries</a> into it, have raised suspicions <a href="https://theconversation.com/shadow-of-extremism-scandal-lingers-as-birmingham-goes-back-to-school-31028">among Muslim parents</a>, teachers, and pupils in the UK. News from schools inspectorate Ofsted that the action plans put in place at the five Birmingham schools deemed to be failing are still <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-29613448">“not fit for purpose”</a> could raise tensions further. </p>
<p>Peter Clarke, the former head of counter terrorism who was drafted in to investigate the allegations in Birmingham, concluded in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/340526/HC_576_accessible_-.pdf">his final report</a> that several concerning practices were going on in certain schools, such as the harassment of teachers and bullying of headteachers to impose what is considered as Islamic extremism. He has <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11157116/Trojan-Horse-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg.html">recently spoken out to claim</a> that what he found was “just the tip of the iceberg”. </p>
<p>I condemn these practices. Yet I have criticisms of Clarke’s report, stemming from <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-8972-1_34">my body of research</a> on Muslim faith schools in the UK which focused on how these schools socialise Muslim pupils and, in doing so, how such schools “Islamicise” the British national curriculum. </p>
<p>Contrary to Clarke’s report – which helped spark the introduction of new rules on the teaching of <a href="https://theconversation.com/promoting-british-values-opens-up-a-can-of-worms-for-teachers-27846">British values</a> – the Islamicised curriculum I observed in action is aimed at promoting an alignment between national education goals and Muslim belief.</p>
<h2>Teaching at Muslim faith schools</h2>
<p>My research has been primarily based on independent Muslim faith schools, which teach the national curriculum in addition to Islamic subjects, whereas the schools reported to be affected in the Trojan Horse affair were primarily state-funded and secular. </p>
<p>The school where I conducted my main ethnographic study – which is not named due to the ethical and confidential nature of my research and was not in Birmingham – used the national curriculum, and an Islamic and “Islamicised” curricula. </p>
<p>In this particular school, the national curriculum covered 80% of the school’s total teaching. The rest of the teaching was based on the Islamic curriculum and comprised the teaching of Arabic, <em>tajweed</em> (Qur’anic recitation and memorisation), Islamic studies and some <em>Ibadah</em> (worship) sessions. This comprised two and a half hours of teaching per day, accommodated by an extended school day.</p>
<h2>Islamicised curriculum</h2>
<p>An Islamicised curriculum was embedded in the overall teaching at the school. It was apparent in the ways in which teachers tried to blend Islamic education with some aspects of the national curriculum, and in the “Islamic ethos” of the school. </p>
<p>The teachers “Islamicised” lessons to bring in an Islamic interpretation of the topics taught in the national curriculum. For example, while teaching reproduction in a science lesson, one teacher discussed references to embryology in the Qur’an. She cited several verses from the Qur'an – surah 39, verse 6, surah 23 verse 13, 14 – that explained the process of development of an embryo.</p>
<p>I also came across cases where differences exist between Islamic and national curriculum perspectives, for example evolution and creationism. Teachers taught such topics by discussing the contrasting perspectives and expected students to reflect on both. </p>
<p>Prayers were compulsory. The school building was covered with Islamic displays and Muslim women did not shake hands with men. Talks in the assemblies strengthened messages of general Muslim brotherhood, in the context of extending support to those in war or crisis-stricken countries.</p>
<p>Of course, the above practices are not expected to take place to this level in non-faith schools and I condemn that they were imposed by force in some state schools which have a non-faith character in Birmingham. </p>
<h2>Not just ‘hardline Sunnis’</h2>
<p>The Islamicisation of the curriculum in any school is a complex phenomenon. I did not come across a single understanding of what “Islamising” or “Islamicising” a curriculum meant, with opinion varying across schools and even between parents, pupils and teachers within the same schools. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, in his report Clarke considers many aspects of this Islamicisation as stemming from one “hardline strand of Sunni Islam”. His inquiry lacked some basic understanding of Islam and could have benefitted from including a representative with more knowledge of the faith. Many of the practices that he regards as conservative strands of Sunni Islam are widely accepted and practiced in most Islamic schools of thought – Sunni or non-Sunni – and are seen as necessary to maintain the Islamic values of tolerance and respect. </p>
<p>Muslim women are not expected to shake hands with men in Shia strands either. The segregation of boys and girls in swimming lessons is not only a preference of Sunnis but is actually a provision in most (non-Muslim) faith schools and many secular schools as well. Sex and relationship education has been an issue for most, if not all Muslim parents, both conservative and non-conservative. </p>
<h2>Dissatisfied parents</h2>
<p>My research has shown that the emergence of Muslim faith schools is a result of dissatisfaction among Muslim parents. They felt local schools would not meet their children’s educational needs or provide structures and facilities to enable them to meet their religious obligations. </p>
<p>Much research has found that Muslim children consistently <a href="http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-infidel-within/">underachieved in state schools</a>, face <a href="http://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9780230005501">racism</a>, and encounter difficulties in meeting their religious obligations. </p>
<p>This concern has been reflected when Muslims in cities with a high population concentration (including Birmingham), have requested that secular state schools where Muslim children are in a majority be converted into state-funded Muslim faith schools. </p>
<p>The other route has been to set up independent Muslim schools and apply for state-funding. So far <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintained-faith-schools">only 11 Muslim faith schools</a> have been able to secure state-funding. The school where I conducted my main research applied for state funding but the request was turned down. In addition, in 2013 it was revealed that only <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/jun/28/christian-faith-schools-islamic-hindu">one in five applications</a> to set up Muslim free schools had been approved. </p>
