Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education: Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools 9780367227739, 9780367776442, 9780429276811

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CURRICULUM RENEWAL FOR ISLAMIC EDUCATION

This book demonstrates why and how it is necessary to redesign Islamic ­education curriculum in the K-12 sector globally. From Western public schools that integrate Muslim perspectives to be culturally responsive, to public and ­private schools in Muslim minority and majority contexts that teach Islamic studies as a core subject or teach from an Islamic perspective, the volume highlights the unique global and sociocultural contexts that support the disparate trajectories of Islamic education curricula. Divided into three distinct parts, the text discusses current Islamic education curricula and considers new areas for inclusion as part of a general renewal effort that includes developing curricula from an Islamic worldview, and the current aspirations of Islamic education globally. By providing insights on key concepts related to teaching Islam, case studies of curriculum achievements and pitfalls, and suggested processes and pillars for curriculum development, contributors present possibilities for researchers and educators to think about teaching Islam differently. This text will benefit researchers, doctoral students, and academics in the fields of secondary education, Islamic education, and curriculum studies. Those interested in religious education as well as the sociology and theory of religion more broadly will also enjoy this volume. Nadeem A. Memon is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Thought & Education, University of South Australia, Australia. Mariam Alhashmi is Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Zayed University, United Arab Emirates. Mohamad Abdalla is Director of Centre for Islamic Thought & Education, ­University of South Australia, Australia.

Routledge Research in Religion and Education Series Editor Michael D. Waggoner University of Northern Iowa, USA

1 Faith, Diversity, and Education An Ethnography of a Conservative Christian School Alison H. Blosser 2 The First Amendment and State Bans on Teachers’ Religious Garb Analyzing the Historic Origins of Contemporary Legal Challenges in the United States Nathan C.Walker 3 Improving the Pedagogy of Islamic Religious Education in Secondary Schools The Role of Critical Religious Education and Variation Theory Ayse Demirel Ucan 4 A History of Islamic Schooling in North America Mapping Growth and Evolution Nadeem Ahmed Memon 5 Teaching Sexuality and Religion in Higher Education Embodied Learning,Trauma Sensitive Pedagogy, and Perspective Transformation Edited by Darryl W. Stephens and Kate Ott 6 Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools Edited by Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla 7 Islamic Religious Education in Europe A Comparative Study Edited by Leni Franken and Bill Gent 8 Teaching Religious Literacy to Combat Religious Bullying Insights from North American Secondary Schools W.Y. Alice Chan

CURRICULUM RENEWAL FOR ISLAMIC EDUCATION Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools

Edited by Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla

First published 2021 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Taylor & Francis The right of Nadeem A. Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-22773-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-77644-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-27681-1 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.

For the pioneers, educators, and students of Islamic schooling upon whose shoulders we stand

CONTENTS

List of Figures List of Tables About the Contributors Series Editor Foreword 1 Introduction Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

ix x xi xiii 1

PART 1

Islamic Studies Curriculum

15

2 Qur’an: Curriculum Realities and Ideals Samir Mahmoud

17

3 Fiqh (Practical Living): Curriculum Realities and Ideals Mohamad Abdalla 4 ‘Aqida (Creed): Curriculum Realities and Ideals Mohammed Rustom

35 51

5 Seerah (Prophetic History): Curriculum Realities and Ideals Naved Bakali

63

6 Akhlaq (Character): Curriculum Realities and Ideals Abdullah Trevathan

77

viii  Contents

PART 2

Islamic Worldview Shaping Curriculum

93

7 Teaching Islamic History within a Global Paradigm and Integrated Curriculum Susan L. Douglass

95

8 Science Curriculum from an Islamic Worldview Omar Qureshi 9 A Strength-Based Approach to Religion and Spirituality for Muslim Learners in Health and Physical Education Dylan Chown 10 Approaching Music and Fine Arts from Faith-Centered Muslim Lenses Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla, Samah Taki, and Danielle Jebara

113

125

153

PART 3

Islam Inspired Curriculum Renewal

179

11 Considering Human Development in Islamic Education Claire Alkouatli

181

12 Devising an Islamic Approach to Learning and Teaching Through Hadīth Jibrīl: Reorienting Ourselves Toward Educating from within an Islamic Worldview Farah Ahmed 13 Sitting, Debating, Memorizing, and Discipleship: Considering Historical Patterns of Islamic Pedagogy for Contemporary Islamic Studies Mujadad Zaman

199

213

14 Evaluating, Redeveloping, and Action Planning: Advice for Educators Seema A. Imam

227

15 Conclusion: Emerging Insights on Islamic Education Curriculum Renewal Mariam Alhashmi

242

Index

252

FIGURES

igure 3.1 F Learner responsive fiqh (LRF) Figure 7.1 Traditional world history model Figure 7.2 The world history model Figure 9.1 Students in representative sports uniforms making dua before a game Figure 9.2 Hijabs imported from the Netherlands Figures 9.3A-B Students in action during touch football Figure 9.4 Comparing approaches to sexuality education Figure 9.5 Sexuality education issue statement Figure 9.6 Sexuality education assessment task Figures 9.7-8 Halaqa sessions within the sexuality education unit Figure 9.9 Sustainability audit in Senior Health Education Figure 9.10 “Enhanced forum theatre” in the “Acting Against Bullying,” Health Promoting Schools HPE unit Figure 11.1 Storytelling materials assembled in preparation to tell the Hijrah story Figure 11.2 Preparing to make a meal for Ibrahim Figure 11.3 Making a tent to live in the desert at Mecca Figure 12.1 Conceptual relationships in Islamic ideas of the human person and education

40 103 105 137 138 139 143 144 144 145 146 147 189 190 191 203

TABLES

able 1.1 Teaching Islam Curriculum Orientations T 6 Table 10.1 Islamic assessment of sound-arts (adapted from Al Faruqi, 1987, p. 8) 162 Table 10.2 Practical guide to Islamic art 166 Table 10.3 Primary years (K-6) ideas that align with Australian syllabus 170 Table 10.4 Secondary years (7–12) ideas that align with Australian syllabus 173 Table 11.1 Islamically coherent leading activities 188 Table 11.2 Sample dialogic halaqah lesson plan 193 Table 12.1 Conceptualizing an ontology of the Muslim self and Muslim communities through foundational concepts given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl204

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Mohamad Abdalla, PhD, Director of Centre for Islamic Thought & Education,

University of South Australia, Australia. Farah Ahmed,  PhD, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, Faculty of

Education, University of Cambridge. Mariam Alhashmi,  PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Education, Zayed

University, United Arab Emirates. Claire Alkouatli,  PhD, Human Development Consultant, Vice Rectorate for

Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Princess Nourah University, Saudi Arabia; Adjunct Professor, Centre for Islamic Thought and Education, University of South Australia, Australia. Naved Bakali, PhD, Assistant Professor, American University in Dubai, United

Arab Emirates. Dylan Chown, Lecturer, Centre for Islamic Thought & Education, University

of South Australia, Australia. Susan L. Douglass,  PhD, K-14 Education Outreach Director, Center for

Contemporary Arab Studies and Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, USA. Seema A. Imam, PhD, Professor, National Louis University, USA. Danielle Jebara, Visual Arts Teacher, Irfan College, Sydney, Australia. Frances M. Leap, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies, Seton Hill University,

USA.

xii  About the Contributors

Samir Mahmoud, PhD (University of Cambridge), Director of Living Turath

Initiative, Sydney, Australia.  Nadeem Memon,  PhD, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Islamic Thought &

Education, University of South Australia, Australia. Omar Qureshi, PhD, Provost of Zaytuna College, USA. Mohammed Rustom,  PhD, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Carleton

University, Canada. Samah Taki, Primary School Teacher, Irfan College, Sydney, Australia. Abdullah Trevathan, PhD, lectures in Philosophy and Comparative Religion,

University Al Akhawayn, Ifrane, Morocco. Mujadad Zaman,  PhD, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Center for Islamic

Theology, University of Tubingen, Germany.

SERIES EDITOR FOREWORD

The opening years of the 21st century brought increased attention to religion as an important dimension of culture and politics. Early in this period, the dramatic multi-pronged attacks of September 11, 2001 came as a jolting reminder of the potential for violent action that can have bases in religious motivations. Over the same period, we came to see an increase in religiously motivated activity in politics. In the United States, we see this in the evolution from the Moral Majority movement that emerged as a force in the late 1970s as the beginning of the New Religious Right. On further reflection, however, we can see the involvement of religion extending much further back as a fundamental part of our social organization rather than a new or emerging phenomenon. We need only recall the religious wars of early modern Europe through to the contentious development of US church and state relations as evidence of the longstanding role religion has played as a source of competing values and beliefs. That said, there has been a significant upturn in research and scholarship across many disciplines relative to the study of religion in recent decades. This is particularly the case in the area of the interplay of education and religion. While religious education – study toward formation in a particular faith tradition – has been with us for millennia, religion education – study about religion as an academic subject apart from theology is more recent. Whereas theology departments proceeded from religious assumptions aiming to promulgate a faith tradition, the religious studies field emerged as a discipline that sought to bring a more objective social scientific approach to the study of religion. The origins of this approach date back to the European research centres that influenced US scholars beginning in the 18th century. The formalization of this trend, however, is a fairly recent phenomenon as illustrated by the 1949 formation of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion with its own scholarly journal and the creation of religious studies departments across the United States in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision in 1963 that allowed teaching about religion (rather than for) in public education institutions. It was also that same year that the American Academy of Religion was born out of a group of

xiv  Series Editor Foreword

scholars that had since 1909 been meeting under the various names related to biblical study. It is out of this relatively recent increase in scholarly attention to religion and education that this book series arises. Routledge Publishers have long been an important presence in the respective fields of religion and of education. It seemed like a natural step to introduce a book series focused particularly on Research in Religion and Education. My appreciation extends to Max Novick for guiding this series into being in 2011 and now to Elsbeth Wright, for continuing Routledge’s oversight. In this 19th book in this series, Curriculum Renewal for Islamic Education: Critical Perspectives on Teaching Islam in Primary and Secondary Schools, editors and authors Nadeem Memon, Mariam Alhashmi, and Mohamad Abdalla bring together multiple authors to address approaches to curriculum renewal for Islamic education. The manner in which this project is framed as well as the way authors offer their individual perspectives requires clarification of some key terms at the outset. First is Islamic education. Memon writes that Islamic education or Islamic studies denote the study of Islam for faith formation or “education into religion (i.e. for Muslims by Muslims) and as a subject of study in K-12 schooling”. . . including “the study of Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, Aqida, and Akhlaq, that can be taught at varying levels of depth and complexity depending on the institution’s educational aims.” (p. 2–3) In addition to the emphasis on “education into religion,” there are a number of chapters that can be helpful to readers who work in public settings and have occasion for “education about religion.” A second and fundamentally important term is renewal. In this context, as underscored by Mariam Alhashmi in the concluding chapter, renewal is meant as “tradition renewal” (tajdeed al-turath) as elucidated by Shaikh Ahmad at-Tayyeb, a leading authority on Sunni Islam and Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt. This understanding results in continuing “the essence of the Islamic tradition in ways that are rejuvenating, authentic, applicable for our contexts, and relevant to learners.” (p. 242). It focuses on “dealing with the old tradition as subjective reality that is subject to renewal while preserving firmly established roots” (at-Tayyeb, 2014, p. 37). This is opposed to an alternate meaning of renewal, “renewal and tradition” (alturath wa altajdeed) that means “reinterpreting the tradition based on the requirements and the needs of the times, where tradition is the means and renewal is the end.” (at-Tayyeb, 2014, p. 37). Within these parameters there is substantial latitude in teaching Islam as there is no overarching coordinating authority that oversees schools or curriculum. Memon sees this as an opportunity rather than a challenge: “The distinct contextual needs and aspirations of each school and schooling context deserves a curriculum that supports those particular aspirations.” (p. 5)

Series Editor Foreword xv

One consistency through the book, however, is that the contributors’ orientation stems from the Sunni tradition of Islam while at the same time attempting “multi-perspectivity (Toledo Guiding Principles) within their curriculum are where diverse perspectives are considered and illuminated.” (p. 5) The fifteen chapters of the book are divided into three parts. Part 1 is entitled Islamic Studies Curriculum and features the broad subject of faith formation that will be of particular interest for madrassas’ educators as well as those who teach in Islamic schools. Part 2, Islamic Worldview Shaping Curriculum, will be of interest to those who seek to integrate Islam across the curriculum; this will include public school educators as well as those who work in Islamic schools. The concluding section – Part 3, Islam Inspired Curriculum Renewal – is ­aspirational in character. It addresses foundational topics including human development, teaching and learning, and curriculum planning in the context of Islamic education in hopes of inspiring innovation in all setting where teaching Islam occurs. Dr Memon and his colleagues present a coherent and nuanced treatment of the issues involved in curriculum renewal in Islamic education. Any educator who aims to teach Islam either for faith formation or as a part of a secular program of education about religion will profit from insights found in this book. Michael D. Waggoner Series Editor, Routledge Research in Religion and Education

1 INTRODUCTION Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

Why This Book, Why Now This book came together in response to the curriculum renewal aspirations of educators globally in schools that teach Islam. Over the past 40 years, significant strides have been made from national curriculum initiatives to individual schools, school consortiums, and Muslim educator networks in Muslim minority contexts, and notably also textbook publishers and sole authors globally to produce curriculum and curriculum resources about teaching Islam. These efforts relate directly to addressing the educational gap in early years, primary, middle, and secondary schools both in formal and informal education settings. They also refer to the varying contexts of teaching Islam for faith formation in Islamic education settings, and teaching Islam for awareness about religion in public/state school settings. Despite the collective and individual efforts of concerned and committed Muslim (and non-Muslim) educators globally in developing curriculum frameworks, maps and resources, there remains a concerted recognition that curriculum renewal is needed and must be ongoing. Among other concerns, empirical and conceptual research has shown that the bifurcation of “secular” and “Islamic Studies” in Islamic education settings such as Islamic schools is problematic. Research on educator, parent, and student voice has reiterated that the teaching of Islam must relate to the lived experiences of young people and be taught in ways that engage and inspire young Muslims. And anecdotally, every school leader and educator we have spoken with has expressed the need for support in curriculum renewal for educational settings that teach Islam. We, therefore, approach this book acknowledging the breadth of the field and its distinct contexts, and by virtue, distinct challenges.

2  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

Why Curriculum Renewal Calls for curriculum renewal are not new either. For instance, since the late 1980s educators in the UK have argued that the teaching of Islamic studies in British Muslim schools and the teaching of Religious Education (RE) in state schools requires an overhaul (Ashraf 1985). Recent studies about teaching Islamic studies in Australian Islamic schools re-affirm that students find the way Islam is taught disinteresting, irrelevant to their lives, decontextualized, and dogmatic (Abdalla 2018; Abdalla, Chown and Memon 2020). And Muslim learners in state/public schools argue that Islam is taught in ways that “does not represent their own experiences and interpretations of the faith” ( Jackson et al. 2010, 10). Elleissy (2018), an Australian Imam and current principal of one of the country’s most established dar al-ulums (K-12 Islamic school), describes the curriculum challenge in schools thus: Reflecting upon my personal experience as a child being educated in an Islamic school in Victoria, the Islamic discourse that we were exposed to as young Australian Muslims was, to a variable extent, disengaging, and unfortunately, little progress has been made in recent years. Religious instruction is mainly about the Islamic Studies period whereby narratives of the Prophet and his companions are put before the students as pure historical events. Basic jurisprudence is taught essentially as the dos and don’ts, without much insight into the rationale for these laws … (Elleissy 2018, 229) Reflecting on global Islamic education contexts through his work as an academic and a contemporary Muslim thinker, Winter (2016) argues that madrassas and Islamic schools have become more consumed in defending their theological orientation over an inspirational curriculum. RE curriculum in the UK remains equally uninspiring. In Thobani’s (2017) study of RE syllabi and textbooks, he argues that the most common approach to teaching Islam remains the “five pillars approach” that largely dismisses differences and diversities among Muslims; Muslim ways of knowing, and being.

Who is This Book For? Berglund (2015) offers an important typology on religious education that helps demarcate who this book is for. She outlines three types of religious education: Education into religion introduces the pupil to a specific religious tradition, with the purpose of promoting personal, moral, and spiritual development as well as to build religious identity within a particular tradition …. Education

Introduction 3

about religion utilizes a more or less academic examination of various religious traditions …. Education from religion takes the personal experience of the pupil as its principal point of departure.” (Berglund, 2015, p.5) This book is aimed at educators in Islamic education settings and academic researchers who study them – particularly those who aspire to renew curriculum through research and practice related to “education into religion.” There are also a number of chapters in Part II of the book that we are confident educators and researchers in state/public schools who “educate about religion” and “educate from religion” will find beneficial. In particular, with a growing commitment to equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive pedagogy globally in the education sector, educators and researchers committed to drawing from the “funds of knowledge” and “lifeworlds” (Chown 2019; Hattam, Sawyer and Gannon 2018; Zipin 2009) of Muslim learners will find many of the chapters in this book useful.

Clarifying Key Terms: Islamic/Muslim Studies/Education There are a number of common terms in the broader field of Islamic education studies (Sahin 2018) that are used interchangeably by some and strategically by others. For those interested in conceptualizations around terminology related to Islamic education can consider the following publications for further reading: Sahin (2014, 2018); Niyozov and Memon (2011); Ahmed (2018); and Douglass and Shaikh (2004). For the purpose of this book, below are brief explanations of the key terms commonly used in the field along with clarification on how each term is being used throughout the book: 1. Islamic Education or Islamic Studies: Both terms are commonly used to refer to the study of Islam for faith formation or “education into religion” (i.e. for Muslims by Muslims) and as a subject of study in K-12 schooling. Islamic Education/Studies generally includes many sub-disciplines such as the study of Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh, Aqida, and Akhlaq, that can be taught at varying levels of depth and complexity depending on the institution’s educational aims. 2. Integrating Islam, Islamizing, or Islamic Worldview: In matters of curriculum, the term “integration” is increasingly common in Islamic education settings and refers to an aspiration of drawing on Islamic values, beliefs, perspectives, history, or heritage within existing secular school curricula. The term “Islamize” predates “Integrating Islam” and today is used interchangeably in the K-12 Islamic schooling sector. Some Muslim educators and academics challenge the conception of Integrating or Islamizing

4  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

by calling for a curriculum that is rooted in an Islamic worldview first as its foundation as opposed to appending Islamic perspectives onto an existing curriculum framework. 3. Islamic or Muslim Schools: There is also a debate between whether the term “Islamic” or “Muslim” is more accurate when referring to educational settings (i.e. schools) and education broadly. Those who lean toward the use of the term “Islamic” claim that schools with an education that is informed by Islam ought to be referred to as “Islamic.” Whereas those who contend “Muslim” is more accurate do so either because “Muslim” reflects the diversity of enactments of Islam (Panjwani 2004) or because “Islamic” is aspirational and existing schools are far from being considered “Islamic” (Douglass and Shaikh 2004). In this volume, we have not imposed a particular usage of the terms above on contributors. Depending on the context the contributor is writing from and perspective they hold on some of the debated terms, the reader will come across terms being used distinctly from chapter to chapter. The above stated brief clarifications are intended to support you in identifying what perspective an author may be taking and to be able to appreciate distinctions across chapters. A final clarification is on the use of the term “Teaching Islam.” We employ in this book the term “Teaching Islam” because of its broad applicability to the varying educational settings and aims where Islam is taught. Although this book is primarily geared for those working in Islamic school settings, we are confident those in other educational settings will find significant benefit in many of the contributions. We, therefore, define “Teaching Islam” broadly to be inclusive of Berglund’s (2015) aforementioned three categories of teaching religion: education into religion, education about religion, and education from religion.

Whose Perspective(s) Does the Book Reflect? We approach this book with the recognition that as a global Muslim community there is no overarching education authority that oversees our schools. In Muslim majority contexts, ministries of education serve as the curriculum authority. However, in Muslim minority contexts, schools that teach Islam have significant flexibility in how and who informs what is taught. In both contexts, curriculum reflects the voice, perspective(s), and theological orientation of a select few. What aspects of Islam are emphasized and why, to what extent, and at what age are determined subjectively. Any attempt at curriculum renewal in either context must, therefore, begin with such fundamental questions. It is our view that the absence of an overarching education authority is an opportunity more than a challenge. Whether curriculum is being developed for nation-wide implementation or an individual privately owned Islamic school,

Introduction 5

developing bespoke curriculum on teaching Islam serves as an opportunity to showcase the richness of diversity and interpretation on how Islam can be approached. The distinct contextual needs and aspirations of each school and schooling context deserves a curriculum that supports those particular aspirations. Later in this introduction, we provide a high-level categorization of some of these distinctions. However, at this stage, suffice it to say that this book is designed not to impose a particular way of viewing curriculum aspirations or approaches, but rather to encourage reflection toward collaborative renewal in your own schooling context. The educators and/or academics in this volume bring a collective experience and commitment to the field of teaching Islam. Each of the contributors are or have been leaders in schools, developers of curriculum, curriculum advisors, or researchers who have empirically assessed curriculum. The contributors each bring depth of experience with existing curriculum and learning resources that are available. Embedded in each of their chapters is a constructive critique of curriculum that are commonly used and considerations for how to approach curriculum renewal in their area of expertise. The chapters should be approached as a subjective and individual reflection on a particular curriculum area. The views of one contributor are not reflective of others necessarily, or the editors as a collective. The critiques are not intended to take away or demean the sincere efforts of those who have tirelessly contributed to what exists. Rather, the critiques and way forward articulated in each chapter are intended to be read as guiding considerations to inspire renewed thinking. We acknowledge also the important critique that teaching Islam in the K-12 Islamic schooling sector has largely been unidimensional and the theological, orientational, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Muslim communities have been overlooked (Panjwani and Revell 2018, Thobani 2017). For the purpose of focus on a particular segment of Islamic educational settings as the primary audience of this book, the contributors approach their chapters from within and toward the Sunni tradition. However, each contributor has done so with an attempt to speak to the multiperspectivity (Toledo Guiding Principles) within their curriculum area where diverse perspectives are considered and illuminated.

Start by Identifying Your “Curriculum Orientation” We have approached this volume with the recognition that there are also varying curriculum orientations within the field of teaching Islam. Similar to any other subject of study, there are multiple approaches, angles, or perspectives that a subject can be approached from. For example, Grossman (1991) illustrates three broader approaches to teaching English, and Holtz (2003) outlines nine orientations for teaching the Bible. A curriculum orientation “is not a technique or method of teaching” but rather “a conceptual model of teaching that subject. It is

6  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

a teacher’s fundamental stance toward a particular subject that encompasses a conception of purposes (of teaching that subject) and a set of paradigmatic practices” (Levisohn 2010). In his work on Jewish school curriculum, Levisohn (2010) insists that curriculum orientations are (a) not mutually exclusive; (b) not fixed; and (c) not hierarchical. They are stances of what is prioritized and what is left out, what is emphasized, and what is rendered complementary. At a macro level, it is common knowledge that the curriculum of a madrassa, a full-time Islamic school, and a weekend Islamic school is distinct in depth and breadth. However, at a micro level there are also distinct orientations. All Islamic schools will likely teach Qur’an but some will emphasize memorization over comprehension, others vocabulary over thematic stories, and yet others phonetic over whole-language. Each of these are orientations to teaching Qur’an. We feel orientations are critical in defining how the teaching of Islam is being approached. Every educational institution has an orientation, often an emerging one, but one that reflects the views, perspectives, and strengths of those in positions of authority. Not making the curriculum orientation explicit commonly results in disagreement between educators and within the parent community on how Islam should be taught and what ought to be emphasized. The absence of articulating the curriculum orientation also leads to schools being consumed with low-level curriculum reform around lesson-planning templates and textbook selection as opposed to high-level curriculum renewal related to aims, objectives, and outcomes. The following mapping of curriculum orientations will be useful in determining institutional curriculum positioning and/or curriculum research focus. TABLE 1.1  Teaching Islam Curriculum Orientations

Institution

Orientation

Madrassa

Qur’an

• Qur’an memorization, science of recitation Religious • Religious sciences: Aqida, sciences Fiqh, Hadith, etc. Contemporary • Kalam (Practical issues Theology), Inter/Intra Faith

Karamali (2017) Winter (2016) Boyle (2004) Abdalla (2018)

Islamic school (Full-time and weekend)

Appended

Memon (2019) Shah (2016) Waghid and Davids (2014)

Integrated Grounded Character Civic

Focus

• Islamic Studies as a single subject • Islamic values cross-curricular • Islamic worldview informs curriculum design • Islamic values related to moral uprightness • Islamic values related to civic responsibility

Further reading

Introduction 7 TABLE 1.1  (Continued)

Institution

Orientation

Focus

Further reading

Islamic studies/ Beliefs and • Rudimentary level learnReligious observances ing of beliefs and practice Education History and • Civilizational history and heritage cultural heritage Contemporary • Religious worldviews challenges explored via inquiry

Thobani (2017) Niyozov and Memon (2011) Alhashmi, Bakali and Baroud (2020) Douglass and Shaikh (2004)

World religions/ Comparative • Multi-faith belief systems education Common value • systems Identity •

ODIHR (2007) Panjwani and Revell (2018) Berglund (2015)

Comparative religions on belief and observance Religious values in contemporary global issues Intra-religious diversity and diverse enactments of religious expressions

Table 1.1 reflects our collective reading of the field but is not definitive and open to interpretation. It is an attempt to facilitate the way educators approach this volume and consider curriculum renewal in their educational institutions. The following descriptions elaborate on each of the institutional types and orientations outlined in the table above.

Madrassa Madrassas at the K-12 level generally focus on imparting a strong foundation in the Islamic religious sciences such as Qur’anic recitation, memorization, and exegesis, fiqh ( jurisprudence related to religious observance), and aqida (the study of creed) among other ancillary sciences. Madrassa curriculum is commonly taught through a series of agreed upon texts that have been used, in some instances, over centuries. These texts are specific for each of the sciences and are known to provide foundation, intermediate, and advanced levels of understanding. In most contemporary madrassas, “secular studies” that include math, science, and English are commonly included but given less priority over Islamic studies. Within the formal teaching of Islamic studies there are also distinct curriculum orientations. We have outlined three models as a broad overview but far more nuanced distinctions likely can be made. For simplicity, we suggest the following: (1) Madrassa programs that emphasize Qur’an memorization and/ or the science of recitation. The overall outcome in such programs is to ensure the preservation of the Qur’an across generations. (2) There are also madrassa programs that place emphasis on the religious sciences that include either a foundational, intermediate, or advanced study of Islamic law, exegesis, Prophetic tradition, and so on. These programs aspire to prepare religious leaders who are

8  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

able to lead mosques and Muslim organizations. (3) A third curriculum orientation in madrassa, often reserved for advanced study, is the study of ilm-al-kalam or practical theology that places a particular focus on religious responses to contemporary challenges. In programs such as these, there are commonly aspects of comparative religion through inter- and intra-religious study. In some cases, these three curriculum orientations can be combined.

Islamic Schools Islamic schools in the K-12 sector are a growing segment of educational institutions serving Muslim communities globally. Among immigrant communities in the West, they began as weekend schools that provided a way for Muslim families to preserve religious beliefs and practices while sending their children to secular public schools. Weekend schools continue to blossom in contexts such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK where the vast majority of school age Muslim students continue to attend state/public schools. Fulltime Islamic schools emerged from the weekend school concept to provide an alternative to state/public education with an Islamic ethos. Similar to other faith-based schools, K-12 Islamic schools are also emerging in Muslim majority contexts where age-old dichotomy between madrassas and state schools no longer suffices for parents looking for something that combines the best of both. Islamic schools place significant emphasis on adhering to state accreditation requirements that includes curriculum compliance and competing in standardized achievement tests while doing so within an “Islamic ethos.” The Islamic component within these schools, however, is becoming a definitive feature distinguishable by unique curriculum orientations. The following are five curriculum orientations we have observed. (1) The first is what is commonly referred to as the Appended Orientation. The Appended Orientation mirrors state curriculum and appends Islamic perspectives and content where possible. (2) Islamic schools that find appending Islam to be sporadic aspire for an Integrated Curriculum Orientation where Islamic values inform cross curricular themes. (3) Some schools find integration insufficient in challenging the secular worldview of state curriculum and attempt to rewrite curriculum beginning with the Islamic worldview in what we would refer to as a Grounded Orientation. (4) An emerging group of Islamic schools are placing less curriculum emphasis on Islamic content over Islamic character and therefore a Character Orientation. (5) Lastly, a Civic Engagement Orientation places a greater emphasis on “being Muslim” through acts of social and civic responsibility. These orientations are by no means hierarchical or mutually exclusive. Many Islamic schools have multiple if not all elements of the five described. However, increasingly, Islamic schools are beginning to define themselves by their curriculum orientation as a point of distinction.

Introduction 9

Islamic Studies/Islamic Religious Education Islamic studies and/or Islamic Religious Education (IRE) are taught as a formal subject of inquiry globally and within varying curriculum orientations. In Muslim majority contexts, Islamic studies or Islamic education is taught in the K-12 sector within state/public education as a subject of study for those who identify as Muslim. In Muslim minority contexts, Islamic studies is either taught in Islamic schools as a core curriculum subject (in most) or in state schools as Religious Education for faith formation such as in the UK, Germany, and other European countries. In each of these cases, Islamic studies/education or IRE is taught by believers for believers and is distinct from the teaching about Islam to those outside the faith. In all cases such curriculum focuses on foundational beliefs and observances but does so with varying orientations. (1) Irrespective of the contexts outlined above, the first curriculum orientation is a focus on Beliefs and Observances or what Thobani (2017) refers to as the “5 Pillars Approach.” A focus on foundational belief and observance is undoubtedly addressed in varying degrees of depth and breadth from a Muslim majority or a minority context, however, essentially the aim remains the same of reinforcing foundations of Islamic creed, law, Prophetic tradition, and way and an affinity for the Qur’an. (2) In Muslim majority contexts in particular, Islamic studies is taught in combination with a history and heritage of Islam that fosters appreciation for the cultural narrative that binds national identity. In Western contexts, Islamic history and heritage as a curriculum orientation or focus remains more aspirational due to time constraints and emerging curriculum integration attempts. (3) A third and final curriculum orientation in Islamic studies is the recognition to engage Muslim learners with the lived realities around them. A focus on contemporary challenges includes global social, political, and economic discussions including inter- and intra-religious dialogue and diversity.

World Religions/Multi-Faith Education Islam is also taught in public/state school settings to all learners from a phenomenological approach (Thobani 2017) or what Berglund (2015) refers to as “education about religion.” In this approach, Islam is approached objectively as a phenomenon to be studied academically. Teaching about other faiths is commonly addressed in social studies, history, geography, and in world religions courses. Emerging research confirms that students who learn about other faiths from a young age reduces hate and discrimination toward religious minorities (Halafoff et al. 2019). However, the way that a religious tradition is introduced, from whose perspective, and with what emphasis is highly contentious. Some research finds that the way Islam is addressed is with a deficit view, if not outright inaccuracy, or in ways deemed outrightly discriminatory (Abdalla 2018,

10  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

Douglass and Shaikh 2004, Mc Andrew 2010). Others argue that the version of Islam taught does not represent the differences and diversities among Muslims (Panjwani 2018, Thobani 2017). Both critiques reflect the following emerging curriculum orientations in this space. (1) Comparative Belief Systems is the most conventional way that religion is taught in public school curriculum. Religions are commonly compared to each other on the basis of how each was established, by whom, when, defining beliefs, observances, and perspectives. This orientation commonly reflects distinctions and differences. (2) An emerging curriculum orientation is to emphasize commonalities. In attempts to foster social cohesion, the study of religion that has been emerging attempts to draw similarities across faith traditions with a focus on common values reflected in religious texts and practices. Karen Armstrong’s efforts on the Charter for Compassion is one notable attempt that is being reflected in school curricula. (3) The final orientation in this area is one that focuses on a constructivist notion of religion, or what Berglund (2015) refers to as education from religion, where the individual identity of a faith-centered student is paramount. The latter orientation also reflects attempts by the Toledo Guiding Principles about teaching religion in public schools where religion ought to be approached from the multiple perspectives from which adherents approach their own faith.

Why Curriculum Orientations Matter The lengthy discussion on curriculum orientations is an important starting point when approaching this book for a couple of reasons: 1. Learning Contexts Differ: Every learning context where Islam is taught is unique – including those that are seemingly the same. To assume, for example, that all Islamic schools or all madrassas have the same aims, aspirations, and by virtue approach to curriculum denies the richness of diversity of educational philosophy and perspective. The 14 orientations that we have mapped across 4 institutional settings is our subjective attempt at mapping curricular distinctions. 2. Orientation Clarity Will Drive Curriculum Renewal: If a school or educational institution is unclear on their overriding curriculum orientation they fall prey to confusion in curricular aims and potential. How can a school begin a curriculum renewal process in the absence of knowing what they deem most important? Each curriculum orientation has a unique focus and outcome. Granted many orientations overlap and are not mutually exclusive but in most cases one orientation remains the overriding emphasis. 3. Be Aspirational: By identifying where your curriculum emphasis has been in relation to what other orientations exist you have an opportunity to be aspirational. We anticipate that you will approach this book in one

Introduction 11

of two ways: either to (1) deepen and strengthen your existing curriculum orientation or (2) to iterate toward a different curriculum orientation that you were likely aware of but paid less emphasis to. We are confident that by identifying your curriculum orientation in relation to other approaches your curriculum renewal efforts will have fodder for thinking anew.

How to Approach This Book This book is structured in three parts with a total of 15 chapters. The following is a description of each part along with suggestions of who may find particular chapters most useful.

Part A: Islamic Studies Curriculum The first part of the book focuses on teaching of Islamic Studies as a broader subject of faith formation. For educators in madrassas and Islamic Studies educators in Islamic schools, you will find Part A particularly relevant. We have attempted to include chapter contributions in each of the core areas that are included in the formal study of Islam in the K-12 sector. Each chapter in Part A attempts to provide a similar structure that includes an overview of the curricular area (e.g. Fiqh or Aqida), what is commonly addressed in curriculum related to this area, and what ought to be considered. Each of the chapters here provides a constructive critique of existing curricula and/or learning resources such as textbooks that are commonly used in Islamic schools and/or state curricula in Muslim majority contexts. The review of curricula does not claim to be comprehensive of what exists globally, but rather a subjective reading of a sample of some popular Islamic Studies curricula content that is publicly available. Most of the curricula for review are those available in English and in some instances in Arabic. The intent of the critiques offered in these chapters is to inspire curriculum renewal across the Islamic studies sector, not to take away from the tremendous efforts that have been invested into developing existing curricula. Each chapter provides suggestions for a way forward within each subject area intended to foster debate and discussion in curriculum writing committees. For those who develop and impart Islamic studies curriculum, it is hoped that they will find points of inspiration for renewed curriculum thinking in these chapters.

Part B: Islamic Worldview Shaping Curriculum The second part of the book turns its attention to subjects where an Islamic worldview is commonly discussed, debated, and sought after. Part B does not address all subject areas that are considered “core” curriculum. However, subjects that are often deemed contentious such as music and health and physical

12  Nadeem A. Memon and Mohamad Abdalla

education are. Part B will be particularly relevant to educators who work in Islamic schools that aspire to “integrate” Islam across the curriculum, as well as public/state schools where educators aspire to be religiously responsive to Muslim learners. Where relevant, each chapter draws on existing approaches to how the subject is currently taught, personal experiences of what worked and what did not, how Islamic perspectives can be made relevant, and considerations for a way forward. Each chapter also provides references to learning resources or curriculum models that reflect the approach being offered. Similar to other contributions in the book, the chapters in Part B should be approached with the acknowledgement that these are perspectives being offered by highly experienced educators in their area of contribution, yet they remain a perspective, not the only way forward. After many years of grappling with ways to authentically draw on Islam in these subject areas, the contributors of Part B offer, in some cases, scathing critiques of the narrow ways that Islam has been integrated into these subject areas while calling for relatively robust curriculum redevelopment. In Islamic school settings where private/independent schools generally have more flexibility for innovative curriculum, we are confident these chapters will push boundaries on what is possible. And in public/state school settings where educators aspire to be religiously responsive, these chapters will, at minimum, challenge minimalist conceptions of equity and inclusion when it comes to drawing on religious worldviews and ways of knowing.

Part C: Islam Inspired Curriculum Renewal The final part of the book speaks to the aspirations of Islamic schools globally that aspire for curriculum renewal. It offers the necessary foundations of curriculum renewal that include considerations related to what matters most, why, and when. Chapters on human development, teaching and learning, and considerations for action planning curriculum renewal are provided. For the many Islamic schools that aspire for distinction through a cutting-edge curriculum that brings their school vision to life, these chapters will be instrumental in charting a way forward. We anticipate these final chapters to be used in schoolwide professional learning communities and curriculum development committees to serve as fodder for discussion. The contributors of these chapters carry with them decades of experience in some cases of establishing, leading, and renewing Islamic schools that take the Islam part seriously. These closing chapters will ensure that any curriculum renewal initiative is done with breadth and depth – interweaving the importance of curriculum, teaching, and assessment from an Islamic worldview. For academic researchers, we hope that this book provides clarity of curriculum orientations and stimulates directions for ongoing research on Islamic education. For educators, we hope that the contributions in this book serve as

Introduction 13

a catalyst for curriculum renewal and inspire innovative educational practice in Islamic schools globally.

References Abdalla, M. (2018). “Islamic studies in Islamic schools: Evidence-based renewal.” In Mohamad A., Dylan C. and Muhammad A. (Eds.), Islamic Schooling in the West Pathways to Renewal. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 257–283. Abdalla, M., Chown, D., & Memon, N. (2020). “Islamic studies in Australian Islamic schools: Learner Voice,” Religions (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 11, no. 8, p. 404. Ahmed, F. (2018). “An exploration of Naquib Al-Attas’ theory of Islamic education as ‘Ta’dib’ as an ‘Indigenous’ educational philosophy,” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 50, no. 8, pp. 786–794. Alhashmi, M., Bakali, N., & Baroud, R. (2020). “Tolerance in UAE Islamic education textbooks,” Religions (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 11, no. 8, p. 377. Ashraf, S. A. (1985). New Horizons in Muslim Education. Hodder and Stoughton and Jeddah: King Abdulaziz University. Berglund, J. (2015). Publicly Funded Islamic education in Europe and the United States. The Brookings Project on US Relations with the Islamic World Analysis Paper | No. 21, April 2015. Boyle, H. N. (2004). Quranic Schools Agents of Preservation and Change. RoutledgeFalmer: New York. Chown, D. (2019).“Culturally responsive pedagogy: Respecting the diversity of learners studying Humanities and Social Science.” In Green D. and Price D. (Ed.), Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. Douglass, S. L., and Shaikh, M. A. (2004). “Defining Islamic education: Differentiation and applications,” Current Issues in Comparative Education, vol. 7, no.1, pp. 5–18. Elleissy, A. (2018). “Attaining the ‘Islamic’ in Islamic schools.” In A. Mohamad, C. Dylan, & A. Muhammad (Eds.), Islamic Schooling in the West: Pathways to Renewal. Cham, Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 227–238. Grossman, P. (1991). “What are we talking about anyway? Subject-matter knowledge of secondary English teachers.” In J. Brophy (Ed.), Advances in Research on Teaching. New York: JAI, pp. 245–264. Halafoff, A., Singleton, A., Bouma, G., & Rasmussen, M. L. (2019). “Religious literacy of Australia’s Gen Z teens: Diversity and social inclusion,” Journal of Beliefs and Values, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 1–19. Hattam, R., Sawyer, W., & Gannon, S. (2018). Reclaiming educational equality: Towards a manifesto. In S. Gannon, R. Hattam, & W. Sawyer (Eds.), Resisting Educational Inequality – Reframing Policy and Practice in Schools Serving Vulnerable Communities. Australia: Routledge. Holtz, B. (2003). Textual Knowledge: Teaching the Bible in Theory and Practice. New York: JTS Press. Jackson, R., Ipgrave, J., Hayward, M., Hopkins, P., Fancourt, N., Robbins, M., … McKenna, U. (2010). Materials Used to Teach about World Religions in Schools in England (Research Report DCSF-RR197). University of Warwick. Karamali, H. (2017). The Madrassa Curriculum in Context. Kalam Media and Research: Abu Dhabi, UAE. Levisohn, J. A. (2010). “A menu of orientations to the teaching of Rabbinic Literature,” Journal of Jewish Education, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 4–51.

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Mc Andrew, M. (2010). “The Muslim community and education in Quebec: Controversies and mutual adaptation,” Journal of International Migration and Integration/Revue de L’integration et de La Migration Internationale, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 41–58. Memon, N. A. (2019). A history of Islamic Schooling in North America: Mapping Growth and Evolution. Routledge: New York. Niyozov, S., & Memon, N. A. (2011). “Islamic education and Islamization: Evolution of themes, continuities and new directions,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 5–30. Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). (2007). Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools. Warsaw, Poland: OSCE/ ODIHR. Panjwani, F. (2004). “The ‘Islamic’ in Islamic education: Assessing the discourse,” Current Issues in Comparative Education, vol. 7, no.1, pp. 1–11. Panjwani, F., & Revell, L. (2018).“Religious education and hermeneutics: The case of teaching about Islam,” British Journal of Religious Education, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 268–276. Sahin, A. (2014). New Directions in Islamic Education: Pedagogy and Identity Formation. London: Kube Publishing. Sahin, A. (2018). “Critical issues in Islamic education studies: Rethinking Islamic and Western liberal secular values of education,” Religions, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 1–29. Shah, S. (2016). Islamic faith schools: dynamics of debates. In Education, Leadership and Islam: Theories, Discourses and Practices from an Islamic Perspective (pp. 137–169). London, England ; New York, New York: Routledge. Thobani, S. (2017).“The religious–secular interface and representations of Islam in phenomenological religious education,” Oxford Review of Education, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 612–625. Waghid,Y. & Davids, N. (2014). “Islamic Education, Possibilities, Opportunities and Tensions: Introduction to the Special Issue,” Studies in Philosophy and Education, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 227–231. Winter, T. (2016). “Education as ‘drawing out’: The forms of Islamic reason.” In N. A. Memon, & M. Zaman (Eds.), Philosophies of Islamic Education : Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses. New York: Routledge, pp. 26–42. Zipin, L. (2009). “Dark funds of knowledge, deep funds of pedagogy: Exploring boundaries between lifeworlds and schools,” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 317–331.

PART I

Islamic Studies Curriculum

2 QUR’AN CURRICULUM REALITIES AND IDEALS Samir Mahmoud

Introduction The Quran is for Muslims the Word of God, revealed during the period of 23 years of the mission of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through the agency of the Archangel Gabriel ( Jibril). It was brought down (tanzil) from a level of reality beyond time the Quran (85:22) calls the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz). This Divine Authorship confers upon the Quranic Text a uniqueness not found in other texts. The language, every word and letter in the Quran, its structure and order, its sound when recited, its polyvalence and levels of meaning, and its very physical appearance in Arabic letters place it in a sacred category of its own. It is, after all, according to the mainstream Sunni Ash‘ari perspective, the uncreated word of God. As such, for Muslims, it is the fount of everything that they hold most dear and desirable. S.H. Nasr put it well when he said about the Quran that: [I]t is the central theophany of Islam and the basic source and root of all that is authentically Islamic, from metaphysics, angelology, and cosmology to law and ethics, from the various arts and sciences to social structures, economics, and even political thought. (Nasr et al., 2017, p. 1) Many might find it difficult to understand how a Sacred Text could be the fount of an entire civilization and all its achievements but this is certainly how Muslims have understood it. The Quran, for Muslims, is a book of knowledge (‘ilm) that contains the roots of all true knowledge. In traditional Islamic civilization, all the Islamic sciences – jurisprudence ( fiqh), theology (kalam),

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philosophy ( falsafa), spirituality (tasawwuf ), rhetoric (balagha), astronomy (‘ilm alfalak), medicine (tibb) – were considered to have their root in the Quran; in fact, all Islamic civilization can be seen as an expression of it. This truth is borne out by the fact that Islamic civilization made enormous contributions in all major fields of scientific and philosophical knowledge, which were transmitted to the West (Rosenthal, 2006). According to Rosenthal (2006), ‘ilm is one of the most defining features of Islamic civilization. Not only was the Quranic message foundational for the development of the Islamic sciences, but also for the Islamic arts, whose principles and inspiration derive from the reality and inner truth (ḥaqiqa) of the Quran. The craft traditions, calligraphy, ornamental and pattern design, and architecture all grow out of a sensibility deeply saturated with the spirit of the Quran. The Quran’s tawhidi perspective on the nature of Divinity and its fundamental transcendence (tanzih) channeled Muslim artistic creativity in certain directions that steered it away from figural representation (taswir) into the language of pattern, rhythm, mathematical precision, and geometric articulation. It is no coincidence that Islamic civilization produced so much outstanding poetry, calligraphy, and patterns, yet so little figurative art and almost no sculpture ((Burckhardt, 2009; Nasr, 1987). It is with the Quran, therefore, that all inquiries into things Islamic must begin.

