One of the most challenging changes the Arab and Muslim worlds are facing now more than ever is the modernisation and moderation of their curricula in order to raise responsible and world-aware people for the next generation.
For too long our education system has been based on reading, remembering and regurgitating information without any attempt to engender logical thought and any questioning of ideas is not only discouraged, but sometimes completely forbidden. The education system has for the most part churned out automatons who follow a set path, very few of whom depart from in search of various expressions of creativity and scientific exploration.
The teaching of Islam in particular was set and governed by clerics or pseudo-clerics, rather than educators. A mandatory subject that brooks no argument and nary a thought has been given to the subjects and concepts taught to those malleably-aged students.
Questions have to be raised, discussed and understood on why religion is taught in schools.
To me, it is part of culture and I view this subject’s education as very important to keep our identity as Arabs and Muslims, to teach us values, tolerance, history and a plethora of other good traits. But I find that some of the Islamic curriculum baffling. For instance, why is the concepts of Jihad, hatred of Jews and Christians and any other religion other than Islam, Hell, various punishments and other highly complicated matters be taught to youngsters who have no mental capability to do anything with that information other than create false agendas and ideas they are not capable of fully interpreting or even reconciling in this day and age?
I cannot but ask myself: would you teach the Theory of Relativity to a 6-year-old? Would you attempt to teach it even to a 16-year-old? How is that person going to interpret it other than face value, memorising it for the final exam and then promptly forgetting its effect on life itself?
Aren’t some concepts of Islam so hard to follow as well? Other than the language the Holy Qur’an is written in which is classical Arabic the understanding of which takes years of studious research, its nuances cannot be interpreted nor comprehended without a thorough understanding of other concepts in religion as well, which is the reason we have “marja’iah” or highly-educated scholars who are the sole people who can issue “fatwas“?
The solution then must be the deferment of teaching such concepts to stages of education that they can be fully appreciated and interpreted at universities or when that student elects to join an Islamic higher-education institution. We should remove those contentious texts to save our Islam and our youth from the dire straits we are in now, borne almost exclusively by the effects of the mis-interpretation of Islam by us, the Muslims ourselves due to our current education system.
Further, in order to engender toleration in religions, we must create new syllabi for religious education which must teach the prevailing religions of the world like Judaism, Christianity and even Buddhism. Once this is done, our children might awake to the fact that other people do inhabit this Earth and we must find ways to peacefully coexist.
I realise that this is a very thorny issue, and fully expect that the traditional scholarly institutions will oppose this concept and brand everybody who even suggests it a heretic. Regardless, our governments should have enough courage to at least seriously explore this situation. I am not asking for summary removal of sacred texts, merely their deferment to a more appropriate educational level.
Would that be a way to go forward? Would that reduce the risk of atrocities carried out in the name of our religion? One would hope that it will. Our education system should change in all of its aspects, but to me at this present time, religious studies reformation is the most important.
Comments
Teaching intolerance
Are there any substantial schools of non-Islamic philosophy in Bahrain (or other Arab countries), Mahmood? Or does all or most Arab philosophy, since the 7th Century anyway, derive from Islam itself and centre around interpretations of Islam? Are their equivalents to, say, Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche etc.?
Sorry about my ignorance but this is the sort of thing that we in the West hear very little about and I don’t know if that’s because there’s little non-Islamic philosophy in the Arab world or if it exists but most of us westerners just don’t know about it.
Teaching intolerance
Mahmood,
I wouldn’t look to the government to get things done. Government bureaucrats are not innovators. They hate risk.
If you want it done, you should do it. The private sector is more innovative, more flexible, more dynamic. It’s easier to raise money for such private ventures. You will not be bound by stupid government rules. You will be free to experiment until you get it right.
Start privately on a small scale until you get the formula right. Expand upon success. When you get big and successful enough, the government will want to get in the game with you. Better to have them come begging to you than you go begging to them.