<p>In my view, if parents want their children to be state-educated but attend a faith school, more should be given that choice. The curriculum that I observed in a Muslim faith school does not seem to conflict with the norms of mainstream education. Instead, it presents an example of how coherence and alignment can be achieved between key national priorities in education and the identity and beliefs of Muslim groups. It clearly presents an example of an educational practice that can be used to build the values of tolerance and respect – which are very much at the centre of Sunni Islam.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32239/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sadaf Rizvi received funding for her doctoral studies from the Aga Khan Foundation, Geneva. </span></em></p>The Trojan Horse extremism affair that hit a group of Birmingham schools this summer and the ongoing inquiries into it, have raised suspicions among Muslim parents, teachers, and pupils in the UK. News…Sadaf Rizvi, Associate lecturer, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/318222014-09-18T20:26:41Z2014-09-18T20:26:41ZMosques, Muslims and myths: overcoming fear in our suburbs<p>Since Australians woke to the news of yesterday morning’s counter-terrorism raids in Sydney, Brisbane and Logan, talkback radio and the TV news have filled with talk of “home-grown terrorism” and “enemies within”. </p>
<p>There have been claims that Australia’s <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013">half a million Muslims</a> have particular difficulty “fitting in” and that their presence is a threat to social cohesion. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59417/original/mffw9pjh-1411032319.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many people took to social media in response to yesterday’s counter-terrorism raids – including Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi and Monash University’s Susan Carland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s not unique to Australia. For instance, in the United Kingdom, it is sometimes claimed that Muslim Britons live alongside – but not with – their non-Muslim fellow citizens. </p>
<p>So what is the evidence that anything other than a tiny minority of Muslim Australians don’t want to live decent, ordinary lives, like the thousands who gathered for a <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/24989096/father-of-australian-islamic-state-fighter-warns-parents-to-be-vigilant-about-extremist-behaviour/">Muslims Love Australia</a> community barbecue in Sydney’s south-west on Sunday?</p>
<p>And given the fierce anti-Islamic protests in some areas – as seen on the Gold Coast in the past week, where a councillor reported <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/2014/09/12/rape--death-threats-over-qld-mosque-plan.html">rape and death threats from anonymous anti-mosque protesters</a> – what’s the evidence that we should be afraid of mosques in our midst?</p>
<h2>Are mosques the problem or part of the solution?</h2>
<p>Only hours after yesterday’s raids, I was involved with the launch of the <a href="http://uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/754140/IS0001_ISRA_NSW_Msq_Rprt.pdf">Mosques of Sydney and NSW Research Report 2014</a> at the New South Wales Parliament. The research was done by one of my PhD students, Husnia Underabi, in conjunction with the Islamic Sciences and Research Academy and the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation at Charles Sturt University.</p>
<p>The report surveyed 50 of New South Wales’ 167 Islamic places of worship to provide a picture of the formal religious experiences of the state’s 170,000 Muslims.</p>
<p>Mosques and other religious centres are too easily characterised as incubators of separation and radicalisation. Yet Underabi’s Mosque Report shows that as well as being places of prayer and communion, mosques have increasingly become places of social work. This includes weekend schools, language classes, women’s group meetings and marriage guidance, as well as child and youth activities. </p>
<p>Underabi’s report demonstrates how most mosques are hubs for engagement, civic participation and charitable work. They are places that encourage greater national identification and belonging. <a href="http://uws.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/more_news_stories/study_details_changing_face_of_mosques_in_nsw">She found</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most NSW mosques are involved in either interfaith dialogue or open days to invite non-Muslims to the mosque, indicating that mosques are involved with the wider society and are willing to communicate and exchange ideas. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Her research also found that:</p>
<ul>
<li>the majority of mosque leaders feel Australian Muslims should participate in Australia’s civic institutions;</li>
<li>more than half (56%) of the mosques indicated having female representation in the mosque committee;</li>
<li>whereas mosques in the past served only one ethnic group, almost all mosques in NSW now serve people of many ethnic backgrounds.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Are Muslim and Western values incompatible?</h2>
<p>Over the last decade there has been a rapid expansion of scholarship on the supposed difficulties of Muslims living in Western countries. One branch of this research is based on the common angst about Muslim incompatibility with “Western values”. Some of this angst focuses on the threat from radicalisation, if not terrorism. </p>
<p>A good deal of government-funded research in Australia on Muslims since 2007 has come from funding schemes with a de-radicalisation mission. In Australia this included the <a href="http://www.crc.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/19729/2012_National_Action_Plan_Final_Evaluation.pdf">National Action Plan To Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security</a>.</p>
<p>The catalyst for this funding and the resulting research projects was the London bombings of July 7, 2005. Much of this research was therefore focused on the threat of home-grown terrorism, specifically the vulnerability of young Australian Muslims to radicalisation. </p>