The Current Situation of Quranic Studies in Schools in the West Alas, the situation of Muslims living in a modern disenchanted world has placed a great strain on their ability to convey and teach the Quran to future generations. While up until recently every aspect of Islam was being attacked – except for the Quran (and everything related to it like language, interpretation, memorization, and calligraphy), which remained a citadel resisting the invading forces of historicism and reductive rationalism – today, even the Quran has come under direct assault. As a response, Islamic educators have retreated to the safety of their isolated discipline of “Islamic Studies” teaching it as an appendage to the secular curriculum while in neighboring disciplines (the so-called secular subjects), icecold reductionist perspectives are being normalized within a Muslim student’s educational training and are brought to bear on the Quran and a Muslim’s traditional worldview. This has created a situation in which the Quran is experienced in isolation from everyday realities and stripped of its own horizon of meaning. While the student may always hold the Quran in high regard as the word of God at a conscious level, unconsciously many of the perspectives that have been normalized within their educational training throw up serious questions and issues that the student is at a loss to address. It is at the level of tacit understanding and unconscious dispositions that the sacred can be desacralized

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and the holy desecrated. For example, the Quranic notion of takathur or “piling up for rivalry” (57:20, 102:1) is a term that is richly pregnant with meanings that have direct implications for psychological, social, and economic life today. It is as revolutionary today as it was for the Meccans who first received it yet rarely is this aspect of the term drawn out for the student. It is usually memorized as part of Surah al-Takathur and repeated and rehearsed without a critical understanding or unpacking of its full Quranic meaning. A cursory overview of several curricula will reveal the shortcomings in the current teaching and learning of the Quran in Islamic schools in the West.

Quranic Studies Curricula Taught in the West As a teacher, educational consultant, and curriculum developer for many Islamic schools in the West I am very familiar with several curricula. In what follows I will draw four general conclusions drawn from my experience with the following three curricula: 1. I Love Islam and Learning Islam Islamic Studies Textbook Series – International Edition 2. IQRA’ Islamic Studies Curricula 3. The Weekend Learning Series for Islamic Studies Considerable issues arise from these curricula (henceforth I shall refer to them collectively as the curricula in italics). I have summarized them in the following four major categories: (1) Quran as Sound and Recitation; (2) Quran as Language and Text; (3) Quran as Structure and Order; (4) Quran as Meaning and Interpretation. Quran as Sound & Recitation: The oral and aural nature of the Quran as a text that is supposed to be recited and heard means that the text is memorized by large numbers of students (in whole or in part). Several hours a week are dedicated in the schools to the art of reciting the Quran (tilawa and tajwid) and its memorization (hifz). In some schools this covers almost 6 hours a week in primary and as little as 1 hour a week in high school. This aspect of the Quran is not directly evident in the curricula themselves because many of the curricula defer to schools the role of teaching recitation and memorization (partly because this differs considerably between schools). Students are, nonetheless, exposed to the sonoral impact of the Quran at the schools themselves through listening to the famous reciters of the Quran beautifully recite its verses and teach the students the art of reciting musically. The curricula texts themselves discuss the “sonoral” aspect of the Quran and some provide several lessons on recitation in the primary years but this topic

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drops out of the curricula by the time the students are in high school. This has partly to do with the fact that recitation and memorization are seen as skills best taught in the younger years when they can easily memorize the material. The curricula insufficiently draw out the nature of the Divine Speech, both in its cosmic dimension and in its Scriptural dimension, as a text that is meant to be articulated with the human breath and heard with the human ear. Quran as Language & Text: In most of the curricula, the Quran is usually taught to students who either know no Arabic or for whom Arabic is a second or third language. While some schools and curricula provide lessons in Arabic as mandatory, sometimes these are done in isolation from the Quran itself, which is deeply problematic. In the primary years the focus is on teaching Arabic and teaching the stories of the Quran and its major themes, while in high school years the curricula focus on the meanings and some of the Sciences of the Quran (‘Ulum al-Quran), which would usually include a lesson on the inimitability of the Quran (I‘jaz) as a means of conveying its unique linguistic genius. The inadequacy of the teaching of Arabic generates a host of problems for appreciating the unique linguistic and rhetorical genius of the Quran. The translated Quran is not the Quran and so the curricula do little to really help the student appreciate or inhabit the linguistic world of the Quran and the semantic field of its words. Even in translation, much more can be done trying to convey this particular aspect of the Arabic of the Quran. Quran as Structure & Order: Most of the curricula teach the topic of the order (tartib) of the verses and their chronological order vs. the order of revelation in the high school years as part of the Sciences of the Quran (‘Ulum al-Quran). Very little of this if any is taught in the primary years, which is not perhaps essential as a body of knowledge. However, the way in which students imbibe and internalize stories at any early age is important. While most childhood stories have clear narrative structures and details, many of the Quran stories do not. As a compensation, the curricula teach the stories of the prophets for example as chronologically flowing narratives, which has its pedagogical value but if done exclusively risks occluding the fundamental ahistorical and non-narrative nature of the Quran itself, which has profound spiritual reasons. In the absence of a deep and profound appreciation for the Quran as a text revealed in Arabic and a text that is Divinely Authored in Arabic, the curricula miss the fundamental point of teaching students the unique structure and order of the Quran, that is, the fact that the Quran does not follow any of the cannons of narrative, which the students study in other fields like English studies and history. The Quran’s

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non-narrative, non-linear structure announces an otherworldly logic that is overlooked in the curricula. Quran as Meaning & Interpretation: In the modern secular academy (particularly Islamic schools in the West), students often study the Quran alongside many other humanities subjects like social studies, civic studies, history, geography, philosophy, ethics, literature, and the arts but the relation between them seems non-existent. The contemplative silence and meditative pose required for understanding the Quran is often drowned out by the secular voices and hermeneutical approaches clamoring for attention. The curricula try hard to convey certain aspects of the meaning of the Quran either by directly explaining the moral of stories to students in primary years or by briefly introducing them to the science of interpretation (tafsir) in high school. However, the science of tafsir is introduced in a dry, cold, and matter-of-fact way, which leaves students wondering how tafsir and the production of Quranic meaning relate to meaning making in other subjects. All too often the curricula incorrectly invoke scientific theories in the Quran at random and arbitrarily to support this or that argument. The depths and layers of meaning found in the tafsir tradition in addition to the rich theological, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives are never taught and at a great loss to the cognitive, spiritual, linguistic, and psychological development of the students. If the Quran is to ever remain relevant in the lives of Muslims it should be taught in ways that bring out its deep psychological, spiritual, political, economic, environmental, cosmic, epistemological, and ontological significance today just as it was immediately relevant to the lives of the Companions (Sahaba) who heard it for the first time. This situation leads us to pose a number of important questions: Can we recapture, perhaps, with all the vividness and violence, the initial eruption of the Quran into human consciousness and onto the stage of human history? Can we be carried over into the Unseen World (‘Alam al-Ghayb) opened up by the Quranic text? What cognitive shifts are presupposed by such a journey? Within our secular pedagogical framework, do we possess the requisite tools for approaching the Quran let alone teaching it? Muslim educators have a tendency to take it for granted that they inhabit the Quranic world by virtue of either being born Muslim or knowing Arabic. However, they underestimate the extent to which they are informed and molded by a framework entirely alien to that of the Quran. Our modernist secular sensibility, which is something that has taken hold of us all, has radically altered the way in which we can naturally inhabit the Quranic world, particularly in a school context where all other subjects of the curriculum weigh in heavily with their own ontological, epistemological, and cosmological assumptions about the nature

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of reality, truth, knowledge, and existence. While we cannot entirely escape our condition, for we are heirs to secular modernity and its categories of being, we can nonetheless recover some of the categories of being that the Quran opens up for the human condition. The Quran lesson in the curriculum can then move from being an appendage to a student’s education to becoming its central configurative force. It is hoped this chapter will succeed in highlighting, for educators, some ways in which the Quran possesses a uniqueness that sets it apart from other texts. Any renewal of Islamic civilization today demands a renewed relationship with the Quran.

Quran in the Islamic School Curricula: What Could Be covered? Bearing in mind the major issues and problems with teaching the Quran and Quranic Studies in the curricula, I have attempted to provide a few reflections on each theme hoping that it can assist teachers and curricular developers. Therefore, in this section I have not provided detailed prescriptive steps for what must be covered but rather I have painted with broad brushstrokes an image of what could be covered.

Quran as Sound and Recitation: A Primordial Auditory Experience Every Muslim is aware of the primordial covenant of our species with God (Allah) before the creation of the world. In the Quran’s (7:172) words: When your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, He said: “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yea! [Bala] We testify!” That was lest you should say on the Day of Arising: “Of this we were unaware.” Upon answering “Bala, yea! We testify” they received the Divine Command “Be!” (Kun). The primordial word spoken by God “Be!” (Kun) creates and existentiates the creatures and brings them into existence. “God’s Speech” (Kalam Allah) then creates and its “words” (kalimat) are the “creatures.” This is what the Quran alludes to when it says (31:27): “If all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven seas added to it, were ink, the words of God would not be spent.” Each creature articulates God’s Speech through its own reality because each creature is a word of God. Therefore, the cosmos could not possibly have existence if it were not for God’s Speech. For the creatures to have said “Yea (Bala)” to the Divine question: “Am I not your Lord?” they would have been able to hear God’s Speech. In much of

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Islamic spiritual thought “listening” (sam‘) is a modality of the ontological love that permeates and binds all things to God. It is because God is the originary and primordial “Listener” (Sami‘) that the creatures listen to His Speech. Their listening is a mode of love that binds them to His Words “Am I not your Lord?” This is when the creatures receive and hear the Divine Fiat “Be!” (Kun). This is why some Muslim scholars insist that the faculty of “hearing” was created first so that the creatures were able to understand and hear the question of the primordial covenant: “Am I not your Lord?” (Q 7:172) and the Divine Imperative “Be!” (Kun) upon accepting the covenant. This mutual Speech and Listening defines the very dynamic of cosmic creation. But this is not a one-off event. God always has been, always is, and always will be perpetually speaking and therefore creating. The Islamic view of creation is that it is always happening faster than the blink of an eye. Indeed, the perpetual “utterance” (qawl) of the Divine Command (Kun, Be!) requires the perpetual hearing of it. Listening constitutes, then, the primordial and authentic way in which the creatures in general and the human being in particular, are open to the presence of the Divine and thereby, through understanding God’s Speech, open to their own most potentiality for being. However, if we are deaf to the Speech of God through the things everywhere then perhaps we can have a better understanding of what is being said in a more familiar Divine Speech that has come from God. Out of compassion for His human creatures, God speaks to them in their own languages called the Scriptures: Torah (Tawrat), Psalms (Zabur), Gospel (Injil), Quran. The Divine Revelations to the prophets are an extension of the Divine Revelations of the cosmos itself, which is a Book insofar as it too consists of Divine Words. There is a correspondence, then, between the Quran and existence for they are both the words of God and therefore the task, for humans, is to listen precisely to what is being said, whether it is God’s Speech in the form of existence or the Quran. The twelfth century Muslim spiritual master Ibn ‘Arabi (1165–1240) puts this beautifully when he says: Do not surmise my son that the recitation (tilawa) of The Real (Al-Haqq) to you and those of your species is from the Quran specifically […] Rather existence in its entirety is a “book inscribed on a scroll unfolded” (Q 52:2–3), which He has recited so that you may understand from Him (li ta‘qil ‘anhu) if you are among those who know […] At times The Real (Al-Haqq) recites to you from the Great Book (al-Kitab al-Kabir) that is external to you (min kharij) and at others He recites to you from within yourself (min nafsik). Therefore, listen and prepare yourself for the address of your master to you in whoever and beware of deafness for it is an affliction that prevents you from perceiving (idrak) the recitation of The Real

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(Al-Haqq) to you from within your microcosmic self. This is the Book referred to as the Discrimination (Furqan). (Ibn Arabi, 1907, p. 73) God’s Speech is profoundly an oral and aural one (“oral” refers to the fact that it is spoken and “aural” refers to the fact that it is heard); it is primarily meant to be spoken, heard, and recited; it is a liturgy. In the first few decades there were no diacritical marks on the written words of the Quran. This is why the Quran is everywhere in a Muslim’s life. Much like the first words heard on the day of the Primordial Covenant, the first sounds a newborn Muslim child hears are the words of the Quran recited into their ears. The Quran is recited on Fridays, at marriage ceremonies, funerals and can be heard in the streets wherever there are Muslims. Its recitation, however, must follow a certain melody so that it may retain its primordial sounding, the same sounding the Companions (Sahaba) heard from the Prophet (SAW) when he first recited it to them and they first heard it. The Prophet (SAW) recited the Quran to his Companions in several ways leading to the different recitations (qira’a plural. qira’at) of the Quran. That is why the reciters, (qurra’ sing. qari’) who have mastered the recitations of the Quran, are so important in Muslim society and their art of recitation is considered the highest sonoral art in Islam. Any listener to the recitations of the Quran experiences the primordial sound of God’s Speech as it breaks forth from the Unseen World (‘Alam al-Ghayb) into the Seen World (‘Alam al-Shahada) in the same way the Prophet (SAW) and his Companions first experienced it and thus transmit the grace, or barakah, of the Quran to those around them. This led some Muslims to pay particular attention to the sonoral arts (maqamat or melodic modes of reciting) in parallel to the science of recitation (tilawa and tajwid). The attention to this most exquisite of sciences should be given as much if not more attention than that given to music classes in the secular curriculum, at least in terms of the number of hours, investment in resources, and the sheer creativity of the classes. There is ample evidence that traditional Islamic institutions of learning in the Islamic world invested heavily in the training of callers to prayer (mu’azinin, singular. mu’azzin) and reciters. Having choir groups (anashid), Quran recitation competitions, specially designed acoustic spaces, the cultivation of breathing techniques, pitch, and emotional content of maqams; all these should be integrated into the musical education of students and part of the music curriculum. The sonoral arts need not focus exclusively on Islamic languages (Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, etc.) or the Quran but can also include European languages, particularly for Muslims who reside in Europe, North America, and Australasia. This will allow new languages to come into the fold of Islam and the Islamic cultural sphere. There is no reason why Gaelic, Welsh, English, French, German, or

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Italian cannot be “Islamic” languages just as Bengali and Malay are indigenous Islamic languages. No less important was the use of sound acoustics in architectural design (Frishkopf & Spinetti, 2018). Many mosques were designed with the explicit goal of perfectly amplifying the call to prayer and the recitation of the Quran. The Ottoman architect Sinan (1490–1588) even wrote on how to achieve this and did so in his own mosque designs that now dot the skyline of Istanbul. His numerous madrasas are an example of Islamic pedagogy in stone (acoustics of recitation halls and school mosque, passive heating and cooling of the interior spaces, use of sustainable and durable material, the use of the golden ratio and rectangle in spatial design, the functional relation of rooms and services, the relation between positive and negative space, the incorporation of advanced hydraulics, water, and pipes to circulate and reuse water first for drinking, then ablution, then agricultural irrigation and for cooling the building and its spaces, orientation toward cardinal points and wind currents for air circulation and health, etc.). Every Islamic school should be a Quranic soundscape and the curricula could do much more on this front.

Quran as Text and Language: Primordial Word The Quran was articulated or spoken and given form in the Arabic language and refers to itself as an Arabic Quran (12:2; 20:113; 39:28; 41:3; 42:7; 43:3). A provincial Semitic language, the Arabic of the Bedouins, becomes the bearer of a Divine Message and in so doing it became a sacred language. Arabic was the last of the Semitic languages to enter into the full light of history compared to other Semitic languages in this family such as Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac. Given the very late period when Arabic was actually written down, it retains a syntax that is older than its sister Semitic languages partly because it remained an oral/ aural language for much longer. For many philologists, Arabic is considered the closest to the original and primordial Semitic language. For Muslims, this fact confirms the reason why the Divine chose it to become the bearer of the last and final reiteration of the primordial religion. The primordial religion is embodied in a primordial language. This language, which is now the vehicle for the transmission of the Divine Presence, cannot remain the same. The Quran, therefore, is an Arabic text that is lifted out of the exigencies of time and space, beyond historical change. The Quran became the major factor in the subsequent developments in the Arabic language and Arabic literature. While spoken Arabic changed constantly, Quranic Arabic remained fixed, as if frozen in an eternal time, like the Divine Word it embodies.

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The text of the Quran reveals human language crushed by the power of the Divine Word. It is as if human language were scattered into a thousand fragments like a wave scattered into drops against the rocks at sea. One feels through the shattering effect left upon the language of the Quran, the power of the Divine whence it originated. The Quran displays human language with all its weakness inherent in it becoming suddenly the recipient of the Divine Word and displaying its frailty before a power which is infinitely greater than man can imagine. (Nasr, 2000, p. 36) The crushing effect of the Divine Word as it descends into human language is that it shatters it and its fragments are the isolated letters one finds at the beginning of some Quranic verses. These letters can be considered as language in undifferentiated form and primordial sound. They are the letters of words yet to be formed like the prima materia before it assumes the form of this thing or that. When one recites these letters, one articulates pure primordial sound that resonates profoundly with our soul. Indeed, the Quran’s pedagogical approach to casting meanings into the soul is worth studying and emulating. Rather than address its discourse to one aspect of the human being, the Quran addresses the human being in his entirety (yukhatib al-insan bi jumlatihi). The Quran is cognitive and affective and appeals to the intuitive side of us in addition to the rational and the primordial ( fitrah). For Fakhr al-din al-Razi, the “method [tariqa] of the Quran” is to combine demonstrative and rhetorical modes of discourse for maximal efficacy in humans and which is why it is the more superior discourse (Ahmad al-Saqqa, 1987 quoted in Shihadeh, 2008, p. 204). Another way of saying this is that the Quran appeals to the faculties of sense perception, reason, emotions, and imagination simultaneously in delivering its message. This has often been taught as part of its inimitability (i‘jaz). Two examples will suffice to illustrate this. In Q (18:47) we read: “And on a Day We will set in motion the mountains and you will see the earth void and bare. And We will assemble them and not leave out anyone of them.” Mountains will be unmoored and made to move, the earth will be flattened and become empty and barren, and all creatures assembled before their Lord. All the verbs here are in the present tense for we are meant to be brought to this Day to witness it in the here and now. This image presents before our mind’s eye an awesome event! The trepidation is felt in our very bodies as is described in Q  (39:23): “God has sent down the most beautiful of all teachings: a Scripture that is consistent and draws comparisons; that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to shiver. Then their skins and their hearts soften at the mention of God: such is God’s guidance […].”

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When the Quran describes those who have rejected its message in Q (24:39–40), rather than say: “these people have stubbornly rejected the Quran and are doomed,” for example, it paints a vivid and evocative image with words that conveys both the cognitive idea of rejecting the truth and the deep psychological and emotional state of confusion and delusion that accompanies it. There is a succession of images: Someone hallucinating in the desert clutching at a mirage or someone on a boat, a storm, waves crashing, and dark thick clouds over head, blindness. To reject what is true is to be like a traveler in the desert whose only anchor in the world consists in the succession of delusional images (of water) that he thinks are his succor. As soon as he clutches at them they prove to be vacuous, unreal, and hollow but he persists in clasping at them and finds nothing there but God for his reckoning. This stubborn and arrogant self-delusion is a darkness in a vast ocean on a stormy cloudy day with waves crashing down. One can barely see for one is blinded by oneself. The succession of images here that come down upon the reciter are like waves crashing down one after the other. The words of the Quran are sounds that are simultaneously verbal images. One of the most profound reasons why Muslims did not take much interest (or as much interest) in the figurative arts is because the Quran is already figural, in the sense that its sounds, words, and verses are overflowing with visual images. They well up inside the reader and subside with the rise and fall of the recitations and the tonality of the words. What need is there for images painted with a human brush when there are countless images painted by Divine Words!? When combined with the sonoral beauty of the recitations, the Quran becomes a speech like no other whose impact on the listener is weighty. The Quran (73:5) describes itself as a “weighty speech” (qawl thaqil). One of the reasons scholars give for the gradual revelation of the Quran is that it would have been too weighty or too much for any heart – even that of the Prophet (SAW) – to bear given that it is the Divine Word descending! Even mountains would crumble had they become the recipient of the Quran (59:21): “If We had sent this Quran down to a mountain, you [Prophet] would have seen it humbled and split apart in its awe of God […]” Its ‘weighty speech’ carries a sweetness and casts a spell on those who hear it (in a positive sense as one who is spellbound). This inimitability of the Quran cannot be restricted to a single isolated lesson in high school. It has to take center stage at the heart of the curricula and at every stage of its teaching. One way of drawing out this unique aspect of the Quran in schools where Arabic is not taught or where students are not at the level to appreciate the inimitability of the Quranic Arabic, is to do so in English. The teacher could translate and highlight the brilliant literary and aesthetic qualities of the Quran and its verses. While this is not ideal it covers some distance toward helping students appreciate the Quran’s literary genius.

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Quran as Structure and Order: A Subversive Logic Muslims elevate the Quran above any humanly written text and for good reasons. This is a fact that teachers need to keep in mind and help convey to students: It is a Divinely Authored Text, which means we must expect it to defy the norms of a humanly written text. To be sure, as Sacred Text, the Quran does not conform to any literary canon, especially the modern obsession with narrative born of a corrosive historicism. Some who read the Quran for the first time are often baffled by what they perceive as its confusing structure: Many people, especially non-Muslims, who read the Quran for the first time are struck by what appears as a kind of incoherence from the human point of view. It is neither like a highly mystical text nor as manual of Aristotelian logic, though it contains both mysticism and logic. It is not just poetry, although it contains the most powerful poetry. (Brown, 1991, p. 90) So what is it? It is not like any human text that students study in the secular curriculum and so understanding it presupposes raising ourselves up to its own uniqueness. The way in which the Quran handles its historical material is illustrative. While educators and students might be used to reading historical material in a certain linear and narrative style, the Quran presents events very differently. Let us briefly compare the story of Moses (Musa) in the Bible with the Quran. While the story of Moses in the Bible seems to be replete with details (number of people, camels, treasures, etc.) and follows the People of Israel as they leave Egypt, the Quranic account is radically different. No details are provided beyond the necessary outline of the story and the story moves back and forth between the People of Israel and what is happening in Egypt at the same time as if the Author is not someone who is part of the entourage (as in the Biblical version) but somehow is one Who possesses a bird’s-eye view of everything. The Quranic account leaps between what is happening with Moses and his internal feelings and struggle and what is happening in Pharaoh’s heart in Egypt. While the Biblical account is linear, the Quranic account is non-linear. The Quran backs away from the linear organization of time, revelation, and history which has become the backbone of Christianity, Western culture, and our modern educational system. Thematically and chronologically speaking, it is a Text that defies the canon of narrative. As one very perspicacious thinker put it, the entire Quran can be seen as a “mysterious regression to a more primitive stratum, archetypal, folkloristic, fabulous, and apocryphal. Historical material is fragmented into its archetypal constituents and then subjected to displacement and condensation, as in dreams” (Nasr, 2000, p. 88). One gets the feeling that the sudden reference to a prophetic story in between verses exalting God or

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describing Heaven or Hell is like the irruption of an otherworldly logic. Behind the flow of chronological time is the warp and weft of cosmic time, a totally different connection between events. The Seen World (‘Alam al-Shahada) and the Unseen World (‘Alam al-Ghayb) are mutually imbricated in ways not always available to our ego-consciousness and so another consciousness is required altogether. The Quran, that voice of the primordial depths, the Speech of God (Kalam Allah) from the Unseen, is the perpetual penetration of the Unseen into the Seen. The biblical account of the story of Moses in the Old Testament is subject to the same kind of linear historical consciousness, which gave birth to modern historicism (once it had become secularized). Historical consciousness as we understand it today is bound by latitudinal linear development, a quantitative horizontal material time and causality. Such is the perspective we bring to bear on subjects like history, sociology, etc. The events of the soul and the Unseen World that unfold in the Quran, on the other hand, are of qualitative vertical subtle time, for they originate in the Unseen World and are subject to a vertical “causality.” Hence, in its rejection of linearity, the Quran also rejects narrative and brackets deterministic causality. In this light, the Quranic account of Moses begins to make sense. The Quran, to be sure, remains replete with stories of old and recalls of former times; however, this in no way implies history, at least not in the sense taught at schools. This is also why when the Quran was compiled as a text by the Prophet (SAW) himself; he instructed the Companions where to place the verses (ayat single. aya) and in which chapters (suwar single. sura). The linear or chronological order of the verses and chapters is irrelevant for the overall thrust of the Quranic text. The only exception being for legal scholar looking for understanding the verses related to the ahkam, in which case chronological order is vital for knowing the abrogated (mansoukh) and abrogating (nasikh) verses. We know that the first verses revealed were those in the Cave of Hira in Sura al-’Alaq yet this chapter is number 96 in the current order (tartib) of the Quran. There is no sequence of events; the entirety of the Quran is present to itself in every verse. Every verse announces a warning, a portent, and another worldly presence and the style is apocalyptic or “simultaneous totality” whereby the “infinite” is “contained within finiteness.” The crushing weight of this effect is tangibly perceptible (the fragmented letters, the primordial sounds, the psychological and spiritual ascents and descents). The whole of the Quran is in every part; this “simultaneous totality” thus violates the “classic rules of unity, propriety, and harmony” common in the secular logic of things. The effect is “bewildering changes of subject; abrupt juxtaposition of incongruities.” Every verse is its own moment because what is real is only the present moment as opposed to the absent past and the withheld future; the world consists of “atomic space-time points” (Nasr, 2000, p. 89). After all, God Himself is beyond the constraints of time and space.

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These fundamental ideas need to be highlighted by educators and explained by the curricula. This particular point pertains to the entire education of the educator. It is not a matter that can be addressed with a few tweaks of the curriculum. A serious critical appraisal of Islamic educator’s training and Islamic curricula is in question here and nothing short of a comprehensive overhaul can address this issue. It is not enough for educators to go to university, specialize in a subject, attain educational training, and qualify to teach at an Islamic school. A two-pronged approach might prove beneficial: First, educators at Islamic schools need to have been trained within an Islamic education/pedagogy/worldview program where they are introduced to Islamic concepts, principles, intellectual history, etc. Second, Islamic schools would need to develop their own curricula independently of the secular paradigm and in collaboration with Islamic scholars but within the framework of an Islamic worldview that critically engages with the secular paradigm on its own indigenous terms. The catastrophe of our age and our secular educational paradigm is that it has lost the capacity to conceive of the kinds of events narrated by the Quran. It can only know “historical knowledge” through its “scientific” investigation into events and has thereby locked itself in the false dilemma of understanding real and true events as “history” that is somehow empirically or scientifically verifiable and religious events as “myth.” However, the choice between myth and history is a false one and the curricula need not subscribe to this false dichotomy. Understanding, nay, living, the Quran demands that we raise ourselves to its own ontological, metaphysical, and epistemological worldview. Only then can it become the configurative force in our educational matrix.

Quran as Meaning and Interpretation: Perpetual Descent (Tanzil), the Eternal Present, and the Irruption of Meaning If God’s Speech is perpetually being articulated with every “Be (Kun!)” and the world is perpetually created and re-created then the descent (tanzil) of the Quran is perpetual. Early Muslim theologians disagreed over whether God’s Speech was “created” or “uncreated” but what they did agree on was that its wording is final. No change is possible in the Arabic wording of the Quran, that is, its tanzil as a text is final. However, this does not mean that its tanzil as “meaning” is final. The Quran and its meanings are forever descending for God’s Speech never ceases. “It forever descends upon the hearts of his [Muhammad’s] community unit the Day of Resurrection. Its descents into the hearts are new and never end for it is the perpetual revelation [la yazal yanzil ‘ala qulub ummatihi ila yawm al-qiyama fa nuzuluhu fi-l-qulub jadid la yabla fahuwa-l-waḥyu-l-da’im]” (Ibn Arabi, 2008, p. 125). A truly living relation to the ever present Divine Word depends on the possibility of the perpetual and sudden irruption of the meaning of the text in the

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form of a spiritual birth, in the here and now, the eternal Present. Every moment is a realized eschatology. The meaning of the moment, of the irruption of meaning, in the present, is an existential one: Its vertical blossoming into Eternity. This sudden irruption of meaning in the soul is not possible without the vertical dimension of the Unseen World. As a Revelation intended for the soul, the Quran defies the intellectual constructs of ego-consciousness and mundane daily experiences, its objective being to elevate and raise the soul to a higher plane, from ego-consciousness to super-consciousness, from the time of history to that of sacred history and from the Seen World to the Unseen World. The result is that the Quran projects a “trans-historical” plane on which the eternal meaning of events (historical and personal) is disclosed, a plane of reality upon which the drama of existence unfolds. Chapter 18 titled The Cave (al-Kahf ) is a perfect example. It seemingly relates events (The Story of the Seven Sleepers, the Parable of the Two Men, the Story of Moses and the Righteous Servant, and the Story of Dhul Qarnayn) that happened at some point in time but it lifts them out of their “historicity” revealing their “trans-historical” meanings. Every story becomes a symbol that is partially anchored in the historical event but points to profound meanings in the cosmos (afaq) and within the soul (nafs) Q (41:53). Some commentaries on the Quran (tafasir) even link the four stories as part of a deeper and more profound transformation of the soul of the reader of this chapter (perhaps this is the reason why the Prophet (SAW) urged believers to read it every Friday!?). From the very beginning, the Islamic tradition has given sustenance to an approach to the meanings of the Quran, which does not allow itself to be bound exclusively either by the historical past or by the limits imposed by the resources and laws of rational Logic. In the Sciences of the Quran (‘Ulum al-Quran), there are three types of tafsir (interpretations): 1. Tafsir bil-Riwaya, refers to the interpretation of the Quran by (a) the Quran, (b) the Sunnah of the Prophet (Hadith) and in some cases by (c) narrations of the Companions (Sahaba) d) or Successors (Tab’in). Examples of this type include Jami’ al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Quran or Tafsir al-Tabari by Muhammad bin Jarir al-Tabari and Tafisr al-Quran al-’Azim or Tafsir Ibn Khathir by Ibn Khathir. 2. Tafsir bil-Ra’y refers to interpretation through rational reflection (­tafakkur). In this type of tafsir, the interpreters (mufassirun) resort to reason (‘aql) and ijtihad (intellectual independent reasoning) as long as it does not produce interpretations that contradict Tafsir bil-Riwaya or the meanings of the words in classical Arabic or a consensus opinion (ijma’). Examples of this type include Anwar al-Tanzil by al-Baydawi, Mafatih al-Ghayb or al-Tafsir al-Kabir by Fakhr al-din al-Razi.

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3. Tafsir bil-Ishara means interpretation by allusion. In some schools of Islamic thought, the Quran has both an outward (zahir) meaning and an inward (batin) meaning. The richness of the Arabic meaning sometimes alludes to a hidden meaning that is waiting to be uncovered. The inward meaning is usually discovered through inspiration (ilham) or an unveiling (kashf ) granted by God (Allah). This usually happens to very pious individuals who have spent their lives in the worship of God (Allah) and so He grants them the keys to unlocking the hidden mysteries of the Quran. This type of tafsir is often referred to as ta’wil also. The meanings alluded to in this type of tafsir cannot contradict the above types of tafsir. Examples of this type include Haqa’iq al-Tafsir by Abu Abdelrahman al-Sulami and Lata’if al-Isharat by Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri. There is a rich diversity of tafasir (plural of tafsir) available in the Islamic tradition. This does not mean the various meanings and interpretations contradict one another. On the contrary, they complement one another. The Quran is too infinitely rich for its meanings to be encompassed within a single approach or tafsir. Each type of tafsir can be seen as a rung in a ladder in the ascent through the meanings toward God. Accounts like those stories (hikaya) in Sura al-Kahf move in the dimension of a pure Eternal present, in the inner time of the soul; external events and the histories of the prophets are perceived as the “history” or trajectory of our human drama. Thus it obliterates the “historical trend” with which our epoch is obsessed. This is the trend to always see in the past events that have come to an end. But the reality is different. Is the God to whom Muhammad (SAW) called his people located in the past? Is the Afterlife located in myth? The answer from an Islamic perspective is of course a resounding no. The realities Muhammad (SAW) reminded humanity of are ever present in the here and now. Understanding the Quran presupposes looking for the meaning of history not in external criteria out there, that is, not by orienting itself in the latitudinal sense of linear development, but vertically, by a longitudinal orientation extending from the earth to the Divine Throne (al-’Arsh), in the transparency of the heights (ahsan taqwim) or depths (asfal safilin) in which the drama of our human existence truly unfolds. Interpreting the text of the Quran, then, assumes a new meaning. Tafsir implies that there is a movement from the letter of the word (exoteric) of its external form (mazhar) in Arabic to its inner reality (haqiqa) in the Unseen World or to put it slightly differently, the coming forth, descent or Revelation-Tanzil, is equilibrated by return, ascent or Tafsir, which leads back upward through a hierarchy of the spiritual worlds of the Unseen. This is not possible without a complete engagement with the classical tafsir tradition in the curricula particularly if we bear in mind that these tafasir contain the summation of Islam’s theological,

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legalistic, spiritual, and even philosophical wisdom. Engaging the Tafsir tradition presupposes engaging most of the ‘Ulum al-Quran (Sciences of the Quran), which number up to 15 but we shall list only 7 here: 1. Occasions for Revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul) 2. Inimitability of the Quran (I‘jaz) 3. Interpretation (Tafsir) 4. The Seven Letters & Recitations (Ahruf Sab’a wa Qira’at) 5. Compilation and Preservation of the Quran ( Jam’ wa Hifz al-Quran) 6. The Abrogated and Abrogating (Nasikh wa Mansoukh) 7. The Clear and Ambiguous (Al-Muhkam wa al-Mutashabih) Teachers should demonstrate the use of at least two tafsirs on select verses, especially the tafsir by riwaya and tafsir by ray’i. The value of these two is that the teacher is then able to demonstrate the multiple layers of meaning of a verse. The tafsir by ray’ also present various opinions that are presented in dialogue manner, particularly the Tafsir of al-Razi. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, one of the foremost theologians of Islam and interpreters of the Quran by Ray’i, begins his interpretation of a verse by going through the narrations and then offering his opinion. What is remarkable is that he offers all possible rational opinions before he indicates his own preference and does so in dialogue form. Razi often uses expressions like “and if they say …” or “one might think that …” or “if you ask me for evidence then here it is …” as a form of dialogue with a hypothetical interlocutor who might raise objections to his point. This balanced and rational way of presenting his views is engaging because he often anticipates our own thoughts, questions, and possible objections. From my own experience, students usually enjoy this type of engagement in class.

Conclusion Unless the curricula of Quran taught at schools can inculcate the unique Quranic horizon of meaning in students, some of which we have tried to delineate in this chapter, we risk losing the battle for defending the Quran and the hearts and minds of young Muslims who expect more than the kind of rote, dry learning of the Quran they are currently receiving. In many ways, the Quran demands that we become capable of it. It is a Text that is meant to raise us to its level. It presupposes a different perspective in which the linear development and the material laws of causality (asbab) are underpinned by an even more fundamental logic. External events of history are merely objectifications of an inner sacred history discernible and perceptible by those the Quran (3:190–192) calls the people of the kernel (ulu-l albab) with an organ of perception, the contemplative heart (alqalb), which is other than that of the empirical, physical, or historical knowledge.

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The very notion of the Unseen World resists reducing all events to events of the Seen World, which are perceptible by empirical means. These are events that occur in space, but not space that can be found on geographical maps, and in time, but not in latitudinal time of our world; vision of things in the Unseen World is knowing them in their reality (haqiqa). We shall end with the supplication of the Prophet (SAW): “Lord show us things as they are (allahumma arina-l ashya’a kama hiya).”

References Brown, N. O. (1991). Apocalypse and/or Metamorphosis (1st ed.). California: University of California Press. Burckhardt,T. (2009). Art of Islam, Language and Meaning (Library of Perennial Philosophy Sacred Art in Tradition) (1st ed.). World Wisdom; Commemorative ed. Frishkopf, M., & Spinetti, F. (2018). Music, Sound, and Architecture in Islam (1st ed.). (M. Frishkopf, Ed.) Texas: University of Texas Press. Ibn Arabī, (1907). Kitāb mawāqiʻ al-nujūm wa-maṭāliʻ ahillat al-asrār wa-al-ʻulūm. Miṣr: al-Khānjī. Ibn Arabi. (2008). al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya (Vols. 1–8). Beirut: Dār Ṣādir. Nasr, S. H. (1987). Islamic Art and Spirituality. State University of New York Press. Nasr, S. H. (2000). Ideals and Realities of Islam (Rev Ed edition ed.). Chicago: Kazi Publications. Nasr, S. H., Dagli, C. K., Dakake, M. M., Lumbard, J. E., & Rustom, M. (2017). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (1st ed.). HarperOne. Rosenthal, F. (2006). Knowledge Triumphant the Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam (Vol. Brill Classics in Islam: 2). BRILL. Shihadeh, A. (2008). The Existence of God. In T. Winter (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology (pp. 197–217). Cambridge University Press.

3 FIQH (PRACTICAL LIVING) CURRICULUM REALITIES AND IDEALS Mohamad Abdalla

Introduction The study of fiqh (practical living) is often taught uncritically as do’s and don’ts. However, fiqh is a deeply rich and sophisticated science that is flexible, adaptive and changeable with time and place. It also includes diverse interpretations, rationales, justifications, and dispensations – some that fall within an agreed upon practice of Islam, and others that serve as points of contention across varying Muslim sects. At Islamic schools, students often are expected to adopt beliefs and practices without explanation, understanding benefits, or appreciating differences. Therefore, students grow disillusioned with Islamic Studies and view it as irrelevant, repetitive, disengaging, biased, and tedious. This chapter will explore the meaning and significance of fiqh, its distinguishing features, and how it can be introduced to students in ways that enhance their knowledge and confidence in it. It will explain the reasons for differences in jurisprudential views, and briefly discuss fiqh for minority Muslim communities. Through an analysis of four curriculum frameworks, and an understanding of student voice, this chapter will propose a Learner Responsive Fiqh (LRF) model, which may aspire to guide educators on key questions about fiqh that are not being addressed, and how they can be. Fiqh in Context Fiqh can only be understood in the context of Sharī’a. Though often translated as “Islamic law,” this prosaic translation does not capture the full set of meanings understood by Muslim scholars. To understand its full meaning and potential, it is necessary to understand the meaning, scope, and sources of Sharī’a.

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Literally, Sharī’a means “a way to the watering-place, the clear path to be followed and the path which the believer has to tread in order to obtain guidance in this world and deliverance in the next” (Kamali, 2008, p. 14). In the Qur’ān, the word Sharī’a appears once in surah (chapter al-Jathiya, “Now We have set you [Muhammad] on a clear religious path [Sharī’a], so follow it. Do not follow the desires of those who lack [true] knowledge” (The Qur’an, 2010, 45:18). The renowned exegete of the Qur’ān, al-Qurt.ubī (1214–1273) said Sharī’a here means “religion as ordained by God for His worshippers” (Al-Qurṭubi, 2003, p. 163). Ibn ‘Abbas (619–687/688) – the leading exegete of the Qur’an – says it means “… a clear road of (Our) commandment) on a clear wont and way in relation to My command and obedience” (Tafsir ibn Abbas, 2017). Al-Tustari said it means “a [clear] course (Sharīʿa) of the commandment” (Tafsīr al-Tustarī, 2017). Technically, Sharī’a refers to a body of explicit revealed laws (naṣ pl. nuṣūṣ) found in the primary sources of the Qur’ān (Kamali, 2008, p. 20) and Sunnah (sayings, actions and tacit approval of Prophet Muhammad), which provide the subject matter of the law. The naṣ is fixed, unchangeable and largely general, with commands such as “establish prayer” and “do not approach prayer whilst intoxicated” (Abdalla, 2012, p. 216). Therefore, Sharī’ah is identified with divine revelation (waḥy), obtained from the Qur’ān and Sunnah, which “lay down specific rules, general principles, ­doctrines, norms, standards, criteria and procedures” (Zahraa, 2000). In its totality, the Sharī’a covers legal, spiritual, moral, ethical, and devotional domains – and refers to “to commands, prohibitions, guidance and principles that God has addressed to mankind pertaining to their conduct in this world and salvation in the next” (Zahraa, 2000). Literally, Fiqh means understanding and comprehension. It is a legal science that is often used synonymously with Sharī’a (Kamali, 2008, p. 16). It is the science of Sharī’ah. Technically, it refers to knowledge of p­ ractical legal ruling derived from their specific evidence, not directly treated in the revealed sources – the Qur’ān and Sunnah. Unlike the divine nature of the Sharī’a, fiqh is the product of human reasoning undertaken by qualified jurists. This process is undertaken through independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) (Kamali, 2008, pp. 162–163), based on primary sources of the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, and secondary sources including ijmā’ (consensus of the learned); qiyāṣ (­a nalogical reasoning); istiḥsān ( juristic preference); istiṣlāh or maṣlaḥa mursala (consideration of public interest); sadd al-dharāi’ (blocking the means); istiṣhāb (presumption of continuity); and urf (customary practice) (Khuja et al., 1981, pp. 149–150). Thus, the Sharī’a is “the wider circle, and it embraces in its orbit all human actions,” and fiqh is narrower in scope and addresses practical legal rules (Kamali, 2008, p. 16). The field of Fiqh is comprehensive and interrelated and covers:

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1. Al-’ibadat (Rituals or devotional matters), which covers cleanliness (Ṭahara), ritual prayer (Ṣalah), fasting (Ṣawm), and pilgrimage (Ḥajj). 2. Al-Mu’amalāt (civil transactions), which includes financial transactions, matrimonial law, equity and trusts, civil litigation, and administration of estates. 3. Al-’Uqūbāt, which covers crimes and penalties. 4. Al-aḥkām al-sultāniyyah (rules relating to governance and government – constitutional and administrative law) (Kamali, 2008, pp. 42–43). Fiqh is not static, immutable, or unchangeable. It evolves in response to changing social, political, economic, intellectual and political circumstances (Basha, 1990, p. 8). It is for this reason that the continued examination and re-examination of Islamic legal literature has become a common practice. Fiqh allow the jurist to engage with, and respond to, the realities of the day – or emerging issues not addressed previously. Responding to changeability of time and place, Muslim jurists established the maxim, “It is not denied that ruling changes according to change of time” (Zahraa, 2000, p. 193). Responding to changeability of time and place must not “… be confused with importing to Islamic law practices that are not Islamic,” which means that “changeability of rulings must always satisfy and find support within the primary sources of Islamic law … [and] must be conducted in accordance with the fundamental principles and procedures of Islamic methodology” (Zahraa, 2000, p. 194). In deriving rules/laws that are responsive to time and place, Muslim jurists also consider the higher objectives (Maqāṣid) of Shari’ah, and legal maxims (Kulliyyāt or al-qawā’id al-fiqhiyyah). Like Imām al-Ghazāli (d. 1111) and Imām al-Shāṭibi (d. 1388) concluded that the major objectives of Sharī’ah are the ­preservation of religion, human life, progeny, material wealth, and human reason. Imām al-Shāṭibi further opined that Islamic law aims to preserve essential and other interests by preserving their existence and protecting them from annihilation (Al-Raysuni, 2006). The five universal legal maxims that are agreed upon by all schools of law are: (1) matters are judged by their purpose/motive (al-umūr bi-maqāṣidihā); (2) certainty cannot be overruled by doubt (al-yaqīn lā yazūl bi-lshakk); (3) hardship begets facility (al-mashaqqah tajlib al-taysīr); (4) harm must be removed (al-ḍarar yuzūl); (5) custom is authoritative (Al-’ādah muḥakamah). The understanding and application of these, and other, legal maxims is a vital as it allows fiqh to be universal and adaptive. Given that fiqh is a human endeavor to understand divine revelation, differences of views and perspectives are inevitable. Over the centuries, changes in context and circumstances led to the development of various interpretations of the divine revelation leading to the formation of schools (or guilds) of law (Madhāhib) – within the Sunni and Shia traditions. The four madhāhib in the Sunni tradition include the Ḥanaf ī, Malikī, Shafi’ī and Ḥanbali. The differences

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between them often relate to “practicalities of conduct and not essence of belief ” (Kamali, 2008, p. 100). Disagreements are a result of a number of factors including linguistic, methodological, knowledge, and authenticity of Ḥadīth, customary practices (‘urf ) and cultural contexts. There is a recognition that such differences are accepted and respected. In fact, to facilitate respectful disagreement, and encourage the spirit of tolerance in ijtihād, scholars compiled distinguished works on adab al-ikhtilāf (etiquette of disagreement). They have advocated for the permissibility of disagreement, provided such disagreements do not contravene a clear/explicit (qat’i) textual evidence in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, not open for interpretation. The practical nature of fiqh led some scholars to coin the concept of fiqh alAqaliyyat (jurisprudence for minority Muslim communities; A new name for an old type of jurisprudence, that used to be called fiqh al-nawazil, or jurisprudence of momentous events), to provide practical solutions for Muslims living as minorities in Western nations (and elsewhere). This field investigates contentious jurisprudential issues such as political participation in non-Muslim government (e.g. voting), service in non-Muslim armed forces, family law, interest-based transactions, taxation, polygamy, Christmas greetings, and so forth. Of course, fiqh al-Aqaliyyat derives its rulings from the same sources of Sharī’ah, and utilizes important legal maxims to facilitate removing hardship, and consideration of public interests for Muslim minorities. Some would argue that fiqh al-Aqaliyyat has two main objectives, “preserving the religious life and Muslim identity,” and “to support Muslim minorities’ efforts to convey the message of Islam to their fellow citizens” (Shavit, 2012 in Dogan, 2015). For this reason, scholars such as Shaykh al-Qaradawi argue that a contextual interpretation of Sharī’ah allows minority Muslim communities to the opportunity of “… preserving identity without isolation and integrating without dissolution (muhāfaẓatun bilā inghilāq wa indimājun bilā dhawbān)” (Al-Qaraḍawi, 2001 in Dogan, 2015, p. 35). The point is that fiqh is capable of responding to time and place whilst maintaining its distinct divine origin. In summary, we could say that fiqh is distinguished for its flexibility, adaptability and being able to respond to changeability of time and place. This makes it a living science able to help Muslims live their lives practically. It makes the study of Sharī’ah (and by extension Islam) relevant, contextual, responsive, and engaging – without compromising the fundamentals of Islam, or its divine sources. Therefore, teaching of fiqh should not be prescriptive but also introduce learners to its nature and methodology, including its higher objectives and universal maxims.