Steve
Re: Teaching intolerance
Ash, your question is extremely pertinent for the Arab and Muslim world today. As I see it, the problem isn’t whether non-Islamic philosophy is being taught, but whether any philosophy is being taught at all. Unfortunately, I believe the answer is no. I don’t even think that the Islamic Studies courses could be labelled “Theology”, for even that implies the scientific study of religion through rational means. However most of the Islamic studies courses involve rote learning of historical facts about Islam, and the rituals. Nothing that really challenges the mind and allows students to arrive at their own conclusions.
This is really quite sad when we consider that even within Islam, there is a great tradition of scientific inquiry that has produced some great Muslim philosophers (I don’t like the term “Islamic philosophers” very much). Averroes, Avicenna, Ghazali, Biruni, etc etc, have contributed greatly to philosophy, but most Muslims have no idea who these people are (let alone Western philosophers). And if they know the names of these people, they have no idea of the philosophical problems they addressed that made them famous.
One of the great things about the Western educational system is that even if a student isn’t formally studying philosophy, they will undoubtedly have to tackle the same questions of philosophy addressed by the great philosophers. A student of statistics will encounter the problems addressed by Hume and Popper, a theoretical maths student will deal with Descartes, political science students will deal with Kant, a student of literature or history might deal with Derrida, etc… Even if the Western student never even hears the names of these philosophers, the important thing is that their minds are challenged with the same problems that the philosophers addressed. Muslims could learn a thing or two.
The modernist Muslim philosopher Muhammad Iqbal wrote alot in the first half of the 20th century about “reconstructing Islamic thought” in light of all this, but unfortunately his vision wasn’t realized.
– Chan’ad
Re(1): Teaching intolerance
Chan’ad, that’s very interesting, thank you. From what you, Mahmood and others elsewhere have said, there seems to be an urgent need in the Islamic/Muslim world for education that’s based on enquiry and investigation rather than simply memorising “facts” relayed by teachers. I know that the Arab world used to lead the way in enquiry, with great centres of learning and the exchange of ideas like those in Andulasia. What went wrong? How did such an open and inquisitive culture become so closed and rigid in so much of its thinking? I know this is a questions that many people have asked before me. Still, it is mystifying somehow.
Re(2): Teaching intolerance
Only to add some nuance and controversy (but hey, that’s why I am here…)
My observation has been that rote learning doesn’t necessarily teach intolerance as much as it teaches ignorance. What it trains you to do is to be dependant on an authority. When you refuse (or are refused) the opportunity to think for yourself, you eventually end up letting others do your thinking for you.
When your textbooks are vague and the information is incomplete, all it takes is for a mullah to fill in the blanks with whatever nonsense and voila, you feel this incredible sense of gratitude to the establishment that has brought you enlightenment AND with sanction from God Almighty. Oh, how most exquisitely fortunate!
I won’t speak for Mahmood, but since he and I attended the same primary school (albeit during different eras), I suspect that his experience wasn’t too far from mine.
(sidenote: Mahmood, I was most pleasantly surprised to learn that you and I share a bond through Sacred Heart School. I am proud to see that one of our own has accomplished much in life and is near on the verge of being, if not already, an international celebrity! Good on you, Mate!)
At Sacred Heart, and I expect St. Christopher’s, students were RARELY expected to learn anything by rote. I remember doing reading comprehensions all the way through Grade 6. Of course this was because our exit exams were administered by the University of London, which meant we were getting a European education. I am sure it prepared us to analyze the world around us and assign value judgments by personal rather than by external standards.
We had “Religion” classes, but I don’t think they helped anyone really find God. Yet, for the most part everyone I know of, has turned out to be productive members of society. Many of them are scattered across the globe. I even know of one who is a cleric. (We were just as surprised as you are now. I don’t know any more details, but I sure hope he didn’t go through Mahmood’s 13 step program to get there)
In any case, it’s a unanimous decision. Teach people to think. God forbid, you lose your power over the people and have to get a real job!