<p>But an unfortunate effect of this mission was that it reinforced many of the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9663.00158/abstract">core stereotypes of Islam in the West</a>: of militancy, fanaticism, intolerance, fundamentalism, misogyny and of alien-ness.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59434/original/vd6cgjfc-1411039569.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australians’ religious affiliations, as reported in the 2011 Census. The Australian population is now estimated to be more than 23.6 million, so if the proportion of Australians identifying as Muslim has remained the same, there would be about 520,000 Muslims now.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Australian Muslims have faced ongoing frustrations in getting <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/gold-coast-mosque-rejection-common-sense-20140916-10ho4l.html">places of worship</a>, <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/developers-of-islamic-school-at-camden-retreat-as-real-estate-agents-put-site-up-for-sale-again/story-e6freuzi-1226296361476">schools</a> and renovations approved by local councils. This has happened in other Western nations too. Unfortunately, Islamaphobia continues to feed opposition to new mosques. </p>
<p>Of course, this is but one manifestation of the negative effects of Islamaphobia. There are also the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-05/vandals-graffiti-cairns-mosque/5070180">attacks on existing mosques</a>, verbal attacks, <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/east/thugs-bash-muslim-schoolgirl-wearing-hijab-in-wantirna-south/story-fngnvlxu-1226773375213">physical assaults</a> and prejudice. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.uws.edu.au/ssap/ssap/research/challenging_racism">Challenging Racism Project</a> data reveal that over 60% of Australian Muslims have experienced racism in the workplace or when seeking employment.</p>
<h2>Community safety starts with all of us</h2>
<p>As the former head of International Counter Terrorism in Special Branch at New Scotland Yard, <a href="https://theconversation.com/islamic-state-wants-australians-to-attack-muslims-terror-expert-31845">Nick O'Brien, wrote in The Conversation</a> last night:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s in the interests of Islamic State for Muslims in Australia to be attacked or for their mosques to be attacked, because doing so would help divide the Australian community … it’s only a tiny minority of the Muslim community that are ever involved in any kind of extreme action. The vast majority are decent, ordinary people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, the international director of Monash University’s Global Terrorism Research Centre <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-raising-australias-terrorism-alert-to-high-would-mean-for-you-31510">Greg Barton has warned</a> that a knee-jerk, anti-Muslim reaction is a threat to our national security.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Trust between different ethnic and religious groups across Australia and with our security authorities is the bedrock of our security … In many cases where passports have been withheld in Australia, the tip-offs have come through the community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For example, in 2005 a terrorism plot involving guns, ammunition and bomb-making equipment was thwarted after a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2014/s4090094.htm?site=melbourne">tip-off from Melbourne’s Muslim community</a>. After a long investigation, police arrested men in Melbourne and Sydney under <a href="http://www.cdpp.gov.au/case-reports/operation-pendennis/">Operation Pendennis</a>.</p>
<p>Muslim parents, friends and community leaders are vital for helping authorities know about the tiny minority of young Australians who may be sufficiently disenchanted to be radicalised.</p>
<h2>Low-key but effective policing</h2>
<p>Over the last four years we have analysed the work of the Community Engagement Unit within the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command of the NSW Police Force. </p>
<p>Beyond the spectacular raids, such as those that occurred yesterday, there is the day-to-day counter-terrorism work that is done in our cities. That everyday effort includes police undertaking mundane intelligence gathering and liaison work, and building good relationships with communities. </p>
<p>Indeed, a large part of the counter-terrorism work – the primary interventions against radicalisation – is done by and through the communities. This mode of policing is called “community policing” and involves co-operation with communities. </p>
<p>That work is done through community infrastructures, including local mosques and the Islamic associations. Mosques are not our problem; instead, they are a fundamental part of the solution to radicalisation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Dunn receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Islamic Sciences and Research Academy and the NSW Police Force.</span></em></p>Since Australians woke to the news of yesterday morning’s counter-terrorism raids in Sydney, Brisbane and Logan, talkback radio and the TV news have filled with talk of “home-grown terrorism” and “enemies…Kevin Dunn, Dean of the School of Social Science and Psychology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/310282014-09-01T05:09:07Z2014-09-01T05:09:07ZShadow of extremism scandal lingers as Birmingham goes back to school<p>If a week is a long time in politics, then the school summer holidays must have seemed like a lifetime the for governors, teachers, pupils and staff at the <a href="http://theconversation.com/operation-trojan-horse-examining-the-islamic-takeover-of-birmingham-schools-25764">21 schools at the centre</a> of the Trojan Horse plot in Birmingham. </p>
<p>Allegations made in an anonymous letter – now widely <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/13/alleged-islamic-plot-birmingham-schools-possible-hoax">thought to be a hoax</a> – surfaced in March of a “plot” to overthrow existing teachers and governors in non-faith state schools as a means of replacing them with “Islam-friendly” individuals prepared to run the schools in accordance with conservative Islamic principles. In response, the 21 schools were subjected to what can only be described as unprecedented levels of public and <a href="http://theconversation.com/birmingham-has-most-to-lose-from-gove-may-extremism-row-27650">political scrutiny</a>.</p>
<p>While the summer holidays provided some respite – not least because the allegations have finally begun to disappear from the public gaze – the spectre of Trojan Horse will once more raise its ugly head as schools go back across Birmingham. The new academic year will see staff, pupils and parents beginning the process of dealing with the fallout from the allegations.</p>
<h2>Impact on parents and pupils</h2>
<p>In a handful of schools, <a href="https://theconversation.com/trojan-horse-snap-school-inspections-will-not-solve-wider-governance-issues-27824">Ofsted investigators</a> raised important concerns about certain aspects of school governance and five were <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/advice-note-provided-academies-and-maintained-schools-birmingham-secretary-of-state-for-education-rt">put into special measures</a>. But given that a number of governors involved have <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/20/saltley-school-governors-resign-ofsted-trojan-horse">already resigned</a> or left their posts, addressing these very clear issues should be relatively unproblematic. </p>