Fiqh in Islamic Schools: Student Voice Typically, in Islamic schools, Islamic Studies covers fiqh, ‘Aqāid (creed), Akhlāq (ethics/morals), Tārīkh (history), Sīrah (biography of the Prophet Muhammad), and Qur’anic studies. However, we know little to nothing

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about how Islamic studies is faring in Islamic schools. Research in this domain is scarce, especially in relation to student voice (or the voice of other stakeholders such as parents and teachers). In the field of education, there is ample research on student voice, but suffices to say that exploring student voice allows us to move from “research on students to research with students” (Woodward, Lloyd, & Kimmons, 2017), and shifts the discussion to speaking with rather than speaking for students in educational research, planning, and reform (Fielding, 2004). Therefore, any study, or renewal, of Islamic Studies curricula must seriously consider students’ voice and their own experience with exiting curricula. In 2018, I began to explore student voice vis-à-vis Islamic Studies in several Australian Islamic schools (Abdalla, 2018). The qualitative project employed focus groups and classroom observations as the methods for collecting data. Initially, 19 senior students took part in two separate focus groups. I asked students their own views of the strengths and challenges of Islamic studies, and recommendations for improvements (if any). The results of this preliminary, and first of its kind research in Islamic schools, were revealing. In 2019, we repeated the same research with three large Australian Islamic schools, with a sample size of 75 senior students (years 10, 11, & 12), which substantiated the findings of the 2018 research (Abdalla, Chown, & Memon, 2020). To summarize, students identified multiple challenges with Islamic studies including, but not limited to these: it is “repetitive,” “boring,” “irrelevant” (to their lives as young Muslims), “out-of-context,” “disengaging,” and “biased” (means schools or teachers advocate the views of a single m ­ adhab (school of law) without introducing students to other equally valid viewpoints from other schools of law). Richer data analysis revealed that it did not provide students with “the tools and language to engage with and better understand their world at a range of levels.” Moreover, it did not provide students with the skills and tools to “think deeply and logically and obtain and evaluate evidence in a disciplined way as the result of studying fundamental disciplines” that can inform deeper understanding of Islam in the modern world. Additionally, Islamic studies did not help students develop “capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives and solve problems’ in relation to their understanding of Islam in the modern world.” If we are to shift the discussion to speaking with rather than speaking for students, then any Islamic Studies curriculum renewal, planning, and reform must be responsive to students’ needs and aspirations. Therefore, coupled with what we know about fiqh’s responsive nature to time and place (such as being flexible and adaptable), we can perhaps propose important features/ principles that – if met – can render the teaching of fiqh true to the letter and

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FIGURE 3.1 

Learner responsive fiqh (LRF)

spirit of Islam, and responsive to the needs and aspirations of Muslim leaners that are: Flexible; adaptable; practical; relevant; objective; contextual; nonrepetitive, and engaging. These principles can form what I will call Learner Responsive Fiqh (LRF, Figure 3.1), which can operate as a framework in examine the fiqh component of Islamic Studies curricula.

Fiqh in Islamic Studies Curricula: What Is Covered? This section will focus on four of the most commonly used, and accessible, Islamic Studies curricula in English speaking countries (including the USA, Australia, Canada, and the UK).

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1. IQRA’ Islamic studies curricula, USA 2. Tasheel curriculum/textbook Series, South Africa 3. iSyllabus, Scotland 4. I Love Islam Textbook Series, USA

IQRA’ Islamic Studies Curricula The IQRA Islamic Studies Curricula is produced by IQRA’ International Educational Foundation, which contends that their curricula is “unlike most Islamic Studies programs of today,” because it “embraces all the constituent elements of what has traditionally been labelled Islamic Studies,” and that is “contextually fit for 21st century Muslim youth living in the West” (IQRA’ Resource Guide, 2011, p. 11). This is a significant claim because, on face value, it addresses important features of our LRF, being true to the letter and spirit of Islam, and responsive to the needs of young Muslims growing up in Western countries. The IQRA Islamic studies program caters for Grades 2–8 only, and covers (1) Quranic Studies, (2) Aqidah, Fiqh, and Akhlaq, (3) Sirah and Hadith, (4)  Islamic history. Each category has a number of themes, topics and focus point. Aqidah, Fiqh, and Akhlaq have five overarching themes: (1) identity of Self as a Muslim, (2) Conceptual Development of Iman, (3) Islamic Ways of ‘Ibadah, (4) Halal and Haram, (5) Mu’amalat: Adab and Social Etiquette. The fiqh subthemes are, (1) Islamic ways of ‘Ibadah and (2) the permitted and prohibited in Islam (halal and haram). I will only focus on these themes. The basic aspects of Wudu, Salah, Zakah, Hajj, adhan, and the Shahada are covered in Grades 1 and 2. The same themes are covered across all the grades (repetitive). By Grade 8, students learn the significance of Zakah, Hajj, Umra, remembrance of Allah (Dhikrullah), and giving khutbah. There is an isolated sub-theme in Grade 6 on “the meaning of struggle ( Jihad for Allah’s sake)” which comes across as out-of-context, irrelevant, and impractical for this age group. The second theme is “the permitted and prohibited in Islam (halal and haram).” Grade 1 covers definitions of halal and haram, food that fall in this category, reasons for their permissibility or prohibition, and by Grade 8 students learn the Islamic injunctions regarding gambling, liquor, illicit drugs, stealing, cheating, bribery, and corruption. There are few odd topics added in this standard such as “Practice conflict management techniques and strategies according to the Sunnah,” and “Know that Allah created human beings for the special purpose of worshipping Him alone.” In summary, themes and sub-themes are important but repetitive and prescriptive, and by Grade 6, students are not engaging in themes that are “contextually fit for 21st century Muslim youth living in the West.”

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Tasheel South Africa – Grades 1–11 The Jamiatul ‘Ulama (Council of Islamic Theologians) Taalimi Board, South Africa, publishes the Tasheel [“Ease”] Series curriculum. The aim of this curriculum is the preparation of “young Muslims for present and future challenges,” and “This curriculum has been developed on the understanding that Islam is a religion that enjoins goodness to humanity and that Muslims are active contributors to the development and upliftment of human civilization” ( Jamiatul Ulama, 2020). The “specific outcome” of the Series include: 1. Pre School (ages 4–6): “… presenting Islamic Education to these young children in a fun and stimulating way in accordance with the way young children of that age learn, play and develop” ( Jamiatul Ulama, 2020). 2. Primary Education Phase (ages 6–11): “… teaching Islam in a practical manner so as to build their understanding, extend their appreciation and help them to start discovering Islam” ( Jamiatul Ulama, 2020). 3. Secondary Education Phase (age 12–18): “… providing an opportunity for teenagers to find their identity, self-esteem and purpose in life … to prepare the youth for the challenges ahead as future leaders with the objective to deepen and broaden their understanding of the contemporary contexts in which they live” ( Jamiatul Ulama, 2020). The curriculum covers broad areas of Qur’an and memorization of selected Surahs (Chapters), Fiqh, Hadith, Sīrah/Tarīkh (History), Aqīdah (Islamic Creed and Belief ), and Akhlāq wal Adāb (Islamic Morals and Etiquette). Fiqh has four overarching themes: “Istinjaa,” “keep your body clean,” “clean habits,” and “surroundings of a Muslim.” Grades 2 to –7 cover purification (including using toilet, wudu, tayamum or dry ablution, and gusul), Salah (all of its conditions and requirements, and other rules pertaining to making up missed prayer), and by Grade 7 students are introduced to ‘aqīqah (sacrifice for new born), hunting, qurbāni (animal sacrifice), halal and haram, ‘umrah, fasting, and Zakah. Grade 8 continues the fiqh of Salah, funeral prayer (including washing of the deceased, graves, burial, and condolences), types of charity, Zakah (including on livestock, mined products, and agriculture), and Ḥajj. Grade 9 also covers the fiqh of Salah, Zina (adultery and fornication), marriage (in details), polygamy, breast-feeding, the various types of divorce, and custody of children. Grade 10 deals with financial transaction including riba (usury), stock exchange, financial markets, and bankruptcy. Grade 11 covers the ḥudūd laws (crimes and penalties) for theft, intoxication, adultery, and fornication, Salah (again), the styles of building of Mosques, women and the Mosque, and duties of the Mosque’s caretaker. Finally, Grade 12 covers laws of inheritance,

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wills, medical issues (such as sexual therapy, abortion, and organ transplantation), insurance, suicide, and suicide bombings. The aims of the Tasheel (like that of the IQRA curriculum) seeks to provide “authentic” fiqh that can preserve learners’ identity and prepare them for the challenges of the 21st Century. Indeed, it does cover important themes and sub-themes useful for a growing Muslim learner, but there are several areas of concern. Many of the themes and sub-themes are: 1. Overly repetitive – for example, najaasah, wudu, fasting, and salah are taught throughout Grades 1–7, and Salah again in Grade 11. 2. Irrelevant – for example, washing of deceased and burial, and Zakah on l ivestock in Grade 8; polygamy, breastfeeding, divorce, and children’s ­ ­custody in Grade 9; complex laws of financial transactions in Grade 10, and crimes and penalties in Grade 11. 3. Boring/tedious – for example, there are 27 lessons on various aspects of Salah in Grade 6 alone. 4. Ad-hoc (no clear logical structure) – for example, topics ranging from pension and provident fund, women’s rights if husband is impotent, to Salah (all according to Hanafi Madhab) are all found in lesson 11, Grade 12. 5. Biased – focusing only on the Hanafi Madhab (which is not a problem per se), but students are not introduced to the other schools of fiqh, or its flexible and adaptive nature, which can broaden learners’ perspectives and respect for other equally valid viewpoints. Undoubtedly, many of the fiqh topics covered in the Tasheel equip the learner with practical knowledge in the essential rituals and practices of Islam, but it is unclear how they may, as the Tasheel curriculum suggest, “prepare the youth for the challenges ahead as future leaders with the objective to deepen and broaden their understanding of the contemporary contexts in which they live.”

iSyllabus for Schools The iSyllabus for Schools in the UK is an Islamic Studies curriculum for children aged 11 to 15, which aims to “to enlighten and empower Muslims through learning experiences, equipping and guiding them in their everyday lives” (­iSyllabus, n.d.). The iSyllabus for Schools claims to be relevant because it serves “the needs and demands of modern societies in mind while at the same time keeping the rigors of traditional Islamic teachings at its core.” Further, the Workbooks “encourage students to incorporate their Islamic faith into their dayto-day lives and to develop into strong and confident young Muslims who are clear about their place in society” (iSyllabus, n.d.).

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Five, full-color Workbooks cover five-year Islamic Studies curriculum, that introduces various topics in Islam elaborated in more depth and detail in subsequent workbooks. Each Workbook has a Scheme of Work covering the Learning Objectives, Content, Activities, Resource Material, Assessment, and Homework Learning Outcomes for each lesson. The Schemes of Work also detail cross-­ curriculum links throughout all five Workbooks. It is not clear, however, the ages of learners that each Workbook targets. Workbook 1 introduces the fiqh of Wudu, prayer (including the meaning of prayer), Dua (supplications), Zakat, Ramadan, and Hajj. Workbook 2 teaches the fiqh of Istinja, Adhan, the Imam, congregational prayer, Friday prayer, Sadaqah (charity), layat al-Qadr, Eid prayer, and Umrah. Workbook 3 covers ghusl (purificatory bath), funeral prayer, qiyam al-Layl (night vigil prayer), missed prayers, khushu (devotion in prayer), i’tikaaf (retreat during nights of Ramadan), and days of Hajj. Workbook 4 deals with Tayammum, the Traveling Prayer, Giving a Khutbah or sermon, Calculating Zakat, Ramadan, Spiritual Hajj, the Four Schools of Thought, racism, justice, extremism in religion, death and burial and music and poetry. Workbook 5 covers the five Pillars and the Articles of Faith in greater depth, Halal and Haram, Muslim Dress, Marriage and Sexual Attitudes. The last section, Living Islam, ­i ntroduce the Shari’ah, Birth and Death, the role of the Mosque and the Imam, the Days of Eid, and Women in Islam. The fiqh components of the iSyllabus are similar to the Iqra and Tasheel curricula, with some notable exceptions, such as introducing learners to the Shari’ah and Four Schools of Thought, and contemporary issues on religious extremism, music and singing, marriage and sexual attitudes, and gender interactions. Despite the repetition of themes and topics across the five Workbooks, and the lack of clarity around the age groups it seeks to serve, the iSyllabus is less tedious and covers a number of important and relevant topics. It would have been useful to introduce the Shari’ah and Four Schools of Thought earlier to provide the learner with a frame of reference for many proceeding topics.

I Love Islam and Learning Islam Textbook Series – International Edition The Islamic Services Foundation’s Islamic Studies curriculum includes: (1) I Love Islam for Elementary Grades 1–5, (2) Learning Islam for Middle/Junior High Grades 6–8, and (3) Living Islam for Grades 9–12. The “I Love Islam” Series is used by more than 400 Muslim schools in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, Bahrain, Jordan, and the UAE (ISF, 2020). The series is for Grades 1–5 and aims to “gradually introduces Muslim students to the essentials of their faith … [and] brings to light the historic and

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cultural aspects of Islam” (ISF, 2020). The series covers “Iman, Fiqh ul-Ibadat, Fiqh ul-mu’amalat, Qur’an, Hadeeth, Sīrah, Islamic character education and the Muslim world.” Grade 1 has five Units (A–E), each with a distinct theme. Unit C deals with fiqh, briefly introducing the learner to the five pillars of Islam, Salah, Wudu, and Ramadan. Grade 2 continues the fiqh aspect of Salah, Du’a, Athan, and Ramadan again. Grade 3 introduces Hajj, congregation prayers, and Zakah (and Wudu again). Grade 4 addresses missed Salah, impurities (najasah), Sunnah prayers, Friday prayers, and nullifiers of Salah. It also has five lessons on Surat al-Nāzi’āt (not clear why have this in the fiqh section). Grade 5 introduces Kkushu (devotion in Salah), and different types of Salah including voluntary prayers, Duha Salah, Witr Salah, travelers’ Salah, and sujūd al-Shukr (prostration of gratefulness). The “Learning Islam” Grade 6 covers the following fiqh themes: Salah (voluntary, congregational, Friday, Eid, and in times of difficulty). Grade 7 covers fiqh of modesty, etiquette of clothing, Hijab, Zakah, and Sadaqa (rules and ethics of giving). Grade 8 covers fiqh of Ramadan (including rules of fasting), farewell pilgrimage, the Sunnah, basics of science of Hadith and its major books, and some prohibited drinks and foods. The “Living Islam” Grade 9–12 does not cover any fiqh issues (focus is on Iman, life story of Prophet Muhammad, and Islam in America). Aside from the topics on the basics of science of Hadith and its major books in Grade 8, the Islamic Services Foundation’s Islamic Studies curriculum covers the usual basic themes/topics of fiqh. Of course, these are important for any Muslim learner. However, they are (1) repeated throughout Grades 1–8; (2) does not introduce students to real life issues that they most likely will face, and (3) overly prescriptive. The “Living Islam” series for Grades 9–12, fails to touch on any fiqh issues.

Fiqh in Islamic Studies Curricula: What Could Be Covered? Largely, the four Islamic studies curricula have several common characteristics/ features. At the elementary level (Grades 1–5), they address important basics of fiqh (purification, Salah, Zakah, Fasting, and Hajj), which every Muslim learner requires. They are detailed, and repeated throughout the grades, though gradually but to the point of being over prescriptive. The primary students that I interviewed in many Australian schools often complained of repetition of these subjects/themes to the point of boredom. Any renewal attempt must address this concern. In some curriculum, there are multiple topics that are clearly irrelevant to the learner (e.g. in the Tasheel, fiqh of washing of corpse and burial, and Zakah on livestock in Grade 8; polygamy, breastfeeding, divorce, and children’s custody in Grade 9; and crimes and penalties in Grade 11). Again, this finding

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substantiates the experiences and views of students in Australian Islamic schools who argued that many of the topics are not relevant to their lives as young Muslims growing up in the West. Indeed, why would a Grade 8/9 student want/need to know the fiqh of washing a corpse, breastfeeding, or Zakah on livestock? The “Living Islam” Series, Grades 9, 10, and 12, does not cover any aspect of fiqh. These are critical years, and learners need to be prepared to face real-life challenges after school. Interestingly, none of the examined curricula dedicate any portion, especially at senior levels, to the understanding of fiqh (the fiqh of the fiqh) – including its meaning, nature, characteristics, principles, higher objectives, and legal maxims. This understanding would give the learner a critical framework to understand how and why laws are derived, their rationale (or raison d’être), and not just what the laws are. This would help learners appreciate the depth/richness of the Islamic legal heritage, its complexity, and capacity to engage with, and be responsive to, time and place, appreciate differences in schools of law, and respect them. This fiqh framework, will help the learner navigate future challenges without having to look for prescriptive answers. Therefore, it should form a substantial part of the teaching of fiqh in any Islamic Studies curriculum. When considering themes/topics that could be covered, it is important that they meet the features of the LRF above (Figure 3.1). They should also aim to prepare learners for the challenges of the twenty-first century. This may include, but is not limited to, fiqh of:

1. Fiqh methodology, reasons and etiquettes for jurisprudential disagreements (fiqh of the fiqh) – This can help young Muslims not only appreciate the advanced and sophisticated fiqh methodology, its depth and flexibility but also engender respect for alternative Fiqh perspectives (Kamali, 1996; Kamali, 2008). 2. Governance/government (and democracy as a model of governance, including the fiqh of revolution, or peaceful uprisings) – this is to clear the confusion that abounds among young Muslims about these issues, especially after the rise of ISIS and its aftermath, the Arab Spring and the “Islamic” legitimacy of uprisings, allegiance to nation-state to and so forth (Kamali, 2008, pp. 199–225; Nakissa, 2015; Usmani, 2010). 3. The issue of abodes (Dar al-Islam, dar al-Harb etc.) – young people want to know the rationale and validity of bifurcations of nations into abodes of peace, war, belief, disbelief and its impact on application and practice of Sharī’ah on their lives in Western contexts (Abdalla, 2012). 4. Civic and Political Engagement/Muslim citizenship in liberal democracies – to clarify in the mind of young Muslims issues such as

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voting, working with non-Muslims on common social issues, Islam and secularism and the like (Peucker, 2018). 5. Gender-relations (including LGBTIQA, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex, queer, asexual and questioning, issues) – to clarify for young Muslims the extent to which they can engage with the opposite sex; what are the boundaries/limitations; how to have functional gender relations without a sense of guilt and distinguish between cultural taboos and Islamic teachings (Purmul & Amirebrahimi, 2016). 6. Culture & identity (vis-à-vis ‘urf and ‘āda) – to address the identity crisis faced by young Muslims and help them reconcile being Muslim (religious) and national identities (Abd-Allah, 2004). 7. Jihad vs. terrorism – to equip young Muslims with the jurisprudential tools to differentiate between legitimate acts of jihad and terrorism (Shaykh al-Akiti, 2005). 8. Islamic financial ethics (with a focus on financial literacy) – to provide basic but fundamental understanding of the ethical/moral dimensions of finance from an Islamic perspective vis-à-vis conventional finance to enhance financial literacy among young Muslims. This is a key component in preparing students for their adult life, by equipping them to take control over their money and can budget for real-life situations in accordance to Islamic ethics (CIMA, 2018). 9. Bioethics – This helps clarifies Islamic ethical thought and its relationship to contemporary bioethical issues such as abortion and euthanasia (Shabana, 2014). 10. Environmental ethics/crises – young people are engaged with this topical issue and an Islamic perspective on environmental conservation and reasons for the damaging impacts on the natural world as well as the microcosm within us would be values by young Muslims (Nasr & Iqbal, 2009). Clearly, not all these areas need to or can be covered, therefore, it would be best for each school to work in collaboration with their students to determine which of these are most useful.

Conclusion It is inconceivable to understand the depth of Islam, and its universal applications, without understanding fiqh. Any study of Islam without fiqh would be incomplete, especially in Islamic schools who often envision a Muslim graduate who is an active citizen of the world, confident of his/her faith and identify. However, the review of four Islamic Studies curricula here demonstrated

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that they are overly prescriptive focusing on do’s and don’ts, with themes that are repetitive, de-contextualized, tedious, and at times impractical. Research in this area reflected this in the voice of students, who complained of the same. This chapter argued that any renewal of Islamic studies curricula must reflect the richness, flexibility, adaptability and changeability of fiqh to time and place, and students’ aspirations and perspectives. To help guide this process, I proposed a LRF with overarching principles reflecting the aforementioned. Moving forward, any textbook, no matter its quality, is not a substitute for a comprehensive Islamic Studies curriculum in itself. Students in Islamic Studies classes find the didactic approach of being taught from a text boring, repetitive, and lacking in thought resulting in students “turning off.” This can be shifted, if and only if, there is a deeper study of fiqh including its meaning, nature, higher objectives, and legal maxims, coupled with practical contemporary issues that will spark genuine interest in the learner. Lastly, the necessity of including the “collective contribution of diverse students’ presence, participation, and power” in renewal of Islamic studies curricula can lead to reform efforts that work to “encourage reflection, discussion, dialogue and action on matters that primarily concern students, but also, by implication, school staff and the communities they serve” (Fielding & McGregor, 2005).

References Abdalla, M. (2012). Sacred Law In a Secular Land: To What Extent Should Sharī’a Law Be Followed in Australia? Griffith Law Review, 21(3), 657–679. doi:10.1080/10383441.2012. 10854757. Abdalla, M. (2018). Islamic Studies in Islamic Schools: Evidence-Based Renewal. In M. Abdalla, D. Chown, & M. Abdullah (Eds.), Islamic Schooling in the West Pathways to Renewal (1st ed., pp. 257–283). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Abdalla, M., Chown, D., & Memon, N. (2020). Islamic Studies in Australian Islamic Schools: Learner Voice. Religions, 11(404), 1–15. doi:10.3390/rel11080404. Abd-Allah, D. U. (2004). Islam and the Cultural Imperative. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from Nawawi Foundation: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54eb86afe4b0b896afa4080a/t/58dc 1008bebafb6c93354861/1491015358668/Islam%26TheCulturalImperative.pdf. Al-Qurṭubi, M. i. (2003). al-Jami’ li-’Aḥkām al-Qur’ān. Dar Alam al-Kutub. Al-Raysuni, A. (2006). Imam Al-Shatibi’s Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intents of Islamic Law. IIIT. Basha, A.T. (1990). Naẓra Tarīkhiyya Fi Ḥudūth al-Maẓahib al-Fiqhiyya al-Arba’a. Dar al-Qadri. CIMA. (2018, 1). An Introduction to Islamic Finance A Different Perspective on Global Business. UK: CIMA. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://www.cimaglobal.com/ Documents/Islamic%20finance/Rebrand%20Brochures/UPDATED%20Islamic%20 Introduction%20brochure%20(WEB).pdf. Dogan, O. (2015, 8). Rethinking Islamic Jurisprudence for Muslim Minorities in the West. Texas, USA: The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://­ repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/32024.

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Fielding, M. (2004).Transformative Approaches to StudentVoice:Theoretical Underpinnings, Recalcitrant Realities. British Educational Research Journal, 30(2), 295–311. doi:10.1080 %2F0141192042000195236 Fielding, M., & McGregor, J. (2005). Deconstructing student voice: new spaces for dialogue or new opportunities for surveillance? The American Educational Research Association Annual Conference (AERA), (p. 24). Montreal. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from http://www. leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/155816.pdf. (2011). IQRA’ Educational Resource Guide. Skokie: IQRA’ International Educational Foundation. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://bcmaburnaby.wildapricot.org/Resources/ Education/IQRA%20RESOURCE%20GUIDE%202011.pdf. ISF. (2020). Islamic Services Foundation. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from ISF: https://www.­ islamicservices.org/my-islamic-books. iSyllabus. (n.d.). iSyllabus for Schools. (iSyllabus for Schools.) Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from iSyllabus for Schools: https://isyllabusforschools.org/about/. Kamali, M. H. (1996). Methodological Issues in Islamic Jurisprudence. Arab Law Quarterly, 11(1), 3–33. doi:10.2307/3381731 Kamali, M. H. (2008). Shari’ah Law: An Introduction (1st ed.). Oneworld Publications. Khuja, Qardawi, Uthman, & Al-Qatan. (1981). Wujūb Taṭbīq al-Shari’ah al-Islamiyya. Imam University Publishing House. Nakissa, A. (2015). The Fiqh of Revolution and the Arab Spring: Secondary Segmentation as a Trend in Islamic Legal Doctrine. The Muslim World, 105, 398–421. doi:10.1111/ muwo.12098. Nasr, S. H., & Iqbal, M. (2009). Islam, Science, Muslims, and Technology. Dost Publication., from http://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Islam-Science-Muslimsand-Technology-Seyyed-Hossein-Nasr-in-Conversation-with-Muzaffar-Iqbal-2009.pdf. Peucker, M. (2018). On the (In)compatibility of Islamic Religiosity and Citizenship in Western Democracies: The Role of Religion for Muslims’ Civic and Political Engagement. Politics and Religion, 11(3), 553–575. doi:10.1017/S1755048317000700. Purmul, M., & Amirebrahimi, M. (2016, 7 27). 10 Guidelines for Gender Relations in Islam. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from Virtual Mosque: http://www.virtualmosque.com/ relationships/brotherhood-sisterhood/10-guidelines-for-gender-relations-in-islam/. Shabana, A. (2014, 1 1). Bioethics in Islamic Thought. Religion Compass, 8(11), 337–346. doi:10.1111/rec3.12137. Shaykh al-Akiti, M. A. (2005). Defending the Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians. (A. A.-H. Wentzel, Trans.) Germany: Warda Publication, Germany. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from http://www.warda.info/fatwa.pdf. Tafsīr al-Tustarī. (2017). (A. Keeler, & A. Keeler, Trans.) Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Amman, Jordan: Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=93&tSoraNo =45&tAyahNo=18&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2. Tafsir ibn Abbas. (2017). (M. Guezzou, Trans.) Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Amman, Jordan: Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=73&tSoraNo=45&t AyahNo=18&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2. The Qur’an (1st ed.). (2010). (M. A. Haleem, Trans.) Oxford University Press. Ulama, J. (2020, 7 7). JUT Publishing. (Jamiatul Ulama South Africa.) Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from Jamiatul Ulama South Africa: https://jamiatsa.org/services/jut-publishing/.

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Usmani, M. M. (2010, 6 20). The System of Rule in Islam. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from Deoband Org: https://www.deoband.org/2010/06/general/politics/the-system-of-rule-in-islam/. Woodward, S., Lloyd, A., & Kimmons, R. (2017). Student Voice in Textbook Evaluation: Comparing Open and Restricted Textbooks. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(6), 150–151. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from http://www.irrodl.org/ index.php/irrodl/article/download/3170/4368. Zahraa, M. (2000). Characteristic Features of Islamic Law: Perceptions and Misconceptions. Arab Law Quarterly, 15(2), 168–196. Retrieved 7 7, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/ stable/3381964?seq=1.

4 ‘AQIDA (CREED) CURRICULUM REALITIES AND IDEALS Mohammed Rustom

Introduction The purpose of ‘aqida (creed) is to engender the tenets of faith that are derived from the Quran. ‘Aqida is a core subset of the broader category of the K-12 Islamic Studies curriculum that essentially focuses on the “formula of divine unity, la ilaha illa’llah; the proclamation of the Prophet Muhammad’s messengerhood, Muhammadun rasulu’llah; and the six tenets of faith mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)” (Yusuf, 2007, 10). Put another way, the study of ‘aqida is of one’s beliefs and the “why” of those beliefs (Yusuf  2007,  13). In Islamic studies curricula the teaching of ‘aqida often focuses on the aforementioned six tenets of faith, namely belief in God’s oneness and His names and attributes; God’s Messengers; the divinely revealed books; the Angels; divine destiny, and the Final Day. Some curricula will include other complementary topics, but the ones listed here are commonly the foundation in one form or another. Aside from these introductory remarks, this chapter presents the transcript of an interview conducted with Professor Mohammed Rustom on the teaching of ‘aqida and his reflections on a sample set of the existing K-12 Islamic Studies curricula. Rustom’s work has been instrumental in reinforcing Islamic philosophy as a living tradition – one which if we as educators are to incorporate into the teaching of ‘aqida, would allow us to “come away with meaningful responses to [our] contemporary predicaments, not the least of which is the answer to the meaning of life” (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 2017, 136).

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The foundational starting point for teaching creed, he argues, should be the “given-ness of the situation of existence (wujud)” (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 137). In the passage below, he beautifully explains why understanding existence is fundamental to this pursuit: Time implies change and mutability, and thus the fall of man, caught up as he is in the flow of time, implies a change in state, from being with God to being away from God. We sank in the downward flow of this river because we have lost our true identity, which is for us to know ­ourselves as God knows us, and thus to be with God in the Divine Presence. In other words, we have forgotten God by virtue of being in the realm of change and hence multiplicity. That original abode from which we came can be accessed while in the realm of change and time, so long as one remembers his true self, as the Prophet said, “He who knows h ­ imself knows his Lord.” To know one’s self thus means to remember one’s self, and to remember one’s self means that one knows his own existence, which is tantamount to God’s remembering the person, since His knowledge of what that person is, is the person’s very existence (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 141). To study ‘aqida in a way that focuses not on what Muslims believe but why Muslims believe what they believe is more urgent than ever. We live in a time when a “plethora of contradictory worldviews” (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 144) confront young people daily. In the long run, these v­ arious philosophies present serious obstacles to the contemporary student, who is ill-equipped to actually grapple with and respond to them. Having inadequate responses to life’s big questions naturally results in a generation of youth who, intellectually speaking, can be said to have “bi-polar tendencies” (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 148). As such, it is not unusual “to encounter someone with a Muslim name who reads the Quran religiously (as he should), but who also subscribes to some secular theory which negates the very category of transcendence upon which the Quran is based” (Rustom, “End of Islamic Philosophy,” 148). The greatest remedy for this, Rustom insists, is to know your own sources first. Young Muslims who are introduced to contemporary ­philosophies in the absence of a strong grounding in their own tradition will be intellectually unprepared to engage with the world that they inhabit in relation to who they are. A second foundation to the study of creed that humbled us when r­ eading Rustom’s work is the need to cultivate inward silence when aspiring to connect to God. Our collective Islamic Studies curricula often assume ­ that learning and teaching ‘aqida is solely an intellectual exercise. Learning ­outcomes and topics of study do not suffice reflecting the process by which ‘aqida must be embodied and imparted. He writes, “In our world, filled as it

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is with all kinds of cacophonic sounds and alarming images, cultivating this kind of inwardness is difficult indeed” (Rustom, “On Listening: Hearing God’s Voice in the Face of Suffering,” 2020, 42). And so when s­ tudents today witness or endure personal, communal, or human hardship and s­uffering, they commonly question God’s wisdom, awareness, and ­presumed silence. Unable to come to terms with the reality of evil in the face of Divine ­g oodness (i.e. the problem of theodicy), believers can be left confused. To respond to this, Rustom asks, is the issue more one of God’s silence or of human deafness? With this question in mind, he shares a most inspiring tale from Rumi’s Masnavi: [Rumi] tells a tale of a man who calls out to God in earnest all night in prayer. But the man hears no divine response. It is then that Satan comes upon the scene and tries to convince the dejected person that there is no God to hear him, and that he should thus give up hope in the divine all together. At this point, the broken-hearted servant falls asleep and has a dream in which he comes to learn that God had in fact been answering his call all along: The fear and love you express are what tie you to My bounty – Under every “O Lord!” from you are many labbayks from Me. “Labbayk” or “Here I am!” is the well-known phrase that Muslims utter during the rites of the pilgrimage. For Rumi, it is not man who says “Here I am!” Rather, it is God who says it to man, and this not only in some circumstances but always and forever. In other words, God’s presence and aid are always there, however imperceptible they may be to our limited human understanding and experience of the world. On a more subtle level, Rumi is also driving home the point that our very calling out to God is itself the divine response to our prayers” (Rustom, “On Listening,” 2020, 42). These two starting points for the study of ‘aqida, that is, (1) beginning with a deep understanding of existence and why we exist and (2) cultivating inner silence, inform the perspective on curriculum redesign that Rustom outlines below. We had the absolute pleasure to interview him in early 2019 for his reflections on rethinking the teaching of the ‘aqida curriculum. In advance of the interview, we provided Rustom with a series of curriculum documents that are commonly used in Western Islamic schools and also Islamic education national curricula from a handful of Muslim majority contexts. He focused his reading on the ‘aqida sections but also glanced at the curriculum broadly for cross-­ curricular intersections. The interview transcript below contains his insights and answers to our questions.

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Interview How Would You Compare Curricula Related to ‘Aqida Between Muslim Majority Contexts and Western/Muslim Minority Contexts? What I noticed was that the curricula that come out of Muslim majority contexts generally have a much clearer understanding of what the category of ‘aqida entails. That is, when it comes to knowledge of the language of theology, like kalam (rational theology) proper, they are much better. The ‘aqida curricula from Muslim majority contexts written in Arabic are therefore much better grounded in the creedal terminology that is most consistent with the Islamic tradition, historically speaking. What I noticed in the Islamic studies curricula produced in Western/ Muslim minority contexts is that there is a lot of emphasis on sira (Prophetic biography) and a heavy degree of emphasis upon the Quran and Hadith. This is very good, but there is also a 1300-year tradition whose representatives have lived and meditated upon these foundational sources of Islam – and this at a level that is much higher and more profound and learned than most of us can do today. This historical tradition, for the most part, is not featured well in these documents, with the net effect that the Islamic studies curricula produced in Western/ Muslim minority contexts do not really communicate a sustained exposition of the theology that reflects and acts on the teachings contained within the Quran, the Hadith, and the sira literature through the lenses of the great and most authoritative representatives of the Islamic intellectual tradition. What you get are therefore superficial presentations of these texts with very little real explanation of their meaning, content, and significance. Take, for example, the manner in which adab (here taking in the science of akhlaq or ethics) is taught in one of the national Arab Islamic Studies curricula. Rather than teach adab through examples from the sira only, the curriculum in question draws on the teachings of sira literature and examples of proper e­ thical behavior and moral conduct throughout the vast expanse of Islamic h ­ istory, looking at the Abbasids, the Ottomans, etc. By drawing on these examples of the historical manifestations of adab and akhlaq in the lives of a variety of different Muslim peoples, students are shown how Islamic belief and creed have informed every dimension of Muslim life, thought, and culture for over a thousand-year period. Much of this kind of expansive approach is missing in the Western Islamic Studies material on ‘aqida.

Let Us Look at the Other Meaning of the Word Adab, Namely “Literature.” I think that a lot of people are scared away by or uninterested in words such as “theology,” creed,” “‘aqida,” or what have you. But the word “literature” does

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not pose these kinds of potential problems. Muslims have produced some of the best literature in the world, and not just in Arabic, but also in Persian and numerous other languages and local vernaculars. Where literature is important in conveying Islamic theological beliefs is precisely in the fact that literature and artistic writings have been major means by which all kinds of theological teachings and doctrines have been communicated throughout Islamic civilization. Pre-modern Muslims have never simply regarded literature as something that edified the mind; rather, it was used to provide the means for an entire cycle of Islamic education to a person, from ethics and creedal theology to history and Quranic commentary. This explains why some of the greatest literary figures of the past were also skilled in all of the Islamic sciences. When they wrote their literary works, they brought these disciplines together into a unified vision of reality. Among the best examples of Islamic literary works that beautifully conveyed Islamic theological beliefs and even practices in a way that was generally easy for people to understand can be found in such classics as Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy b. Yaqzan, Sam‘ani’s Rawh al-arwah, Rumi’s Masnavi, and Sa‘di’s Gulistan (all of these texts are available in English translation). With these points in mind, let us turn our attention to a student who goes through an entire Islamic studies curriculum and certainly does not read, much less hear, of let us say ten classics of Islamic literature. He will know some Quran, Hadith, sira, and a few major names such as al-Nawawi and al-Shafi‘i. I find that strange. When it comes to theology, what the student will have is a basic understanding of the six tenets of faith, with little to no real understanding of what they mean, which is to say nothing about the great authors and literary works that have explained and commented upon these tenets. Beyond simply regurgitating beliefs, the student must be given access to the breadth of the Islamic intellectual tradition, which includes works in creedal theology, poetry, philosophy, and creative prose. In other words, the Islamic studies curricular documents that I have looked at – both those written for Muslim majority and Muslim minority contexts – give the impression that ‘aqida is ultimately conceived along lines that connect certain statements of belief back to the Quran, Hadith, and sira, and in some cases in the lives of the great Muslims of the past. This is neither useful nor sufficient in any serious way. We are lucky because we actually have an entire living literary, intellectual, spiritual tradition which has developed that early initial energy for all of these years, adapting them in different contexts. You can give a student a verse from the Quran, explain its meaning in relation to what Muslims believe, and then tell her that this is what she is supposed to believe. This would be appropriate for a child. But as the student gets older and comes to see how complex the world is and how intelligent civilizations other than Islam have been, she will naturally look for that same kind of depth

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in her own tradition. So as she moves along an Islamic schooling curriculum, she needs to be shown how some of the greatest people to have lived had internalized the teachings from the Quran, the Hadith, etc. This, as I see it, is what is by and large absent from these curricula: The missing link here is Islam’s entire intermediary intellectual and spiritual tradition.

Why Does the Teaching of Theology Need to Draw on the Wider Islamic Tradition? From my interactions with graduates of Islamic schools, they walk into my undergraduate classes with a strong Islamic identity. But when it comes to theology and Islamic belief, all they know is basically dogma. Some end up studying the sciences in university, which in a sense presents them with a mirror image of the kind of Islam that they have been taught in Islamic schools: A dry, exoteric, legalistic, and scientistic vision of the world with very little room for introspection and conceptual growth. Yet some of these students are by nature thinkers, meaning they may to some degree seek to understand the world in a deeper way. Because they have never been shown the profundity of their own tradition and are not equipped to recognize its merits and usefulness for their own lives even if it is presented to them for the first time in university, such students end up seeking to fulfil their intellectual curiosity with other forms of learning which seem entirely new to them and which are pervasive in the Eurocentric academy at any rate. Thus they end up taking courses on Dostoevsky and Plato (at best), and tend to become mesmerized by the Western canon. But if Islamic studies curricula can impart knowledge and love of the Islamic canon to students before they go out into the “real world” of higher education, students will have a much firmer grasp of the content of their faith and their own identity will not simply be a socially constructed one, but an intellectually and spiritually grounded one. As I said, the Islamic theological and intellectual canon should not entirely consist of technical and abstract books of theology and kalam, whose content would evade most teachers, let alone students. We need to conceive of the canon and the styles of works that make it up along very broad lines. With respect to theology or ‘aqida, the best way to teach the practical implications of a God-centered vision of the world is by way of akhlaq. To this effect, in some of these curricula that I have reviewed, virtues such as shukr (­g ratitude) are integrated with the teaching of ‘aqida by looking at how they were actualized in the faith and practice of the Prophet, whose conduct and behavior is the model of course. But who to better explain the relationship between the Islamic virtues and ‘aqida than someone like al-Ghazali or Rumi, whose works are basically commentaries on the ‘aqida and akhlaq that was taught and lived by the Prophet?

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Where Is the Disconnect Between the Essential Topics Covered in ‘Aqida, and How Is It Mapped onto Curriculum Learning Outcomes? The six tenets of faith are like the five pillars of practice. Those are the foundations. Islamic studies curricula that emphasize this are not wrong in any way in trying their very best to present the tradition in terms of its theology. In fact, the six tenets of faith are broken up into three broad categories: Teachings about God (ilahiyyat), nubuwwa or prophecy, and the ma‘ad or eschatology. Needless to say, these categories all go back to one essential point: Our relationship to God, which is taught to us by the prophets and the fruits of which we will encounter the other side of death. But the problem today, particularly for students, is how to make sense of these three categories in a way that is relevant to their concerns and therefore meaningful for their lives in this rapidly changing and globalized world which is their reality. For a lot of students it is very difficult to understand why any aspect of theology really matters to their lived experience as global citizens. I came to learn this fact the first time I tried to teach Islamic theology to my students. We got into the usual materials covered in the Islamic creedal primers: God’s essence, His names and attributes, etc. The students simply could not understand why God needed to have “essential and necessary” attributes, and how or why that mattered to them. Those who did get it thought it either an interesting mind game or a sophisticated way of speaking about God. But beyond that, these creedal primers had nothing to say to the students. Indeed, most of the discussions in Islamic theology are rather technical, and can really cause confusion in a student, or, just as bad, disinterest and therefore disengagement. The fundamental problem in the way that ‘aqida is taught in Islamic schools is not in the concentration upon the six tenets of faith, but in the degree of emphasis that is placed upon each of them and the manner in which they are conceived of and communicated to students. If, for example, we teach students about any aspect of the unseen realm (‘alam al-ghayb), we cannot simply present it to them as being amongst the transmitted lore or sam‘iyyat of Islam and expect them to acquiesce to it at every level of their education. At a certain point, they should come to know that many of the finest minds ever produced by Islam sought to explain the nature and function of the unseen world, and how our lives and actions in the phenomenal realm (‘alam al-shahada) that we participate in on a daily basis are inextricably tied to the unseen, both at the present moment and, ultimately, with serious consequences after we die. To simply tell a student that they must believe in the unseen realm, and then to expect them to accept any aspect of it as mere dogma, fulfils the requirement of delivering an important “teachable” when it comes to ‘aqida. But it does not

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give students an ultimately intellectual or literary way of thinking about the realm of the unseen. Eventually, the entire realm of the unseen will  come to occupy the intellectual infrastructure of their young minds, but  will not dominate the landscape and horizon of their vision of reality and thus will ultimately become yet another “thing” that they have to acquiesce to without any real proof, knowledge, or unshakeable conviction. With the realm of the unseen seemingly so distant a reality, students will naturally only become more and more interested in the realm of the seen, of this world. And this, down the road, leads to an essentially materialist worldview and consequently (in most cases) a materialistic mindset that defy the very raison d’être of being a Muslim. Treating the realm of the unseen in this way, it also becomes much easier to offer simplistic explanations of important theological topics down the road, like that of God’s decree and determination or al-qada’ wa’l-qadr, an abstraction which is emphasized in Islamic schooling in a very abnormal manner over and against, for example, things that are much more relevant to every student’s immediate and lived experience, such as God’s love, care, and concern for human beings and all sentient creatures. Of course, the discussion of God’s love is not normally treated in discussions on the six tenets of faith. But when we speak about God’s unity (tawhid), which is the first and most important of the tenets of faith, love can come up since God has the attribute of love, which means that He is qualified by love and is loving. Today, and perhaps more than ever before, the nature and reality of God’s love is a sine qua non of a child’s religious education. Juxtapose this with the aforementioned emphasis on al-qada’ wa’l-qadr, which most Islamic schooling curricula blindly dive into with little to no real conceptual apparatus and understanding of what this teaching is all about. Most students will never be able to wrap their minds around al-qada’ wa’l-qadr, and indeed most scholars will also admit that they themselves cannot do it. God’s love, by contrast, can be understood, felt, and experienced by all in a real and essential way. And it therefore will make a lot more sense to students when trying to explain the nature of God, the purpose of life, etc. So there needs to be a kind of reframing and a new understanding of the different pedagogical postures that our Islamic schooling curricula take with some of the most basic issues. Again, explaining the nature of God’s love can and should be rooted in the foundational sources of Islam, which are best made sense of by the greatest representatives of the Islamic love tradition, such as ‘Abd Allah Ansari, Ahmad Ghazali, ‘Ayn al-Qudat, Ibn ‘Arabi, Rumi, Ibn al-Farid, Yunus Emre, and Hafez. These spiritual and intellectual giants wrote about and even sung of the reality of God’s love in an unparalleled way; and, thankfully, their most important writings on the topic are all available in English translation.