(ps- Mahmood, I couldn’t find your 13-step programme, would you be so kind as to link it to my post? Thank You)
Teaching intolerance
Incidentally, I was just discussing this issue with a group of friends a few days ago. What sparked of the discussion was the actually topics being taught through the religious curriculum, religious intolerance included.
My younger sister is still in highschool at a senior level, a private school with an American system nontheless, but still has to suffer through an hour of Islamic Studies weekly. I was looking through her Islamic Studies book and I must say I was horrified and disgusted to say the least. There is a section in the curriculum which deals with current issues in the Arab or Islamic world. What disgusted me was that the issue of birth control was still up for discussion. The authors of the book that the students are being taught kept reiterating how birth control is against Islamic teachings. He claimed that birth control is a Western attempt to limit the birth of non-Chrisitan children, and is purely a Malthusian Imperialistic ideal. The only methods of contraception that are acceptable by Islam, or so he claimed were withdrawal and rythym.
The scary thought is this: Unwanted teenage pregnancies in the Arab world are on the rise, the rate of sexually transmitted diseases is exponential. The authorities that oversee the making of that curriculum are either in denial or just plain damn ignorant. The fact of the matter is this, although it may seem very Freudian, adolescents and their children are aware of their sexuality, and someone better recognize that fact, and deal with it.
It’s not just religious intolerance that the curriculum is teaching, it’s just plain ignorance.
Teaching intolerance
Mahmood
In the United States, there is considerable controversy regarding an Islam scholar named Tariq Ramadan. He is the Swiss born grandson of Hasan al-Banna, a founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Notre Dame (a private Catholic university) contracted with him to teach Islamic studies. The University is attempting to improve interfaith dialogue and to help their students better understand Islam. Right before this scholar was to arrive, the US state department abruptly pulled his VISA. State department has refused to explain their actions but the rumors floated in the press are that he has links to terrorism and that the Islam that he teaching is not as tolerate as he publicly professes. Mr. Ramadan stridently disagrees and is fighting reverse the government decision in order to fulfill his teaching contract.
Since many Americans don’t know Arabic and are not familiar with Islamic teachings, we have difficultly distinguishing the tolerant moderate clerics/scholars from the intolerant extremist ones. Compounding that problem, within our society, we try and promote an open public space, which is inclusive of a variety of viewpoints. We try to limit and discourage “hate speech�, speech that encourages violence or promotes bigotry. But with most religious teaching occuring privately, much of it falls outside of public scrutiny. This situation has enabled extremists to operate “under the radar� and exploit our system. Clearly interfaith dialogue is desperately needed but how can evaluate those doing the teaching, if we lack the background, context and knowledge to make an accurate judgment?
Teaching intolerance
Mahmood,
I’m a Christian,and have fairly rigid beliefs. I don’t want my kids taught religion in school. I bring them to church,where they can learn from someone a little more motivated. Do all Muslims have exactly the same beliefs,and practice their religion exactly the same? Of course not. Read a chapter of any book to 30 people,and you’ll hear 30 different interpretations. Now,I don’t know how Bahraini schools are,but my children have had teachers who can’t spell at an elementary level. No way would I trust them to teach anything spiritual to an impressionable child.
There are over 2000 Christian denominations in the U.S. Some are really whacky. If children are taught religion in American schools,it is only at the private ones. That way,parents have some idea what the teachers are putting in their kids heads.
Re: Teaching intolerance
I went to a Catholic grade school the first seven years. That’s why I’m not a Catholic. We had daily catechism classes but I didn’t pay attention. The nun teaching us wanted us to hold our books up to show we were paying attention but I propped mine up with big rubber erasers and hid behind it as she droned on. Most of my time in catechism class was spent pulling the elastic thread out of my socks and building cool spiderwebs on the side of my desk. About all I remember from catechism was that there were an awful lot of saints, far more than I could ever remember, and that the Romans were mean to them.