<p>We should not overlook the fact that some of the schools concerned had been transformed from failing to <a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/oldknow-academy-birmingham-schools-trojan-horse-ofsted">outstanding</a> under those same governors. Parents may be supportive of how the schools were being run, thereby raising the possibility of some being unhappy and even unwilling to support the changes required – especially if claims that <a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/trojan-horse-involve-parents-future-7686181">new governors have failed to involve parents</a> are correct. Some might also point to reports that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-28878927">GCSE results at two of the schools have fallen</a> since the investigations and changes have been made. </p>
<p>There will also be concern among parents about the long-term impact on their children, some fearing that the allegations will detrimentally impact their future job and education opportunities. As the former <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/muslims-birmingham-schools-education-nicky-morgan">Birmingham councillor Salma Yaqoob</a> put it: “The impact of this stigma on a whole generation of the city’s Muslim students when applying to universities and jobs cannot be overstated.” </p>
<p>This fear of being seen to be guilty by association – of being an extremist or at least sympathetic to the goals and objectives of extremists – is a real and tangible one, something that will be as relevant to staff at the schools as the pupils.</p>
<h2>Solutions to extremism</h2>
<p>Over the space of a few months, the Trojan Horse allegations became conflated with the wider <a href="http://theconversation.com/birmingham-has-most-to-lose-from-gove-may-extremism-row-27650">issue of tackling extremism</a>. Former prime minister Tony Blair <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10900955/Trojan-Horse-plot-driven-by-same-warped-Islamic-extremism-as-Boko-Harams-says-Tony-Blair.html">suggested</a> the allegations in Birmingham’s schools were directly linked to the kidnapping of <a href="https://theconversation.com/boko-haram-the-terror-group-that-kidnapped-200-schoolgirls-25931">200 girls by Boko Haram</a> militants in Nigeria. </p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/340526/HC_576_accessible_-.pdf">report</a> anti-terror chief Peter Clarke, brought in to investigate the allegations in Birmingham on behalf of the Department for Education, said: “I have neither specifically looked for nor found any evidence of terrorism, violent extremism or radicalisation in any of the schools we examined in detail.”</p>
<p>But that same perceived link has again raised its ugly head in relation to the <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9293762/the-british-beheaders/">growing number of British Muslims</a> going to fight in Syria and Iraq for Islamic State. </p>
<p>Focusing on the threat they might subsequently pose to Britain if and when they might decide to return, some commentators suggested that <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/484061/The-Sunday-Express-on-British-children-traffic-wardens-and-Andy-Murray">extremism in British schools</a> is a causal factor in the decision-making of those choosing to fight in the Middle East. </p>
<p>The “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11052510/We-must-give-ourselves-all-the-legal-powers-we-need-to-prevail.html">solution</a>” being posited by politicians and commentators alike to this growing challenge is extremely similar to what has been suggested in relation to solving the “problem” in Birmingham’s schools: the need to place a greater emphasis on the teaching of <a href="https://theconversation.com/promoting-british-values-opens-up-a-can-of-worms-for-teachers-27846">“British values”</a> as part of the school curriculum.</p>
<h2>‘Clear message’ to British Muslims</h2>
<p>In spite of the lack of evidence of extremism in Birmingham’s schools, <a href="http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754651406">as my research has shown</a>, many in wider society believe that there is “no smoke without fire” when it comes to Muslims and Islam. So it is almost certain that many people in Britain will believe that a culture of extremism exists within Birmingham’s schools, even though there is little to substantiate such claims.</p>
<p>This has a potential impact on all Britain’s Muslims, and it will further add to the weariness that is already apparent in the Birmingham community. Many of the city’s Muslims are still reeling from the impact of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-13331161">now defunct Project Champion</a> – where more than 200 “spy” cameras were placed around two of the most densely populated Muslim areas in the city. <a href="http://etn.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/05/1468796813492488">Research I did with my colleague Arshad Isakjee</a> highlighted that the message from this is that Birmingham’s Muslims are a “suspect community”. </p>
<p>Trojan Horse will only reinforce this further and its shadow will be felt for some time yet. As children across the country return to school for the new academic year, many in Birmingham will be feeling just that little bit more anxious and fraught, increasingly isolated and marginalised. In doing so, the message that they do not belong – not even to the city in which they were born, grew up and continue to live – might just be the very message that the true extremists will want ordinary Muslims in Birmingham and elsewhere to hear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Allen is an independent member of the Coalition Government's Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group. He receives no remuneration for this.</span></em></p>If a week is a long time in politics, then the school summer holidays must have seemed like a lifetime the for governors, teachers, pupils and staff at the 21 schools at the centre of the Trojan Horse…Chris Allen, Lecturer in Social Policy, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/284652014-06-26T05:06:53Z2014-06-26T05:06:53ZFor many minorities, Britain is not living up to its own values<p>The controversy over the Trojan Horse allegations of “extremism” at a number of Birmingham schools has provoked much discussion concerning the need to teach and <a href="https://theconversation.com/promoting-british-values-opens-up-a-can-of-worms-for-teachers-27846">assert British values</a> to children. There has been a quick turnaround from the government, and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322296/Consultation_Document_23_6_-_independent_school_standards.pdf">a two-month consultation has</a> now been launched on proposals to promote British values in schools. </p>