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Are There Other Inherent Tensions and Pitfalls in the Way ‘Aqida Is Presented to Students? Yes. Allow me to give you a concrete example. In a certain Grade 4 Islamic studies curriculum one of the learning outcomes is to “describe” God. Now why would a nine-year-old need to do that, and, more importantly, how can he do so? This view is motivated by a particular, and even simple-minded, theological mindset. Seeing that the Quran and Hadith say things about God, His names, attributes, and actions, the understanding, as stated in this curriculum’s learning objective, is “to be able to learn that the Quran/Hadith contains descriptions of God.” In other words, if we impart this knowledge to young people, they will somehow be able to “describe” God – note here that the emphasis is not on understanding or knowing God, but on “describing” Him, which is a very different thing. How, then, would the typical student who in a sense is a victim of some peoples’ ultimately misplaced theological concerns and hang-ups be taught to describe God? It will normally be done along metaphorical lines, which is why the learning objective continues to say that it seeks to allow students to “understand that the verse of light [Quran 24:34] describes God metaphorically.” To be sure, the verse of light has and still is read along metaphorical lines on the assumption that God cannot actually be “light,” like the light which illuminates our room, etc. But it has also been read and still is read, and perhaps even more consistently, along literal and symbolic lines. So two key registers of interpretation and explanation that are a very normal feature of Islamic thinking are here swept away from the outset in favor of a very particular kind of desire to pin down what a “correct” description of God should sound like. The final learning objective of the curriculum in question then states that students should be able to “state the metaphorical meaning of God’s physical ­features.” Now why would a nine-year-old ever need to do that? It is because, once again, the Quran and Hadith speak of God in seemingly anthropomorphic ways, and it is assumed that this is going to be relevant and meaningful for a nine-year-old. Yet anyone who has spoken to a child of this age will tell you that she has a natural and beautiful way of interacting with these kinds of anthropomorphic descriptions of God, and they do not pose any real threats to her beliefs. In fact, on many levels, it is probably reassuring to students to be able to think of God along more human lines, since that is all that these young people have ever seen and known. The subtlety and complexity of Islamic thinking in other words needs to be brought to a student’s attention when she is intellectually mature and ready for it. Going back to the problem of emphasizing a metaphorical register in “describing” things like God’s face and hands, these curricula are unable to account for how the Islamic tradition itself problematized the very notion of metaphorical

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interpretations of God’s attributes. For example, if, as was historically done, we were to say that God’s “hand” mentioned in Quran 48:10 is a metaphorical way of speaking of God’s power, then what of Quran 5:64 and 38:75, which speak of God’s “two hands”? What does “hand” mean then, “two powers”? You can see why simplistic metaphorical readings are not always useful, and are at times simply incorrect or whimsical on their own level. Nevertheless, to raise such potential questions in the fourth grade, and especially in such a simplistic manner and without the mediation of the long-­ standing and impressively diverse Islamic interpretive tradition, does more harm than good. Again, if one were to insist on teaching nine-year-olds about God’s attributes, it would not be advisable or sensible to do so by way of the arcane teachings in the texts of Islamic rational theology. The most consistent and normative “theology” of the masses throughout Islam has been expressed by way of poetry, creative prose, and the material arts. Now those are media which any fourth-grader would be interested in and would be most responsive to.

How Should Differences in Theological Positions Be Addressed? There is no doubt that, for younger students, the less detail when it comes to differences in theological positions, the better, and this because awareness of differences creates more dissension than unity in a young person’s mind and soul. The vast majority of matters of belief are agreed upon. There are ­d ifferences in some very technical points that deal with tawhid at a very high level. I once I asked a sage of our times, “May you tell me the meaning of Islam in the most basic terms possible.” He answered, “La ilaha illa’llah, Muhammadun rasulu’llah.” It is as simple as that, and everything else is a natural corollary to this. So rather than give details to students when it comes to various and ­inevitably divergent theological positions, it is much more constructive to draw their awareness to the beautiful lenses through which Islamic beliefs have been viewed throughout the ages. In other words, when we speak about God’s oneness, there is no need for younger students to know that there have always been different ways that Muslim sub-communities have understood the nature of God’s oneness, His attributes, etc. As students mature and their learning deepens, a good measure of an awareness of the complexity of such issues is probably in order and in many ways it will naturally flow from their developing curiosity and commensurate background preparation. But in the earlier stages of learning, students need to come away with a sense of the awe and grandeur of the topic, and how it is that the Islamic tradition has celebrated God’s oneness, and not just in books and in poetry, but also in art, architecture, and music (all of which are different but equally important forms of communicating ‘aqida).

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As a student matures, it is important to gradually introduce them to varying viewpoints because there are lines of demarcation between religions and between theological positions within Islam. But before introducing students to all of the other different kinds of believers that they will encounter in the world, they must have a proper sense of proportions when it comes to the issue of intellectual diversity itself – that is, they would first need to be taught why it is that diversity is there to begin with, and for that there is no better place to go than the Quran. For a student’s mind to become that elastic so as to understand the various kinds of differences that are a natural feature of our world, they will need a lot of ethical training at the beginning of their education. The more Islamic theology is framed in an ethical way for students, the more likely are they to appreciate the differences within their own tradition and be firm in the things that they are taught. Fostering ethical understandings on appreciating and respecting difference should therefore come first. At any rate, what is more important for students than learning of differences in theological beliefs among various kinds of Muslims is for them to come to an awareness and appreciation of the differences in the various ways in which Islam is “performed,” globally speaking. This is not a theological or creedal problem per se. Rather, it belongs to the realm of praxis, for students will encounter various kinds of Islamic practices more regularly than they will different kinds of believing Muslims. After all, very few Muslims discuss their own particular Islamic beliefs when they meet fellow Muslims. But differences in practice will naturally come up when Muslims from different backgrounds and levels of education get together. Fostering respect and understanding on this level will gradually lead students to become more intellectually agile in other domains.1,2

Notes 1 These interviews were conducted on 07 March 2019 and 21 February 2019 with ­Professor Mohammed Rustom by Dr. Mariam Alhasmi and Dr. Nadeem Memon. 2 The introduction to this chapter was written by Nadeem Memon.

References Al-Tahawi, Imam Abu Ja‘far (2007). The Creed of Imam Tahawi. Translated by Hamza Yusuf. Berkeley: Zaytuna Institute. Burckhardt, Titus (2009). Art of Islam: Language and Meaning. Bloomington: World Wisdom. Chittick, William (2007). Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul: The Pertinence of Islamic Cosmology in the Modern World. Oxford: Oneworld. Chittick, William (2013). Divine Love: Islamic Literature and the Path to God. New Haven: Yale University Press.  Ha’iri Yazdi, Mahdi (2017). Universal Science: An Introduction to Islamic Metaphysics. Translated by John Cooper; edited by Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad. Leiden: Brill.

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Koca, Özgür (2020). Islam, Causality, and Freedom: From the Medieval to the Modern Era. New York: Cambridge University Press. Murata, Sachiko (1992). The Tao of Islam. Albany: SUNY Press. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1982). Islamic Life and Thought. Albany: SUNY Press. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (1994). A Young Muslim’s Guide to the Modern World. Chicago: Kazi. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2007). The Garden of Truth. New York: HarperOne. Ogunnaike, Oludamini (2017). “The Silent Theology of Islamic Art.” Renovatio 1, no. 2: 1–15. Ogunnaike, Oludamini and Mohammed Rustom (2019). “Islam in English.” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 36, no. 2: 102–113. Rustom, Mohammed (2017). “The End of Islamic Philosophy.” Sacred Web 40: 131–167. Rustom, Mohammed (2020). “On Listening: Hearing God’s Voice in the Face of Suffering.” Sacred Web 45: 36–43. Smith, Huston (1976). Forgotten Truth. New York: Harper & Row. Zargar, Cyrus (2017). The Polished Mirror: Storytelling and the Pursuit of Virtue in Islamic Philosophy and Sufism. London: Oneworld.

5 SEERAH (PROPHETIC HISTORY) CURRICULUM REALITIES AND IDEALS Naved Bakali

Introduction The biography of the Prophet Muhammad serves as a foundational aspect of belief, creed, and spiritual life of Muslims. This point was eloquently emphasized in the Prophet Muhammad’s final address to the Muslim community in what has been referred to as the khutbah hajjatul widaa’, or the sermon of the farewell pilgrimage. This was a sermon delivered by the Prophet Mohammad in the 10th year after the hijrah, or migration to Madinah, shortly before his death (Musnad of Imam Ahmad Hadith 19774 has provided the most complete version of this sermon). In this address, the Prophet Muhammad mentions all the essential qualities, beliefs, and practices in Islam with acumen, concision, and eloquence. Before closing his address and asking the people to convey his message to those who were not present, the Prophet stated, “Reason well, therefore, O people, and understand words which, I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qu’ran and my example, the Sunnah and if you follow these you will never go astray.” As such, Muslims believe that the example and life of the Prophet Muhammad, in and of itself is a form of guidance for Muslims. This idea is reinforced in the Quran (3:31), “Say, if you love God, follow me (i.e. Prophet Muhammad), and God will love you and forgive you your sins” (Nasr et al., 2015, p. 140). In other words, according to Muslim belief, true devotion to God can only be achieved through following the example of the Prophet Muhammad. It can be inferred from these examples that the study of the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad is an essential discipline in any type of formal Islamic educational curriculum. Learning about the life of Prophet Muhammad can broadly be approached through: The science of hadith, which are comprised

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of the Prophet’s sayings, actions, and his tacit approvals; the shama’il, which are descriptions of the Prophet’s appearance, manners, and life; Khasa’is, which are the descriptions of the virtues of the Prophet; as well as through the seerah, which is referred to as the biography of the Prophet Muhammad documented in volumes devoted to this topic. The focus of this chapter is to examine the seerah as an Islamic academic discipline for K-12 curricula. The purpose of this chapter is to provide educators with a sense of why the seerah is an essential discipline, the sources it is derived from, and how it has been approached through various Islamic educational curricula, specifically examining the “I Love Islam” educational series, which recently has been rebranded as “My Islamic Books,” however they are still being published as “I Love Islam,” and the Islamic educational curriculum employed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The reason it may be useful to examine these two Islamic educational curricula in parallel, is that the UAE employed the “I Love Islam” curriculum for its non-Arabic Muslim expatriate community until 2018. Thereafter, the UAE began to use a translated version of its revised Arabic Islamic education program. Furthermore, the “I Love Islam” curriculum has been used in various other contexts around the world. As such, critical analysis of this curriculum is useful for both domestic North American educators, as well as educators in different nations who employ this curriculum. Both the “I Love Islam” and UAE Islamic education curricula employ different approaches to the teaching of the seerah. The “I Love Islam” series discusses the seerah through a chronological approach, whereas, the UAE Islamic educational curriculum employs a thematic approach to addressing the seerah. In addition to examining these Islamic educational curricula’s teaching of the seerah, this chapter will also examine how the topic of seerah has been assessed and evaluated, to better understand the learning outcomes and objectives of learning the seerah through various Islamic educational curricula. This chapter concludes by discussing possible ways forward in the teaching of this discipline. The chapter now turns to discuss why seerah has been and continues to be studied by Muslims all around the world and its traditional sources.

The Importance of Seerah in an Islamic Educational Curriculum and Its Traditional Sources Definition The term “seerah” is an Arabic noun. The Arabic language, like other sematic languages, derives nouns from a tri-literal root system. “Seerah” is a noun derived from the rout saara (sa-ya-ra), which is a verb that denotes to move along, traverse, to travel, or to journey (Cowan, 1994). The term “seerah” as an indefinite noun takes on the meaning of “way of walking; march; way of acting,

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conduct; life … course of life; biography” (Cowan, 1994, p. 522). When the definite article of “al-” is attached to the term “seerah” it refers specifically to the biography of the Prophet Muhammad. From the etymological roots of the term “seerah,” one can infer that the reason “seerah” is derived from the root saara is because by learning about a person’s life, one in essentially traveling along that person’s path or journey, or walking in their footsteps. It is for this reason that the “seerah” of the Prophet Muhammad, as an academic discipline, holds such a high and honorable esteem in the lives of Muslims. For the purposes of this chapter, reference to the term “seerah,” without the use of the definite article “al,” will also denote the biography, life, and way of the Prophet Muhammad. To begin this chapter, we will first briefly describe why the seerah was formalized into an academic discipline among the various Islamic sciences and why the topic of the seerah commonly forms a foundational subject in most contemporary Islamic educational curricula.

Sources of Seerah The two primary sources of knowledge in Islam are the Quran and sunnah (example of the Prophet Muhammad) (Ramadan, 2017). The authority of the Prophet comes second only to the Quran, as implied in the verse “And obey God and the Messenger, that haply you may receive mercy” (3: 132) (Nasr et al., 2015, p. 166). The primacy of the Prophet’s example is also reinforced by his status as a legislator. As the Quran states “Those who follow the Messenger … who enjoins upon them what is right, and forbids them what is wrong, and makes good things lawful for them, and forbids them bad things” (7: 157) (Nasr et al., 2015, p. 460). There are numerous instances in the Quran where Muslims are commanded to follow the example and conduct of the Prophet Muhammad. In addition to verse 31, Chapter 3 mentioned above, other places in the Quran reiterate the same message. Chapter 33, verse 21 states: “Indeed, you have in the Messenger of God a beautiful example for those who hope for God and the Last Day, and remember God much” (Nasr et al., 2015, p. 1025). Muslims have interpreted this verse in various ways, however, the general import of this verse implies that Muslims can learn from the example of the Prophet Muhammad in various spheres and aspects of their lives. For example, the Prophet Muhammad was a spouse, through his example Muslims can learn how to behave with their spouses. The Prophet was also a statesman, a military commander, a father, a son, and a businessman. These are all domains that Muslims can learn from the Prophet’s example. For Muslims, through the example of the Prophet Muhammad, there is a living example of what ideal and perfect conduct should look like. It is not an abstract or theoretical discussion. Rather, Muslims believe that the Prophet embodied the best morals, character, and code of conduct that should be emulated in the various spheres that one occupies in

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life. The other primary reason the seerah holds such a high and important position in contemporary Islamic educational curricula is because it helps Muslims understand the Quran in its proper context. As the Quran states in Chapter 16, verse 44: “And We have send down the Reminder (i.e. the Quran) unto thee (the Prophet) that thou mightest clarify for mankind that which has been sent down unto them, that haply they may reflect” (Nasr et al., 2015, pp. 667–668). As such, the Prophet is an expounder of the Quran. Muslims believe the Quran was revealed over 14 centuries ago. Some of the verses of the Quran hold clear, literal meanings that can be interpreted outside of a specific context. However, many verses of the Quran were revealed for specific purposes over the span of 23 years of revelation, and have a specific application or meaning tied to them (Nasr et al., 2015). The Sunnah of the Prophet is explained through hadith. Hadith literature encompasses a number of volumes and compilations by various authors from approximately the ninth century CE onwards. Analysis of hadith is an expansive Islamic discipline, which ranks the various sayings of the Prophet from rigorously authenticated to fabricated. The most renowned of these books, referred to as al-Sihah al-Sittah (The Authentic Six), are the collections of Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Jami al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Sughra al-Nisaa’I, and Sunan ibn Majah (Siddiqi, 1996). By studying the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims are able to better understand the specific rulings, as well as acquire a more nuanced and deeper understanding of the verses and stories outlined in the Quran and hadith literature. This point is particularly relevant when, for example, discussing the infamous “verse of the sword” (chapter 9, verse 5), in which part of the verse states: “slay the idolaters wheresoever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush” (Nasr et al., 2015, pp. 506). By reading this verse holistically, within the context of its revelation, and through the seerah of the Prophet Muhammad, it is quite obvious and clear that this verse is describing a specific circumstance and does not hold a general application. As such, without studying the seerah, the Quran and hadith literature cannot be fully understood in their profundity and historical context. As is clear from the above discussion, seerah is an important Islamic discipline that forms an essential component in an Islamic educational curriculum. There are several foundational sources of the seerah that help us understand how this discipline developed and has evolved over the years. The seerah as an academic discipline is derived from several sources. The two most important sources are the Quran and hadith literature. Both sources provide details of instances and stories of the Prophet Muhammad’s life from his birth until his death. For example, Chapter 80 of the Quran describes a moment in the Prophet’s life, when a blind man came to the Prophet seeking religious guidance and the Prophet turned away because he was inviting more prominent members of society to Islam. The Quran mildly admonished the Prophet for this incident.

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In another instance in the Quran, Chapter 33 discusses the circumstances and events surrounding the Prophet’s marriage to his adopted son’s ex-wife, Zainab, which was a prohibited custom in pre-Islamic Arabia. Similarly, in the hadith literature, we are replete with stories and examples of the Prophet’s life. In one hadith narrated by the Prophet’s wife Aisha, she mentions the Prophet’s playful nature with his family and how they would race one another (Sunan Abu Dawud, hadith number 2578). In another hadith, also narrated by the Prophet’s wife Aisha, she asked him if he had encountered a day more difficult than the loss at the battle of Uhud, whereupon the Prophet recounted his expulsion and brutal treatment from the residence of the city Ta’if prior to his migration to Madinah (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number 3059). What is important to note here, is that these two sources of the seerah do not give a chronological account of the Prophet Muhammad’s life. Rather, various moments of the Prophet’s life are captured but these moments are not constructed as a coherent narrative of his life story. Beyond the Quran and hadith literature, the main sources of seerah are books specifically devoted to documenting the biography of the Prophet Muhammad. These sources began to emerge in the generation after the companions of the Prophet. Some chroniclers were the sons of companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The most famous of these was ‘Urwa ibn Zubair (d. 713 CE), who was the son of the famous companion Zubair ibn Awwam (d. 656 CE), as well as the nephew of the famous wife of the Prophet, Aisha bint Abi Bakr (d. 678 CE). Another famous chronicler from this early generation was ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri (d. 741 CE). However, the works of these early scholars are no longer in existence today. Their works are referenced by other early scholars documenting the seerah. The generation after this saw the emergence of the most renowned and comprehensive compilation of the seerah, the seerah of Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 768 CE). This momentous volume was written within the first two centuries of the hijri Islamic calendar (The hijri calendar is the Islamic lunar calendar. Its starting point is the event in the seerah called the hijrah, or migration of the Prophet from Makkah to Madina in 622 CE). This work compiled the biography of the Prophet in chronological order with a chain of narrators. The work of ibn Ishaq no longer exists as a standalone text. However, the work of Abdul Malik ibn Hisham (d. 833 CE), al-Seerah Nabawiyyah, which summarized the work of ibn Ishaq in the third century of the hijra, continues to exist and is considered one of the earliest and most comprehensive works on the biography of the Prophet Muhammad. To this day, ibn Hisham’s work on the seerah is considered to be one of the most important sources of seerah. However, there have been some important contemporary seerah volumes, which fall under the “Sahih Al-Seerah,” or authenticated seerah literature. These include the works Sahih al-Seerah al-Nabawwiyya by Ibrahim al-’Ali (1995), al-Seerah al-Nabawwiyya: ‘Ard waqa’I wa-ahdath by Ali

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Muhammad Al-Salabi (2008), as well as others. It is noteworthy that the seerah, as an academic discipline, was being documented and codified even before the hadith literature, which took place in the third century of the hijra (Siddiqi, 1996). This points to the importance the early generation of Muslim scholars and academics gave to the study and documentation of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad. It is critical to note here that in these traditional works, there was not as much academic rigour for the authentication of the seerah as there was for the compilation of hadith literature. As the hadith literature is one of the most important sources for deriving Islamic law, an entire science of hadith compilation developed to ascertain the veracity of the sayings of the Prophet. This level of rigour and authentication is not present in the traditional compilations of seerah, as it is not considered a source for deriving Islamic law. However, several more contemporary works have been developed to provide a more rigorously authenticated narrative of the Prophet Muhammad’s biography. Having described why the study of the seerah is essential for Muslims and its traditional sources, the chapter now turns to discuss how the topic of seerah has been taught through various Islamic educational curricula.

Analysis of Islamic Educational Curricula and How It Addresses the Topic of the Seerah There are several Islamic educational curricula that address the topic of Seerah. For the purposes of feasibility, accessibility to resources, and conformability to word length restrictions, this chapter discusses the “I Love Islam” and the UAE Islamic educational curricula.

The “I Love Islam” Series “I Love Islam” is an American-based Islamic curriculum developed by Islamic Services Foundation, based in Dallas, Texas. The “I Love Islam” series is an extremely popular Islamic educational curriculum and has been used widely in North America and internationally. The “I Love Islam” curriculum covers several essential Islamic themes and topics for grade levels 1 to 12. The topic of Seerah is covered throughout the years 1 to 12 with varying levels of focus at the different grade levels. For the most part, the “I Love Islam” series covers the topic of Seerah in a linear fashion throughout the grade levels. As such, major chronological historical events serve as the basis for lessons and topics that are covered in the textbooks. For example, year 1 of the textbooks begins with basic information about who the Prophet Muhammad was, what Muslim beliefs are about him, and other basic biographical information. The chapter proceeds by describing a linear historical account of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad beginning with his birth, parents, lineage, clan, as well as major

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events in his life prior to the advent of Prophethood, such as the death of his father, his upbringing with his foster mother Halima, and the death of his mother (“I Love Islam 1,” 2012). In addition to basic biographical information, the year one book of “I Love Islam” also covers qualities and characteristics about the Prophet Muhammad. In Chapter 3 of the first book, titled “Muhammad worked hard,” the chapter touches on Prophet Muhammad’s early work as a shepherd, his kind and merciful treatment of animals, and his good qualities and dealings with other people (“I Love Islam 1,” 2012). In this discussion of “Muhammad worked hard” there is some break from a linear historical account of the seerah and some focus on thematic issues. Another issue that becomes obvious when examining the “I Love Islam” curriculum is that there is considerable redundancy of topics and themes covered from year to year. For example, years 1 to 3 all cover basic features and characteristics of the Prophet’s childhood and his family members without providing substantial difference in content. It is understandable that there will be some overlap when covering the seerah from one grade level to the next, however, when the assessments in the textbook do not require students to delve into deeper analysis into these themes and the primary focus is on surface-level learning and the recall of factual information about historical figures and events, there will be an inevitable lack of fruitful engagement with students (Stern, Ferraro, & Mohnkern, 2017). The study of the seerah should have relevance in the lives of students. They should be able to make meaningful connections to the life story of the Prophet for their spiritual enrichment and to develop a deeper understanding of the primary sources of knowledge in Islam, the Quran and Sunnah. One must question if these objectives are attained through memorization of historical facts and events. The topic of seerah becomes less emphasized in later years of the “I Love Islam” curriculum. From year 6 onwards, most of the discussion of the seerah relates to historical events of the Medinan period, when the Prophet become the head of state. Similar to the Makkan period of the seerah, the Madinan period described in the “I Love Islam” curriculum focuses on the retention of factual information such as descriptions of important events, names of key companions of the Prophet, and individuals or groups that were allied to the Prophet or hostile toward him. Consequently, students are rarely challenged to engage in higher order thinking processes such as analyzing, synthesizing, and creating original work to demonstrate deeper conceptual understanding of themes. Engaging in these higher order thinking processes forces students to think about the seerah in a more profound and introspective way, which can facilitate making real-life connections with the topic. Most of the discussions of seerah at the senior levels (grades 9 to 12) of the curriculum primarily focus on conflicts and wars fought by the Prophet and his companions. Though these battles have important historical significance and are a part of the biography of the

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Prophet, students are unlikely to make meaningful connections to these topics in the current context. As senior students, particularly in Western contexts, are grappling with issues of identity, integration, and self-awareness, many other useful themes can be extrapolated from the seerah to make learning this subject more meaningful to them.

Islamic Educational Curriculum of the UAE The Islamic educational curriculum of the UAE deals with the topic of seerah in a very different manner than the previously discussed Islamic educational curriculum. The topic of seerah appears at all grade levels of the Islamic educational curriculum in the UAE, however it is a thematic discussion of the seerah. In other words, it is not a linear discussion of the topic, focusing on historical events in a chronological manner. Rather, the textbooks divide the discussion of “seerah” into two broad categories: Biographies of important Islamic personalities throughout Islamic history and aspects of the biography of the Prophet Muhammad. The discussions relating to the Prophet’s biography cater toward important themes taking into consideration the age and maturity of students. For example, in the year 10 Islamic education curriculum textbook, the topic of seerah is covered through the “Characteristics of the Prophet’s methodology in da’wah” (“Islamic Education Grade Ten Student Book,” 2018). In this chapter, there is a discussion of what is meant by da’wah, which can be summarized by calling to the way of God. In the context of the UAE Islamic educational curriculum, this implies good manners and behavior toward others, or setting a good example through one’s character to demonstrate the morals and beliefs of Islam. Another important and relevant theme addressed in the UAE Islamic education curriculum is the notion of social cohesion and belonging to one’s society. In the grade twelve textbook, there is a lesson devoted to the subject “Allah’s Messenger and social life” (“Islamic Education Grade Twelve Student Book,” 2018). In this lesson a number of stories are recounted about how the Prophet Muhammad participated in and endorsed treaties that preserved the rights of individuals in Makkan society before the advent of Islam and how these would have still been endorsed after the message of Islam. This discussion helps students understand the basic concepts of justice and social welfare in society, and how these are values that are quintessential in Islam. The lesson also touches on how the example of the Prophet demonstrated a strong importance toward family cohesion, good treatment toward one’s family members, the Prophet’s kind treatment toward neighbors, and volunteering and giving back to one’s community through social activism and community service. What is particularly useful in this lesson is that it ties these messages back to the context in which

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the students are learning from. In other words, the lesson discusses how these principles are important and relevant in the context of the UAE and that students should make efforts to be kind to their families, to treat their neighbors well, and to volunteer and give back to their communities. Hence, these discussions of the seerah are somewhat contextualized and relatable to students, as they can tie these lessons from the seerah back to their lives. Unlike the “I Love Islam” curriculum, the discussion of seerah is not limited by a linear accounting of historical information. Rather, to emphasize themes in a meaningful way, the textbooks discuss instances of social interactions and the promotion of social welfare from both the Makkan and Madinan periods of the Prophet’s biography. This may have relevance to a range of students in the UAE because several students studying this curriculum are expatriates, while other students are local citizens. As such, this discussion of social life may be relevant to a range of students because social involvement and community service was instrumental in the seerah of the Prophet when he did not occupy a leadership position in society (i.e. Muslims were considered a minority group in society), as well as when he was the head of state (“Islamic Education Grade Twelve Student Book,” 2018). However, there are also some instances in the UAE Islamic education curriculum’s discussion of seerah where it may be difficult to find relevance for students. One such example can be found in the grade 11 textbook, where the topic of seerah explores the issue of adoption in Islam (“Islamic Education Grade Eleven Student Book,” 2018). This discussion is tied to one of the most famous companion of the Prophet Muhammad, Zaid ibn Thabit, who was the adopted son of the Prophet. Prior to specific injunctions in Islam relating to preserving an adopted child’s lineage through their father’s name, this adopted son of the Prophet was referred to as Zaid son of Muhammad. The proceeding rulings in Islam permitted the taking care and adopting of orphan children, however, stipulated that the adopted child maintain their paternal biological lineage through their name. This event was an important aspect of the seerah, as it outlined essential rulings relating to family law and the preservation of one’s lineage. However, this discussion, in all likelihood, has no relevance for most secondary school students in the UAE. Students may struggle to see how knowing about or understanding this ruling would have any kind of practical implications in their lives, as they are still students and probably are not in any way or form thinking about adopting children and the considerations related to this. In addition to understanding how the topic of the seerah is addressed through Islamic educational curricula in various contexts, it is also important to discuss how it is assessed through Islamic educational programming, as this sheds light on the learning objectives and outcomes set out by various Islamic educational curricula in addressing this topic.

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Assessment and Evaluation of Seerah in Islamic Educational Curricula In the “I Love Islam” educational curriculum discussed earlier in this chapter, there are some basic formative assessments. However, the thrust of these questions are focused on retaining surface level factual information. For example, the textbooks asks basic questions relating to what the Prophet Muhammad’s first job was, what was his second job, how did he help people, did people trust him, what did people call him, the name of his wife, his children, and other family members (“Islamic Education Grade Twelve Student Book,” 2018). The emphasis on assessments in the years 1 to 3 books is the recall of factual information and no real meaningful attempts for deeper or conceptual understanding. This is also a common theme in the “I Love Islam” textbooks at the senior levels. The overarching approach to curriculum of the “I Love Islam” series can be described as a two-dimensional approach to curriculum design (Erickson, Lanning, & French, 2017). Two-dimensional approaches to curriculum design place a primary emphasis on the recall of factual information and the performance of basic level skills in relation to the content. This differs from three-dimensional approaches to curriculum design, which place a stronger emphasis on conceptual understanding in addition to the recall of basic factual information and the performance of tasks (Erickson, Lanning, & French, 2017). The UAE Islamic education curriculum also engages with factual recall of information, however, there is also a mixture of higher order and critical thinking questions weaved into the formative assessments in the textbooks, where students are expected engage in self-reflection, synthesis, and analysis. For example, in the year 10 textbook there is a short description of a story where the Prophet corrected a man’s mistaken behavior in a kind and polite manner, whereas his companions took a much harsher approach. Based upon the narrated story, students are asked to describe characteristics they “would love to see in an Islamic da’iyah” (“Islamic Education Grade Ten Student Book,” 2018, p. 132). In this example, students are required to analyze a text, engage in self-reflection, and interpret what they believe are exemplary characteristics of a person calling to God’s way, as opposed to restating basic factual information that can be found in the text. The Islamic Studies Standardized Tests (ISST) is a criterion referenced instrument designed to provide schools with data on primary school students’ ability to master concepts in the fields of Quranic studies; seerah and hadith; aqidah, fiqh, and akhlaq; and Islamic history (Islamic Studies Standardized Tests, 2014). The ISST is an assessment tool derived from various Islamic educational curricula, in consultation with major Islamic education schools, and conforms to the content of Islamic education textbooks including the “I Love Islam” series, IQRA’, Good Word, as well as other internationally renowned Islamic education

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textbooks (Islamic Studies Standardized Tests, 2014). It is useful here to describe the standards set out by the ISST for the topic of seerah, as they are a reflection of the various learning outcomes of the Islamic educational curricula that the ISST draws from. These standards include: knowledge and comprehension of the seerah; respecting the Prophet; interpretation of events in one’s own life through the teachings of the Prophet; and characteristics of the Prophet as the best role model to follow. Each of these standards has a set of three to six competencies, which are indicators of attainment of the standards. The first standard focuses on surface-level factual information, which typically can be characterized as important events throughout the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad. These include major events like the birth of the Prophet, the beginning of his Prophethood, his migration from Makkah to Madinah, the conquest of Makkah, and other important events. The second standard is focused on the devotional or spiritual dimension of studying the biography of the Prophet, which should engender and sense of love and respect for the Prophet. These first two standards form the basis of any discussion of seerah, that is knowledge of the basic events, which constitute the historical record of the Prophet’s life, as well as knowing about the Prophet to gain a sense of love and respect for him. These standards serve as a foundation for a program of study, which teaches the biography of the Prophet from a religious/devotional perspective. The next two standards of “interpretation of events in one’s own life through the teachings of the Prophet,” and “characteristics of the Prophet as the best role model to follow” are standards, which attempt to make the study of the seerah meaningful and relatable to students. It is refreshing to note that these standards reflect how Islamic educational curricula, increasingly are not only concerned with providing students with basic historical facts of the biography of the Prophet and encouraging a sense of love and respect for him. Rather, in addition to this, there is an emphasis to relate the seerah to the lived experiences of students to make this topic meaningful and relevant. Unfortunately, the competencies for these two important standards fall short in enabling students to engage with these standards in a deep and conceptual manner. For example, in grade 2 for the standard “interpretation of events in one’s own life through the teachings of the Prophet,” one of the competencies is “know the importance of being truthful and honest in one’s own life.” Standards stated in such a way reflect a disconnect between experiential and meaningful implementation and simply restating information at a superficial level of understanding. The emphasis here should be on bringing these values from the seerah into practice. As such, a better way to formulate the competency would be “demonstrates truthfulness and honesty in his dealings with peers.” Another example of this can be seen in the same standard in a competency at the fifth grade. The competency is stated as “Follow the sunnah of praying on time five times a day without being told to do so.” A more meaningful

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conceptualization of this competency would be, “understands the benefits of praying five times a day on time.” When examining the standard of “characteristics of the Prophet as the best role model to follow,” we can note a similar pattern of competencies that are abstract in nature and not conceptualized to promote meaningful engagement with the topic. At the grade 6 level, one of the competencies for this standard is “investigate the Prophet’s relations with non-Muslim neighbours and community members.” Here, a more meaningful engagement with the content would be represented with a competency that focused on promoting positive interactions with community members, as opposed to simply “investigating” how this was achieved through the example of the Prophet. Having explored how two Islamic educational curricula and assessment tools address the topic of seerah, the chapter now explores areas that can be further developed to teach and learn about the biography of the Prophet in a more meaningful, relevant, contextual, and engaging way.

Conclusion: Possible Ways Forward in the Teaching of the Seerah The teaching of seerah forms a foundational component of Islamic educational curricula around the world. The implementation of Islamic educational curricula in the present context poses a number of challenges. Among these challenges is that students may find Islamic educational curricula to be repetitive, disengaging, biased, irrelevant to their lives, and decontextualized (Abdalla, 2018). There are some indications in our analysis of the “I Love Islam” and UAE Islamic educational curricula, as well as the ISST assessment tool, that important themes are discussed. However, particularly in the “I Love Islam” and the ISST assessment tool, the topics, approaches, and assessments addressed in these mediums are repetitive, lack relevance, and fail to engage students in deep intellectual and conceptual rigour. For the teaching of seerah to be effective, curriculum designers need to engage in a thematic approach that is not focused on a linear narrative of the subject. The problem with a linear discussion of the seerah is that it runs the risk of becoming repetitive and by the later grade levels, most of the discussion of seerah revolves around state building and military conflicts, which have very little relevance to middle school and secondary aged students. As such, linear approaches to the teaching of seerah may not always be age appropriate. The underlying assumption of a linear approach is that the cognitive abilities of students are constant across developmental phases. By engaging in a thematic approach to the seerah, important and relevant issues can be discussed at the various grade levels, taking into consideration age appropriateness of the content and cognitive maturity and abilities of students. For example, the notion of civic engagement and community service, a topic relevant to elementary and middle

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school children, can be discussed through the theme of the charter of Madinah that established rules, regulations, and the preservation of minority rights in Madinan society. Chronologically speaking, this event took place at a later point in the seerah, however by employing a thematic approach this topic can be discussed at a point that has meaning and relevance to students. Furthermore, senior high school students in a Western context, who may be struggling with issues relating to their identity and place in society can learn about the experiences of the early Muslim community that was established in Abyssinia during the Makkan period of the seerah. This theme is rarely addressed in seerah discussions within Islamic educational curricula; however, it is a discussion that can be relevant and meaningful for students who occupy minority community status in non-Muslim majority nations. This theme reinforces the notion that Muslims can occupy a minority status in a community and can meaningfully be involved in that society. Furthermore, assessments on the theme of seerah need to foster and develop deeper and conceptual understandings of the seerah to make meaningful and real-life connections, instead of focusing on the memorization of factual, surface-level information like the dates of important events in the seerah and the names of important figures, which current Islamic educational curricula are replete with. The seerah is an immensely important topic for Muslims and fundamental for an Islamic educational curriculum. Further research is needed to assess the quality and effectiveness of Islamic educational curricula and assessment in addressing the topic of seerah. The insights from this chapter suggest a thematic approach and a shift in focus toward conceptual understanding of the seerah to make the topic more relevant and engaging for students. The discussion in this chapter forms the basis of a starting point for future directions in addressing the topic of seerah through Islamic educational curricula.

References Abdalla, Mohamad (2018). “Islamic Studies in Islamic Schools: Evidence-Based Renewal.” Chap. 13 in Islamic Schooling in the West Pathways to Renewal, edited by Mohamad Abdalla, Dylan Chown and Muhammad Abdullah. London: Palgrave, 257–283. Cowan, J Milton, ed. (1994). Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic 4th Edition. Ithaca: Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. Erickson, H. Lynn, Lois A. Lanning, and Rachel Leah French (2017). Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. 2012. I Love Islam Workbook: Level 1 (International Edition). (International Edition). Islamic Services Foundation (ISF). 2018. Islamic Education Grade Eleven Student Book. Vol. 2. Ministry of Education, United Arab Emirates. 2018. Islamic Education Grade Ten Student Book. Vol. 1. Ministry of Education United Arab Emirates.

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2018. Islamic Education Grade Twelve Student Book. Vol. 1. Ministry of Education, United Arab Emirates. 2014. Islamic Studies Standardized Tests. INC. Strategic Measurement and Evaluation. Accessed 7 10, 2020. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Caner K Dagli, Maria Massi Dakake, Joseph E. B. Lumbard, and Mohammed Rustom (2015). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. New York: Harper Collins. Ramadan, Tariq (2017). Introduction to Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Siddiqi, Muhammad Zubayr (1996). Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features. 2nd Edition. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society. Stern, Julie, Krista Ferraro, and Juliet Mohnkern (2017). Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Secondary Designing Lessons and Assessments for Deep Learning. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

6 AKHLAQ (CHARACTER) CURRICULUM REALITIES AND IDEALS Abdullah Trevathan

Introduction All schools recognize the importance of developing behavior and character in students. Muslim schools frequently lay claim to this as a predicted outcome of the education offered (Donohue: 2000). Whether these are in reaction to teenagers portrayed as essentially “wild, irresponsible, immoral, violent” (Bostrom, 2001; Ipsos MORI, 2006) or in a desire to cultivate human potential? Whatever the case may be, Muslim educators are clearly struggling, (see IHRC, 2017; Laeheem, 2018; Omer, 2019; Skerry, 2013). “… Muslim society is faced with a problem of youths lacking ethics, and it has long been a chronic problem that is frightening in its complexity and has become increasingly more severe because it is a problem that no one can completely solve ….” (Laeheem, 2018: 526). While the blame may lay with the “global youth culture” yet some responsibility must also lay at the feet of educators and parents. In addressing the subject of Muslim schools, Omer (2019) states, “From the very beginning, youth are subjected to rigid socio-political and educational systems which aim to produce blindly loyal, albeit credulous and gullible servants.” In the light of the above, the intention of this work is to explore a different approach in imparting the notion of, and opening the possibility of, what is called here, an “akhlāqial disposition” in learners. It will be at odds with the contemporary educational discourse in challenging basic educational, even social, conventions by questioning the idea of morality and replacing it other values. With education in thrall to a “global management discourse” (Schuerkens, 2012), characterized by the constant barrage of new methods and systems, no series of prescribed pedagogical steps to “improve” the “teaching” of akhlāq will be provided. Instead, it will plead for a different mindset out of the management paradigm.

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An introduction to akhlāq will be embarked upon by means of an etymological breakdown, followed by an argument made for the inclusion of hudūr (aware presence) and adab, (courtesy) as the means of expressing of akhlāq. With these in mind, a brief review will be embarked upon looking at various curricula, syllabi, and resources currently used for teaching akhlāq from the Muslim homelands to Muslim schools in Europe, North America, and Australasia. Thereafter, in the central argument of this work, a proposal for Muslim education to shed aspects of theorized moral and ethical approaches will be presented and an alternative of obligation put in its place. In the final section, practical suggestions to impart some notion of akhlāq will be put forward based on the preceding ideas.

An Overview of the Concept of Akhlāq (Including Hudūr and Adab) Given that the Prophet of Islam claimed, “I have not been sent as a Messenger, except to perfect akhlāq” (al-Bazzār, 2003: 15/364; Malik: n.d.), akhlāq should hold a special status within Muslim education. An arresting statement, given that it essentializes the Prophetic undertaking as the refinement of human character, from which many implications stem forth and with little ado, starkly sets itself out as a fundament of any Muslim educational endeavor. Yet another striking Prophetic assertion pertaining to the behavior engendered by the concept of ihsan as “….worship Allah as if you can see Him, for although you cannot see Him, He can see you,” (an-Nawawi, 1997: hadith 2; an-Nasa’i, 2007: hadith 6) and infers a need for constant awareness (muraqabah) and/or a sustained state of being present (hudūr) to the moment and therefore to the inherent Divine presence at all times and situations. Akhlāq is the plural of khulq which is defined here as “natural disposition” so that akhlāq is seemingly the varied balanced qualities, creating the unique mix of temperaments which make up the overall disposition of the individual, known as malakah. The etymological root of the word akhlāq is kha-lam-qaf (‫ )خ ل ق‬consisting of a consonant cluster in words evoking seemingly varied, yet interconnected concepts. These consonants can remain in the same order, be inflected or have vowels added in at different intervals changing the meaning and yet retaining similar or related definitions. It cannot go unmentioned that the Divine attribute, Al Khalq (The Creator) and khalq (the creation) share the consonant cluster root with akhlāq. Delving deeper into this particular consonant cluster, it is possible to obtain a more nuanced and composite definition of akhlāq. These interconnected concept webs of meaning embedded within the consonant clusters found in the Arabic language (also present within other Semitic languages) provide a rich educational resource by facilitating hermeneutical engagement and deeper apprehension of words and concepts. In arriving at a workable notion of the meaning of akhlāq, through the method of perusing root consonants words

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clusters, we get an “… extended family of words [that] form a kind of fluttering cloud or constellation of meaning.” (Connor: 2010). These word-concepts and their associated consonant clusters are taken from E. W. Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon 2003) found on pages 800–803 in Book One. The conceptual blend of ideas around akhlāq brings forth a poetical synthesis of definitions such as that pertaining to a type of measuring, a proportioning, or as in a thing replacing something else. It is “The bringing a thing into existence according to a certain measure” (Lane, 2003: p. 800). In reference to Divine acts, there is a bringing something into existence, unrelated to anything prior, “bringing into existence from a state of non-existence” (ibid), or a “creating out of nothing” (ibid). There also are notions of being “… adapted to and welldisposed to …” as in “clouds becoming adapted or disposed to rain” (Lane, 2003: p. 802) or “someone adapted or disposed to good” (ibid). In addition, it communicates the notion of a smoothness or something burnished with no apparent surface fissures. Other ideas that emerge include “natural dispositions,” “accustomed to,” and “probable, likely to happen. There are also some negative aspects depicted in “feigning a nature not their own” (ibid) and “old worn out garments” and “a hill destitute of vegetation” or “someone with no property” (ibid). Could these definitions be synthesized allowing us to have some notion of how to naturally cultivate the Prophetic mode in young people? Could a proposition be made that akhlāq (from the human perspective) evolves forth through some sort of proportioning and molding of character within the Prophetic measure? Could this “measure” include the potential, likelihood, or propensity for the good? Alternatively, might the “measure” indicate the “facticity” or the given limits within which one lives out their lives. Perhaps it involves the forming of character through mental and physical exposure to their surroundings, adapting to these seamlessly (smooth) yet with an innate consistency of thought and deed? Does it suggest a propitious being who brings things to fruition (the clouds), one who is somehow elevated above the masses (the hill)? Yet at the same time equally capable of being reduced to barren and mundane thought and action (destitute of vegetation), someone with no sense of self, (no property), inauthentic. For, if one is not true to one’s natural disposition, then one may be subsumed into the well-worn, clichéd ways of thought and action of “das man,” the herd, the “they.”

Adab Adab (usually oversimplified as “courtesy”) is often interchanged with akhlāq and the two are often confused together as they are largely synonymous. The subtle difference between them lies in the fact that adab is an expression of akhlāq and it is not possible to have adab without akhlāq. Simply put, adab pertains more

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to practice and akhlāq to theory. Understanding adab as expression facilitates the understanding of adab as also indicating “literature,” as in written expression. A potential problem lies in teaching akhlāq due to its theoretical nature, whereas adab, a practical expression of akhlāq lends itself better to the educational context. In similar fashion to akhlāq, the root consonants for the word adab, (Alif–Dal– Ba) reveal a range of related meanings, again taken from Lane’s Lexicon (2003: pp. 35–36), which when synthesized seems to refers to a cultivated, articulate person, appreciative of the power of words and communication. It signifies a person whose company is nourishing, (as in a “banquet”), an open, welcoming person who by dint of their nature naturally gathers people around them and who is present and aware in any given event or situation indicating something of the Divine. It is the behavior of the one described in the hadith qudsi as “….when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks” (An-Nawawi, 1997: p. 104). An “akhlāqial” disposition is not a set of rules, but an innate sense of balance and aesthetics and spontaneous ways of embodying this.