There was also some stuff about venal sins and mortal sins but the nuns were vague about the difference. Venal sins put dark spots on your soul, something like bugs hitting your windshield. Mortal sins, whatever they were, meant you were a goner, straight to hell. They didn’t spell out what hell was like but I imagined it was something like catechism class for eternity with no big erasers nor socks.
You could clean your venal sins away in confession but I had a hard time thinking up sins to confess when I was seven. I usually resorted to confessing that I was mean to my sister but I wasn’t all that sorry about that and had no real intention of stopping. Still, it was good to have my soul washed by confession. You don’t want those stains building up.
I realized the nuns didn’t know what they were talking about in sixth grade when one sister told us you could see the cells in your hand if you looked real close. I was a skeptic after that.
I’d keep the host from Mass in the side of my mouth instead of swallowing it and hold it out on my tongue afterwards to see if it had changed into the body of Christ like the sisters said. Never happenned. It was just bread. Now, if it had been M&Ms or Snickers bars, I would have gone along with the whole sham.
So my solution for curing the kids of religious nonsense is to not give them less of it but give them more of it. Force it down their little throats until they’re sick of it. That will cure them of excessive piety.
Steve
Re: Teaching intolerance
Yes, I think this is a fundamental problem, Ash. For example, our uni has a requirement for 3 credit hours in philosophy or ethics in order to graduate with a BFA. For the first 2 graduating classes, we brought over the chair of the PHI department at our home campus in VA. He taught Intro to PHI as a 3 week accelerated course and it was an excellent primer. I cover areas of philosophical inquiry in my art history courses and was really looking to dovetail with that course with my upper level women’s studies classes.
Unfortunately, due to the small size of our uni and the number of students requiring the course, it was decided that it would be “better” (i.e., easier and cheaper) to simply have the credit hours fulfilled by teaching a locally (our branch campus) generated course called “The Business of Design” which tosses a little “business ethics” in with all its other requirements (like, designing business cards, writings cvs, cover letters, how to set up a small business, etc.). Unless we grow dramatically in size, or there is a change of admin, I doubt this will change.
Yes! We are in desperate need of Philosophy! But we are also in desperate need of classes in World History, Non-Islamic Religion, Anthropology (we do have sociology), World Literature, and many other areas of the humanities. With the other unis now in Education City (Cornell, Carniegie Mellon, and Texas A&M), insha’Allah we will see changes.
Salaam,
PM
Re(1): Teaching intolerance
Steve, I couldn’t help laughing at your description of life in an RC primary school. I went through the same system and it had a similar result. I am now a dedicated atheist.
Do you remember the bits about how the church could grant plenary or partial indulgences in return for a financial contribution to dioscesan funds? What a disgraceful concept! Fancy paying the Bishop to buy your late Grandma out of purgatory. I remember being disgusted at that when I was just nine years old.
However I can’t bring myself to support rote learning. Some kids do see right through it, but there are more who succumb to the brainwashing. If my parents had not been so dedicated to making me think for myself, I might have joined the serried ranks of the religiously ignorant, professionally Irish*, Catholic Women’s League.
*- In the English Catholic Church, you are going nowhere if you can’t lay claim to Irish ancestry. So most of our local congregation are like John Kerry, transiently Irish whenever there is a vacancy on the Church Committee.
Meggie
Re(2): Teaching intolerance
Of course, I’m against buying indulgences to pay your relatives way into heaven. However, I see some merit in paying to ensure some people go to hell. My suspicion is that far too many of the latter are slipping through the cracks.
Steve
Re: Teaching intolerance
Where exactly does Tariq Ramadan fit on the scale between moderate and extremist? While most people have some qualms the ban, this shouldn’t stop legitimate questions being asked about Mr Ramadan – particularly his relationship with Sudanese Islamist theorist and mass murderer Hassan Turabi.
Teaching intolerance
In the Quran it is written what means “They will not accept you until you are like them, and if you did, you will be condemnd”