<p>The proposals come about as part of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322297/Draft_standards_changes_PBV_FV_23_6.pdf">changes to the department of education’s Independent School Standards</a>, expected to come into force in September 2014. One of the new standards being proposed requires owners of independent schools to: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs; and encourage students to respect other people, with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The draft proposals also include new clauses that say schools must “encourage respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010”
and “encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England”.</p>
<p>On the surface the general guidance seems reasonable, but a closer analysis reveals it is slanted and directed toward Muslim schools. For example, the proposed new standards seek to enable the secretary of state for education to utilise the Equality Act 2010 to take action against schools that breach equality provisions in regards to gender, sexual orientation and lack of tolerance for other faiths in its teaching. The consultation document specifically refers to girls sitting at the back of the class as an example of poor practice – a clear indication that it is directing its attention to Muslim schools.</p>
<p>But the guidance is silent on measures to tackle institutional inequality in schools. It offers no guidance on recruitment of staff, or on monitoring and taking action on any performance disparities between groups of students such as between males and females, or Muslims and Christians. Nor does it offer guidance on any other forms of discrimination that break the Equality Act and hinders student development. Equality is outlined solely in terms of values.</p>
<h2>Framed by white male politicians</h2>
<p>The question here is whether an understanding of the ideas of Britishness as outlined in the proposed new independent school standards would really resolve issues of social inclusion and equality in schools and the wider society. I’d argue that the appeal to “British values” is a smokescreen that hides a multitude of issues concerning inequality and justice not dealt with by other British institutions.</p>
<p>Political philosophers such as Michael Sandel, John Rawls and others have long-debated what values and mechanisms are required for arriving at the common good when you have a diversity of competing interests operating in society. Martin Luther King Jnr and other theologians have spoken of <a href="http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-philosophy">the “beloved community”</a> and explore the values, principles and ways of belonging that are required to create and sustain an ideal community. So it is legitimate to ask what type of communities we want to live in.</p>
<p>The problem with the current debate and the proposals emanating from them is the context in which “British values” are being framed. It is being done by powerful white male politicians who in talking about “values” in relation to British Muslim minority communities turn “British values” into a racial marker or label of racial differentiation. </p>
<p>The unspoken assumption here is that certain behaviours are labelled as Muslim and that these are not compatible with being British. Hence it is not your passport or the taxes that you pay, that determine whether you can participate in British public life. But now it’s your “values” that determine how British you are and the degree to which you can run and influence institutions in this country.</p>
<h2>Institutions under the spotlight</h2>
<p>Britain needs more than this. It needs a discussion on whether its institutions, from the NHS, to the police to schools, are genuine purveyors and defenders of equality and justice for all. Britain needs an honest and genuine reflection on whether its institutional and policy mechanisms are capable of delivering genuine justice and equality in a 21st century multicultural society. This society needs to incorporate Muslims rather than racialises them as an “other” to be dealt with differently. </p>
<p>A discussion about values needs to focus on all British institutions and the degree to which they genuinely reflect and represent the diversity of the country. Too many British institutions are woefully unrepresentative of the communities that they serve. And too many members of minority communities bear the scars of discrimination, poor service delivery and injustice that they have received from schools, hospitals, the police, the media and other so called venerable purveyors of “British values”. </p>
<p>Where is the public outcry over the lack of “British values” being put into practice on behalf of these citizens? Many black and minority ethnic citizens are still waiting for those proposals, rather than yet another piece of guidance that seeks to tell us how to be British, when much of the rest of Britain is failing to live up to its own values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Ackah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The controversy over the Trojan Horse allegations of “extremism” at a number of Birmingham schools has provoked much discussion concerning the need to teach and assert British values to children. There…William Ackah, Lecturer in Community and Voluntary Sector Studies, Birkbeck, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/276502014-06-05T15:24:44Z2014-06-05T15:24:44ZBirmingham has most to lose from Gove-May extremism row<p>Allegations of an “Islamist” plot to infiltrate and take over schools in Birmingham at the centre of <a href="https://theconversation.com/operation-trojan-horse-examining-the-islamic-takeover-of-birmingham-schools-25764">Operation Trojan Horse</a> are looking increasingly thin. But they have caused a very public row between education secretary Michael Gove and home secretary Theresa May over how to deal with extremism in schools. </p>
<p>From informal conversations I’ve had over the past few weeks with people from across Birmingham about Trojan Horse – including teachers at some of the schools, local journalists, fellow academics and researchers, and also ordinary people from within the city’s Muslim population – it is striking that hardly anyone has anything bad to say about the schools under investigation. Even fewer believe there was ever a takeover plot.</p>
<p>While speculation continues about what will eventually emerge from the Ofsted inspections undertaken in 21 Birmingham schools in response to the claims, it would seem highly unlikely that any concrete evidence of a wider “plot” will be found. </p>
<p>What is more likely to emerge when the Ofsted reports are released next week are a number of specific issues that will be applicable to specific schools as with any typical Ofsted inspection. This is what seems to be emerging from the drip-feed of leaks that continues to ensure the story remains in the public eye. </p>