Hudūr For this last reason, a third element is suggested for considered inclusion here, the concept of hudūr (‫ – حضور‬aware presence). In order to establish adab/akhlāq, one must persistently have hudūr, ideally as second nature. Its direct opposite is ghayba (absence), but the concept of ghaflah (‫ – غفلة‬heedlessness or distraction) also comes into play. Distraction and self-absorption must be the signature malaise of our time, (Borchard: 2018; Williams: 2018), which in education is depicted as a “low concentration span” but involves more than this. It is being unaware of one’s immediate surroundings, being disconnected to one’s own experiences, and barely perceiving the façade of things. Before any significant imparting of akhlāq can take place, urgent action is required in dealing with levels of distraction to cultivate hudūr among students,

Review of Current Curricula Models and Resources in Regard to Teaching Akhlāq It now behoves us to look further into how akhlāq is taught and whether these can be traced back to the main principle initially presented, refinement within the Prophetic mold and presence. Secondarily, is the teaching effective? Given the primacy of akhlāq within Muslim education, a brief but rounded overview is presented next. Different samples have been culled from curricula, resources, and syllabi from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Morocco, Nigeria, Germany, Scotland, and the United States. This is not meant to be a comprehensive report but more of a random snapshot of approaches in teaching akhlāq.

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For the purpose of focus, a set of criteria have been set out here below: • • • •

The nature of the objectives Meaningfulness and relevance Educational “mileage” Authorial perspective on the child and childhood

The Nature of the Objectives In looking at the objectives set out for the teaching and learning of akhlāq, it is intended to ascertain the effectiveness of these in relation to the two basic Prophetic principles outlined at the beginning of this work, namely human refinement and consciousness of the Divine. It might also be possible to establish different interpretations of akhlāq and the reasoning behind establishing objectives. Within the outlined UAE objectives, “Islamic values” can be said to be recruited in helping to build and maintain the nation state, which is in line with Starrett’s (1998) “functionalization of religion” thereby rendering the teaching of akhlāq as contributing to “… strengthen their loyalty to their homeland” and contribute to “nation building” and “….to become one of the best countries in the world” (UAE Ministry of Education: 2017–2018 – Introduction in all Grade Books). Such aims may be questioned on many levels, starting with the idea of the nation-state as a dubious concept from a Muslim perspective, (Bahfen: 2011). In “Putting Islam to Work, Education, Politics, and Religious Transformation in Egypt” Starrett (1998) writes that; “… a whole series of existing religious discourses have been reified, systematized in novel fashion, and set to work fulfilling the strategic and utilitarian ends of the modern and secular discourse” (9). In similar fashion, El Fadl (2015) states that: Islam, its doctrines, symbolisms and linguistic constructs, are persistently utilized by the Gulf States to legitimate and maintain themselves in power. The exploitation of religion as a means to keeping a conservative and exploitative elite in power is a staple of everyday life in the Gulf countries. The background presence of the nation-state is more discrete in Nigeria, where the National Curriculum for Islamic Studies states: “Education in the Islamic sense produces a cultured, well-behaved, considerate, reasonable and Godfearing man or woman, in other words, a disciplined person” (NERDC: 2007). There is reference to education as “… to build spiritually, morally sound and upright citizens who would ensure the development of the religious, political and socioeconomic views of Nigeria”, (Malik, Alonge & Onwuka, 2014: p. 6). Essentially, these are interpretations of the Prophetic way established for the

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promotion of a nation-state around which educational objectives and teaching content have been constructed. Less nationalistic, the wide range of IQRA publications (USA) are extensively used in many Muslim American schools and weekend schools. One of their Junior general-level textbooks entitled “Islamic Tahdhib and Akhlāq”(2012) offers a series of lessons on akhlāq wherein an introductory discussion takes place in which various assertions are made in supporting lesson objectives that follow. One example is “Good moral behavior is a basis for a successful Islamic life” (Lemur, 2012: p. 4), a decidedly schematic pronouncement. Something that Winkel (1997) would categorize as exemplifying a “technist” approach. He defines this as having the backdrop inference that the Qur’an generally consists of moral codes. With the passage of time, things have loosened and slipped, and are in need of re-tweaking. Winkel parodies this attitude as “….if only we will change ourselves – become punctual, brotherly, and technically correct – Allah will make us successful, like the Americans or the Japanese” (Winkel, 1997: p. 21). Yet merely adhering to a moral code is a relatively easy matter that seems to deny the intricate depths of the deen and the complexity of life. This “technist” perspective reduces the Book of Allah into a “tremendously unidimensional and flat document” (Winkel, 1997: p. 18) some of which may be felt in the IQRA quote. Is the purpose of akhlāq to be “Islamically successful”? Does akhlāq have or need a purpose? In the “Scottish iSyllabus – Schemes of Work,” most of the learning objectives are broad and based on the Sunnah, as in to “understand the importance of having good character, learn how God praised the character of the Prophet (pbuh); know that the Prophet (pbuh) is the best example to follow; list ways in which a person can show good character and behaviour towards others.” (Scottish iSyllabus: 2.21). All of which is moralistic and may not allow for effective communication. Prophetic characteristics might be helpful here – instead of listing them, why not try them out? Responding with a self-effacing smile to an unwarranted aggressive provocation, what happens? A section entitled “Islamic Greetings” (Scottish iSyllabus: 1.23) seems similarly flawed with a learning objective “to understand that giving salaam is the best way to greet others.” Greeting another living being is a worthy thing but is devalued when coupled with a petty claim of Muslim superiority in the wording used. This communicates nothing but defensive exclusivity and insecurity and fosters small-mindedness. Real worth lies in the degree of sincerity behind a greeting rather than its outer form seen by the difference in giving salaam dictated by convention and something that someone genuinely wishes for another. Another objective is “to understand that shaking hands is an Islamic courtesy” (Scottish iSyllabus: 1.23) thereby appropriating a basic primeval recognition of one human being to another as being exclusively Muslim. An obvious and transparent “… defence of religious principles in a sociocultural context defined as threatening, in the face of which Islam

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is mobilized as a safety mechanism” ( Janson, 2017: p. 1) a vulnerability which children can unconsciously pick up. The Crescent Academy (Michigan, USA) has an online weekly learning review where there are no direct references to akhlāq, morals, or values in the stated objectives though these are discretely interwoven into the fabric of what is taught and learnt. Throughout, the emphasis is on doing rather than theoretical cognition. The same goals and headings are maintained through the Primary/Middle School, one of which is “To stay connected with Allah (s.w.t) through contemplating His guidance and His signs to humanity,” under “Areas of Study”/“Daily Living.” In particular to the akhlāq-related activities in the Kindergarten are “Six Rights of one Muslim over another” and “Practice making Wudu and perform Salah together” (CA: 2020a). In Grade 4, (under the same goals and headings), akhlāq-related activities are “The importance of being mindful online,” “How and why it is important to be a good digital citizen,” and “To leave a positive digital footprint” (CA: 2020b). In Middle School there is an added Unit heading with “Essential Understandings” for Grade 7 under which falls under “Function: Stewardship & Caring – Our function as stewards (of knowledge, time, people, spaces, the earth) provide us with opportunities to attain success in both the dunya and the akirah,” providing a richer practicality that contrasts with the above IQRA ‘success’ concept. The Crescent Academy objectives are straightforward, practical, and often open-ended. “To walk the way of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)” allows for much more of an enquiry based approach, (i.e. What was the way of the Prophet?) rather than teaching a flat fact. It offers wide educational scope requiring a more “poetic” thinking (less calculative dualism). The Academy objectives do not start from a presumed correctional premise but rather on a developmental one, starting from where the child is. In conclusion, it is clear that much of what is reviewed above contains consciously or unconsciously derived objectives directed beyond the teaching of akhlāq. It is argued that objectives for akhlāq should be solely concerned with supporting to construct meaning to refining human behavior by virtue of it standing forth as something remarkable of itself.

Meaningfulness and Relevance When teaching content utilizes and builds upon subjects linked to real-world contexts, the motivation to learn increases. Meaningless content is dangerous in that, if repeated too often within a subject, it imparts an unfavorable profile to that subject in the school and develop low expectations of a subject which can last well into adulthood. Some issues are too familiar and pedestrian to be of abiding interest to children, (Sahin: 2018). This is evident in some of the lower primary objectives of the Nigerian Islamic curriculum, replete with formulaically specific outward aspects

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of akhlāq, (i.e. cleanliness in Islam, respect to teachers and parents – NERDC: 2013a Primary 1). Where parenting is amiss, teachers would automatically address weaknesses like washing of hands to any child, as basic human conduct. Passing these through “Islamicizing” teaching filters hollows out meaning by inappropriately assigning it, leaving them lacking relevance. Cleanliness is half the deen, but the point can be pushed to the point of losing learning traction and should not be touted as a matter of Muslim identity. The much-improved IQRA (2012) USA-based National Standards for Schools is broader in concept and comes under the integrated heading of “Aqidah, Fiqh and Akhlāq.” However, one aim was the ability to “Define taqwah as being conscious of Allah’s presence”(IQRA, 2012: Grade 4) which seems overly “nailed down” and thereby age-inappropriate and it is easy to imagine elicited parrotlike responses in repeating phrases they have just been taught concerning taqwah. While it is true that particularly skilled teachers could make it relevant, curriculum designers should not rely on gifted teachers to make up for their lackings. The UAE Grade 1–5 programs of study consisted largely of platitudinal questions like: “Why does the mother treat the wounds of her child?” to explain Allah’s mercy, (UAE, Ministry of Education, 2017–2018: Grade 1). Another one was “She performs a lot of prayers but hurts her neighbours. Will she be bankrupted on the day of judgement?” (UAE, Ministry of Education, 2017–2018: Grade 5: p. 26), a somewhat facile interpretation of human misdemeanor couched as a question with an obvious answer. The word “bankrupted” is used frequently as the consequence of bad actions, perhaps somewhat incomprehensible for the age group and an overly simplistic explanation of Divine recompense. Elsewhere there are activities where children are given four overt pictures of good and bad actions and asked to circle pictures which show “correct behaviour.” The Crescent Academy material was clearly directed to children’s immediate school context. Students were addressed unaffectedly which shows respect and can be reciprocated which enables meaningful interaction. Learning goals for personal online conduct are contemporary issues and therefore meaningful. Setting goals of “grittiness” in following things through appeal as personal and relevant challenges. Nonetheless, in a few cases, learning goals like “To bond and reflect with family through a variety of chosen activities that can be completed together” (CA: 2020b) were contrived and possibly demotivating. Suggesting fourth graders arrange family halaqa time rings false – and may not reflect the usual power balance within families. Not all families are inclined to this sort of idealized family interaction and might leave some children feeling marginalized. Most of the Crescent Academy material was highly relevant when addressing life in school but learning objectives transposed out of school shed meaning when based on trite projections of “happy families.” In the Moroccan Islamic IE Curriculum (2016, for the BAC – equivalent of A Levels or High School Diploma), there was evidence of a more dispositional

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approach, straightforwardly expressed without rhetorical affectation. Things were left open for teacher interpretation and there was no ostentatious categorizing or defining of akhlāq and yet its components were present with oblique references to honesty, responsibility, giving advice to others, being satisfied with little and companionship, all of which seemed to reflect and run parallel with contemporary Moroccan social discourse. Considerable onus was placed upon the teacher’s own disposition but was not overly formulaic but subtle suggestions of the importance of a positive disposition on the part of the teacher was made – hopefully in expectation of embodying what they taught. Summing up, meaningful education in akhlaq is that which emotionally engages and builds upon prior knowledge and contexts. While it may not always be possible to make all school learning “interesting” all the time but for learning in akhlaq, it is especially required and relatively facilitated by its practice-based immediacy.

Educational “Mileage” How much of an internal learning process is provided? This refers to two things: (1) the amount of “juice” (teaching or learning content) to be squeezed out of a particular theme or project and (2) what is the “mileage” (traction and distance) required from the introduction of a concept to the student making this a “felt” knowledge their own? The response to the previous UAE example given “Why does the mother treat the wounds of her child?” offers scant processing – the learning mileage is low. Another example is seen in the IQRA aim of linking taqwah and Allah’s presence for fourth graders. Introducing the concept of taqwah and linking it to Divine Omnipresence leaves little room to move or process in. Contrasting this with the Crescent Academy objective of walking in the way of the Prophet has enormous learning scope which can stretch out in a variety of directions, including taqwa – good mileage. The UAE textbooks all claim to provide “…activities that contribute to develop critical thinking in learners” (UAE, Ministry of Education, 2017–2018 – Introduction in all Grade Books), yet there is little evidence of this. The activities for Unit 1 in Grade 1 (UAE, Ministry of Education: 2017-2018) for six-year olds lacks any significant opportunities for processing or progression of ideas in developing critical thinking. The outcome for one activity is, “He finds out that Allah is the Lord of the Universe” and “He finds evidence that Allah is the Organizer of Everything,” conclusions arrived at without deliberation. There is no scaffolding in an activity entitled “I find out” with questions like “Who is the Lord of Animals?, Who is the Lord of the plants?” immediately followed by a cloze procedure exercise: “… taught animals to get their food in order to live” (UAE, Ministry of Education, 2017: Grade 1: p. 14). In summation, “mileage” is the distance felt by the student in their own learning progression. Particularly in akhlāq, progression is achieved through

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constant application to the myriad of concrete situations constantly encountered. Stagnation occurs through prescribed theoretical approaches and when the “distance” between introduction and concept absorption is curtailed by unchallenging material.

Author’s Perspective of Childhood In terms of moral education, the backdrop interpretation of childhood plays a crucial role in how resources and activities are planned. The idea of a postinfancy stage is a relatively recent phenomenon within European culture. Up until the 19th century, people were not distinguished by age but by their overall capacity to interact meaningfully with the world around them (Aries, 1962: p.  411), thus childhood was not a marked phase of development. Later, new perceptions developed of the uncivilized and unruly child moving through to the contemporary perception of the innocent child. This can be contrasted with Muslim perception of childhood which from the medieval ages was mainly inherited from Greek theory which eventually prevented from evolving through its truncation by the subsequent wholesale assimilation of European objectifications of childhood. One outcome to the contemporary perception of “the innocent child” has been “Disneyfication,” characterized by educational content reduced to forms of moral simplicity (Hastings: 1993). This is content “… that pretends to give young readers credit when actually they are ‘dumbing down’ to them,” (Law, 1993: p. 15) which aptly typifies the UAE lower primary material covered above. Again this approach reveals more about adults in “… the public perception of children’s books seems to confirm the idea that, if something is for children, it had better be obvious” (Law, 1993: p. 15). Summing up, when the teaching of akhlāq is based upon pathologized perceptions of childhood, the end result lacks both complexity and profundity. The problems lie in these constituting essential components of akhlāq.

An Overview of Current Curricula and Resources Within the scope of this overview, is it possible to state that the Prophetic human mold initially presented is effectively communicated? Despite notable exceptions, the teaching of akhlāq is frequently blurred and enfeebled through tangenital motives, affectations, low expectations and unchallenging content. Islam has been reified in constituting a source of standardized ‘Islamic moral codes of behaviour’ and thereby equated with akhlāq. To counter this, education in akhlāq should be shorn of hidden agendas, impositions, pretence, prescriptiveness and low expectations and communicated straightforwardly, imparting an aesthetic sense of human behaviour and not moral codes.

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Morality and Spontaneous Obligation If akhlāq should not be relegated to a moral code then perhaps it is time for Muslims to shed ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’, within the educational sphere. By its very nature ethics (the science of morality) is simply a human theoretical construct making a futile attempt to place a grid work upon the constant unfolding of the Divine creation. This immeasurable creation phenomenon is beyond any human comprehension, “…. Allah knows, while you know not” (Al Qur’an: 02:216). Ironically, the sheer incomprehensibility of creation has ultimately resulted in a theory to literally put paid to all theories; chaos theory. There are times when the “enframing” of ethics placed upon the aforementioned multitudinous impermanency seems nothing less than absurd. While the events of any given moment may appear to the human as random and chaotic, within the Divine understanding all is foreseen and planned. The more empathetic view is to see this a human attempt of ordering interpretation, an act of desperation in trying to maintain a sense of necessary stability. As for the shari’a, fiqh, and the sunna, these originate with Allah through the Prophet offer human comprehension footholds when faced with the Divine immensity. It is argued here that the nature of fiqh, (at least in the classical sense) is based more on principles and precepts as opposed to monolithic sets of rules and regulations. Actions based around principles have flexibility, fluidity, and relevance to the context in which they occur than indiscriminately applied rules. Ignoring the impermanence roiling just under the veneer whilst applying rigid moral codes are where problems arise. Morals are theoretical whereas more relevance lies in how behaviors are used; their form and manner; their implications; the “world” they take place in, establishing them as appropriate or inappropriate. Ethics, (the science of morality) involves imperfect human judgement which easily provides potential for prejudice, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and arrogance. As a human construct, morality like metaphysics “… cannot digest movement, becoming, temporality, genuine novelty and the attempt to do so results in ridiculous logicizations” (Caputo, 1987: p. 18). This discrepancy between ethics and haqaiq (Divine Reality) is nowhere clearer than in the accounts of the Prophet Musa and the mysterious figure described in the Qur’an traditionally known as Khidr, (Surat: 18:65). Despite the fact that it is made clear that he acted out of Divine knowledge and inspiration, we would not say he acted morally in killing a child. In a similar vein, the Prophet Ibrahim, instructed directly from the Divine Will, was prepared to sacrifice his son. The cosmic import of such matters renders questions of ethics and morality as naïve and risible, the intended sacrifice simply cannot be placed within any ethical or moral theoretical framework. It is suggested here that one way to bring out authenticity might be to ground akhlāq and adab within the context of an “aware presence” (hudūr) and the

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“in-the-moment-obligation” (not moral obligation). Somehow, somewhere a need arises in someone or something, which simply requires a response, perhaps emerging out of a generous human spirit with an accompanying natural empathy for others. An unmediated response to a manifested need, in whatever shape or form, aiding any living entity, even setting right the inanimate, (i.e. clearing an obstacle); something brought to the attention and obliging a response, without recourse to moral theory, just instantaneous obligation. The balance is checked, the broken is repaired, the missing is put to hand, the agitated is soothed, the rough is smoothed, the fire is doused, the amiss is realigned, the gap is filled, and the moment passes. This may provide more educational coherence, for as Wilson (1967: 11) points out “moral education is the name for nothing clear” (Wilson, 1967: p. 11).

The Anatomy of a Sneeze Waiting for the Moment – Ibn Al Waqt When someone sneezes Muslim convention (established by the Prophet) provides a “call and response” framework; one sneezes, then says “Alhamduli’llah,” (Praise Allah) those around respond with “Yarhamuka’llah” (May Allah show you mercy) to which the original sneezer replies, “Yahdikumu’llah wa Yuslih balakum” (May Allah guide you and improve you). While this exchange may demonstrate an expression of akhlāq it is not in and of itself akhlāq and learning the response pattern does not ensure possession of it. Finding a way to impart akhlāq without standardizing it is crucial, for it is an anathema to spontaneity and one way to avoid this might the in situ approach. The pedagogical efficacy of this is clearly evident in the revelation of many verses of Qur’an (asbāb ul nuzūl) descending upon the Prophet in response to some immediate event or discussion. Without such immediate context, the didactic impact can be radically reduced. So, the teacher must be alert and prepared to tackle a subject when and where they occur, yet avoiding pontification, but rather presenting possibilities. Also important is to elevate the meaning of the event by imparting further significance beyond the immediate – from the seemingly insignificant to the significant. Alongside this, the developing of hudūr must be a primary objective, on all sorts of academic fronts. There are a variety of available learning activities to increase self-awareness and emotional literacy and develop empathy through such activities as mindfulness and active listening, amongst many more.

Imparting akhlāq through a Sneeze Envisage a classroom where a sneeze takes place with the teacher seizing the moment to initially bring to notice the sheer oddity of the sneeze. What exactly is a sneeze? What causes it to happen? The teacher thereby models close

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observance, curiosity, and wanting to go further than the immediate as in looking into the biological and physical grounds for a sneeze. However, a note of caution, while in this instance, taking recourse to rational explanation is suggested, teachers should not always resort immediately to scientific elucidations, depending on the subject and circumstances. The sneeze is an involuntary act, impulsively and explosively expelling air from the mouth and nose, with a propulsion rate of up to a 100 mph. It is usually caused by having the internal lining of the nose (the mucosa membrane) irritated by foreign particles, such as dust, bacteria, and viruses with the purpose of cleaning the inner nasal passage of such irritants. The import of the surprise element caused by a sneeze should be focused upon, as that which causes those around “to jump out of their skin.” One might try to simulate something similar to this in class, by organizing an activity, not as a class silencing ritual but as a contemplative exercise, wherein in the teacher suddenly claps their hands or cries out “Allah” and students immediately fall silent, stop what they are doing and reflect upon some afore agreed-upon subject. Such sudden disruptions to seeming normality can be interpreted as an instantaneous jolt away from the everyday world and this characteristic of the sneeze has resulted in different cultural interpretations and worth looking into. Within the Muslim tradition, the most common interpretation of the sneezer’s saying “Alhamduli’llah” is in recognition of having expelled vapors, germ viruses, etc. which, if they had remained in the body would have caused further discomfort. At the same time, it was traditionally considered that a little part of the soul separates from us. Perhaps related to this, according to the famous muḥaddith, Al Hakim Al Tirmidhi (1996: pp. 820–869) was that sneezing “… is an expression of the spirit’s nostalgia for its celestial origin and for God. When someone sneezes, the spirit is attempting to free itself from the bodily confines,” (Radtke and O’Kane:1996: p. 139). The famous physician Abūbakr Mohammad Zakariyā al-Rāzī (854–925) is reported to have said that a sneeze (without catarrh) could indicate “… good health, sound digestion and physical strength,” which is one of the reasons why the Prophet asked people to praise Allah Ibn Muflih: 2015: 2: 334). Both Ibn Masud and Abu Huraira, along with other companions, are reported to have said that the Prophet told them that when Allah breathed the spirit into the clay mold of Adam and upon reaching his head, he sneezed, upon which the Angels cried out “Alhamduli’llah” to which Adam repeated, “Alhamduli’llah” and Allah replied “Rahimaka Rabbuka” (Your Lord has mercy on you), while in another version, Allah replies “Yarhamuk’llah” (Ibn Hibban al-Busti, 2012: p. 6165). The cultural significance of sneezing is ancient, appearing as early as Homer, manifesting either as prophetic or corroborative and usually believed to indicate the momentary presence of a divine power in the sneezer. Socrates believed the sneeze to be a “divine spirit” intervention occurring during human discourse,

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while Aristotle attempted to explain the ominous and corroborative factor of sneezing. He argued that sneezes between midday and midnight were auspicious, as the latter part of the day is associated with endings rather than beginnings, and, consequently and this indicates approval of what has been done. With the Romans, Pliny the Elder, “… includes himself or his social class in the number of those who salute one who sneezes” (Pease, 1911: p. 430). Meaning was also attributed as to whether one sneezed to the right (positive connotations) or left (negative connotations) or whether a sneeze occurred at the commencement of some significant event (Pease, 1911: p. 433). There are many cultural responses to sneezing across many cultures and some consideration of these could be given in class. In German folk belief, a sneeze during a wedding ceremony signifies a bad marriage, while in Iceland saluting the sneezer with “God help you” originates from the symptoms of the medieval plagues. (ibid: p. 435). There is a multitude of human responses to the sneeze throughout the cultures of the world – simply put, the sneeze naturally obliges a response and getting this across is one of the main objectives of the above learning activities.

Concluding Thoughts – Morality or a Sense of Obligation? While it is hoped that this work will raise further questions worthy of discussion, two things seem unassailable: (1) akhlāq infers far more than “moral codes” or “good manners” and (2) in order to carry on the Prophet’s ultimate task of refining character, Muslim education must undergo substantial transformation. It has been suggested that a significant step toward transformation may lie in questioning whether moral knowledge necessarily leads to morality and ultimately whether either should be equated to akhlāq. An alternative has been put forward in this work; namely to discard notions of morality and attempt to focus on developing an innate sense of obligation in learners. A vivid expression of the akhlāqial disposition may be seen in many parts of the Muslim world, where the response when thanked for something is ‘La choukran ala wajib’, meaning ‘no thanks due for that which is obliged.” Could the attitude embodied in these words hold some key to the much-needed change in how akhlāq is educationally imparted?

References Al-Bazzār, A. A. (2003). Al-Bahr al-Zakhar al-Ma’ruf bi-Musnad al-Bazzar, DKI, Beirut. Al Hakim Al Tirmidhi (1996). The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islam – Two Works by Al Hakim Al Tirmidhi, Trans. by Bernd Radtke and John O’Kane, Curzon Press, Richmond, Surrey. An-Nasa’i, (2007) Sunan an-Nasa’i,Vol. 6, Book 47, Hadith 4994, Darusalam, Ryadh. Al-Nawawi (1997). An-Nawwawi’s Forty Hadith,Trans. by: E. Ibrahim and D. Johnson-Davies, The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge.

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Aries, P, (1962), Centuries of Childhood, Knopf, New York. Bahfen, N. (2011). Borderless Islam and the modern nation state. Journal of Intellectual Discourse, 19, pp. 147–160. Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia. Borchard, T. (2018). Distraction: A Serious Problem of Modern Life. Psych Central. Accessed on September 26, 2019, from https://psychcentral.com/blog/distractiona-serious-problem-of-modern-life/. CA - Crescent Academy (2020a). Kindergarten Weekly Learning Review, May 27–June 5, 2020, accessed at: https://kgsite.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/5/2/4352242/kg_weekly_overview_5.27-5.29.pdf. CA - Crescent Academy (2020b), 4th Grade’s Weekly Learning Overview Week of May 27, accessed at: https://4thgradecai.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/5/2/4352174/grade_4_weekly_ overview_week_of_may_27_short_week.pdf. Caputo, J. D., (1978), The Mystical Element in Heidegger’s Thought, New York: Fordham University Press Connor, S. (2010). “A Philosophy of Fidgets” at the Liverpool Biennial Touched Talks, 17 February 2010, accessed September 09, 2019: http://stevenconnor.com/fidgets.html. Donohue Clyne, I. (2000). Seeking Education: The struggle of Muslims to educate their children in Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. El Fadl, K. A. (2015). The end of the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS and the future of political Islam, accessed on November 29, 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-endof-the-arab-spring-the-rise-of-isis-and-the-future-of-po/10098372. Bostrom, M. (2001). The 21st Century Teen: Public Perception and Teen Reality, Frameworks Institute, Washington DC. Hastings, A. W. Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.The Lion and the Unicorn, vol. 17 no. 1, 1993, pp. 83–92. Project MUSE Ibn Hibban al-Busti (2012). Sahih of Ibn Hibban, Dar Ibn Hazm, Beirut. Ibn Muflih, S. A. A. M. (2015). Al-Adaab Ash-Shar’iyyah Lil-Imam Ibn Muflih, Beirut: Risalah Publishing, 2015 IHRC (2017). Moral Decay and Hollywoodization in the Muslim World, accessed on September 5, 2019: https://www.ihrc.org.uk/publications/briefings/11883-moral-decayand-hollywoodization-in-the-muslim-world/. Ipsos MORI (2006). Public Attitudes to Parenting, London, UK, accessed on May 15, 2020: https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/public-attitudes-parenting. IQRA (2012). Aqidah and Fiqh Chart_2012 National Standards for Schools. Accessed on November 12, 2019: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12qYI2o5d0Qij_ sEX1m8B85u4XbAVOEgQ. Janson, T. (2017). Islamic Children’s Literature: Informal Religious Education in Diaspora. In Handbook of Islamic Education: International Handbooks of Religion and Education (Vol. 7). (International Handbook of Religion and Education; No. 7). Springer. Laeheem, K. (2018). Problems in Promoting Islamic Ethics in Adherence to the Faith among Thai Muslim Youths of Ban Kha Ling, Pattani Province. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences. 39(3), pp. 526–533. Lane, E. W. (2003). Arabic English Lexicon, Educa Books, UK (originally published 1863). Law, E. (1993).“Yes, but I’m Eleven”:An Editor’s Perspective on Condescension in Children’s Literature. The Lion and the Unicorn. 17(1), pp. 15–21. Project MUSE. Lemur, A. (2012). Islamic Tahdhib and Akhlaq, IQRA International Educational Foundation, Stokie, Illinois.

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Malik, I. (n.d.). Muwatta Imam Malik. Accessed September 10, 2013: http://www. hadithcollection.com/download-hadith-books/download-maliks-muwatta/346maliks-muwatta-book-47-good-character/download.html. Malik, S. H. A., Alonge F. K. and Onwuka J. O. (2014). Islamic Religious Studies and National Values for Primary Schools,NERDC, Ikeja, Nigeria. Moroccan IE Curriculum (2016). ‫والخصويص العمومي بالتعلیم الدراسیة املستویات لجمیع اإلسالمیة الرتبیة منھاج‬. Accessed on December 20, 2019: https://www.men.gov.ma/Ar/Documents/Curr_ Revise_Sec_EduIslamique_VF14sep2016.pdf. NERDC (Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council) (2007). 9-Year Basic Education Curriculum Islamic Studies for JSS 1–3, Ikeja, Nigeria. NERDC (Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council) (2013a). Browse – Curriculum Primary 1, Islamic Studies. Accessed on November 5, 2019: http://nerdc.org. ng/eCurriculum/CurriculumView.aspx. NERDC (Nigerian Educational Research Development Council (2013a). Browse Curriculum – Primary 3, Islamic Studies. Accessed on November 5, 2019: http://nerdc.org.ng/ eCurriculum/CurriculumView.aspx. Omer S. (2019). Why Are Muslim Youth Confused? IslamiCity. Accessed on August 22, 2019: https://www.islamicity.org/17830/why-are-muslim-youth-confused/. Pease, A.S.(1911) The Omen of Sneezing, Classical Philology, University of Chicago Press Journals, 6(4). Radtke, B. and J. O’Kane, (1996) The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism:Two Works by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. Sahin, A. (2018). Critical Issues in Islamic Education Studies: Rethinking Islamic and Western Liberal Secular Values of Education. Religions. 9. 335. MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Schuerkins, U. (2004). Global Forces and Local Life-Worlds: Social Transformations. In Sage Studies Series in International Sociology, Sage Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, CA. Scottish iSyllabus – Scheme of Work Workbook – 1.23 Islamic Greetings Y.1.M.3.L.23. Accessed on Nov. 10th, 2019 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nPAvW6Mf86Q QADjjhf8iCPM7t1YhuGnE. Scottish iSyllabus – Scheme of Work Workbook – 2.21 Good Character – Y.2.M.3.L.21. Accessed on Nov. 10th, 2019, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nPAvW6Mf86Q QADjjhf8iCPM7t1YhuGnE. Skerry, P. (2013). Problems of the Second Generation:To beYoung, Muslim and American, Brookings Institution. Accessed on October 13, 2019: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ problems-of-the-second-generation-to-be-young-muslim-and-american/. Starrett, G. (1998). Putting Islam to Work, Education, Politics, and Religious Transformation in Egypt, University Of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London. United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Education – Curriculum and Assessment Sector, Islamic Education (2017–2018). Accessed on December 12, 2018: https://islamiclegacy.files. wordpress.com/2017/11/islamic-education-grade-1.pdf. Williams, J. (2018). Stand out of our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Wilson P. L., (2003) Pirate Utopias – Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes, New York Autonomedia. Winkel, E. (1997). Islam and the Living Law - The Ibn al-’Arabi Approach’, Oxford University Press, Karachi.

PART II

Islamic Worldview Shaping Curriculum

7 TEACHING ISLAMIC HISTORY WITHIN A GLOBAL PARADIGM AND INTEGRATED CURRICULUM Susan L. Douglass

Teaching History in Schools The task of laying out approaches to teaching history, and within it, Islamic history, requires us to look at existing models on several levels. Curriculum development occurs within constraints at each level, from the lower to the upper grades. At the highest level is the paradigm of school subjects. Schooling has been structured and assessed almost universally according to isolated subjects. The next level is the divisions within the subject areas. Even these tend to be compartmentalized according to disciplines rather than integrated. At the implementation level, teachers are trained to teach single subject areas; school administrations, processes of lesson planning, and the flow of scheduling all reinforce this separation. Despite this ingrained structure of separation, progressive educational thinking has, for decades, emphasized making connections, interdisciplinary t­ hinking, and the cross-cultural curriculum goals of teaching thinking skills, research and analytical skills. In the twenty-first century, the complex and seemingly intractable nature of global challenges have raised awareness of the need for creative, collaborative, interdisciplinary thinking – “thinking out of the box.” Without systematic training in interdisciplinary thinking and integrating knowledge acquired throughout education systems, it is unrealistic to expect humanity to achieve this valued ability across the educated population. As will be discussed later in this chapter, this integrated, holistic model is very much in keeping with an Islamic educational paradigm. This chapter concerns teaching the sub-discipline of history within social studies curricula. This set of challenges stems from the legacy of history

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education over the past two centuries at least, the need to reflect recent pedagogical research, and to be aware of the new directions that history as a field has taken. Schooling has lagged behind both the state of the knowledge field and of history pedagogy. The fact that history education is a highly politicized subject – especially in government-sponsored schools – has been a further drag on forward movement.

Teaching History within the Social Studies History is part of the teaching field called Social Studies, sometimes History and Social Science. Social Studies as a subject includes the core disciplines of history, geography, civics/government, and economics, as well as political science, international relations, sociology, and anthropology. The social sciences are seldom taught separately in schools, but their methodologies and content feature in many courses. Social Studies can be a focal point for integrating the curriculum across school subjects beyond the field itself. This fact is not particularly controversial, and like interdisciplinary thinking in all subjects, it is encouraged when it happens. For example, students learning about a period of history might naturally study literature and art from the period, but ideally, it would not end there. Mathematics features in statistics about history, and apart from the history of science, much recent historical evidence relies upon sophisticated sciences and technologies. Humanities are closely linked to historical studies and are appreciated and understood through careful curricular integration with national, Islamic, and world history studies. Geography should be a strand running throughout the K-12 p­ rogram and not reserved to stand-alone geography survey courses. Economics and civics/ government are often boring and abstract when taught in isolated courses, but take on meaning when linked to ancient or recent historical developments. Teaching across subject areas occurs most often in the elementary grades, especially in self-contained classrooms; multi-subject teacher collaboration requires time and effort often not well supported by administrators. A hindrance to integration is that in middle and high school, the need for depth of coverage often overshadows the need for integration of the disciplines. Unfortunately, the dividends of integrated learning would be greatest for secondary students, whose cumulative knowledge would allow them to make connections across disciplines. If they have been trained to think (and significantly, to be assessed) within subject area guardrails, it will be difficult to make the leap. What are the obstacles to integration of the disciplines within and across school subjects? Curriculum and textbook development are siloed activities in all of the settings where they occur – at the level of education departments or ministries, in commercial textbook publishing houses, and in school districts and individual schools, where administrators fail to provide lesson planning

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or summer curriculum development time or agendas that encourage collaboration. Academic standards have tended with few exceptions to be developed and approved in subject-area isolation – even within the four core disciplines of history, geography, civics/government, and economics. With the exception of a few progressive educational settings in public and private school systems, integration as a universally desirable goal of education gets short shrift in the implementation. We will return to the subject of curriculum integration after discussing challenges in social studies curriculum, which affect the extent of integration that is possible and likely to occur.

Politicized History Education and Culture Wars History education is roughly divided into two categories that are reflected in school curricula everywhere – national and world history. Since the advent of nation-states, national history has been a dominant aspect of schooling. Benedict Anderson, in his seminal work Imagined Communities, identified national history as a factor underpinning unification around the story of nations’ unfolding. The founders, the milestones, and even the conflicts form the narrative of remembering and “remembering to forget” (Anderson, 2016, pp. 187–206). For the purposes of this article, we need only elaborate on Anderson’s observations in terms of the way in which national history is structured into the school program. Typically, this program includes multiple repetitions of the story of the nation in elementary, middle, and high school. The content is concentrated into a year’s course (in the United States, at grades 5, 8, and 11) in which little reference is made to how the nation’s history is situated in the global context. To students receiving such instruction, it could seem that each nation is a planet unto itself, although the origins of modern nation-states are incomprehensible without global context. World history, or the study of human activity across the globe and through time, holds a lesser place than national history in school programs. Students used to receive their first survey of the world in upper elementary grades, and then perhaps take survey course in high school. Some school programs substitute world geography courses over world history. In contrast to national ­h istory, requirements to learn world history are not universal. Worldwide, it is difficult to ascertain how many countries actually teach some configuration of world history, ranging from scant mention in elementary grades, to 1–2 year secondary survey courses. A recent study was unable to gather information on all countries, but identified trends in European, Asian, and a few other regions, where world history exposure lags far behind national history and is not seen as crucial for identity formation in youth, nor national unity, and classroom time is seen as being in competition with national history. Where it does exist, the Eurocentric legacy of world history study, and post-colonial, nationalistic

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responses to it, are prevalent, with few exceptions (Girard & McArthur, 2018). In some secondary education systems separated by humanities and science tracks – in the Middle East and former British and French c­ olonies – only humanitiestrack students might be exposed to world history after middle school, or it may not be required at all. Where world history survey courses are required, there are further divisions in approach. The legacy of teaching world history in mass education lies in the early nineteenth century. The “civilization” was the only unit of human society deemed worthy of inclusion, and prominence was given to the sequence of civilizations viewed as the West’s civilizational heritage – a fusion of Biblical and classical, medieval, and pre-modern history. As Europeans became aware of ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China through discovery of texts and archaeological sites, they felt compelled to compare them to Europe’s sense of its own progressive state of “civilization” – a term that gained enormous currency during the period. Apart from excluding human societies not considered worthy, civilizations were thus graded in terms of the stage of development or decline they were perceived to represent. School history textbooks and survey curricula adopted this basic framework, which endured well into the twentieth century (Douglass, 2016, pp. 30–38). The state of teaching world history today is characterized by three basic variants: World history courses that are based on a linear sequence of civilizations with Western civilization at the center of the narrative, and world cultures courses that include multiple cultures, which may also be taught within a geographic rather than historical framework. The “multiple cultures” model arose in the middle of the twentieth century as a result of demands to broaden the Eurocentric curriculum to be more inclusive of diversity in the student population. The third variant has been called “the New World History,” and represents a paradigm shift in framing and teaching about the world (Dunn, Mitchell, & Ward, 2016). It is a chronological study of the world organized around a series of global eras. It emphasizes the making of global connections among peoples and societies as a long-term historical process, not just a phenomenon of the past century. Its premise is that the grand sweep of the past lies not just in the histories of nation-states or civilizations, but of human societies at various levels. At the largest scale, a variant mode of teaching called “big history” incorporates “both scientific and humanistic disciplines to locate the history of our species within large scales of change up to the scale of the entire universe, and to pose large questions about human evolution and cultural development” (Dunn, 2008). The third among these models is the most closely aligned with recent scholarship, and has been gaining wider currency, but the first two models are deeply entrenched in textbooks and academic standards, and are widely taught. The following is a summary and evaluation of approaches to teaching about the world that will help define desirable frameworks for the study of Islamic

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history in Muslim educational settings. The need for this is reflected in the fact that Muslim school curricula are reliant upon curricula used in the countries where they are located, due to national testing systems for college admittance or regulations that require adherence to centralized curriculum. In countries where subsidies for private schooling exist, that funding may come at the cost of curriculum requirements. In the United States, private schools are not under such constraints (with the limited exception of some charter schools with state funding); however, Muslim school administrators in the United States cite the pressure of tuition-paying parents, interpreting the schools’ need to follow “mainstream” curriculum and textbooks as arising from their mandate to prepare students for college admittance. In terms of the latter two arguments (parents and college preparation), schools that lack curriculum development resources have often failed to consider either the quality of their local or state curriculum, nor have they investigated available creative alternatives. Add to this timidity the fact that social studies is a low-status subject in comparison to mathematics, science, and English learning. Thus, a large percentage of Muslim schools adhere to local government school curriculum to a degree that no prestigious private school in their country would ever consider doing.

Models for Teaching about the World Before turning to recommendations for structuring Islamic history into the curriculum, it will be helpful to evaluate the two major models for teaching world history. Content is important, but course structure is essential, especially in a course about the history of humanity, which is jam-packed with possible topics. Such a course must be highly selective regardless of the model used. Beyond that, we will see that while the structure of each individual course is important, the way those courses fit within a K-12 program offers important choices as well. Here, we will look at which discipline leads interdisciplinary integration in social studies courses and overall programs.

Geography-Dominant Model for Learning about the World One approach introduces the world through a geographic lens. Students learn about the continents and acquire rudimentary geography skills in elementary grades, but a geography-dominant approach to teaching about the world emphasizes stand-alone geography courses. These resemble a tour of world regions, country by country. Geography, unlike history, is not politically charged, but there are two contrasting approaches: One is based on facts, figures, countries, capitals, resources, and topography, usually mixed with a smattering of cultural studies; other is an inquiry approach designed to foster understanding of the complex relationship between human societies and their environment.

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Organized around themes and essential questions that emphasize meaning, it helps students to acquire information-gathering and analytical skills. In the United States, the standards document Geography for Life, published in 1995, built 18 standards around 6 essential elements. It was adopted without controversy and still forms the basis for most state academic standards. 1. The World in Spatial Terms 2. Places and Regions 3. Physical Systems 4. Human Systems 5. Environment and Society 6. The Uses of Geography (National Geography Standard Index, n.d.) Geography for Life, a nationwide collaboration between geographers and K-12 educators, envisions integration of geography skills at every grade level, gradually building depth of understanding and breadth of knowledge. It does not envision accomplishing its goals in single or multiple stand-alone geography surveys. It calls for integration of geographic education across the curriculum, based on the belief that: “Geographic literacy will … be necessary for … enhancing economic competitiveness, preserving quality of life, sustaining the environment, and ensuring national security. As individuals and as members of society, humans face decisions on where to live, what to build where, how and where to travel, how to conserve energy, how to sustainably manage scarce resources, and how to cooperate or compete with others.” Stand-alone geography courses as a structure for teaching about the world, in contrast, are inefficient, overloaded vehicles. Built around a region-byregion survey of the world’s geographic regions, their objective is to understand the contemporary world. These courses give young students their first exposure to study of the world, however, so they must also provide a smattering of historical background on each region. The courses carry a double burden of knowledge objectives from both contemporary and historical time, along with the obligatory descriptions of physical geography, contemporary economy, and politics. They combine absurdly quick summaries of ancient and medieval civilizations, and then attempt to survey the entire modern world and its complex issues. Many of these courses contain a mininarrative of Western civilization from Mesopotamia to World War II as the only “coherent” historical sequence in the textbook. Other world regions are covered in a disjointed manner that cuts them off from global historical developments. India, China, Africa, the Muslim world, and Southeast Asia are often covered chapters and chapters after the survey of Europe (months in the school year), fully detached from any connective narrative. We can assume that many classes never complete most of the chapters by the end of

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the year. Even if they do, students will gain the impression of static culture regions, each running its own movie. This approach in fact violates accepted learning and skills objectives of geographic education itself. While geographers recognize that the meaning and configuration of regions changes with time and disciplinary perspective, these courses are structured around contemporary divisions of the post-colonial world. In fact, not only do these regional designations represent strategic economic and military divisions, but they evolved out of the Cold War division into First, Second, and Third World (capitalist, communist, and underdeveloped or developing world). Modern regions are treated deterministically as if they had always been thus. This is in distinct contradiction to the geography standards’ learning objectives on the definition of “region” as a flexible, dynamic aid to comprehending the world from different perspectives. The elastic, poorly defined and named region called “The Middle East” is a prime example. Definitions of the Middle East in textbooks, maps, and curriculum projects vary wildly in boundaries. They may include a range of countries from Mauritania to Kazakhstan, or any configuration in between. Simplistic sketches of civilizations in these regions often harbor factual errors and misconceptions, foster stereotypes, favor political over sociocultural history, or skip over pre-modern history altogether. The impression is of a fragmented, static world. Historical developments did not follow patterns based on modern political or strategic regions today, nor did they stop at the borders of continents. This regional geographic approach to the world is like peering into a series of opaque tunnels: No tunnel allows the viewer to see what was happening in other tunnels at the same time or to see the spaces between the tunnels. Students might be led to imagine that around the world, non-Western cultures arose and reached a dead end in modern ­underdevelopment. This model gives students no idea how we got here from the past. At best, a stand-alone geography survey might be beneficial if offered after students have a grounding in both world and national history. Then it would approximate a Global Studies or Global Issues research course at the high school level. The heart and soul of geography studies is to foster understanding of the dynamic relationship between human activity and the physical world, changing human perceptions of physical space that vary with time, location, and learning about multiple, lived cultural perspectives. Stand-alone geography courses do not fulfill the geography standards when substituted for integrated learning over time.

History-Dominant Models for Learning about the World History-dominant social studies programs position history as the discipline that drives the social studies curriculum, meaning that geography, economics, the auxiliary social sciences, and humanities, are integrated into history. The most ineffective

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but typical structure of history-dominant programs, however, is alternating mandatory, repetitive national and world history surveys in elementary, middle, and high school. This is probably the reason so many students abhor history studies; they are shallow and jammed with facts and mind-numbing assessment strategies. Critiques of this outdated but pervasive model suggested improving the historydominant approach with the concept that national and world history surveys be chronologically “draped” across three grade levels. National history can be divided into periods corresponding to elementary, middle, and high school, with review units that fill the gaps between courses. World history surveys may begin at upper elementary level with pre-history through classical times, middle school from postclassical to the Enlightenment, and high school world history on modern history. The value of the sequential, draped programs for teaching about the world is that (1) they allow sufficient classroom time to concentrate on topics in depth; (2) they integrate various realms of history into a coherent narrative framework rather than switchbacks from one topic to another; (3) draped courses allow for integration of geography, economics, arts, and humanities as tools for learning about history; and (4) they allow time to develop analytical and critical thinking skills and research skills. In history-dominant programs, interdisciplinary learning is incorporated into its varied historical rather than theoretical context, using the disciplines to illustrate dynamic trends in human development.

The Building Blocks of Teaching about the World Structural differences in curriculum framing come into sharpest relief in world history. As we have seen, the geographic approach is organized around modern world regions. Among history programs, the building block or organizing unit of the traditional approach is the “civilization.” The new world history paradigm is organized around a sequence of global historical periods called “eras.” This section explains and evaluates these two, leading to the implications for teaching Islamic history.

The “Civilizations” Approach to World History The model that emerged in the nineteenth century, which is still reflected in many textbooks and academic standards, is to organize around a linear sequence of discrete civilizations. The core narrative in such courses has been the sequence of civilizations viewed as leading to European/Western civilization. Western civilization is seen to emerge in the Near East, taking in the Biblical story across the region, then traces the classical heritage of Greece and Rome, followed by medieval history of Christendom, the Renaissance, and the modern rise to global dominance, from industrialization to the twentieth century and today. Figure 7.1 illustrates the basic scheme of this model of covering civilizations on which many textbooks are based.

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FIGURE 7.1 

Traditional world history model

Decades of protest against this Eurocentric model and the pressures of increasing knowledge of so-called “non-Western” cultures resulted in the addition of civilizations to the traditional sequence. Therein lies the model’s flaw: In order to be added to the curriculum, a topic or region must qualify as “a civilization,” a very fraught process with overtones of racism and stereotyping already present in the fact that these courses developed concurrently with nineteenth century Western imperialism. Gradually, the Far East, India, “Islam,” Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas were added to these courses. The resulting survey content overload led to a backlash against “too much” study of “non-Western cultures.” The problem was not the number of “cultures,” but their poor integration – spliced into the existing survey course. Single chapters on China later became two or three chapters, as did India, Russia, Islam, Africa, and the Americas. Using the civilization as a building block left huge geographic gaps and omitted regions that did not host a major civilization. Central Asia is a prime example; this region of intense history seemed empty except for the meandering Silk Road and the gallop of Mongol horsemen. The core Eurocentric narrative was left in place, and coverage of the “nonWest” faded after 1500 CE or was seen to decline and fall under the sway of European colonialism, then arrive at a modern state of underdevelopment. These

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structural flaws make it unlikely that students can meet the high expectations placed in these courses. They convey factual information, but sharp chronological switchbacks hamper the narrative flow. The dynamic cultural interactions such as trade and the spread of religions and historical processes such as migration and the flow of technologies are lost in checklists of civilizational achievements. Geography is a backdrop rather than the main stage. Periodization like calling the medieval period “the Dark Ages” assumes that the Western civilization narrative is universal, violating the historical thinking skill of seeing multiple perspectives. Admittedly, the Dark Age myth has faded recently in the face of overwhelming evidence of advancements that later reached Europe from elsewhere. These limitations in the model exclude recent advances in world historical scholarship, such as cross-cultural and hemispheric trends in economic, social, environmental, and intellectual history. This outdated course structure does not meet the goals of widely accepted skills mandates.

“Global” World History: Eras Model The paradigm shift in teaching world history is embodied in recent world history research and pedagogy. Its unit of organization is both geographic and chronological. World history can be schematized as a simple but elegant graph: The horizontal axis is the surface of the globe and the vertical axis is a chronological sequence of historical eras from the ancient (or even geological) past to the present. The area of the graph can be imagined as a set of x, y coordinates that represent people, places, events, and societies. Any survey course will be highly selective, but the model has the potential to be comprehensively inclusive. Students will not, in one year or three, learn about everything that happened across the globe, but when they learn something new in the future, they have a scheme for locating it in time and place. The possibilities for teaching world history based on the global eras model are profound. Instead of a self-contained survey of each major civilization in the traditional model, the world history model considers regional societies, empires, or civilizations in the context of the era in which they emerged and traces them through subsequent eras. This allows for greater chronological coherence instead of climbing up and down chronological ladders to pick out new civilizations after dropping others. History is the lead discipline for integrating geography, economics, humanities, and the other social sciences, including themes such as technology, trade, religion, and government. We can teach about interactions among societies as a topic of study, trading the checklists of cultural achievements for dynamic cross-cultural processes such as the exchange of ideas, technologies, arts, and scholarship, showing students primary sources. Those who bemoan the lost dominance of the Western narrative in this model should realize that the history of Western Europe and national histories make much more sense in their world-historical context. Because global coverage is

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FIGURE 7.2 

The world history model

more even, non-Western societies’ history has depth and meaning in the global narrative, not just a token presence or brief Golden Age. The implications for questioning racist categorizations of people and cultures are obvious, starting with the story of human migration out of Africa and continuing through colonialism whenever it occurred. Figure 7.2 illustrates the contrast between the traditional model in Figure 7.1, and shows how a model based on global eras in chronological sequence allows incorporation of themes and continuity among regional societies over time. Comparing the two history-dominant models presented here, it is important to note that the new world history “global” model is integrative, whereas the civilization-by-civilization model is additive. Under the global model, by studying interactions among societies, by tracing historical processes common to multiple societies, and by grouping societies and topics within eras, it becomes natural to mention multiple societies together, rather than as isolated stories. Integrated learning facilitates acquiring historical thinking skills, gathering information, analyzing evidence, and comparing historical perspectives. Finally, Patrick Manning, a leader in world history scholarship and pedagogy, summarized the significance of the new world history: “(1) World history helps make sense of globalization; (2) World history demonstrates our expanding knowledge about

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the past; (3) World history shows links from national history to the rest of the world; (4) World history sustains citizenship” (Manning, 2006).

Muslim School Models for Teaching History Muslim schools must decide how to balance teaching “Islamic history” within social studies and Islamic studies curricula. First, they need to overcome bias against social studies as a school subject, in contrast to mathematics and sciences. To be sure, learning about Islamic history is seen as essential to identity formation. Traditionally, however, Islamic history is part of full-time schools’ Islamic Studies curriculum and includes stories of the prophets, the sirah nabawiyya (the biography of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him), and the rise and spread of Islam. Additional emphasis is placed on the Islamic Golden Age, including sciences, arts, and architecture. In Muslim majority countries, Islamic history sometimes takes the place of world history (though not world geography), and may be taught from a triumphalist perspective, emphasizing Islamic civilizational glories as a reaction to outdated Eurocentric views of Western triumphalism. Surprisingly, some post-colonial national education systems followed the outlines of the Western-centered narrative and even used translated textbooks, but staked out firm positions on the importance of their civilizational past. Thus, Islamic history exists alongside national history in Muslim majority countries as a separate, supra-national history. None of these components of “Islamic history” is well integrated into world history as a whole, but seems geared toward building a firewall of cultural confidence in students’ identity against claims of western cultural superiority (Douglass, 2016). These same pedagogical critiques extend to teaching Islamic history in immigrant communities, which are not immune to traditional immigrant mind-sets. The current generation of school leaders in countries with Muslim minorities, however, places a high value on integrating youth into the societies where they live and teaching Muslims to participate as global citizens. These factors make it important for Muslim educators to be aware of recent developments in history scholarship and pedagogy outlined above and the detrimental effects of poorly conceived models that are widespread in their adopted countries. There are many ways to avoid the trap of default adoption of local government school curriculum. The local curriculum may be adequate, but without study of alternatives, school leaders cannot know. Without leaving behind the mindset that a Muslim school should follow the same sequence of content, textbooks, and testing regimes as government-sponsored schools, there is no way to assess what they are missing. Is the reason for adopting local public school curriculum really that the parents insist on it or have the school leaders not done the research to make informed choices, and then make the case to parents and board members? Even adoption of programs such as the International Baccalaureate

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(IB) requires a critical eye as to how they will be implemented if chosen. IB has enhanced its global outlook, but its legacy is the British system; the critical discourse around it should factor into decision-making.

Educational Ideals and Islamic History Education Returning to the argument at the beginning of this chapter, an innovative, exciting, integrated curriculum should be the goal of Muslim schools and should be the focus of educational reform after so many decades of talking about it. There is not a single global challenge that the next generation will face that does not require seeking solutions in interdisciplinary thinking. From an Islamic perspective, holistic education is modeled on the Qur’anic mandate to reflect on God’s Creation in its entirety. To realize the holistic goal of raising children in an Islamic manner is to foster their ability to see, to reason, and to absorb knowledge. It is not served by a bifurcated goal that adds a siloed Islamic studies school subject onto a secular curriculum for worldly success. A holistic Islamic education would embody an encompassing worldview. Muslim scholar Vincent Cornell explains that the Islamic model of pedagogy is “participatory learning based in interleaved reading of the scripture and the created, lived world. It teaches humans about the nature of Divine Reality … The world is a book to be studied and learned by the person of knowledge. Both the scripture and the world are two registers of divine discourse – the texts of the Arabic Qur’an and the natural world” (Cornell, 2005). In short, education is a seamless process that intertwines “sacred” and “secular” rather than separates them. An integrated Islamic education would produce a person open to the world, neither with a diffused, inconsistent view of Islam’s place in their lives, nor with a ­fortress-like, “foreclosed” view of Islam that tends toward dangerously brittle, rigid thinking (Şahin, 2013). It would foster curiosity, creativity, and an informed, wellrounded view based on exploration of the inner and outer worlds. What models of social studies education align with such curriculum goals? The new world history paradigm has the potential to overcome the limitations of narrow history approaches. Placing national history into a global context has also gained broad support in academic and pedagogical circles, and it applies as well to the supra-national task of teaching Islamic history to Muslim students. The new eras-based world history can overcome the limitations of both the outdated, unbalanced Eurocentric approach and the additive Multiple Cultures approach. Its goal is to view Islamic history in the world and the world in Islamic history. The paradigm described as the new world history is a platform for integrating the disciplines or school subjects. Science and language arts content often crosses over with learning in social studies, tying together related learning. Similar process skills across the core disciplines bring additional evidence that integrating

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curriculum is necessary and more effective than a fragmented approach. For the first time, precise statements on what students can be expected to know and be able to do allow curriculum mapping that brings many subject areas together toward a connected education. Integration is a more efficient approach that requires some effort to launch, but pays dividends in creating meaningful classroom experiences and global understanding. Academic standards in the core subjects can also serve as a scaffold for integrating Islamic knowledge into the curriculum: •

•

Incorporate Islamic history into social studies programs without overloading the curriculum, by featuring history as the lead discipline in sequential, interdisciplinary courses in national and world history that include the humanities and sciences. Overcome the myopic focus on Islamic interaction with the West (and too often defensive teaching), and include hemispheric and global interactions in other regions (Africa, Central Asia, the Indian Ocean, for example), which were catalysts to move ideas, technologies, and artistic styles. There are many classroom resources that are helpful in bringing out this multipolar perspective. A current project, entitled the Middle East Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI), can be found at http://mespi.org, includes a Secondary Education Module with a copious Teacher’s Resource Guide to practical world history resources (MESPI, n.d.).

The promulgation of detailed academic standards by leading scholars and professional associations in the past few decades provides a road map of content and skills that make up a college preparatory, globally focused curriculum. Such documents are available online in full text versions that can be used to forge a creative curriculum. Muslim educators need to realize that many local government curricula are actually watered-down versions of detailed academic standards and frameworks in the disciplines.

Approaches to Islamic History Previous sections of this chapter laid out the challenges, existing programs, and frameworks within which Islamic history can be incorporated into Muslim School curricula, and argued for teaching within an interdisciplinary curriculum. It remains to highlight a few historical approaches by prominent world historians that offer refreshing perspectives. The first is a perspective developed by Marshall G. S. Hodgson, whose work The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization, became a pillar of the emerging world history paradigm and a departure from Orientalist views (Hodgson, 2009). Hodgson forged a path toward a

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view of social and intellectual history that went beyond the view of Islam as empire, and beyond the “golden age and decline” formula to place Islam in its global context. Generations historians of Islamic history have taken direction from Hodgson’s (2009) work. Richard Bulliet, a versatile scholar who studied early Islam in Iran, went on to describe and quantify the process of conversion to Islam in the first four centuries (Bulliet, 1994). Bulliet moved away from the typical political history approach to advocate “the view from the edge” of Islamic history (Bulliet, 1994; Bulliet et al., 2004). By leaving behind the view from the political center, which viewed Islamic society from dynastic palace walls, Bulliet explained the forces that sustained Islamic civilization after the end of empire, especially the ulama’, or Islamic scholars. For the study of Islamic history in the classroom, this fertile approach highlights the many interconnections of Muslims within Afroeurasia and the world and illustrates the dynamic qualities of Muslim society. It was the botanist Andrew Watson who, while studying the migration of food, fiber, and medicinal plants across the eastern hemisphere, characterized Muslim society as “a medium for diffusion” (Watson, 2008). Watson noted the almost unimaginable movement of people, crops, and technologies that resulted in the spread of what became global cash crops and irrigation methods through migrating farmers, diplomats, merchants, and pilgrims along the growing trade routes linking Afroeurasia from the seventh century on. His work points the way to applying this concept of Islam as “a medium for diffusion” more broadly. Another world history innovator and student of Hodgson is Edmund Burke III, historian of modern Islam. Burke conceived of a model for understanding the world-historical process of collective learning and its significance. His article “Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity” (2009) describes a set of technological complexes or “toolkits” that accumulated over millennia in the sciences, mathematics, governance, and writing—technologies such as textiles and metallurgy, which formed the foundation of modern world civilization. Muslims absorbed and took part in advancing these technologies, which are the result of its openness to innovation, its sustained contributions, and its role as a medium for diffusion. This approach takes students of history far beyond the approach of multicultural textbooks that feature token checklists of “What WE got from THEM.” Instead, students learn about the gradual emergence of essential technologies and their complex pathways of transmission. This is not an Islamo-centric view, but an opening to understand the significance of human collective learning over time, and to appreciate how cultural interactions moved this knowledge production among civilizations in pre-modern times across the hemisphere, making up the technological complexes that eventually enabled “modernity” and the modern technologies that were once taught as gifts of European genius alone.

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Burke’s concept is a departure from both the Eurocentric perspective on modernity and the pedagogical reliance on multiculturalism as a corrective to it. Instead, it offers students complex narratives based on exploration of evidence tracing the multiple pathways of “contributions” to the world we have today, with all of its challenges. This world historical perspective is multi-polar and takes in large historical processes. It is more inclusive than stories of grand civilizations. Together, these examples illustrate the potential for teaching Islamic history as a complex, sustained movement beyond political history, beyond an imperial golden age, viewing it as an open society that absorbed influences, contributed achievements and radiated influences in turn. To reiterate, what I have attempted to outline is this chapter is the following: 1. Integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum is the most pedagogically sound aspiration on which to build a holistic educational experience. 2. Within social studies, we need to overcome ineffective, biased structures for teaching about the world that are rooted in the rise of mass education in Europe during the imperial period and have persisted for over a century, in favor of a global model that is more equitable and more academically sound – the New World History. 3. Having accepted an innovative model that is preferable to these older models, teaching about Islam benefits immeasurably by making use of the work of scholars of Islamic history (world historians both Muslim and other) whose research-based ideas and frameworks give us a better window on Islamic history within the global model I have argued for; pasting this scholarship onto the old Golden Age of Civilization model does not work. 4. Select approaches shared in this chapter illustrate what a difference they make in perspective versus either Orientalist approaches or counter-approaches by Muslims defending against the Western or Orientalist notions of Islamic history. Building upon these innovative historical approaches, a wealth of teaching materials (some of which are included after the Reference List) have been developed to illustrate these concepts with historical evidence in the form of primary sources from disciplines across the curriculum (see (MESPI, n.d.)). Building a curriculum around these and other approaches based in historical scholarship invokes not only skill development but also a sense of Muslim identity that needs no firewall; it views Islamic history in its generous global, human context, and invites Muslim students to make their own generational contributions as responsible global citizens.

References Anderson, B. R. (2016). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (revised edition ed.). London:Verso.

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Bulliet, R. W. (1994). Islam:The View from the Edge. New York: Columbia Univ. Press. Bulliet, R. W. (2005a). The Camel and the Wheel. New York: ACLS History E-Book Project. Bulliet, R. W. (2005b). Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers:The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships. New York: Columbia University Press. Bulliet, R. W. (2006). The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization. New York; Chichester: Columbia University Press. Bulliet, R. W. (2011). Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History. New York: Columbia University Press. Bulliet, R.W. (2014). Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period:An Essay in Quantitative History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674732810. Bulliet, R. W., et al. (2004). Views from the Edge: Essays in Honor of Richard W. Bulliet. New York: Columbia University Press for the Middle East Institute, Columbia University. Burke, E. III. (2009). Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity. Journal of World History, 20(2), 165–186. Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from https:// www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40542756.pdf. Burke, E., & Mankin R. (2019). Islam and World History: The Ventures of Marshall Hodgson. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Cornell, V. J. (2005). Teaching and Learning in the Qur’an. The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning; JSR, 5(3). Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from https://jsr.shanti.virginia.edu/backissues/vol-5-no-3-october-2005-teaching-and-scriptural-reasoning/teaching-andlearning-in-the-quran/. Douglass, S. (2016). Teaching the World in Three Mass Education Systems: Britain, Egypt, and India, 1950–1970. Fairfax,Virginia: George Mason University. Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from https://search.proquest.com/openview/7a00aab15c0873fce2a90b23180d8b94/1. pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y. Dunn, R. E. (2008). The Two World Histories. Social Education, 72(5), 257–263. Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-185487371/the-twoworld-histories. Dunn, R. E., Mitchell, L. J., & Ward, K. (2016). The New World History: A Field Guide for Teachers and Researchers (Vol. 23). Oakland; California: University of California Press. Girard, B., & McArthur, L. (2018). Global and World History Education. In Metzger, S. Alan, & L. M. Harris (Eds.), The Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. Hodgson, M. G. S. (2009a). The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (Vols. 1–3). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from http://www.myilibrary.com?id=215924. Hodgson, M. G. S. (2009b). The Venture of Islam,Volume 1:The Classical Age of Islam. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=215924. Hodgson, M. G. S. (2009c). The Venture of Islam, Volume 2: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Hodgson, M. G. S. (2009d). The Venture of Islam,Volume 3:The Gunpower Empires and Modern Times. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press. http://www.SLQ.eblib.com.au/patron/ FullRecord.aspx?p=432239.Manning, P. (2006). Presenting History to Policymakers: Three Position Papers. In P. Sudhir, & D. Darlington (Eds.), Perspectives on History. Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/ perspectives-on-history/march-2006/presenting-history-to-policymakers-three-­ position-papers.

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MESPI. (n.d.). Resource Guide. (MESPI) Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from MESPI Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative: https://mespi.org/sem-resource-guide/. Şahin, A. (2013). New Directions in Islamic Education Pedagogy & Identity Formation. England: Markfield. National Geography Standards Index. (n.d.) (N. Geographic, Producer, & National Geographic Society) Retrieved 7 21, 2020, from National Geographic: https://www. nationalgeographic.org/standards/national-geography-standards/. Tucker, J. E., Abi-Mershed O., Burke E., Clancy-Smith J. A., Granara W., Matar N. I., & White J. M. (2019). The Making of the Modern Mediterranean:Views from the South. Oakland, California: University of California Press. Watson, A. M. (2008). Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Additional resources for educators Bridging Cultures Bookshelf/Muslim Journeys at http://bridgingcultures-muslimjourneys.org is a companion website for a project by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Library Association and the Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, featuring books and films with scholar essays, summaries, background articles, related resources and art videos and given to 953 libraries in the United States. Georgetown University’s Education Outreach programs host teacher resources at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies https://ccas.georgetown.edu/resources/k-14-outreach/ teaching-resources/ and Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding https://acmcu.georgetown.edu/outreach/k14/teaching-resources/. Our Shared Past in the Mediterranean at http://mediterraneansharedpast.org is a set of six curriculum modules spanning pre-history to the present on integrating the Mediterranean in world history. Institute for Religion and Civic Values (formerly the Council on Islamic Education) has released its extensive collection of curriculum materials for download at http://cie.org. Middle East Pedagogy Initiative (http://mespi.org) for the Secondary Education Module at https://mespi.org/secondary-education-module/ and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Resource Guide for Secondary Teachers at https://mespi.org/sem-resourceguide/ for a categorized, extensive list of curriculum materials online. Other features of the site include Critical Readings for Educators: https://mespi.org/critical-readings/ and the Database of Standards on the MENA (Middle East and North Africa): https:// mespi.org/database-of-standards/. Unity Productions Foundation has a teacher portal with streaming and extensive curriculum resources to accompany its documentary films on Islamic history and contemporary issues at http://upf.tv/teachers.

8 SCIENCE CURRICULUM FROM AN ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW Omar Qureshi

Introduction The way science is taught to Muslim students is arguably one of the core reasons for establishing Islamic schools. Muslim educators and parents recognize that science curriculum is where mandated curriculum intersects most fundamentally with an Islamic worldview. Specifically, teaching of human evolution and by virtue, how and why human beings exist remains a contested curriculum topic within the K-12 science curriculum for faith-based communities and schools. Yet, outside of a handful of science topics that are deemed controversial, the teaching of science in Islamic schools is often criticized for remaining blandly identical to state or national curriculum outcomes and resources. Attempts to “integrate” or “Islamicize” the science curriculum are ubiquitous and yet remain works in progress. Individual schools as well as concerted curriculum efforts have expended much energy in providing an “Islamic” lens to the way science is taught in Islamic schools. However, many of these efforts attempt approaches to integration that remain peripheral to robust curriculum renewal. The following are five approaches to integrating Islam into the science curriculum that are commonly attempted in Islamic schools: 1. Canonical Connections: Science teachers attempt to draw on Islam’s canonical sources (Qur’an and Hadith) when relevant to science topics being studied 2. Muslim Contributions: Science teachers append scientific discoveries or contributions made by Muslim scientists in the past to foster appreciation of Muslim heritage

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3. Topical Issues: In high school grades particularly when topics such as evolution arise, some Islamic schools attempt to either present an alternative Islamic perspective of creation or collaborate with Islamic Studies teachers to provide support related to issues that arise with modern science 4. Islamic Ethics: Some schools attempt to draw on Islamic ethical principles when exploring scientific problems 5. Islamic Worldview: Science teachers establish a grounding in the Islamic worldview that then provides a lens with which to approach modern science. It is important to acknowledge that “integration” or “Islamicization” science can hold different meanings. Islamic schools may do some or all of the above, possibly even others than what has been listed. However, the first four listed above do not challenge the actual existing state or national curriculum. Appending Islamic references or connections to Muslim heritage assumes that mandated curriculum – particularly the way modern science is taught – is value neutral. This chapter comprises an interview with Dr. Omar Qureshi that was conducted specifically for this book in August 2020. As a former science teacher and former Islamic School Principal who initiated a three-year school-wide curriculum renewal project, he stresses that Muslim students desperately need a grounding in an Islamic worldview to effectively engage with and have confidence in modern science. He offers not only a scathing critique of how science is taught in schools today in general, but also a concrete way forward for Islamic schools to consider in redeveloping science curriculum.

Interview What Approaches to Integrating Islam into the Science Curriculum Have You Seen? I have taught in a number of different contexts which cover geographical locations from Saudi Arabia to the United States as well as varying educational settings such as private liberal arts schools, public school, and Islamic schools. That being said, I will approach this question largely from my experience working in Islamic schools in the United States. Although what I contribute may be relevant in other contexts, it is good to point out where I am coming from. What I have seen from science teachers in American Islamic schools – whether it is biology, chemistry, or physics – is that they primarily focus on either state standards or the national standards that exist for teaching science. And when they are developing curriculum most do so with the understanding that the textbook is the curriculum. These text books are generally aligned to standards such as Next Generation Science Standards or Common Core Curriculum standards. Islamic schools generally adopt these state standards, the

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recommended textbooks that align to those standards along with the teaching resources such as workbooks, lab activities, and PowerPoint slides that accompany those textbooks. The challenge with this wholesale adoption of existing science curriculum materials is that these resources do not obviously present an Islamic perspective but they also do not acknowledge the possibility of a theistic perspective in general. This creates a situation in Islamic schools where teaching to national standardized tests such as SAT, ACT, and AP exams remains the emphasis and the perspective from which the science curriculum is taught, in this instance, remains unchallenged. In general, I have found in Islamic schools little awareness of specific theological, metaphysical tensions with science. The main questions which arise from teachers have to do with the origins of the universe, the Big Bang theory, and human origins when the theory of evolution is taught. And then, sometimes there are concerns with certain theories, which might be presented in chemistry such as the law of conservation of mass which was developed by Antoine Lavoisier in 18th century where he stated that matter is neither created nor destroyed. These are some of the more salient issues which create tension that science teachers in Islamic schools attempt to address from an Islamic perspective. What I have observed is that these tensions are rarely resolved adequately. They are identified as issues but then either dismissed because “we need to focus on the curriculum” or handed over to the Islamic Studies teachers to address who themselves are not usually equipped. I have actually heard teachers say, when addressing student questions on the origin of humans, “This is not consistent with our religion so don’t believe it but you do need to learn this for the test so let’s move on.” This is an approach I have encountered often in Islamic schools. I have come to learn that the reason why that approach is taken is because the teacher themselves do not have the necessary theological or philosophical training to address these issues. At the same time, Islamic Studies teachers are not often aware of the questions these scientific theories raise. The response given to the law of conservation of mass or the origins of the universe will commonly be just a statement of what Muslims believe without an engagement with the implications of how these laws are understood in relation to, for example, God and how He creates. Students basically do not these approaches as intellectually satisfying as they leave a disconnect between what they believe as Muslims and what they are learning in science class.

How Have You Approached Teaching Science from an Islamic Perspective? I was mainly a middle school and high school biology teacher, and then later added high school chemistry and high school physics to my teaching load. In biology, when the topic on human evolution would come up, I would begin

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by asking the class to think about what methodology would a Muslim use to unpack a philosophical or scientific problem. I would then introduce them to a well-known principle in Islamic method of inquiry such as al-ḥukm ʿala al-shayʾ farʿu ʿan taṣawurihi which basically means a judgment about something is predicated on the conception of that thing. In other words, if I am making a judgment about X, then my judgment upon X assumes a conception of X. How I conceptualize X informs my judgement of X. Then I would explain that if we want to make a judgement about the law of conversation of mass, for example, then my conclusion about the law is contingent upon my conception of the law of conservation of mass. I explain to students that the reason why our scholars have laid this principle down is to say that if you have an incorrect conception of X and incorrect conception of the law of conservation of mass, then you will have an incorrect conclusion about it. Similarly, with the theory of evolution, I would explain to my students before we can judge whether the theory evolution presents and difficulties with our theological doctrines or not we must first understand how evolution is currently understood in contemporary biology. My approach is to establish a principled methodological approach to thinking for students. We then delve into the actual study of evolution as presented in biology textbooks and what state standards outline. Then after we study evolution, I ask “Okay, what are some of the key concepts we need to understand in order to correctly conceive the theory of evolution?” The first reaction of most students is that evolution is just a “theory” which they interpret as a guess or a hunch and therefore with a high probability of being untrue. I then correct this understanding of the term theory by teaching them about how scientists use the word “theory,” how theories incorporate laws and observations and that a theory does not necessarily mean that it is just an opinion or likely to be false. The second thing I will do is then introduce them to critiques of evolution – not by Muslims or religious critiques – but internal critiques raised by evolutionary biologists. By this, students are introduced to the nature of science, and there are competing understandings of the theory of evolution, as well as gaps. Using these critiques we then go back to our textbooks and revisit aspects of the theory of evolution presented which need to be questioned and explored further. These critiques now open up an opportunity for me to introduce them to alternative understandings such as intelligent design which broadens their perspective on the entire phenomenon of evolution. And finally we then get to the part students find most challenging and that is to begin to unpack the philosophical and metaphysical commitments that the writers of the textbook and the curriculum hold such as ontological naturalism. This is quite difficult for students because philosophy, much less the philosophy of science, is no longer a part of the curriculum in the training of scientists. We now have people doing PhDs in biology and physics without taking any

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courses in logic, philosophy, let alone philosophy of science. But this philosophical thinking is critical to my approach because through an analysis of the textbooks through principled critique, I show students that maybe some of the actual observations that scientists are making are not problematic for Muslims, and, rather, it is the metaphysical commitments that present a challenge, and must be examined. At this point, I will get into issues of causality. How do we understand the relationship between cause and effect? And then at the same time, I will get into issues of species. What is a biological species? This is actually a very controversial topic in the philosophy of biology. By unpacking philosophical assumptions, I try to demonstrate that modern science is not philosophically neutral. This is an important foundation for students which then allows me to introduce some of the theological tensions that exist. This is where I introduce those points in Islamic creed that are referred to as non-negotiables. This includes God being the Creator and that He created us from nothing and our beliefs about Adam (upon him be peace) and his wife Hawwāʾ (upon her be peace) who were actual people not mere archetypes according to Islamic teachings. These are non-negotiables when it comes to issues of human origins which evolutionary theory bears upon. After introducing foundational beliefs about Islamic creed, I return back to the theory of human origins as presented by Darwinian evolution and I will go over current theories, and their evidentiary strengths and weaknesses. This is where a grounding in epistemology as understood in the Islamic tradition is useful for students. Briefly, one can be certain that a proposition, let us say, Pluto is a planet, is true or certain that a proposition is false. These represent two ends of the spectrum of knowledge. Between them, there is a spectrum representing what how strong or to what degree a proposition can be true or false. A level lower than certainty of a proposition being true is having a high degree of probability the proposition it true, known as al-ẓann al-rājiḥ. Lower in degree, is when a person holds that a proposition is likely to be true, known simply as al-ẓann. When a person holds that a proposition may equally be true or false, this is known as doubt or al-shakk. Moving down the spectrum is where a proposition is more likely to be false than true, known a al-wahm. Finally, we are at the other end of the spectrum where a person is certain that a proposition if false. What moves a person along the spectrum is the nature of evidence of a proposition. From this framework, we should know have students inquire into the epistemological status of the various propositions they are learning in their science course. More often than not, students, like the general public, treat all scientific propositions as being true with absolute certainty. From an Islamic standpoint, this is certainly not the case. By the way, this spectrum is used throughout the Islamic tradition. I feel students and teachers will now be comfortable engaging scientific

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propositions and find that one can question the deliverables of science. It also helps students understand that even in theology, there are certain points of doctrines whose truth is known with full certainty and others whose truth is known probabilistically. This approach I find gives students more confidence with science and also become comfortable with dealing with evolution. For example, when studying evolution, students learn about the Hardy-Weinberg theorem which describes genetic alleles and their frequencies in a particular population. The theorem developed an equation that, with its assumptions, works well and describes allele frequencies quite well. I explain to students that, as far as I am concerned, there is nothing problematic as a Muslim to accept this because this is an observation about how parts of the natural world function. Now, when it comes to human origins and theories surrounding it, things look very different. When you turn back to the theory of human origins and assess the nature of evidence which evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists are invoking, one learns of many competing theories and models of human origins and early humans. When examined epistemologically, Muslim scholars would assess that one cannot hold onto any of these models with any epistemic certainty and these models are tentative explanations which have been significantly revised and will be so in the future. Whereas in the case of the Hardy-Weinberg theorem, there is weightier evidence to justify a degree of certainty. Hopefully then that this examination will demonstrate to students that there are parts of evolution that actually describe the natural world fairly well but then there are other parts of evolution that do not describe the natural world or describe it with little evidence and the models are more speculation. This approach will hopefully prepare students to appreciate that certain things in science have a strong basis and they are epistemologically on very strong foundations, while there are other findings and models that scientists hold which are not.

How Should Science Teachers in Islamic Schools Equip Themselves Draw on an Islamic Worldview? All Islamic school educators would benefit from professional development on the broader Islamic worldview and how it applies to all sciences – natural and social sciences. This should begin with some foundational training in logic which would provide a foundation in qawāʿid al ʿaqlīyya or rational principles which inform the Islamic sciences and can be applied separately to each subject we teach in schools. The way Muslim scholars have conceived of knowledge and reason is that there are principles of reason that all human beings share. For example, the law of non-contradiction, the law of identity, and the law of the excluded middle.

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No matter what religion, no matter what tradition, no matter what philosophical school a person belongs to, these are constituting elements of human reason. But after that there are certain principles that a human being commits to that makes them distinct from other religions, other philosophical schools and other ways of thinking in general. These latter principles, called qawāʿid al-Islam or principles of Islam, are what define something as “Islamic.” In order to bring reasoning in the Islamic tradition into the science classroom and bear on interpreting the deliverables of science, I feel such training is necessary for all Islamic school educators. Combine this with a basic text in logic (manṭiq) and a text in theology (kalām) and I think teachers would feel far more equipped to bring an “Islamic” perspective across curriculum. This study could be done in a summer institute. It would not require extensive study of Islamic theology but it would certainly hone foundational thinking. I will give you an example. One such rational principle is “The existence of something does not necessarily imply that it be perceptible by one of the five senses.” In other words, just because something exists does not mean it has to be perceptible. Now, this goes against some of the core metaphysical commitments of modern science. In modern science, everything that exists has to be perceptible by the senses and if it is not perceptible then it does not exist. This is an example where Islamic principles challenge modern science. Another example of a rational principle has to do with the difference between something being rationally impossible and it being unlikely to exist or rarely exist. Something being rationally impossible and something being unlikely are two different things. Rationally impossible implies it can never come into existence whereas if something is merely unlikely it could, hypothetically, exist but rarely. These types of principles are basic to human reasoning and have historically been an essential component of the Kalām theology curriculum in Muslim societies. With the advent of colonialism we observe the introduction of different types of educational institutions with curriculums which do not continue to teach these concepts. I recall speaking with an Egyptian shaykh about the rise in the number of young people leaving Islam. He explained that one of the essential causes of disbelief, from his perspective, is young people not being able to distinguish between what is rationally impossible and what is empirically impossible. He felt that the lack of understanding this foundational principle is causing enormous confusion in young people when interpreting certain verses of the Qur’an and ḥadīth. The shaykh gave the example of the ḥadīth which states that on the Day of Judgement the sun will be brought so close to people and they will be submerged in their sweat to different extents. People reject this ḥadīth due to the impossibility, their minds, of the sun being so close to people without them burning up by the heat of the sun. However, if a person kept in mind the principle I mentioned earlier, they would understand that the sun being close to us

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and not burning may be empirically impossible but it is not rationally impossible. Thus, the sun being close without humans burning up does not entail a logical contradiction. But this can be empirically impossible and something empirically impossible at one time could also be empirically possible in another world. Training in basic logic, rational principles, and Kalām theology will help teachers and students in Islamic schools gain a deeper understanding of Islamic beliefs in relation to the curriculum.

When Should Logic and Theology Be Taught? Based on my experience, logic and the basics of Kalām theology should be introduced formally in middle school. Certainly no later than 8th grade. Curriculum coordinators in schools should ensure there is proper sequencing with other subject matters at each grade level. Certain concepts in logic can be introduced as early as Grade 6 just as topics in biology, for example, evolution, natural selection, unity, and diversity are taught to students as early as 6th grade. Then by the time students get into high school they will be ready for a full course on logic and Kalām theology. By 9th grade there should be a proper theology course that incorporates logic and by virtue other laws of thought. And this is where the Islamic Studies teachers and science teachers need to align their curriculum to ensure each is reinforcing the other in terms of curricular scope and sequencing. At the younger ages Quranic stories are incredibly important in establishing foundational beliefs of creed. Questions like “Where do we come from? Who is God? What are we supposed to be doing with our lives?” arise early on and if beliefs are not presented clearly and coherently at an early age, teachers have a double job of first, having to undo certain misunderstandings and then, secondly, teach correct answers to these questions. The Quranic narratives definitely assume and utilize these rational principles. The nature of the intellect and questions about reason and its relationship to revelation are important. As any Muslim knows, in numerous verse, the Qur’an enjoins us to use our reason in all matters, especially in discerning between truth and falsehood. The sources of knowledge, according to Muslim scholars, are reason, the five external senses, knowledge imparted by true-reports, and inspiration or ilhām. The faculty of reason is what actually distinguishes human beings from other life forms that God has created. And it is something to be thankful for. Many verses in the Quran actually blame those who do not use their reason. The Quranic arguments regarding God’s oneness, His existence, and the claims of prophets all deploy reason. This has been adequately demonstrated by Ghazali, for example, in his work The Correct Balance (al-Qisṭas al-Mustaqīm). This is one of the main things we focus on at Zaytuna College with the teaching of the liberal arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric, and then ultimately dialectics

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and disputation. How do you exactly start your inquiry for the truth? Science teachers in Islamic schools would benefit greatly from this sort of grounding and is an essential practical step to teach science, and other subjects, from an Islamic worldview. We do not have the required materials accessible in English but it would not be a major undertaking to construct and there are plenty of works in Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Persian among other languages that can be leveraged.

How Would You Suggest Going about Re-Developing Science Curriculum in Islamic Schools? I have used a curriculum planning model called Understanding by Design (UbD) developed by McTighe and Wiggins, which is quite well known globally. It is a standards-based design framework for curriculums with excellent planning templates readily available. Essentially the model encourages teachers to do backward design – thinking about the end in mind – beginning with what skills and content you want students to acquire, in addition to focusing on assessments. Once you have these items identified you then develop a curricular plan that leads to that end goal. When I was a principal of an Islamic school, I trained all of our staff on using the UbD framework and it was instrumental in getting beyond treating textbooks as curriculum and toward rethinking the key things we felt students in an Islamic school needed and relating them to the state curriculum standards. The approach allowed us to achieve a level of integration across subjects but particularly between Islamic Studies and other subject areas that previously remained starkly disconnected. Going back to the science curriculum, integrating Islamic perspectives is not simply limited to particular topics such as evolution or other topics deemed controversial. The UbD framework provided our school the opportunity to embed the Islamic view of knowledge, principles of Islam, and the other foundational pieces I mentioned earlier as the key learning outcomes that our Islamic school curriculum was based upon. We then brought in learning outcomes from social studies, math, English, and so on into our distinct curriculum framework. Re-developing our school’s curriculum using UbD was a three-year process. The idea is that teachers consistently revise and develop their unit plans. So the initial three years was really the first stage of curriculum development. We had on-going professional development weaved through on UbD, opportunities for working on particular subjects and grades at a time, as well as time for feedback and revisions. It is a lot of work and coordination but extremely rewarding as a collaborative outcome. When I surveyed my teachers, they unanimously said, though some begrudgingly, that they observed the quality of teaching in their classrooms improve. Yet, they also acknowledged the significant amount of work the project required. In order to see it impact instruction in the classroom, I incorporated items such as essential

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questions, the use of standards, and student–student academic conversations in my classroom observations. This allowed me to give feedback to teachers on these and other aspects of instruction.

Does the Approach You Propose Detract from Essential Learning Outcomes of Science or the Mission of an Islamic School? I fully believe students are gaining from this approach. Ask any Muslim parent about their child’s first semester of college after this sort of approach to teaching science in high school and you will see them say how their child had confidence in who they are. For students who enter college without this sort of grounding in the Islamic worldview you will find them confused about the relevance of their religion and once they are in college it is often too late. This is one of the major draws for students who come to Zaytuna College. And we remind them that what we teach at Zaytuna College really should be taught in high school. Once students get a foundational grounding in an Islamic worldview the way I have explained earlier they can go on comfortably into university and tackle any type of challenge, intellectual, spiritual challenge that confronts them. Parents and educators who feel that the approach I have outlined above takes their child’s education on an unnecessary tangent from preparing for standardized tests need to understand the intellectual and spiritual challenges that students face in college. Habeeb Quadri’s and Sa’ad Quadri’s book entitled the War Within Our Hearts (2010) is a great resource for parents and educators, for example, on the social and emotional challenges that young Muslim face. And I highly recommend the book. We need similar resources on the intellectual and spiritual challenges Muslim students face because I am not convinced Muslim parents alone are equipped to support the rampant confusion we are observing among Muslim youth today. When Muslim parents see their children drinking, partying, and the like their focus is all on behavior. But a Muslim parent is not in their child’s Philosophy 101 class in college. Parents are not attending the debates that their children are having with other student groups. Parents are not in the class when the children’s biology professors not letting them question evolution. Islamic schools need to make sure Muslim parents are aware of those intellectual challenges and explain how a high school science curriculum grounded in an Islamic worldview is so critical in preparing Muslim students intellectually to enter secular colleges and universities. As a former Islamic school principal, I cannot stress enough how much of what I have mentioned must be led by the vision which the principal of the school establishes. School principals must convey this mission. The aim of the school is not just about standardized test scores. Sure, being academically

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competitive is important and high rankings on such measures are legitimate aims of any educational institution. Yet they should not be the only goals of Islamic educational institutions. Islamic schools cannot lose sight of the longterm goals – particularly the centrality of intellectually and spiritually equipping young Muslims with clarity on their beliefs and how they relate to the world in which they live. Lastly, when renewing the science curriculum in Islamic schools, we need to recognize that in the United States, at least, state and national curriculum does not include philosophy of science or history of science. There is a general problem with how science is taught and it is one that Islamic schools need to lead in resolving. The way science is taught today focuses primarily on the application of science which is valid, but not to the extent of ignoring the philosophy of science and the history of science. Because students have a skewed understanding of science then. And if you look at the Next Generation Science Standards as an example, the word philosophy in the actual standards, you will not find anything. There is a section entitled the “Nature of Science” and that is a step in the right direction. But it is not enough. Nature of Science is not going to provide a student with the correct understanding of the scientific enterprise. Science itself has a history and that science itself has a philosophy. Essential to the predicament all American schools (not just Islamic schools) is that the general nature of science education in the United States does not emphasize philosophy and history of science.

What Do You Suggest Islamic School Science Teachers Start? Any Recommended Readings? There are a good number of resources out there. The following three books have been played a formative role in developing my approach to teaching science: 1. Matthews, Michael (1994). Science Teaching: The Role of History and Philosophy of Science. Routledge. New York. Michael Matthews has written extensively in this area of teaching history and philosophy of science in K-12 schools. This book is one of his earlier works and he has had many other contributions since. This is a very good resource for teacher training. He makes the case for including history and philosophy of science in science education, and he gives examples of how to include it in physics and chemistry. This work was a required text for a course on science teaching when I was doing my Master’s in Science Education. 2. Burtt, E. A. (2003). Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science. Dover Publications. New York.

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We use this book by E. A. Burtt in our metaphysics class at Zaytuna College. This is a great work for a teacher to be able to take sections and chapters to incorporate in their classes to show that contemporary science does come from a particular perspective with its own metaphysical commitments and, therefore, the science we study in schools today is not philosophically neutral. I recommend science teachers acquire this work. It is a great resource for understanding contemporary Western science and its historical development. 3. al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. (1989). Islam and the Philosophy of Science. International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Kuala Lumpur. For an exposition of Islamic science, I would refer teachers to Islam and the Philosophy of Science by Professor Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. This work provides clarification on the fundamental concepts of nature, God, man, epistemology, methodology for studying the natural world, and other topics. I would advise Muslim teachers using these works that a robust Islamic philosophy of science remains to be developed. In the meantime, this work provides the elements on which it can be developed.1,2

Notes 1 This interview was conducted on 20 August 2020 with Dr. Omar Qureshi by Dr. Nadeem Memon. 2 The introduction is written by Nadeem Memon.

9 A STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH TO RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY FOR MUSLIM LEARNERS IN HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION Dylan Chown

Introduction This chapter explores the intersections between religion and spirituality in Health and Physical Education (HPE) for educators of Muslim learners. HPE’s connection to religion and spirituality is important given HPE’s focus on body/body values (Benn, Dagkas, & Jawad, 2011), notions of healthy living, and inquiries of “dangerous subject matter” (such as sexuality, mental health, body image, and identity) ( Jansson & McCuaig, 2019). Too often religion and spirituality are disconnected from the HPE learning area, reduced to an add-on, or seen solely as a barrier to engagement and participation. In this chapter, a strength-based approach to religion and spirituality is applied. It will consider for Islamic school educators, how an Islamic philosophy of education may inform the reading and enactment of HPE (curricular learning area) and sport (co-curricular program) in an Islamic school. For both Public and Islamic school educators, it will consider potential approaches that avail from ways Muslim learners may functionalize aspects of their religious/spiritual identities, and ways of knowing, being, and doing, in, through, and about HPE. First, I will provide a conceptual framework as a foundation for this chapter, capable of drawing out understandings on intersections between religion and spirituality in HPE. Second, I will provide a synthesis of relevant themes within contemporary studies in HPE that have considered religion and spirituality or Islam and Muslim learners. Third, I will provide a case study outlining the author’s experience in leading a HPE/Sport Department in an Islamic school. From this case study, practical ideas for how HPE can be transformed and how it can be transformative will be shared. Fourth, I will

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provide reflections and suggestions for practice. Educators in Public schools can gain critical perspectives, practical strategies, and approaches to religion and spiritualty in HPE and sport for their Muslim learners. Educators in Islamic schools can gain deeper insight into the synergy between the learning area and the purpose of education in the Islamic tradition and the potentialities of a more faithful, responsive, and contextualized approach to HPE/sport for their Muslim learners. Finally, I will offer some concluding thoughts for renewed practice in HPE.