<p>The most recent suggestions that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-27676759">Golden Hillock School will be placed into special measures</a>. While a constant stream of information is good for journalists, it also raises a number of serious concerns that go beyond questioning the motivations of those behind the leaks.</p>
<p>One of these relates to the issue of tackling extremism in schools. This was <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27706675">forced into the public domain</a> by the publication of a letter from May to Gove criticising him for failing to adequately deal with the situation. </p>
<p>She raised “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/04/theresa-may-letter-michael-gove-in-full">serious questions about the quality of school governance</a>”, over claims that the Department for Education was alerted to fears of a takeover plot back in 2008. Yet given there now appears to be little evidence of a “plot”, it appears somewhat bizarre that concerns are being raised about why this was not addressed in the past.</p>
<h2>Where responsibility lies</h2>
<p>Aside from a power play between two potential future Conservative party leaders, what seems to be at the heart of the May-Gove struggle is a disagreement about extremism and how to deal with it. </p>
<p>Reports have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27709008">claimed that sources within the home office</a> have accused the Department for Education of running a “parallel security policy”. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/04/michael-gove-islam_n_5443576.html">Gove is thought to believe</a> that a general malaise exists within the Home Office where extremism is only confronted once it develops into terrorism.</p>
<p>Those close to Gove often talk of a “conveyor belt” that carries Muslims from the more conservative forms of Islam directly to Islamist extremism. Gove began to explore this in <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Celsius_7_7.html?id=66TWAAAACAAJ">his 2006 book, Celsius 7/7</a> – for which the conspiracy theorists will focus on the chapter titled The Trojan Horse.</p>
<h2>Widening clampdown</h2>
<p>More recently, Gove has sought to extend the government’s definition of extremism. Not least, as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/04/theresa-may-letter-michael-gove-in-full">implied in May’s letter</a>, by seeking to include restrictions on Muslim girls wearing hijabs as part of a voluntary code of conduct aimed at combating extremism in schools as recommended in the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-extremism-in-the-uk-report-by-the-extremism-taskforce">report of the Extremism Task Force</a> published last year. Gove <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27711245">has denied that such issues were being discussed in government</a>. </p>
<p>For some, there are concerns about Gove’s wider opinion of Muslims and Islam, not least because it is claimed <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/04/sayeeda-warsi-asian-voters">he tried to prevent the setting up of the Cross-Government Working Group on anti-Muslim Hatred</a> launched in 2012, something that was not widely known at the time.</p>
<p>It is ironic that at this week’s meeting of that same working group – of which I am an independent member – a number of attendees expressed real concern about “the message” being sent out to Muslims as a result of handling of the Trojan Horse allegations.</p>
<p>And this message will be felt most acutely in Birmingham. As <a href="http://theconversation.com/operation-trojan-horse-examining-the-islamic-takeover-of-birmingham-schools-25764">I wrote previously</a>, Operation Trojan Horse has the very real potential to feed into and further reinforce fears and anxieties about Muslims and Islam that already exist in wider society. </p>
<p>At the same time, it has an equal potential to further increase the scrutiny and interrogation of Muslim communities across the city that already feel “suspect”. Let’s not forget that Muslims in Birmingham are still getting over the stigma of being the unwilling victims of the unprecedented levels of surveillance that were introduced in 2008 through the now <a href="http://etn.sagepub.com/content/13/6/751.short">defunct Project Champion</a>.</p>
<h2>Ofsted’s role at stake</h2>
<p>There are also big concerns from the Trojan Horse investigation into the independence of the inspection process something that was voiced by a group of leading educationalists. Much of their unease focused on the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/30/ofsted-u-turn-trojan-horse-park-view-school-leak">Guardian story</a> claiming Ofsted’s first inspection of Park View Academy – the school at the centre of the allegations – had cleared the school and had retained its “outstanding” status. </p>
<p>The findings were overturned days later, requiring another inspection. This time a series of relatively minor recommendations were replaced with much more severe criticisms that are likely to see it placed in special measures when the findings are published next week. </p>
<p>Led by Tim Brighouse, a former chief education officer in Birmingham, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/03/education-experts-ofsted-trojan-horse-birmingham-schools">education experts spoke out,</a> saying such behaviour ran the the very real risk of “tarnishing” all of the findings, in turn bringing into question the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ofsteds-future-at-stake-after-trojan-horse-scandal-25936">political independence of Ofsted</a> as an objective and professional body.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if opinions and attitudes in Birmingham change if the Ofsted reports and subsequent investigations do highlight that there was something a little more organised going on in at least some of the schools concerned. We can only speculate until then how that will play out against some of the more pressing concerns highlighted here – that the investigations were pre-determined and that an Islamophobic agenda is present within some political circles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27650/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Allen is currently an independent member of the cross-government working group on anti-Muslim hate. He receives no remuneration for this role.</span></em></p>Allegations of an “Islamist” plot to infiltrate and take over schools in Birmingham at the centre of Operation Trojan Horse are looking increasingly thin. But they have caused a very public row between…Chris Allen, Lecturer in Social Policy, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/257642014-04-18T05:25:04Z2014-04-18T05:25:04ZOperation Trojan Horse: examining the ‘Islamic takeover’ of Birmingham schools<p>It is believed that at least <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/operation-trojan-horse-now-25-birmingham-schools-under-investigation-for-alleged-islamic-extremist-takeover-plot-9259798.html">25 schools in Birmingham</a> are now being investigated in response to allegations of what the media and city council are routinely describing as “takeover” bids by “hardline Muslims”. </p>