Conceptual Framework Tawhid, Knowledge, and the Physical Domain in Educational Expressions This chapter seeks to explore the possibilities and potentialities of understanding and advancing HPE and sport from an Islamic philosophy of education, through a strength-based approach to religion and spirituality. It is hoped that some semblance of basic Islamic conceptual anchors will inform the theoretical lens of this chapter, and extend for Islamic schools approaches to HPE and sport beyond merely an “Islamic” addendum; or the sprinkling of “Islamic” concepts or perspectives to existing or unchallenged paradigms mediating HPE; or reductively for Public schools, to the problematizing of religion and spirituality in HPE. In doing so, this section will start by providing important, albeit brief, background information on tawhid, Islam’s views on where knowledge comes from, why education is holistic, and where would HPE fit within these? Further, explicit links between Islam and HPE will first be considered, including a foundational link between health and the higher objectives of sharia (that is, safeguarding faith, life, offspring, property, and mind); several of which are contingent or deeply associated with good health (Al Khayat, 1997). In promoting health and the healthy body, Muslim scholars speak of a discourse in fiqh ( jurisprudence) of health (Al Khayat, 1997) that are replete with guidance on holistic health to preserve the balanced position the human being has been created upon (Al Khayat, 1997). Islam and HPE also share common concerns, around “control of the body, in time and space, in rituals and cleanliness, in dress and in the control of diet and pursuit of a healthy body” (Benn, 1996 in Dagkas & Benn, 2006, p. 24). Embodying the unity between the physical and the religious/spiritual is the example of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who was fundamentally concerned with their harmonious balance (Walseth & Fasting, 2003). The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as the central figure in Islam, representing the perfect human (al-Insan al-Kamil), as understood in his example (sunnah), epitomized the balance (mizan) reflective of a fulfilling religious life (Zaman, 2016). Statements

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or lived examples of how the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) modeled, practiced, or promoted physical activity, health, and wellbeing are too voluminous to mention here. We know he engaged in wrestling and running races with his wife ‘Aisha, and of his companions, Umar b. al-Khattab instructed, “Teach your children swimming, archery and horse riding.” Above all, the Prophetic advice and example could be viewed as a reminder that health is a blessing, a priority, and a resource that should be actively nurtured and availed from with virtuous action. An Islamic philosophy of education stresses the holistic dimension of human beings. For this reason, classical and contemporary Muslim scholars argued that education is an integrated system in which all things are interrelated, including the physical dimension, remembrance of God, and all that falls between (see, e.g. Nasr, 2012). Classical Muslim scholars the ilk of Ibn Sina (c. 980–1037) and Al Ghazali (c. 1058–1111) also stressed the physical dimension, emphasizing the importance of physical education to all stages of learning (Günther, 2012). This is because of an underpinning concept and ontological first principle of education in the Islamic tradition, (Zaman, 2016), premised on tawhid. Tawhid, or absolute monotheism, is said to project a holistic conceptual system characterized by unity, harmony, and oneness, promoting holism and wholeness in integrating all aspects of life (Al Zeera, 2001; Shah, 2016). Consequently, approaches to education should unify the spiritual, physical, mental, and moral aspects, thereby encompassing the whole learner without divorcing the physical from the metaphysical, where mind and soul are nurtured (Lahmar, 2011). Following from this, HPE and sport constitute essential disciplines from an integrated or tawhidic vision of education. Based on this perspective, there is no separation, no dichotomy between the sacred and the secular, the revealed (naql) and the acquired (aql). Hence, with the correct intention (niyah) and action (amal), HPE and sport, like other activities, can be elevated to an act of worship (ibadah), with the potential for growth through expressions of consciousness (Alkouatli, 2018; Alkouatli, 2021) possible in HPE and sport. An Islamic philosophy of education, therefore, recognizes education’s fundamental role in developing the body, mind, and soul (Al-Attas, 1979). Education encourages Muslims to pursue excellence (ihsan) in all domains, with the primary goal to develop self on the path of taqwa (God consciousness), to become stronger in faith with the underlying assumption that acts of learning ultimately lead to knowledge, which would then lead to God (Shah, 2016).

What We Already Know Some literature explores intersections between religion and spirituality in HPE/ sport (Robinson, 2019), including its influence, absence, tensions, challenges, and most urgently, strength-based and hopeful orientations. Robinson (2019)

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undertook a scoping review of contemporary HPE studies and found that “today’s focus” is on Muslim learners, finding almost all articles on religion and HPE focused on Islam/Muslims. Dagkas and Benn (2006) explored the views of Muslim women in Greece (school-age “Greek Turkish girls”) and Britain (university-age “British Asian women”) as diaspora communities on school experiences of HPE. They found synergy between Islam and HPE, namely in the pursuit of a healthy body and argued that this positive factor should underpin policies of inclusion enabling Muslim learners to participate and benefit from physical activity sustained beyond school as lifelong. Benn, Dagkas and Jawad (2011) explored tensions between religious freedom and educational practices in HPE. They found that considerations of context is important for addressing Muslim girls’ participation in HPE, the need to bridge gaps between educational research and educational practice, and the concept of embodied faith largely absent (within HPE historically and in the present) limiting understanding, connections, and possibilities in relation to religion and spirituality, and differences in embodied values in HPE (Benn et al., 2011). They emphasize respecting the “diversity of lived experiences of being Muslim, avoiding stereotypes and assumptions and meeting individual needs wherever possible through negotiation to enable participation in physical education” (p. 31). Not surprisingly, they contend that the “greatest support for physical education came from the children and young people themselves” (p. 31). Farooq and Parker’s (2009) study of Muslim adolescent males in a British Islamic school explored the relationship between sport, religion, and identity. They found religion (Islam) provided a central mechanism for participants to construct and negotiate their perceptions of their valued self, pointing to the reassertion of identities through spirituality. It also highlighted that HPE and sport offered an avenue where learners could embrace and embody their sense of self and express broader religious ideals. Interestingly, participants’ motivation for their involvement in HPE and sport was fueled by their understandings that participation was honorable in terms of their religious beliefs and the varied meanings and interpretations they attached to sport (Farooq & Parker, 2009). Jansson and McCuaig (2019) build upon some robust conceptual work, applying a Foucauldian lens to decipher scripts of “good living” within various religious and non-religious traditions and worldviews. Drawing on Foucault’s (1990) notion of ethics, divided into four major aspects, and characterized by four key analytical questions, the authors inquire into the perspectives of learners to compare and contrast the ethical practices of good living articulated within contemporary school-based HPE with those of faith. They explore aspect of “ethical substance,” meaning, what part of the self should be addressed;? “Mode of subjection,” meaning, why should selves engage in

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this work;? “Forms of Elaboration/Technologies of Self,” meaning, what tools are available for this ethical work;? And “Telos:” what is the aim of this ethical work (Foucault, 1990 in Jansson and McCuaig, 2019)? Specifically, they sought to identify Muslim scripts of good living, as compared to school HPE, and how Muslim learners navigate these scripts of good living. They identify the following as a potential “Islamic” script for healthy living: “Ethical Substance: Body [ jism] and Intentions [niyah]; Mode of subjection: God’s Will [mashee], Deeds [hasanat/thawab] are weighed; Forms of elaboration/Technologies of the Self: Prayer [salah/dua/ibadah/general expression of consciousness or taqwa], Diet, Ramadan, Hygiene [tahara]; Telos: Worship Allah [ma’rifa] and Good Custodians [khalifa].” Forthcoming qualitative empirical studies in HPE sites by the Jansson and McCuaig in Australia and Sweden represent hopeful, faithful, and strengthbased approaches to explore and reveal alliances, disparities, and tensions between secular and religious practices of healthy living ( Jansson & McCuaig, 2019) with implications for delivery of HPE in Australian schools, valuable to Islamic and Public schools. Despite their marginalization in research and practice across HPE literature, strong claims are made as to the place for religion and spirituality in the learning area. Rationales include the centrality of the body to HPE and its widely recognized connection with faith, specifically through the concept of embodied faith (Benn, 2009; Benn et al., 2011; McCuaig & Tinning, 2010; Robinson, 2019), explained as the “outward manifestations inseparably connected to internalised belief ” (Benn et al., 2011, p. 24). Further rationale pertains to the need for educators to recognize the whole-learner and the full gamut of learner identities (Benn et al., 2011; Flintoff, Fitzgerald, & Scraton, 2008; Robinson, 2019); to the recognition that “holistic” and “monist” (Robinson, 2019) conceptions of mind–body–soul encompass religious and spiritual identities and these may be a part of many learners’ identities. Also, that “techniques of the body” can be influenced by learners religious and spiritual traditions, identities and ways of knowing (Benn, 1996; Benn et al., 2011; McCuaig & Tinning, 2010; Robinson, 2019; Shilling, 2008); and that religion and spirituality inform notions of healthy living for learners who are religious/spiritual ( Jansson & McCuaig, 2019). Finally, for some learners who identify as religious (e.g. Muslim), religion/spirituality are significant ideological spheres where learning takes place (e.g. in area of sexuality) (Sanjakdar, 2018); and space for the realization of spiritual connections and considerations (Benn et al., 2011) allows religious and spiritual learners the ability to interpret their HPE experiences as whole ones, something that exclusion of religion or spirituality cannot achieve (Robinson, 2019). However, multiple studies have identified deficit frameworks applied to Islam and Muslims in relation to HPE, namely around Muslim girls and intersectional themes of culture and gender as they impact experience and participation,

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cultural and religious accommodations, and tensions and problematizing of religion and cultural practices (Benn et al., 2011; Kneza, Macdonald, & Abbottb, 2012). Tensions in relation to Islam/Muslims and HPE typically revolve around dress codes for women, attitudes toward the body in relation to privacy and modesty, public display during physical activity, mixed/single-sex groupings and activities, activity during Ramadan, swimming and dance activities, personal development education, sexuality education, socialization and parental encouragement for HPE and sport–related activities, and religious observances (Benn et al., 2011; Dagkas & Benn, 2006; McInerney, Davidson, Suliman, & Tremayne, 2000; Sanjakdar, 2018). Further, we know that some Muslim learners, particularly visibly Muslim female learners who wear the hijab (head covering) experience increased prejudice and discrimination (Dagkas & Benn, 2006). We also know that where school HPE/sport spaces challenge the right of Muslim women to embody their faith, the result is inevitably non-participation, negotiation, or coercion (Benn et al., 2011). There is growing recognition that religion and spirituality are inseparable from the HPE learning area (albeit, underdeveloped) (Robinson, 2019), and the concept of embodied faith may assist in bridging the gap in research and educational practices (Benn et al., 2011). Namely, as a means for educators and those outside the faith to understand the lived experiences of Muslim learners (Benn et al., 2011), and attention to it could increase educator understanding for more inclusive and “culturally and religiously responsive” (see Memon & Chown, forthcoming) pedagogical practices (Benn et al., 2011; Price, Green, Memon, & Chown, 2020). On the issue of “dangerous subject matter” ( Jansson & McCuaig, 2019) in HPE, McInerney et al. (2000) argue that tensions between controversial and sensitive topics, and issues in HPE and challenges arising with Muslim learners or other diverse learner backgrounds, can be resolved via policies promoting recognition of, and learning from, difference rather than ignoring marginalized groups, or by treating everyone the same. Sanjakdar (2018) asserts that practice approaches to sexuality education (often addressed within HPE although not exclusively) that recognize learners’ religious views (or views about religion) as being influential in their learning about sexuality education challenge the efficacy of existing sexuality education approaches and create more inclusive learning experiences for all students. A significant barrier to addressing challenges include teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and practices relating to Muslim learners (Dagkas, 2007), leading to difficulties when teaching and pointing to the need to address shortfalls in initial teacher education to better prepare teachers in being responsive to diverse learner backgrounds in HPE/sport (Dagkas, 2007). Poignantly, for schools and HPE educators, ignoring pedagogical/instructional accommodations forgoes an opportune focus for culturally (Robinson, 2019) and religiously responsive (Memon & Chown, forthcoming) practice.

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Learning Dimensions of the Case Study: Transforming HPE in an Australian Islamic School The following case study will provide an account of the author’s experience in leading the transformation of HPE in an Islamic school, emphasizing transformative outcomes for Muslim learners and the school community.

Background: What I Learned from Other Schools and Communities Prior to entering my Islamic school, I had been a HPE teacher for seven years in diverse Public school settings providing valuable opportunities to see how different schools approach HPE/sport. These experiences also impressed on me the expansive role that HPE plays in providing a form of education relevant to learners’ lives. Across all contexts, a key commonality was that sport and HPE were heavily valued within and beyond the school community. Coinciding with my in-school roles, I also gained valuable experience as a Co-Director of a Youth Development and Mentoring Organisation. In my role I enjoyed critical mentorship from a senior academic, HPE teacher educator, and sports historian as well as a prominent board of Aboriginal Elders. Our organization utilized Traditional Indigenous Games (TIGs) as a vehicle for physical activity and health, sharing and celebration of culture, promotion of sport and reconciliation for First National Peoples. This was a transformative experience that thrust me into a space where culture, identity, and spirituality intersect with games, play, sport, and physical activity in spheres of social justice, education, and health – all key components of HPE. It was also my first exposure to the fact that different peoples operate within different knowledge systems, holding different worldviews that inform different philosophies on education.

Entry into My Islamic School: Finding My Footing I was excited to become a HPE teacher in an Islamic school although I knew nothing about Islamic schools. I was appointed as the subject area coordinator, as the only specialist HPE teacher on staff, responsible for 7–10 HPE curriculum and the co-curricular program as the secondary sport coordinator. I would spend the best part of the next decade co-developing the HPE department, the curricular learning area, and the culture of sport and HPE in the school. I would eventually be appointed as a Head of Department, as a team of three, codeveloping junior HPE curriculum, establishing and developing Senior Health Education, and co-designing and supporting senior Physical Education (senior, meaning Grades 11 and 12).

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Positionality: A Pedagogy of Not Knowing In the early period, as a recent adherent to the faith or new Muslim, I couldn’t approach the establishment and transformation of HPE from a deep sense of knowing or knowledge of Islam. I lacked foundational knowledge of Islam, both personally and in relation to my educational practice and role. Looking back, I interpret my entry experience as an engagement with a pedagogy of “not knowing” (Lingard, 2007), enforcing a form of humility. This meant that along with my Muslim learners, we worked collaboratively to co-envision and co-design what a transformative form of HPE relevant to the context of our Islamic school community would look like. Over time, this made for a heightened relationality between my learners and I, as well as a more pronounced sense of connection between our learning, our inquiries, and our faith.

Context: HPE in an Islamic School My Islamic school was a K-12 school under 15 years of age. I arrived at an empty shipping container as my sports room, a demountable as my classroom, no textbook, little to no curriculum or work programming, little sporting equipment, and no material resources to speak of. I can recall being handed a mixed bag of sporting equipment, including some field markers, a few skipping ropes, and various deflated balls. There was, however, an enthusiasm for HPE among some students and parents, and many colleagues were supportive. The willingness by school leadership to invest in and support the growth of HPE/sport was based on what I felt were certain shortsighted and narrow driving forces (i.e. assist with student retention, reduce disengagement in other “economic subjects,” etc.). Not from an appreciation of the criticality of HPE/sport, its connectedness to religion and spirituality, the benefits to learners, or an awareness of the impact that HPE and sport could have within our Islamic school community. School vision generally sets the tone for the approach to education in a school, yet it was hard to discern the vision of my new school. There was a “stated vision” on the website, although it didn’t provide nuance on a distinct faith-centered form of education or a distinct vision for our Islamic school. Irrespective of what I felt it lacked, it wasn’t shared or enacted in the school. What was expressed as the implicit “actual vision” was for students to graduate with a strong final score, with the oft-repeated ideal of a pathway to becoming a Doctor, Lawyer, or Engineer. I felt one impact of this narrow vision was that HPE along with humanities and arts were viewed as the “soft subjects” that consciously or unconsciously were sidelined. Apart from the personal challenge of developing a form of faithful practice, I was looking to the school’s vision in order to align a vision for HPE in a faith-based Islamic school.

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From a critical reading of my new context in my Islamic school, it would have been fair to say that sport wasn’t an active part of the emerging identity of the school, that there wasn’t a culture of HPE or sport; that in the absence of a HPE department, there had not been a vision for HPE and sport in the context of an Islamic school nor coordinated whole-school structures, traditions, or approaches. In other words, it was a blank canvass to paint on. In the following section I will share the early challenges and the lessons learned from our attempt at transforming HPE, which may be instructive for educators of Muslim learners and possibly inspire other Islamic schools in the transformation of their HPE.

Process Is as Important as Outcome: Giving Voice to All Stakeholders From the outset, I sensed that the process of transforming HPE was likely to be as, if not more, important than an eventual outcome. I also sensed that any change would need to begin within myself (i.e. To create a better world, start with yourself ). Next, not having access to Islamic terms of reference, ironically, I relied on Aboriginal concepts of “respect,” “proper way,” and “one mob,” which applied more to Aboriginal terms of reference than to Islamic ones, to negotiate the way forward. For example, “respect,” was reflected in the sensitivity I showed to our Islamic tradition; “proper way” was reflected in drawing upon the wisdom and expertise of scholars and experts; “one mob” was reflected in a consultation process including all stakeholders – the school, families, and the community. From these terms of reference, I took time to orientate myself and engage in a process of better understanding my new context and the needs, interests and strengths of my Muslim learners, the expectations, perspectives, and assets of and within parents and community. This approach forced me to focus on relationships, on engaging with colleagues, parents, and my students. This served to build trust, necessary to enact a vision or a transformative approach to HPE. It was characterized by consultation, shared voice, and transparency encouraging buy-in for co-design and eventually a shared vision and a shared project. As I got to know students and my new school context more, I began to appreciate the full continuum of Muslim learner diversities in relation to how different students’ functionalised (see Panjwani, 2017) or not their religious identities. Students who identified strongly with their faith and religious identity, as a distinguishing identity marker, students who had only an emerging sense of their faith and religious identity, students who balanced their multiple identities including their religious, and students who preferred not to lead with religion as their distinguishing identity marker. Our transformation of HPE and sport project had to be transformative for the full continuum of learners. This impressed on the importance of our niyah (intention) and the importance

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of explicit intentionality around purpose, aims, and vision and the enactment of a HPE curriculum and sporting program that was distinctly faithful, local, relevant, innovative, and responsive.

Snaps Shots: How HPE and Sport Was Transformed and How It Was Transformative Aligning Purpose, Vision, and Aims – Orientating Anchors for the Project As I found my feet in my new context and embraced the task of strategically planning for HPE and sport, I began to search for orientating anchors for alignment, purpose, and coherence. I decided to begin making connections between purpose of education in the Islamic tradition, national education goals in policy documents, and aims of HPE and Health and PE learning area syllabi. I started to see HPE as deeply connected to purpose – Ma’rifa (Cognizance of God), through the natural synergy and symbiotic relationship between Islam and health, the natural space created for religion and spirituality to intersect in our inquiries (especially around themes of justice and social action), the power and agency of availing from learners’ cultural and religious identities, and ways of knowing, and the opportunities within HPE and sport to embody faith. Later in the journey, I began to appreciate how essential HPE and sport are in contemporary schooling settings to more fully enacting an Islamic philosophy of education. One orientating anchor that for me reinforced the criticality of HPE in an Islamic school was the hadith: “After faith, no one was given anything better than wellbeing (‘afiya)” (Ibn Majah). I then engaged in refining purpose and aims further through consultation with students to ascertain their interests, as well as observations to identify their needs.

Rethinking Concepts and Models in HPE through an Islamic Worldview In the middle part of my journey I enrolled in an Islamic Teacher Education Program and a Master study exposing me to an Islamic pedagogy, as a philosophy of education, grounding me in the worldview and ways of knowing within faith and an educational language to discuss my learning and teaching in an Islamic school. This offered a lens to reconsider, rethink, and reinterpret some of the key concepts and models within HPE. For example, the common wellness wheel illustrating a wellness model with seven dimensions. During inquiries where students considered their own dimensions of wellness, critical analysis of the model made us question its design and relevance. Students applying their critical faith lens felt spirituality within an Islamic episteme wouldn’t simply be another discrete piece of the wheel but rather something

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central that overlapped and informed all dimensions, given we are spiritual beings. Practically, this meant our fitness units or our holistic health projects purposefully considered these foundations and shaped the way we understood our health-enhancing initiatives. Over time this allowed us to adapt dominant models and apply them with greater relevance to students’ lives. Other examples included rethinking the body, mind, and soul nexus considering the mind as qalb (heart – spiritual center; seat of cognition) and aql (faculty of intellect), soul as nafs (three levels) and ruh (point of connection with the Divine) and body ( jism) allowing us to consider God consciousness and personal development in more holistic ways. This critical reading also extended to key concepts such as health, wellbeing (afia), wellness, justice (adl), and many others leading us often to extend or adapt common definitions providing conceptual tools for our inquires.

Challenging Unchallenged Perceptions of HPE and Sport One early challenge to advance HPE and sport was the common sentiment expressed that religion and culture were barriers to participation in HPE and sport. When I f irst arrived, students would explain to me, “You know what (insert background) parents are like, Sir.” In truth, I didn’t know. So they explained, “Sir, after grade 9, there will be no time for sport, we will be expected to be in a room for the next 3 years” – students would then parody in authentic voice, “You don’t do part-time work, I work so you can study, don’t worry about food, we’ll bring it to you, forget about fun, you can have all the fun in the world later, just study.” After hearing this repeatedly, I decided to challenge this. I would ask students, “What are you doing at 4 or 5 in the morning?” They said, “We are praying Fajr [dawn prayer], Sir.” I asked them if they have ever been to the city riverside at 5 or 6 in the morning? You will see judges, lawyers, doctors, and all of the people who hold roles you aspire to, and they are watching the sunrise (Allah’s creation) and doing Pilates, Yoga, cross-f it, boxercise or climbing hills and jogging by the seashore. They have excelled on the same measures that you value but they have balance. Something they learnt in their school experience, they studied, they served, and they participated. Do you think excellence, or what we understand as Ihsan, is compartmental? Was our Prophet (PBUH) balanced? The more we engaged with parents, the more they resonated with this, for the basis of their thinking was a deep love and care for their children, and they were determined that their children would have every opportunity, for some, especially the opportunities they had not had. This meant we also had to negotiate and assist with this balance. Over time we would advance the mantra of being “faithful and functional” of pursuing balance such that we could develop as balanced and more complete people.

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Niyah and Intentionality for Participation in HPE and Sport Something we stressed and invested heavily in was intentionality or niyah, for both engagement in HPE and sport. We would connect this to a team contract and a school contract for representation in sport. This involved introspection and self-reflection (muhasabah); who am I? Who are we? Who do I want to become in this process? How do I represent myself, my team, my school, my family, my faith? What amanah (trust) am I responsible for upholding and what will this entail in the context of my involvement in sport. Practically, we began to think of the personal niyah (intention) we would make, knowing that every action with intention can be elevated to worship and the expansiveness of our niyah can expand the openings and benefits personally and collectively. In other words, it was more than a game, more than winning and losing. Practically, this made us think about how we presented ourselves, how we conducted ourselves on buses, how we supported each other as a team, how we interacted with opposition and officials, how we maintained conduct and character under pressure in authentic performance and competitive environments, what adab would characterize our team, how we conducted ourselves in defeat or when victorious, how we responded when negative or derogatory comments were made, and how to engage with young people, many of whom had never met or interacted with a Muslim before. We did this in team meetings, training sessions, and briefing session on buses and reflected on this in debrief sessions. In the beginning this was something I would say that I led and modeled explicitly, however students bought in to this and over time it became embedded as part of our practice led mostly by senior students who modeled this to junior members. The higher objective in this initiative was to connect to purpose and to make visible the potential for holistic personal growth and development through HPE and sport. Many students in senior years or even after graduation spoke of how these experiences prepared them for university and entry into larger spheres in their lives. They spoke of the confidence it instilled in them. Our Islamic school was very open in receiving visitors from other schools or attending interfaith engagements or major events. Although, most of these opportunities involved a small number of student leaders whereas for the more diverse cohort of students in our sporting teams, this was their main avenue for smaller forays into the wider world, preparing for life after an Islamic school.

Transforming the Sports Uniforms Another important practical step was rebooting our sports uniforms. There were several motivations to do this: (a) the current uniform was a barrier to participation; (b) the effort to embody modesty had resulted in an ugly, dysfunctional, impractical uniform that students didn’t want to wear and which was in effect

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immodest by design; (c) the uniform gave off the opposite messaging around faith, instead of faith being beautiful, functional, and contemporary, it gave off the message that it was restrictive, impractical, and old hat; and (d) our uniform didn’t reflect our emerging school identity or embody confidence and excellence. Both boys’ and girls’ uniforms were dated, baggy, and prone to fading, feeding a negative vibe contributing to a lack of school pride, sometimes common when a relatively new school is still becoming. While the girl’s uniform became both heavy and sticky with perspiration, the boy’s shorts did not meet minimum religious requirements. Add to this the fact that the girl’s hijab (head scarf ) required pins to fasten which was a significant safety issue and the tendency of the girls to have one hand on the ball and the other on their head to secure their hijab seemed less than ideal for performance. To address this issue, we engaged in a consultation process with the students, the school uniform officer, the parents committee, and even the librarian, presenting our proposal for change to leadership. Next, we decided upon material for high-performance sporting attire and modified the design to ensure it was loose in certain areas, and yet conducive and responsive to movement. For the boys, we extended the shorts to below the knee and for the girls we sourced a one-piece spandex and cotton hijab. All of this had an immediate and positive impact on participation.

FIGURE 9.1 

Students in representative sports uniforms making dua before a game

© Islamic College of Brisbane

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FIGURE 9.2 

Hijabs imported from the Netherlands

© Islamic College of Brisbane

Hijabs from the Netherlands In later years, as we worked hard to represent the school at higher levels of competition, we needed to design an elite uniform. This was an exciting milestone, and the process of negotiating faith requirements, identity, and sporting performance needs was again instructive for the students. Again, students were engaged heavily in the design. Following consultation, we imported a specialist sports hijab from the Netherlands, negotiating with the company to lengthen the design. The girls loved the final product, which looked better, felt lighter and cooler, and complemented the rest of the uniform (Figures 9.1 and 9.2). Also, the popularity of “skins,” a tight performance-based material made coverage for boys’ legs and girls’ arms easier and opened further options for design that would balance modesty, functionality, and performance. For the design, we elected to have the Southern Cross on the back to capture our national identity and Ummah Waheeda (one community) in Arabic script in curved fashion down the front side. This was to capture our faith or religious identity and remind ourselves of our commitment to the higher purpose of participating. I can recall at the State’s largest touch football tournament, a group of girls from a top team approached our girls. I observed the interaction with interest as they asked our girls about their uniform. Our girls confidently gave the most powerful explanation. They explained that, “Our uniform kind of represents who we are and what we are about – you know, Muslim and Australian – the Southern Cross [pointing to it] emphasises our commitment to contribution and being Australian. Arabic is important to us as it is the language of the Qur’an, our Holy book, so the Arabic [pointing to it] means, one community, reminding us that we are all human and all one.” The girls from the other team exclaimed,

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FIGURE 9.3A and 9.3B 

Students in action during touch football

© Islamic College of Brisbane

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“Wow, we love that – that’s so cool.” Moments like this were extremely satisfying. The impact of the uniforms went beyond what we could have envisioned as the change in uniform served to change attitudes. For students, it instilled a confidence and made them feel they belonged in these spaces. For other teachers, it was a sign of how far we had come in HPE and sport and this was now a serious part of curriculum and our school culture. For parents, it instilled pride and trust as their children confidently participated and achieved in a manner that was faithful and functional (Figure 9.3A and 9.3B).

Setting and Developing Our School Sport’s Traditions: Making Swimming Work for Us Applying a strength-based approach to religion and spirituality in HPE also allowed us to ask questions differently. For example, I posed the question to students, “Do you want traditional athletics, swimming and cross-country carnivals?” After all, they are very Eurocentric British schooling traditions. And historically, the school had always run an athletics and cross-country carnival with varying success and generally mixed attendance and participation. The sentiment of the students was, “Yes we do, but let’s make them work for us.” The common sentiment at the school was that we couldn’t have a swimming carnival because of religious modesty. So, we considered how we can have a swimming carnival that is respectful and responsive to our faith guiding principles. Accordingly, we made alterations to the school day on consecutive weeks to allow for a lunchtime finish and an evening carnival for the boys and their dads and the girls and their mums (booking an indoor enclosed public pool after hours). The swimming carnival complemented our swimming units in HPE, a major aim being that students could swim and potentially assist themselves or others in life-saving situation. The other aim was to encourage maximum participation and offer all students opportunities to experience success in sport or, in this instance, swimming. One way we did this was to begin the carnival with a novelty event in which points were added to the most creative use of a personal flotation device (PFD) as students completed a single lap. Another example was of the feature event, the “iron-man” and “iron-woman” event, whereby students completed a 25 m swim, a 500 m jog outside of the pool complex, and re-entered to complete a final 25 m swim. For the girls, this entailed swimming the first lap, transitioning to a box assigned to their lane where they threw on sporting clothes over their swimmers and a sports hijab and shoes, running the 500 m, and returning to the pool area where they removed the outside clothing and completed the final lap. Definitely, the approach contained a strong element of novelty, even silliness, but I hoped it would provide a powerful and instructive messaging for the girls that they could be faithful and

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functional, and in whatever role within Muslim women’s terms of reference they valued, they could adapt and be creative and confident in negotiating their needs. According to my female HPE colleagues and many female students, it proved to be extremely popular among students, mothers, and female spectators. For many these events were the first time they had enjoyed a “competitive” sports carnival.

Curricular Transformation In mapping the curricular design and transformation for HPE from Grades 7 to 10, there were several rationales and priorities that shaped the structural design, the thematic integration with content areas across the curriculum. In Grades 7 and 8 we began the HPE journey for students with games – modified games, Traditional Indigenous Games, and world games, sometimes drawing on games that students would research and capture after conferencing with their parents. Often these games intersected with different cultural traditions. It also provided an opportunity for students to dialogue with their parents and increased understanding and awareness for parents as to why, what, and how we were approaching HPE. During the summer months, across Grades 7 to 9 we would schedule a swimming unit and a lifesaving unit in Grade 10. Swimming, aside from being an emphasized skill in the Islamic tradition, is also a necessary capability in the context of Australia. Early on, it was not uncommon for half of my HPE class in year 7 to not be pool-safe and not be able to swim. Lifesaving also would prove popular which we integrated with a content focus around First Aid. For this, I would emphasize the Quranic reference where Allah tells us, “if anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole humanity” (Quran 5:32). Students seemed to really resonate with this and made visible for them the purpose and the value of studies like this. In Grade 7 through to 10 we included personal fitness units which began at understanding the components of fitness and extended to principles for training. It allowed students to develop skills to maintain and assess their own fitness. This exposed students to gyms and fitness centers as well as school-based training with creative use of space and equipment. In Grades 9 our focus was on providing access to a broad range of structured games and sports, such as soft crosse (a modified form of lacrosse), handball, flag gridiron, basketball, hockey, and softball. Also, modified games from the Australian Sports Commission’s Sport Ability project (sports modified for students with a disability) where students would play cricket or futsal blindfolded with the assistance of an able-sighted partner utilizing a bell ball. In Grade 10 we introduced students to the performance areas that would be covered in Senior PE (volleyball and touch football) and developed more in-depth units. Half of the units aligned with content focus

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themes aligned to Senior Health Education and the other half aligned with units aligned to Senior PE to encourage and prepare students for the senior electives in Health and PE.

Introducing Sports Aerobics in Senior PE When developing the Senior PE curriculum for accreditation and launch in our Islamic school, we deliberated over the selection of performance areas, specifically an aesthetic form of physical activity. We would select Sport Aerobics which had many strengths and some challenges to negotiate. The positive driver was the opportunity for students to work in teams to develop creative bodybased movement-based routines. The challenge was that this entailed a routine choreographed around music and the concern that it might encourage “sexualised movement of the body.” The challenges were how to foreground the mastery of movement sequences over “sexualised movement,” how to ensure Islamic principles of modesty could be upheld, how to separate both genders such that they were comfortable to practice and perform, and how to navigate the issue of music or a cadence as a backing to the movement. Issues around equity and access are not peculiar to Islamic schools, in fact a major strand in senior PE in Australia is equity and access to sport and physical activity (QCAA, 2019). The introduction of sport aerobics provided us as a Department the opportunity to attend to equity and access in practice. In order to address these, being responsive to religion and culture meant that we would separate the genders and provide a comfortable and private space for both. I would assist with moderation of assessment for the boys, but the girls would be assessed solely by their female HPE teacher. To respond to the issue around music, we were transparent with parents and students, accounting for the full continuum of perspectives on permissibility of music. Practically, this meant student negotiated in their groups whether they would perform to solely a drum (duff ) beat, or only to a form of cultural/religious music, or for some, to contemporary music that had to be approved for content. I can recall conferencing with parents about how we would be approaching the unit and when we explained the negotiated parameters, parents and students were on board.

Sexuality Education At the time our school had not yet developed a school-wide comprehensive approach to sexuality education. Instead sexuality was covered across Science, Islamic Studies, and junior HPE. One of the actions we took with Grade 12 students in Senior Health education was to engage in a 12-week unit exploring sexuality education via an inquiry-based approach. It was a hard-fought battle

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to have this approved by school leadership, chronicled in an article in a HPE Journal (Chown, 2013). While not a substitute for a school-wide comprehensive approach, the effort to design and enact a transformative unit in sexuality for students was well received by students, parents, and community and filled a critical gap in our Islamic school. To realize this goal, it entailed a major collaborative effort where we engaged the principal, the Head of Imams, Professor Mohamad Abdalla, who at the time was a Professor of Islamic Studies and Director at the National Centre of Excellence in Islamic Studies (Griffith University), local Shaykhs (male religious authorities) and Alimas (female religious authorities), an expert in the area of sexuality and Islam, Dr Fida Sanjakdar, local professionals working with young people (counsellors, psychologists), parents, and most importantly, the students. The process of making wide mashura (consultation) with trusted and resected community experts, of transparency with parents in outlining the intent, the themes of the unit, the principles we would follow in our approach (e.g. separation of genders, expert facilitators for both genders of the same gender, use of appropriate resources, etc.), respect for religious and spiritual ways of knowing through inclusion of canonical sources (Qur’an and Hadith), and the connectedness to curriculum (Senior Health Education Syllabus) through mentoring with curricular experts meant that there was not only support but a feeling of, “well why wouldn’t we do this in an Islamic school?” A few key features shaped our approach. Firstly, we adopted a strength-based approach to religion and spirituality. The Australian Curriculum asserts that, “rather than focusing only on potential health risks or a deficit-based model of health, a strength-based approach supports students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they require to make healthy, safe and active choices that will enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing” (ACARA, 2012). Thus, we reframed our niyah (intention) and why and how we would approach the unit, comparing the difference in approaches (see Figure 9.4 below).

FIGURE 9.4 

Comparing approaches to sexuality education

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One of the drivers for embarking on this inquiry which we reflected on with students was the hadith by Aisha (RA), who recalled, “Blessed be the Ansar women: modesty did not prevent them from seeking instruction [on their religion]” (Bukhari). In other words, the emphasis on modesty (haya) in Islam was not a barrier to students accessing a rigorous sexuality education unit responsive to their cultural and religious identities and ways of knowing. The design of the unit saw students engaged in an inquiry empowering them to advocate and mediate for their own health, in this instance, their needs for a culturally and religiously responsive sexuality program. During the unit, as they researched and made recommendations as to what this would look like and what it would include and entail, they participated in a four-week intensive exploring themes within sexuality following the parameters they had researched. Their assessment asked them to evaluate the intensive based on the parameters they had co-designed. The issue statement and the assessment task can be seen below (Figures 9.5, 9.6, 9.7 and 9.8).

Issue Statement: Sexuality holds a prominent place in Islam & sexual education is not only desirable, but obligatory incumbent upon every Muslim. However, parents & community often have strong objections to sexual health education, usually on the basis of the presentation of the subject divorced from moral & values education. To omit sexual health from the curriculum all together is inequitable & a strict violation to the holistic view of Islamic Education. What challenges to the dominant permissive sexual ideology & cultural bias in sexual health education need to be made to reflect our divers & multicultural Australian society & identity? What social, political, cultural & religious barriers need to be overcome to address the health issue? How can members of the school community assist in creating a supportive environment to address the health issue?

FIGURE 9.5 

Sexuality education issue statement

© Islamic College of Brisbane

Assessment Instrument 5 Assessment Technique: Research Assessment Assessment Type/Genre: Analytical Exposition – Article (1000 – 1500 words) Focus: • Analyse & evaluate Islamic sources (Qur’an & Hadith), secular school approaches & local community programs that are in place to address sex education. • Examine the ethical issues associated with sex education. • Evaluate how the 4 week sexual health workshop within the unit meets the Islamic conceptual framework for sex education, community expectations & adolescent development needs. • Recommend social, political and economic changes that need to be considered to cater for an increasingly diverse population requiring sexual education.

FIGURE 9.6 

Sexuality education assessment task

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FIGURE 9.7 and 9.8  ©

Halaqa sessions within the sexuality education unit

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HPS Model – a Driver for Self and Social Transformation through HPE and Health Education One of the drivers for our approach in HPE, specifically senior Health, was the Health Promoting School (HPS) framework – which for us had a distinct religious and spiritual orientation. A HPS model involved students advocating, mediating, and enabling for their own and others’ health, which we conceptualized broadly and holistically. It also had a distinct justice dimension which is a strong element within HPE and Health curricular. Our efforts toward advancing justice were inclusive of religious or spiritual ways of knowing, in other words activism within a sacred domain (see Walid, 2018). Our activism began with the willingness to change oneself – to work on our own hearts given social activism behoves empathy, compassion, mercy, and humility. We applied the HPS model as a driver and model for several inquiries, including a unit on sustainability where we conducted a sustainability audit to ascertain policies and practices that could reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink, refuse, and repair. A unit with an inquiry on homelessness in the local area, partnering with a local organization and their program titled, “Friends on the Street.” This entailed students completing a training module and

FIGURE 9.9 

Sustainability audit in Senior Health Education

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volunteering to provide, food, and a kind ear to engage with our friends on the street in conversation and shared company. This had a profound impact on many students, and units and inquiries like these pushed students to ask themselves how merciful am I and what can I do? (See Figure 9.9). A further HPS initiative was our “Acting Against Bullying” project in which we partnered with a local university. Fourth year Drama students under the leadership of Professor Bruce Burton would train our students in enhanced forum theater techniques, a form of social action through drama to address injustice, in this instance for our students to take an active role in addressing the antecedents to bullying (O’Toole et al., 2019). Our students would design relevant scenarios and act these out utilizing enhanced forum theater and then workshop these to young grades across the school. It proved to be one of the most popular units in Health Education and was an example of a student-led whole-school approach. One remarkable outcome of this project was the way our year 11 girls through the project asserted equity claims with their male peers, insisting on scenarios and explorations of bullying addressing maledominant culture in the school and in community (O’Toole et al., 2019) (see Figure 9.10).

FIGURE 9.10  “Enhanced forum theatre” in the “Acting Against Bullying,” Health Promoting Schools HPE unit

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Reflections and Suggestions The above case study demonstrated that HPE/sport can be transformed positively in Islamic schooling contexts, and other schools, in ways that are responsive to the Muslim learner. It captured a process both purposeful and equally organic in its co-design and attention to local context and learner needs – a process of becoming through a commitment responsiveness to learners, and strength-based approaches to religion and spirituality. One must expect challenges, but with shifts in orientations and mindsets and attention to processes and collaborations, HPE can offer a transformative experience for all learners.

Lessons for Islamic School Educators •

•

•

•

•

HPE/Sport offer learners’ unique opportunities for embodying faith, for realization of religious and spiritual connections (Benn et al., 2011) and for holistic growth, including through consciousness (taqwa) (Alkouatli, 2021). HPE offers opportunities for engagement in critical religious reflection on practical ways that faith informs and enhances health/healthy bodies/ healthy living, wellbeing, justice, and understandings of contemporary issues relevant to learners’ lives. Empowering learners to be active designers and collaborators of their own HPE/sporting experience assists educators in aligning HPE/sport for the context of their Islamic school, responsive to their needs, strengths, and interests. HPE/sport constitute essential disciplines for the integrated or tawhidic vision of education and are key sites to advance often common aspiration for Islamic schools: To prepare Muslim learners with a strong sense of identity (inclusive of their multiple identities); a strong grounding in faith; and a sense of belonginess such that they can be both engaged, socio-critical, proactive citizens and “vicegerents in the making” (Ebrahim, 2016). Taking a strength-based approach to religion and spirituality in HPE empowers educators to draw from the tradition in ways that are educationally beneficial and be creative architects of National or mandated curricular frameworks as well in adapting structures and pedagogy to meet the needs of learners.

Lessons for Public School Educators •

•

An orientation of humility allows educators to learn from and with their Muslim learners (Reid, 2017), including how individual leaners functionalize (Panjwani, 2017) or not certain aspects of their cultural, religious, spiritual, and other identities. Appreciating the concept of “embodied faith” (Benn et al., 2011) allows educators insight into the significance of religion and spirituality in the lives

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•

•

•

of their Muslim learners and shines light on the interconnectedness of faith, health, body, physical activity, and identity (Benn, 2009). A commitment to educating the whole student implores educators in HPE and sport to be welcoming of religion and spirituality, given rejection of these cannot realize the development of the whole learner or for religious/spiritual learners, an experience in HPE that is whole (Robinson, 2019). Religion and spirituality, provided educators respect, recognize, and avail from these, are assets for learning and teaching (Chown, 2019) and resources for health. A strength-based approach to religion and spirituality in HPE/sport assists educators in meeting their commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice by asking questions differently, drawing on learner assets (including cultural, religious, and spiritual), addressing issues that impede equity or access, and empower Muslim learners to be active designers and collaborators of their own HPE and sporting experience while supporting their sense of belonging, wellbeing, and academic success (Gay, 2002). Being culturally and religiously responsive not only requires shifts in teaching practice and curricular materials, but critically in educator orientations, dispositions, and school–community relations (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008).

Conclusion This chapter has argued that religion and spirituality are inseparable to the HPE learning area. It has sought to apply a strength-based approach, to shift educational discourse and practice from reductionist orientations that would problematize, marginalize, or exclude religion and spirituality in HPE; instead promoting holistic approaches that attend to the whole learner – body, mind, and soul. Those allow space for spiritual and religious connections in, through, and about HPE/sport (Benn et al., 2011), for potential growth for Muslim learners through unique expressions of consciousness (Alkouatli, 2018). And those offer opportunities for critical religious reflection on practical ways that faith (in this instance, Islam) informs and enhances health/healthy bodies/healthy living (McCuaig, forthcoming), wellbeing, justice, participation in physical activity, and understandings of contemporary issues relevant to learners’ lives. This was clearly articulated in the personal case study explored in this chapter, providing practical suggestions for how to transform HPE for Muslim learners.

Notes 1 The concept of education in, through, and about movement/physical activity (Arnold, 1979) represents an expansive and holistic framework for the HPE learning area, commonly as the basis for physical education curriculum (ACARA, n.d.). Education in, through, and about movement/physical activity assists educators to understand the intent of HPE curriculum; that physical activity is beneficial in itself (Arnold, 1979); that learning in HPE ought to be broad and deep (Gillespie, 2007; Pill, 2006); and that learning

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area aims hold broad implications for learners, including their overall wellbeing (afia). Of relevance to this chapter, in, through, and about expands focus from skills and knowledge to participate in physical activity, to find associated benefits about and through, such that it translates to other areas, for example, social interactions, relationships (mu’amilat), teamwork, and moral understandings, and therefore across domains, including the spiritual. 2 Sports and games that have shaped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities for centuries referred to as Traditional Indigenous Games (Edwards, 2009), defined as those sports and games “which include all aspects of traditional and contemporary play cultures associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identifiable communities, and are generally accepted as a reflection of their cultural heritage and social identity” (Edwards, 2009, p. 33).