<p>Birmingham City Council has subsequently announced that it intends to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26985061">freeze the recruitment</a> of school governors and appoint a new chief adviser to deal specifically with the allegations. </p>
<p>This action comes in the wake of Operation Trojan Horse, a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-26482599">leaked anonymous letter</a> – which <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/13/alleged-islamic-plot-birmingham-schools-possible-hoax">some say is a hoax</a> – that claims to reveal a plot to “overthrow” existing teachers and governors in various non-faith state schools across the city and replace them with “Islam-friendly” individuals who will run the schools in accordance with orthodox Islamic principles.</p>
<h2>What to believe</h2>
<p>Much has been made of the dossier. Some believe it is a conspiracy against Muslims while others cite it as evidence of a concerted effort to “Islamify” Britain or, to use a phrase preferred by some on the far-right, as evidence of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/16/twitter-users-turned-on-english-defence-league">“creeping sharia”</a>. </p>
<p>Trying to disentangle the conspiracy from the connivance is, understandably, extremely difficult. From my own research into Islamophobia, Operation Trojan Horse would not be the first time that spurious claims have been made about Muslims and Islam in recent years. Such claims have included allegations of Muslims wanting to ban everything from <a href="http://issuu.com/drchrisallen/docs/commonground_report">Christmas to piggy banks</a>. </p>
<p>In 2005, the Daily Express claimed that Muslims were seeking to ban Jesus. What the journalist behind the headlines overlooked was that such claims could never be true, given that Jesus is recognised as a prophet of Islam and held in great esteem by Muslims. </p>
<p>Understandably, therefore, some have raised serious doubts about the dossier’s authenticity. Indeed, West Midlands Police are currently investigating claims that it is a hoax, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/13/alleged-islamic-plot-birmingham-schools-possible-hoax">some statements made within the dossier</a> seem to suggest this might be so. These include claims about an attempt to remove a headteacher who was actually dismissed from a Birmingham school almost 20 years ago and inaccuracies about the removal of two other headteachers from Birmingham schools (their respective departure dates were wrong). </p>
<p>The general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, Russell Hobby, was <a href="http://inayatscorner.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the-times.pdf">reported by The Times</a> as saying, “The idea that there was an organised plot … seemed far-fetched”. </p>
<p>Some, however, are not so sure. These include a number of former Birmingham-based teachers and headteachers who, among others, have sought to highlight events at the city’s Moseley and Saltley schools and <a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/new-birmingham-school-dirty-tricks-6863203">Washwood Heath Technology College</a>. And in the past few days, Birmingham MP <a href="http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-muslim-mp-khalid-mahmood-6900381">Khalid Mahmood has said</a> that he has been made aware of similar allegations, stretching back more than 12 years, of concerted attempts by various Wahabi and Salafi groups trying to take over different schools. </p>
<p>Inayat Bunglawala, media secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, <a href="http://inayatscorner.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/more-developments-in-the-muslim-plot-to-take-over-schools-story/">recently wrote that he was “sadly not so sure”</a> that the dossier was fake. </p>
<p>Given the extremely serious nature of the allegations made, it is right that they are thoroughly investigated and that those tasked with doing so are given the necessary time and space without interference. That process needs to be open and transparent so that if any of the allegations are found to be true, then appropriate and immediate action can be taken and supported by all. </p>
<p>That same process is also necessary if we are to ensure that the investigations do not turn into a witch-hunt against all Muslims, or more worryingly, that the investigations are not used to feed extremist ideologies. It is this climate of mistrust and fear that creates an environment for radicalising individuals, which in turn, can lead people along a pathway towards terrorism.</p>
<h2>Damaging ramifications</h2>
<p>Similarly, the allegations have the very real potential to feed into and further reinforce existing societal fears and suspicions about Muslims and Islam that have the potential to become manifested as prejudice and discrimination, bigotry and hate. </p>
<p>Whether true or false, Operation Trojan Horse is far from evidence of “creeping sharia”. If the allegations are found to be true, the ramifications for Muslims in Birmingham and elsewhere have the potential to be both damaging and counter-productive. </p>
<p>Not only will the outcome of the investigations unfairly increase suspicions about the motivations of all Muslims without differentiation, so too will it create further scrutiny of many ordinary everyday people who already feel they are seen as belonging to a “suspect community”. Where the impact might be greatest, however, is in the education sector: concerns about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/redacting-exam-questions-on-evolution-is-a-slippery-slope-24084">teaching of religion</a> in state schools are likely to increase, while fresh questions are raised about the relevance of faith schools in today’s secular world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25764/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Allen is an independent adviser to the government's Anti Muslim Hatred Working Group but receives no funding/monies for this.</span></em></p>It is believed that at least 25 schools in Birmingham are now being investigated in response to allegations of what the media and city council are routinely describing as “takeover” bids by “hardline Muslims…Chris Allen, Lecturer in Social Policy, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/232112014-02-13T21:35:30Z2014-02-13T21:35:30ZCan an Islamic education produce critical thinking?
<p>The closure of the secondary section of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/feb/07/al-madinah-free-school-secondary">Al-Madinah</a> free school in Derby will be celebrated by those who oppose <a href="http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-Telegraph-raised-concerns-Al-Madinah-faith/story-20588312-detail/story.html">free schools</a> and what are <a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2013/11/27/why-no-catholic-ought-to-ever-speak-of-faith-schools/">euphemistically</a> labelled “faith” schools. </p>
<p>Whatever the stated <a href="http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/09/opinion-poll-shows-big-opposition-to-faith-schools">objections to them</a> it is left to <a href="http://brianclegg.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/is-it-time-to-get-rid-of-faith-schools.html">bloggers</a> to warn of <a href="http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/09/british-al-madinah-school-in-derby-is-a-warning-will-u-s-listen/">indoctrination</a>. The bloggers say what many people fear and fear to say – that Islamic schools are closed “indoctrination centres” where creating open and critical thinkers is not an educational aim. </p>
<p>There is some historical evidence that would support this view. Peter Watson in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideas-history-Peter-Watson/dp/0753820897/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357912758&sr=1-1">Ideas: A History From Fire to Freud</a> argues:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“One of the most poignant moments in the history of ideas surely came in the middle of the eleventh century. In 1065 or 1067 the Nizamiyah was founded in Baghdad. This was a theological seminary and its establishment brought to an end the openness in Arabic/Islamic Scholarship which had flourished for two or three hundred years.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But this tragic moment cannot be generalised across centuries. It wasn’t all downhill from 1067. On the other hand, it would be wrong to deny that there is no truth in the closing down of the Islamic openness that characterised this period. </p>
<p>Cultural trends in the West adopted by Islamic, and many other, educationalists, such as well-meaning policies emphasising diversity and multiculturalism, and the adoption of the politics of identity, may reinforce a closing of Islamic thought and of critical thinking. They celebrate what you are, rather than what you can become.</p>
<p>The end of the openness that characterised a great cultural epoch for Islam and its consequences, is the broad historical and philosophical context in which we have to discuss Islamic education today. In the UK, there has been an increase of <a href="http://www.schoolwebindex.com/countries/england.php?letter=&start=1&class=&religion=I&type=">Muslim free and independent schools</a> along with the rise in small-scale part-time madrassas attached to mosques throughout the UK. So the question has to be asked: will this tradition mean these schools may or must produce uncritical young people?</p>
<p>I offer here two arguments, one from religion and one from certain general facts about life, that mean an Islamic education can and will be critical.</p>
<h2>Criticise everything</h2>
<p>In her book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moral-Clarity-Guide-Grown-up-Idealists/dp/0099526271/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357912675&sr=8-1">Moral Clarity</a>, Susan Neiman identifies two moral paradigms that are common to the Abrahamic religions, whether Jewish, Christian or Islamic.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…the first paradigm [is] that of Abraham at Sodom, who refuses to rest in the humility of resignation and demands that his world makes sense. Those who subscribe to this paradigm hold fast to the principle that there must be reasons for everything that happens, and that those reasons are up to us to find. This is the fundamental law to which everyone, including God, must answer and it leads us to seek not only justice, but transparent justice. The second paradigm is that of Abraham at Mount Moriah, who doesn’t ask anything at all. To do so, he thinks, would be an act of superstition, even violence. Does trust mean asking no questions? Does love mean never having to say you’re sorry? The man of faith is certain: The demand to find reason after reason is at odds with a grateful acceptance of creation, and arrogant at that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Neiman contrasts the usual idea of morality or religious belief as a matter of blind faith – exemplified in the binding of Issac – with Abraham’s stand for reason and truth at Sodom. The former “sustains orthodoxies of every kind”, the latter points to reason and criticism, even of the highest authority. This is why the example of Abraham at Sodom is so important. If criticism of the highest authority is allowed, then “criticise everything” is the injunction.</p>
<p>However, in the <a href="http://www.hyperbible.com/books/showbook.asp?book=KoranEnglish&chapter=11">suras of the Koran</a> which refer to Sodom, Ibrahim is given short shrift by the angels who come to tell him of the pending destruction of the city.</p>
<p>The shortness and brief dispatch of the objection might lead a reader to think that the Islamic version gives less credence to reason. But this is incorrect: however short the objection, it exists. </p>
<p>Although for many political and even more for cultural reasons, the belief in reason is often mentioned only rhetorically in contemporary debates about Islam, it is inescapably present. The “golden age” of Islamic openness may have passed, but reason and critical thinking need not be an historical artefact.</p>
<h2>Hard knocks</h2>
<p>At the same time, we are all subject to hard knocks. Even the most restrictive form of Islamic education takes place in a world where there are accidental happenings. People die in tragic ways, individuals fall in love with others that their religion bans relations with, and natural, political and economic events cause social and personal turmoil.</p>
<p>These hard knocks will cause individuals to think, however strictly and uncritically they have been reared, and there is no possible way of shielding young people from accidental experience. In fact when strict families lock young people up or severely restrict them, this is of course another accidental experience, a hard knock that can turn them towards criticism.</p>
<p>An Islamic education has a rational tradition, as well as a wealth of history and culture to pass on. Equally, so has a Jewish or a Catholic education. That is why it is often more valued by parents today when secular state schooling has had its educational content hollowed out. </p>
<p>Part of what it passes on to future generations is necessarily critical, and even if some schools play this down, young people, more than their elders and “betters”, will face the hard knocks that will force them to think and be critical.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The closure of the secondary section of the Al-Madinah free school in Derby will be celebrated by those who oppose free schools and what are euphemistically labelled “faith” schools. Whatever the stated…Dennis Hayes, Professor of Education, University of DerbyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.