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Chown, D. (2013). Tackling Controversy in the Classroom: The Introduction of Senior Health Education in an Islamic School Context. Active and Healthy Magazine, 20(1), 14–17. Dagkas, S. (2007). Exploring Teaching Practices in Physical Education with Culturally Diverse Classes: A Cross-Cultural Study. European Journal of Teacher Education, 30(4), 431–443. Dagkas, S., & Benn, T. (2006). Young Muslim Women’s Experiences of Islam and Physical Education in Greece and Britain: A Comparative Study. Sport, Education and Society, 11(1), 21–88. Ebrahim, H. B. (2016). Early Childhood Education for Muslim Children: Rationales and Practices in South Africa. London: Taylor and Francis. Edwards, K. (2009). Traditional Games of a Timeless Land: Play Cultures in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Australian Aboriginal Studies,(2), 32–43. Farooq, S., & Parker, A. (2009). Sport, Physical Education, and Islam: Muslim Independent Schooling and the Social Construction of Masculinities. Sociology of Sport Journal, 26, 277–295. Flintoff, A., Fitzgerald, H., & Scraton, S. (2008). The Challenges of Intersectionality: Researching Difference in Physical Education. International Studies in Sociology of Education 18(2), 73–85. Foucault, M. (1990). The History of Sexuality, vol. 2:The Use of Pleasure, trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage Books. Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 106–116. Gillespie, L. (2007). More Than Just Learning a Sport. New Zealand Physical Educator, 40(1), 27. Günther, S. (2012). Advice for Teachers: The 9th Century Muslim Scholars Ibn Sahnun and Al-Jahiz on Pedagogy and Didactics. In C. Gilliot (Ed.), Education and Learning in the Early Islamic World (Vol. 4). England: Ashgate Publishing. Jansson, K., & McCuaig, L. (2019). Bodies, souls and healthy living: What if anything does religion have to offer PE? Paper presented at the AIESEP International Conference, Adelphi University, New York, USA, June, 19–22. Kneza, K., Macdonald, D., & Abbottb, R. (2012). Challenging Stereotypes: Muslim Girls Talk about Physical Activity, Physical Education and Sport. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 3(2), 109–122. Lahmar, F. (2011). Discourses in Islamic Educational Theory in the Light of Texts and Contexts. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(4), 479–495. doi:10. 1080/01596306.2011.601548. Lingard, B. (2007). Pedagogies of Indifference. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11, 245–266. McCuaig, L., & Tinning, R. (2010). HPE and the Moral Governance of p/leisurable bodies. Sport, Education and Society, 15(1), 39–61. McInerney, D., Davidson, N., Suliman, R., & Tremayne, B. (2000). Personal Development, Health and Physical Education in Context: Muslim and Catholic Perspectives. Australian Journal of Education, 44(1), 26–36. Memon, N. A., & Chown, D. (forthcoming). Educator Perspectives on Being Religiously Responsive Toward Australian Muslim Learners. Journal of Teacher Education. Nasr, S. H. (2012). Islamic Pedagogy: An Interview. Islam and Science, 10(1), 7–24.

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O’Toole, J., Bagshaw, D., Burton, B., Grünbaum, A., Lepp, M., Morrison, M., & Pillai, J. (2019). Researching Conflict, Drama and Learning: The International DRACON Project. Singapore: Springer. Panjwani, F. (2017). No Muslim is Just a Muslim: Implications for Education. Oxford Review of Education, 43(5), 596–611. Pill, S. (2006). Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Schools. Professional Educator, 5(3), 36–41. Price, D., Green, D., Memon, N., & Chown, D. (2020). Richness of Complexity within Diversity: Educational Engagement and Achievement of Diverse Learners through Culturally Responsive Pedagogies, The Social Educator 38(1) pp. 42–53. ISSN: 13283480.QCAA. (2019). Physical Education General Senior Syllabus 2019: Overview. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/health-physical-education/ physical-education. Reid, J.-A. (2017). Conclusion: Learning the Humility of Teaching “others” – Preparing Teachers for Culturally Complex Classrooms. In C. Reid & J. Major (Eds.), Global teaching: Southern Perspectives on Teachers Working with Diversity (pp. 209–229). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Robinson, D. B. (2019). Religion as an Other(ed) Identity within Physical Education: A Scoping Review of Relevant Literature and Suggestions for Practice and Inquiry. European Physical Education Review, 25(2), 491–511. Sanjakdar, F. (2018). Can Difference Make a Difference? A Critical Theory Discussion of Religion in Sexuality Education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(3), 393–407. Shah, S. (2016). Education, Leadership and Islam:Theories, Discourses and Practices from an Islamic Perspective. London: Routledge. Shilling, C. (2008). Believing. In C. Shilling, C. S. Shilling & I. Ebrary (Eds.), Changing Bodies: Habit, Crisis and Creativity, Published in association with Theory, Culture and Society. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: SAGE Publications Ltd. Walid, D. (2018). Towards Sacred Activism. Al-Madina Institute. Walseth, K., & Fasting, K. (2003). Islam’s View on Physical Activity and Sport: Egyptian Women Interpreting Islam. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 38(1), 45–60. Zaman, M. (2016). Introduction. In N. A. Memon & M. Zaman (Eds.), Philosophies of Islamic Education: Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses (pp. 1–14). New York: Routledge.

10 APPROACHING MUSIC AND FINE ARTS FROM FAITH-CENTERED MUSLIM LENSES Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla, Samah Taki, and Danielle Jebara

Within Muslim communities there are stark differences over what is considered acceptable when it comes to music and the arts. Essential to this chapter will be charting these stances in a way that provides guidance to educators who are often faced with a diversity of opinion from parents and students. The intent of this chapter is not to indulge in a jurisprudential discussion about these issues or to suggest one perspective over another, but rather to provide educators with an understanding of what some Muslim communities deem permissible, what is acceptable forms of music and art for those communities, and how curriculum outcomes can be achieved within what is deemed acceptable. This chapter will use the Australian arts curriculum as an example to showcase how, with the right amount of creativity, music and arts–based learning outcomes can be achieved for each of the broader Muslim community stances. Learning to know, to do, to be, and to live together – UNESCO Pillars of Learning (UNESCO, 2014, pp. 1–15).

Introduction In a sound hadith narrated by Muslim, Prophet Muhammad says, “God is beautiful, and God loves beauty” (‘inna-Allāha jamīlun yuhibul-jamāl) (Muslim, n.d., Book 1, Hadith 611). Islam too is a beautiful path, a sharia that leads toward the Divine beauty. God has inscribed beauty in all things so that all creation might proclaim God as its Compassionate and Merciful Creator and submit to the beauty of the Divine way, the Divine will. Islam acknowledges that human life too is called into being to confess God and to rejoice in living God’s holy will – the submission described by the term Muslim. All human endeavor is called

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by God to be in a state of islām, imān, and iḥsān; that is, to be moral in action, thoughtful in understanding, and beautiful in its deepest contemplation (Murata & Chittick, 1994, p. 268). It is only from this basis that any discussion of art and music education for Muslims can begin. Human expression in sound and in form is a universal reality throughout history; with Islamic history offering no exception. What we might identify as particular about Islam, though, is that all human expression, of any sort, is to be engaged and evaluated as to its submission to Divine revelation, to its reflection of the intention and purpose of human life. Human expression in sound or form therefore is called to be in a state of islām, imān, and iḥsān: Expression that gives glory to God and leads humanity more fully and deeply toward surrender in moral action, in conscious intention, and in contemplative beauty, in consonance with Divine revelation. The terms islām, imān, and iḥsān are found in the hadith of Gabriel (al-Bukhari, 37). Within that hadith they are presented as a summary of Islam, generally translated in English as submission, faith, and doing what is beautiful. Humanity is created to act in submission to God’s will; to believe in God, His angels, His messengers, and the Last Day; as told by Prophet Muhammad, “and to worship God as if you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you” (Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhari, n.d., Book 65, Hadith 299). The source of any Islamic music or art must therefore be found in Divine revelation (Nasr, 1987, p. 7). With the very beginning, God’s art is revealed in the beauty of creation. With the very beginning of Qur’anic revelation, the first human art of Islam is revealed. The Divine command to “Recite” begins the highest sound-art of Islam (Faruqi, 1987, p. 7). Those who recite the Qur’an bring the very words of God once more to human consciousness, intimately immersing themselves, and those listening, in the beauty of Divine contact and content of revelation. The unmatched linguistic beauty of the Qur’an inspired its earliest conversions and initiated a new literary tradition. Revelation is beauty and beckons beauty in response. Divine revelation too has called into existence the highest form-art of Islam, the calligraphy of the Qur’an. This art of beautiful writing sets the very words of revelation once more before the human consciousness, inspiring and guiding both those who write and those who view or recite toward the path of submission, into the beauty of islām, imān, and iḥsān. The very loveliness of the written word itself, whether one can read or not, beckons the human heart toward the source of eternal beauty. The second form-art of Islam follows and provides for this as well. The construction of spaces where the ummah can hear, see, experience Qur’an together, and become a beautiful community of worship – the mosque – is the highest achievement of architecture. In these three areas of recitation, calligraphy, and architecture Islamic civilizations have excelled with soaring accomplishments. Islamic art has conveyed through the centuries, and continues today to convey, the spirituality and message, the very heart of Islam far more effectively than a theological treatise or scholarly explanation (Ogunnaike, 2017). Art and music

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are themselves timeless and directly symbolic, while theological language is not as readily recognized as the symbolic communication that it indeed is. But in art and music, the expression of the One is reflected in the “inebriating beauty of those forms, color, and sounds which, as theophanies, manifest themselves outwardly as limited forms, while opening inwardly onto the Infinite” (Nasr, 1987, p. 202). Islamic art and music are the best spiritual studies that Islam has to offer. Indeed, the very effort of this volume might be well described by Nasr’s (1987) suggestion that Islamic art is a powerful criterion by which to judge the Islamization of education and its success. He proposes that nothing authentically Islamic can be devoid of the inner qualities of Islamic spirituality that are so deeply and transcendently reflected in Islamic art and music (Nasr, 1987, p. 201). Can any truly Islamic education be worthy of this name without grounding, nurturing, and inspiring the spiritual orientation reflected in its cherishing of Islamic art and music? It is important to remember that Western culture in both religious and secular expression has a sense of the significance of the arts as honored expressions of the soaring human spirit. It has valued the importance of education and exposure to the arts for inspiring and shaping the imaginative capacities of students. The arts are recognized and regarded as a privileged place of encounter for the human spirit seeking transcendence. The question before us then is how to communicate the Divine beauty of Islamic expression in the art and music of the varied K-12 educational settings in which Muslim students participate. There has been a tremendous variety of responses to music and art in the ummah over the centuries. In our increasingly pluralist globe, any teacher in any setting may encounter Muslim students and parents who question the compatibility of their instruction or assignments with what permissible conduct for Muslims is. This chapter seeks to provide some guidance for educators in understanding these varied approaches and in responding thoughtfully to meet their required academic standards with lesson plans that are pedagogically sound, flexible, and spiritually inspiring. Clearly, Islam advocates beauty and over the centuries this has been expressed in various musical and art forms, but not all were (are) considered permissible Islamically. Therefore, because what is considered permissible conduct for Muslims is guided by Qur’an, Sunnah (sayings, actions, and tacit approval of Prophet Muhammad), scholarly consensus (ijmā’), and analogical reasoning (qiyās), we begin by briefly examining what these sources have said about music and art.

Music There is disagreement among Muslim scholars about music and musical expression. This is due in no small part to the absence of definitive (qat’ī) reference to music in the Qur’an, and paucity of references in the Hadith collection. While

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the Qur’an does not have any explicit texts on music, there are five verses (17:64; 31:6; 8:35; 25:72; 53:61) that have been used to support arguments for and against music and singing. For example, “rouse whichever of them you can with your [Satan’s] voice” in 17:64 was interpreted by the renowned exegete Mujahid (645–722) to mean wind-instruments, play & amusement, and entertainment and signing. Ibn Abbas (619–687) said it means “any call to God’s disobedience,” and Al-Tabari (839–923) said “it means any voice or call that leads to God’s disobedience” (al-Juday, 2004). Divergence of views can also be found regarding the other Qur’anic verses. The Hadith literature yields narrations of various degrees (mostly with a weak chain of narration but others are sound) concerning music that has been variously interpreted as support for a range of conclusions from condemnation to recognition and approval. The literalist scholar Ibn Hazm (994–1064) argued that there are no sound (ṣaḥīḥ) hadith that prohibit musical instruments (ma’āzif) (al-Kanadi, 1991). Other leading scholars disagreed and pointed to multiple sound aḥadīth, including the Prophet’s saying: Some of my ummah will drink wine, calling it by another name, while they listen to singers accompanied by musical instruments. Allah will cause the earth to swallow them and will turn some of them into monkeys and swine (Ibn Majah, 36). And the narration in Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhari (n.d., Book 74, Hadith 16) in which the Prophet said, “There will be people from my ummah who will seek to make lawful fornication, the wearing of silk by men, wine drinking and the use of musical instruments.” While many classical and contemporary scholars accepted these ahadīth as a categorical prohibition of musical instruments, others argued otherwise. For example, commenting on the hadith by Bukhari, the 11th-century Hanafi jurist, Shaykh Abdul Ghani al-Nabulsi, argued: The traditions (ahadith) used by those who consider music to be haram [prohibited], if we accept them to be authentic, their meaning is always qualified (muqayyad) by the fact that they mention that type of music which is accompanied by immoral acts, alcohol consumption, fornication, and other vices. In fact, we do not know of any hadith condemning music that has not mentioned these vices (cited in al-Juday 2004). In other words, it is not the musical instruments that are condemned here but the association in context with what is clearly forbidden: Alcohol and fornication. Other ahadīth have been used by either camp in support or against musical instruments. These arguments have been documented in multiple books

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including Sheikh ‘Abdullah b. Yusuf al-Juday’s 2004 book al-Mūsīqa wa l-Ghinā’ fi Mīzān al-Islam (“Music & Singing in the Scale of Islam”) and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s 2007 book Fiqh al-ghinā’ wal-mūsiqa – (“Jurisprudence of singing and music”) –presented opposing views but supported the permissibility of music and singing under certain conditions. Their views were rebutted by Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan Musa in his book Al-radu ‘ala al-Qaradawi wa alJuday’ (“Response to al-Qaradawi and al-Juday’”). The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America summed up this debate: Musical instruments “Maazif ” are the subject of extensive debate amongst the scholars, particularly because the texts that explicitly prohibit them are debatable in their authenticity while those that are authentic are not clear in their prohibition. Therefore, it is impossible to claim that there is a consensus either prohibiting or allowing them. Scholars have allowed them, prohibited them, or taken specific detailed positions regarding them  … (But) … it is critical to emphasize what was mentioned initially;  that everything must be understood in light of the fact that this difference of opinion does not include the modern day morally questionable concerts where men and women mix and prohibitions are committed. These events are coupled with haram [prohibitions], facilitate haram, and could lead to haram. No sane person should have any doubt that these are prohibited and that they are not part of the debate referred to here (AMJA Resident Fatwa Committee, 2004). Clearly, the issue of music and musical instruments is subject of extensive debate among the scholars, which is beyond the scope and focus of this chapter. Although the educator at an Islamic schooling context does not need to have a mastery of the subject matter, they need to appreciate these differences, so they are culturally and religiously responsive to their learners. The challenge, of course, is how to navigate these differences and devise an innovative and responsive music class for the Muslim learner (and respond with thoughtful consideration to the varied sensibilities that may be present among parents in a pluralist setting)? This is what we hope to answer in the following sections.

Music as Sound-art The research of Lois Ibsen al Faruqi is important for helping educators to understand the complex understanding of “music” in Islamic societies. Al Faruqi (1987) has noted that there is no Arabic equivalent to the very broad English word, music. Musiqa, she argues, was imported into Arabic from the Greek language about the 9th century and is generally used in reference to secular musical genres. Instead, she proposes the term sound-art or handasah al sawt as a larger term

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to describe a general approach of Islamic cultures that distinguishes encouraged and appreciated genres of expression from those forms or occasions of expression that are controversial or disapproved (Faruqi, 1987, p. 7). In this approach, the term musiqa is reserved for musical expressions that are less legitimate in order to distinguish them in reference from sound-art that is approved and legitimate. The primary form of sound-art expression for Islamic culture is of course the recitation (tajwīd) of the Qur’an, especially in the five times daily prayer. The sound of recitation literally permeates traditional Muslim cultures, even unto tapes playing during a taxi ride. The adhan, call to prayer, echoes from minarets infusing each day with holy resonance. Qur’anic recitation has never been associated with the term musiqa; it is rather a genre unto itself with great care taken to safeguard its purity from assimilation. Al Faruqi (1987) identifies several other forms of musical expression that have been legitimately accepted such as religious chants; chanted poetry with noble themes; family context music such as lullabies; occupational music such caravan chants; and military music such as drums or anthems. She distinguishes these from forms that have been generally acceptable in various Muslim cultures, but considered more controversial for some, such as improvisational music expression or metered compositions of pre-Islamic or non-Islamic origin that have been assimilated into Muslim cultures. Both categories are distinct from forms of expression that are forbidden, such as music with sensuous themes or unacceptable contexts. It is important for educators to be aware of these categories, to consider ways that curriculum standards can be met within acceptable genres, and to respond with thoughtful consideration to the varied sensibilities that may be present among students and parents in a pluralist setting.

Musicians and Performance It is important also for educators to note that musicians too have been regarded in Muslim culture with mixed esteem. Those who chant/recite Qur’an (according to the rules of tajwīd) are unequivocally approved. But this does not create a separate category of musicians since every Muslim is a reciter of Qur’an and may be called to do so in personal settings. Other approved sound-art expressions (such as nashīd) likewise do not create or require musicians. These are the domain of, and an expression open to, every Muslim. Likewise, those who perform as amateurs in the second, controversial category are under no approbation. But Faruqi (1987) notes that those who aspire to music as a profession or those who even informally participate in music of the forbidden category may receive suspicion and grave disapproval from the community. Musical performance in Muslim societies has been judged by time investment, context, and association. Musical performance in the second category that remains subordinate to the important concerns of life is tolerated, even

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respected if well done, but never accorded esteem as a primary goal of vocational dedication. Life is considered too serious to devote significant time to music which can be viewed as frivolous activity for life. The context of musical performance must be acceptable and legitimate, and the associations of its content or audience must be as well. Without question any performance in a location or reference to activity that is forbidden, such as alcohol use or fornication, is to be avoided. While there is general disapproval for music as a profession, there are no punishments imposed by Islamic law on those who pursue music as a profession or those who regularly support the performance of musicians. In some societies, however, there have been consequences. The testimony of a professional musician or one who is a regular consumer of music may not be acceptable in court; there may be no recourses for a musician to pursue an unpaid wage in legal proceedings; recompense for damage to instruments may not be pursuable in court (Faruqi, 1987, p. 21). This conservative background may offer challenge for Muslim students who are attracted to music performance. But it is important to note that there is a great deal of musical expression across the Muslim world, and various cultures accept with affirmation the contribution of Muslim musicians who express their devotion, and indeed make holy their work, by placing it in service to the message of Islam. Prominent in this regard we might note the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948–1997), native of Pakistan and singer of Qawwali, Sufi Islamic devotional music in the Indian subcontinent (presently encompassing Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh); Iranian-born Sami Yusuf, a British singer, songwriter, musician, composer, nashīd artist (munshid), who blends elements of Eastern and Western sound in lyrics of inclusive spirituality, or Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy, the renowned Qur’an reciter and nashīd artist, and Imam of Kuwait Grand Mosque (whose nashīd is always without musical instruments).

Music Curricula and Muslim Students When considering K-12 music education in a public or other non-Muslim education system, some general affirmations and cautions may offer guidance for teachers in designing lesson plans that are sensitive to the culture and context of their various Muslim students. First and most, foundationally it is essential that teachers who are not Muslim themselves understand something about Islam to better appreciate their Muslim students and their family’s religious contexts. An effective teacher can never learn enough. Being able to step outside of one’s cultural assumptions is an essential skill of effective pedagogy. Secondly, it is important to clearly understand the state or national standards that govern the particular curriculum one is engaged to teach. There is often latitude for teachers in designing lessons to fulfil curriculum standards; familiarity and comprehension are essential for creative adaptation. The observations below are offered

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as broad guidance; nothing can substitute for the particular knowledge of student and context required for successful teaching. Music appreciation – The basis for most state and national music curricula standards is an appreciation of the “big ideas” in the study of music. The concerns in presenting music for appreciation in a secular classroom with Muslim students may be summarized in the subject matter of the piece, its lyric content, and the associations of its performance intent. For example, Western classical music may offer a few problems. The subject matter may be neutral, without lyrics, and performed for appreciation. Sensitivity to theme, content, association, as well as to the context of community, classroom and student capacity is a multifaceted aptitude cultivated by skilled instructors. Since the legitimacy of music in Islam must consider intent (niya), the context set by the teacher of music appreciation will influence its acceptability to Muslim students. Music from the Muslim world can be presented in a secular classroom, especially to address curriculum standards that call for exposure to the music of other cultures. It is essential that superficiality is avoided in this exercise. A single musical offering does not offer sufficient depth of understanding for teacher or students, and could instead reinforce stereotypes. Though Qur’an recitation should not be undertaken in the secular classroom, recordings can be presented for aural appreciation. Parallel to this may be the setting of a private school where the sound-arts of various religious traditions can offer an opportunity for interreligious understanding. Music such as American Hip Hop may be deemed inappropriate by Muslims unfamiliar with the genre because of the content of its lyrics or the provocative physical performance that may accompany it. However, Black Muslim identity in the United States is frequently explored in Hip Hop music and may be an appropriate, if complex, vehicle to examine American Islam in some music classrooms (see Khabeer’s 2016 book Muslim Cool). A distinction should be noted here between Muslim Hip Hop music, such as Native Deen and Brother Ali, and Hip Hop music by Muslim artists. For example, Native Deen does not use wood, string, or metal instruments in deference to the diversity of scholarly positions in the Muslim community on the legitimacy of such instruments, and consciously creates it music to inspire young people in adherence to faith. Music expression and performance – As discussed above, the use of musical instruments is a contested area in Muslim thought. Instrumental music is deeply respected for its ability to influence the human heart, to elevate or debase the soul (Ogunnaike, 2017, p. 10). Hence, consideration of context will be important when requiring Muslim students to engage in musical expression or performance. It is not uncommon to encounter a faulty association about Western music as solely involved with forbidden activities such as fornication or alcohol. This area requires a commitment to communication and adaptability from the

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teacher. More fundamentally it requires that a teacher understands the foundational learning objectives expressed in their required curriculum standards and is able to recognize a range of ways that all students can meet these objectives. Lesson plans that are grounded in the learning objectives can better communicate to students and to their families the importance of musical expression in the best education of students. Establishing a clear understanding with parents as to what the curriculum standards are in this regard, as well as carefully understanding where parents stand on what is deemed im/permissible from their perspective, is essential so that stereotypes on either side do not block communication. Dance and movement – Often appreciation and understanding of music’s “big ideas” include physical movement in response, especially in early grades when physical movement is an essential part of classroom routine. Music teachers with Muslim students should be aware and sensitive to gender conventions of Muslim cultures. In lower grades a mixed gender classroom may be expected, but after puberty physical contact between genders is to be avoided. It is important to anticipate areas of difficulty and provide alternatives. For example, an adaptation that “students hold scarves instead of hands during movement activities such as circle dances” (Izsak, 2013, p. 40). Clearly it is essential for music instructors to establish trustworthy connections with parents that demonstrate their knowledge of Islam and respect for their Muslim students and families. From this basis they can make clearer the understanding of music expressed in the required curriculum standards and their willingness to help all students to meet these standards in ways that are compatible with their faith and culture. In the Islamic school setting, certainly an appreciation for some forms of music is not incompatible with Islam. The history and contemporary manifestations of music in the Muslim world offer basic opportunity for instructors to meet state or national music curriculum standards. Depending on the leadership of the school, the views of the Imams and religious teachers at the school, or in some contexts the Muslim community that sponsors the school, musical expression in the form of nashīd (a work of vocal music that is either sung a cappella or accompanied by the daf ) and/or qawwali (to some, it is deemed permissible only if the lyrics are lawful and musical instruments are not used) can be used. Again, depending on the school’s position on music, the music curriculum of an Islamic school, especially at the secondary level, could utilize musical pieces of Eastern or Western culture that are appropriate for a classroom setting, perhaps in the form of symphonic pieces from the Classical era. Western music with religious content would be avoided unless there are adequate resources to offer a lesson toward interreligious dialogue. The Christian spirituality of Western culture has been expressed in music throughout its history and could offer opportunity for dialogue, but it is imperative that this not be undertaken lightly as stereotypes and misunderstanding abound. Table 10.1 may provide some useful reference:

162  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al. TABLE 10.1  Islamic assessment of sound-arts (adapted from Al Faruqi, 1987, p. 8)

Category

Genre

Curricular examples

Legitimacy

Non-Musiqa Qur’anic (sound-art) Recitation/ Chant Religious Chants (call to prayer, adhan)

Reciting the Qur’an in different qir’āt styles

Permissible

Musiqa

Family Music

Lullabies, wedding songs:

Occupational Music

• Yusuf Islam – “I Look, I See” & “A is for Allah” • Dawud Wharnsby – “A Whisper of Peace” • Zain Bhikha – “Cotton Candy Sky” & “Allah Knows” • Raihan – “Ya Nabbi Salamun Alaika” Caravan chants, shepherd’s tunes, work songs

• Salawāt on the Prophet Permissible Muhammad • Asmā’ Allah al-ḥusna – 99 Names of Allah • Talbiyah (Hajj Prayer) • Assessing the different melodies of adhan in accordance to the prayer time. The melody of the prayer at sunrise is different to the melody of the prayer at sunset. • Melodic cultural differences for the call to adhan Chanted • Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Permissible Poetry with Alafasy Noble Themes • Qasida al Burda- Imam Sharaf Shi’r and/or Ad Din nashīd with • Qasida Brushra Lana No Musical • Qasida Inna fi al-Jannah Instruments • Qasida Qad Kafani ‘Ilmu Rabbi Except the daf • Qasida Qamarun

Military Music Drums, anthems: • Indigenous War songs and chants – E.g. Maori Haka Vocal/ Examples: Instrumental • Native Deen Improvisations • Harris J • Maher Zain • Raihan • Deen Squad • Khaled Saddiq

Permissible

Permissible according to some scholars depending on the lyrics and type of instruments used Permissible according to some scholars depending on type of instruments used Varied assessments based on subject, lyrical content, performance intent

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 163 TABLE 10.1  (Continued)

Category

Genre

Curricular examples

Legitimacy

Serious Metered Songs and Instrumental Music

Examples:

Varied assessments based on subject, lyrical content, performance intent

• Sami Yusuf • Al Firdous Ensemble – Celtic Salawat • The Burdah Ensemble – Madad Indigenous Music

Music Related Varied assessments to Pre-Islamic based on subject, • Wiggles ft Christine Anu or Nonlyrical content, – Taba Naba Islamic performance • Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Origins intent • Yothu Yindi – Treaty • Baker Boy ft Yirrmal – Marryuna • Christine Anu – My Island Home Sensuous • Outlandish – Walou Impermissible Music • Mona Haydar – Barbarian Associated • Brother Ali – Fajr with • Narcy ft Nadia Mansoor – Unacceptable Alhumdulillah Contexts

Art The general view of Sunni Muslim scholars is that artistic expression is permitted except depictions of human and animal forms. While the Qur’an does not speak directly about artistic expression, the prohibition against idolatry has been understood to ground and guide such work, carving a protection around artistic expression to assure that it is never conceived in pride. The Qur’an and hadith are replete with warning against idolatry, for example: “God does not forgive idolatry, … Anyone who sets up idols beside God, has forged a horrendous offense” (Q 4:48); and in Hadith, Ṣaḥiḥ Muslim (818–875), “He who created pictures in this world will be ordered to breathe life into them on the Day of Judgment, but will be unable to do so,” and Hadith Ṣaḥiḥ Al-Bukhari (173), “Those who make these images (ṣuwar) will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them, make alive what you have created.” These aḥadīth appear to be in reference to images for the purpose of idolatry; some interpreters have linked them to figural representation generally in art expression. Because of this association, and the belief that the creation of living forms is unique to God, figural representation in art or display/architecture has been generally avoided in many Muslim cultures. Though the practice of figural representation is not widespread, there are certainly traditions that prove an exception. The practice of Persian miniature

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painting, flourishing in the 13th to 16th centuries, provides an example. Examples abound in Asian cultures of figural representation in Islamic art. But in ways similar to the spread of Christianity through the centuries, Islam too has generally valued the artistic skills and expression of the cultures in which its message has grown, and then transformed them in service to its own vision. Islamic art is deeply rooted in and expressive of Divine revelation. Because of this it evinces a delicate balance of transcendence and immanence (tanzih and tashbih). So that even in figural representation, Islamic art tends to represent not things but rather ideas (Ogunnaike, 2017, p. 299). Form must be detached from the thing itself to point beyond itself; beauty belongs not to this world but to the Author of all beauty. Islamic art offers a picture of the soul reflecting the beauty of the Creator. This is true in a Persian miniature for example in which the scene, though representational, is configured in a way to point beyond itself to otherworldly qualities. Though utilizing diverse techniques or media of various cultures, the inspiration and message of Islamic art remains a unifying whole: The unity of God glimpsed in multiplicity of form, color, and sound. There are many other and less controversial expressions of art, in the forms of calligraphy, pottery, and architecture. Calligraphy is a primary example for the driving force of Islamic art expression, an effort to bring the ummah into remembrance of God, into Ishan, into recognizing that every moment is to be lived as though seeing God, because God is seeing us. The words of Divine revelation therefore are not transcribed only to a printed text but leap off the page to surround the ummah on the arches and domes of the mosque, on the tiles of the palace, on the walls of business and home, on the very utensils of daily domestic life. Islamic art is never without higher purpose, never art for art’s sake. Islamic art makes visible the spiritual universe of Islam. In Islamic architecture, artistic principles such as symmetry, harmony, and rhythm project a sense of God’s unity (Ogunnaike, 2017, p. 7). Nowhere is this more evident than in the use of geometric form as particular shapes communicate spiritual principles through the symbolism associated with them. The circle in its unending character portrays God’s infinite nature. The repetition of the arabesque conveys both infinity and the sense that the singular unity of God is reflected in each singular moment of reality. Floral designs, especially in their repetition, convey the submission of all creation to the will of God. This aspect of Islamic art offers a fertile ground for art educators, especially in the potential for cross-disciplinary connections with mathematics.

Art Curricula and Muslim Students When considering K-12 art education in public or other non-Muslim educational systems some general affirmations and cautions may offer guidance for teachers in designing lesson plans that are sensitive to the culture and context of their various Muslim students. Once again, effective teachers are those who

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research and inquire about the significant contexts which influence the lives and learning of their students. Art appreciation – There are two aspects to consider in designing lessons to meet a curriculum standard concerning art appreciation. One is the opportunity to educate all students about Islam, Islamic culture, and the abundance of riches available in the art of the Islamic world. A series of lessons on the art of the Muslim world can provide a good introduction to Islam and a rich opportunity for students to learn about the cultures and religious traditions of our global world. Introducing Islam through its art, and the spirituality revealed in it, also provides an opportunity for the educator to challenge racial and cultural stereotyping. However, it is essential that teachers who would grasp this opportunity have properly educated themselves. A poorly prepared or superficial background can serve instead to perpetuate damage and stereotyping (Hickman, 2004, p. 55). A second important consideration must be made in a secular classroom when introducing Muslim students to the art of the West. It is essential that some respectful thought be given to selecting content before it is presented. It is critical that teachers understand the foundational learning objectives of their curriculum standards and the range of ways these can be met. The temptation is often to simply do what has been done. But the pluralism of our school settings, especially in urban environments, demands that we constantly learn, assess and adapt: This means begin clear about what we want students to learn about, and the skills, knowledge, and understanding we want them to acquire. When we are clear about what we want students to achieve, then we can be flexible about how they are going to achieve it (Hickman, 2004, p. 60). A simple example may be the presentation of figural art, especially in a mixed gender classroom. If Muslim students are among those to be taught, care can be taken in designing lesson plans which offer representations of the human body that avoid nudity. Art expression – Engaging students in the artistic process is a rewarding aspect of art education. Again, there is much to offer regarding techniques associated with Islamic art such as calligraphy, geometric design, and architectural drawing. These lesson plans can also offer an opportunity for education about Islamic culture and challenge misinformation that students may carry from other sources. Educators in secular schools may encounter resistance to aspects of art education among Muslim students or their families. This is often based on the perception that artistic expression can open the door for idolatry. Because of this, attention to what is being represented and in what context is essential for effective pedagogy. A student’s reluctance to produce three-dimensional figurative work must be respected by the instructor, as the association of sculpture with idolatry is strong and clear in the Qur’an. Two-dimensional figurative expression can be

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more acceptable if its educational intent and context is well defined. Being clear about foundational learning objectives opens the door to rigorous, creative, and flexible plans for achieving them. Once again, it is essential for art instructors to establish trustworthy connections with parents that demonstrate their knowledge of Islam and respect for their Muslim students and families. From this basis they can make clearer the understanding of art expressed as in the required curriculum standards and their willingness to help all students to meet these standards in ways that are compatible with their faith and culture. In the Islamic school setting, there is an abundance of resources in Islamic art alone to meet most of the curriculum standards for art education. But that would be as contrary to good pedagogy as simply excluding Islam from consideration in a secular setting. Art education in an Islamic school can also offer an opportunity for education about the spirituality of Western culture that has found ample expression in its visual arts. The Christian art of the medieval era, for example, can provide the setting for a lesson in comparative study or interreligious understanding. Images of Jesus and Mary could be acceptable viewing, and occasionally for education. However, once again, it is equally imperative that educators in Muslim institutions are properly prepared to undertake this task and engage the material with accurate knowledge and respectful insight as to what is represented theologically and symbolically, and how it is properly understood in Christian art and theology. Designing this sort of lesson may inspire an opportunity for collaboration with outside resources from area colleges or museums. Catholic colleges can be a good resource for such an undertaking as this religious tradition is especially committed to engagement in interreligious dialogue. Table 10.2 provides a practical guide to Islamic art. TABLE 10.2  Practical guide to Islamic art

Category

Genre

Islamic Art Calligraphy

Instructional examples

Legitimacy

Permissible • Different styles such as Kufic and Naskh • Analyze different styles of Qur’anic text used throughout Islamic history and identify how styles vary between different cultures. • E.g. Differences in script in a Mamluk (Egypt and Syria) and a Sultanate (Central India) Qur’an. • Assess composition and style of script • Design can be incorporated when analyzing calligraphic styles expressed in the Qur’an. We can assess the design of the script, its composition on paper and the design of floral and geometric motifs and patterns within and around the script. This can combine to two learning categories into one whole learning unit)

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 167 TABLE 10.2  (Continued)

Category

Genre

Instructional examples

Legitimacy

• How to make calligraphy tools. Students can carve into bamboo stalks, identify carving angles in order to create different line and drawing styles. Students can create calligraphy brushes using raw materials found outdoors. Wooden sticks can be sanded back and smoothed out. Shredded fine bark or dry leaves can be attached as bristles. Recyclable materials can be utilized in this unit. Students can also create their own ink using the juice of crushed berries or grapes and flower petals or earth dust mixed with either water or oil. Analyze and compare traditional and contemporary modes of calligraphy styles. • Calligraphy and textiles work hand in hand. This can include inscriptions that can be expressed in embroidery work. • Printmaking: Silk screen reliefs Architecture • Masjids around the world: Permissible • • • • • • • • • • •

Al Haram Mosque (Mecca, Saudi Arabia) Al Nabawi Mosque(Medina, (Saudi Arabia) Dome of the Rock ( Jerusalem, Palestine) Hassan II Mosque (Casablanca, Morocco) Suleymaniye Mosque (Istanbul, Turkey) Nusrat Djahen (Copenhagen, Denmark) Zahir Mosque (Kedah, Malaysia) Uludag Mosque (Busra, Turkey) Marree Mosque (Marree, Australia) Qolsarif Mosque (Kazan Kremlin, Russia) Great Mosque of Xi’an China (Xian, Shaanxi, China) • Interior Design (focus on tezhip design through pattern work and symmetry. This can be a comparative work assessing western still-life pattern work. E.g. Work of William Morris and Fay Jean Baptise) • Ottoman designs of Masjids such as Sulaymaniyah and Ortakoy Masjids in Istanbul – Interior design identify a strong rococo decor influence. • Perspective Drawing: • Assess the external structure of the masjids through perspective drawing. • Assess the design of the masjids in context to history. Evolution of design and perspective through civilizations. • E.g. Hajia Sofya. Byzantine – Islamic Art • Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba

(Continued )

168  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al. TABLE 10.2  (Continued)

Category

Genre

Instructional examples

Legitimacy

• Islamic Geometry and design

Pottery, Ceramic, Glass, Weaves, Metalwork

• • • • • •

Geometric design and arabesque

NonIslamic Art

Abstract artwork

Landscape drawing

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Still life drawing

•

• Arabesque tile designs. Identify patter work through tessellation. 14th Century Mamluk pottery Permissible Abbasid potters and the rediscovery of the tin glaze in the 9th century Qayrawan luster tiles Hispano-Moresque ware Glass gilding process in Syria and Egypt (13th–14th century) Early Islamic period metalwork of the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Fatimids Tiraz textiles from the early Islamic period. Zillij-inspired mosaics Permissible Andalusian geometric tiles Iznik ceramic tiles Topkapi Scroll (Timurid Dynasty) Wallpaper Group Kilm Textile Art Flextangle Art MS Escher Wassily Kandinsky Permissible Sonia Delaunay Theo van Doesburg Mark Rothko Paul Klee Harold Hollingsworth Kristi Farr Op Art Impressionist Landscape Art (E.g. Vincent van Permissible Gogh; Claude Monet; Camille Pissarro) Classical landscape Art (E.g. Claude Lorrain; Nicolas Poussin) Surrealist Landscape Art (Max Ernst (Frottage}) Environmental Landscape Art (Andy Goldsworthy, Christo and Jean-Claude) Photographic Landscape Art (Ansel Adams, Richard Misrach) Ancient Still life Art

Ancient Egypt (tomb reliefs) • • • • •

Middle Ages Still Life Art Renaissance Still life Art Dutch Golden Age Still Life Art Modern Still life Art Contemporary Realist Still Life Drawing

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 169 TABLE 10.2  (Continued)

Category

Genre

Instructional examples

Figurative • Human body, self-portrait, animal figures: two• Expressionist Self-portrait (Vincent van dimensional Gogh) art • Abstract Self-portrait Pablo Picasso • Pop Art Self-portrait Andy Warhol • Photo-Realism Self-portrait Chuck Close • Mirrored Self-Portrait Norman Rockwell • Recyclable Art Self-portraits Jane Perkins • Leonardo da Vinci Anatomical Drawings Focus on clothed figure drawing Close-up hand drawing • Animal Art Prehistoric Art Lascaux Cave Art Chauvet; Cave Art Sculpture masks, puppets and • Animal Sculpture threeAncient Art dimensional • Recyclable Animal/Figure Art Sculptures art Michelle Reader Rodney McCoubrey • Abstract Figure/ Animal Sculpture Alberto Giacometti General Three-dimensional Sculpture • Anish Kapoor • Olafur Eliasson Useful resources

• https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/ curriculum-resources/art-of-the-islamic-world/ unit-three • https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ resource/islam08.socst.world.glob.lpart/ art-in-the-muslim-world/ • https://www.philamuseum.org/ doc_downloads/education/lessonPlans/ Common%20Core%20Math%20And%20 Islamic%20Art.pdf • http://www.islamimagined.com/#intro

Legitimacy Contested but permissible to some

Generally unapproved, exceptions based in context and intent

170  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al.

Sample Lessons for Islamic and Secular School Settings The following sample lessons provide examples of ideas that can be incorporated and included in teaching pedagogy within Islamic and secular school settings. These sample lessons identify necessary outcomes that explore a range of stages from the early years up to secondary years. The ideas presented are not limited to Islamic subjects, but also evaluate and identify non-Islamic subjects through an interpretive lens, whether in music or in art. This will result in the encouragement of all students participating in the evaluation of work while not limiting students to a specific perspective, hence, acknowledging individuality and diversity within the classroom. The mentioned units of work have been implemented in response to the diverse cultural needs of students. All ideas presented identify a range of student needs and are easily adaptable and modified. They have strongly focused on student engagement and a student sense of belonging; in turn creating a sensitive and safe cultural environment (See Tables 10.3 and 10.4). The following tables provide ideas for Primary years (K-6) and Secondary years (7–12) that align to the Australian Syllabus (Outcomes, e.g. informative resources) TABLE 10.3  Primary years (K-6) ideas that align with Australian syllabus

Early Stage 1 Unit of Work: “Dhikr using Subha beads and the Daf” Creative Arts Outcomes: Throughout this unit, students will appreciate and take Music – Performing part in dhikr – a form of remembrance and worship MUES1.1 Participates in simple of God Almighty. Students are to reflect on their speech, singing, playing, and personal lives and the world around them and discuss moving activities, demonstrating the blessings that surround us. While reflecting on our an awareness of musical blessings, unpack the terms “Subhan’ Allah” (glory to concepts. God), “Alhumdulilah” (all praise is due to God), and “Allahu Akbar” (God is most great). Students will Music – Organizing Sound participate in dhkir by repeating these three MUES1.2 Creates own rhymes, statements once they have completed making their games, songs, and simple Subha beads and while learning to play the daf. compositions. Making a Subha (Rosary bead) Music – Listening Demonstrate to students how to thread their beads in MUES1.4 Listens to and responds order to create their own Subha. Students require to music. 33 beads in total and a tassel. Students can get creative Visual Arts – Making with their Subha by partitioning using a variety of VAES1.1 Makes simple colored beads. If time permits, students may create pictures and other kinds of their own beads using polymer clay. artworks about things and experiences. VAES1.2 Experiments with a range of media in selected forms.

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 171 TABLE 10.3  (Continued)

Early Stage 1 Unit of Work: “Dhikr using Subha beads and the Daf” Visual Arts – Appreciating Playing the Daf VAES1.3 Recognizes some of the Students will have the opportunity to play the daf qualities of different artworks while participating in dhikr. Demonstrate the correct and begins to realize that artists techniques to play the daf effectively by focusing on make artworks. how to hold the daf and tips on tapping the daf VAES1.4 Communicates their (positioning fingers correctly and releasing the hand ideas about pictures and other away from the daf to control the length of the sound). kinds of artworks. Once students are confident with playing the daf and vocalizing their dhikr in sync, students may perform This unit of work also links with their skills as a class item. Mathematics outcomes. Stage 1 Unit of Work – “Masjids around the World” Creative Arts Outcomes: Within this unit of work, students will have the Visual Arts – Appreciating opportunity to explore the unique and similar VAS1.3 Realizes what artists do, features of masjids from around the world while who they are, and what they gaining an appreciation of what artists do. Masjids make. include the Great Mosque of Djenne, the Red VAS1.4 Begins to interpret the Mosque in Sri Lanka, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, al meaning of artworks, Masjid and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, and so on. acknowledging the roles of artist Students will have the opportunity to take part in a and audience. print-making activity by creating their own, symmetrical Visual Arts – Making print of a masjid.These lessons require students to VAS1.1 Makes artworks in a practice drawing symmetrical shapes and patterns and particular way about experiences carving these drawings onto Styrofoam. Once they have of real and imaginary things. carved their masjid onto the Styrofoam, students roll VAS1.2 Uses the forms to make black ink onto the foam and print their carving onto art artworks according to varying paper with the stencil twice – face up and upside down requirements. (the top half of the sheet is the scape of the masjid and the bottom half is a water reflection of the masjid). This unit of work also links with Students may first use watercolor to paint the Mathematics and English background of the art paper.This is a great opportunity outcomes. to introduce warm and cool colors as they paint a sunset background for the top half of the art paper and a water reflection for the bottom half of the art paper. Stage 2 Unit of Work – “Zillij Inspired Mosaics” Creative Arts Outcomes: During this unit of work, students will have a clear Appreciating understanding of the history and significance of Zillij tiles VAS2.3 Acknowledges that artists as well as the art of mosaic and its spiritual significance make artworks for different within the Muslim world. Students are required to work reasons and that various in teams to research and answer the following questions: interpretations are possible. • Where do Zillij tiles originate from? VAS2.4 Identifies connections During what period did Zillij tiles flourish? between subject matter in What is significant about the patterns? artworks and what they refer to How do Zillij tiles adhere to Islamic ruling on art? and appreciates the use of How are Zillij tiles made? particular techniques. (Continued )

172  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al. TABLE 10.3  (Continued)

Stage 2 Unit of Work – “Zillij Inspired Mosaics” Making Once students have a clear understanding of the VAS2.1 Represents the qualities history of Zillij tiles, they will have the opportunity of experiences and things that to create their own mosaic piece to display around are interesting or beautiful by the school grounds. Demonstrate each step required choosing among aspects of to successfully create a mosaic piece: subject matter. VAS2.2 Uses the forms to suggest • Step 1: Draft a mosaic design. • Step 2: Redraw the design onto the plywood the qualities of subject matter. board. This unit of work also links with • Step 3: Arrange the tesserae (tiles) onto the design English, ICT, History, and to ensure they fit correctly. Mathematics outcomes. • Step 4 Using “weld-bond,” glue down each tile piece onto the board. • Step 5: Prepare and apply the grout mixture onto the design making sure all gaps are filled. • Step 5: Once the grout has set (wait 20 min), use a wet sponge to remove excess grout in order to keep the surface of the tiles clean. • Step 6: Varnish the mosaic to safeguard it against weather damage. Stages 2–3 Unit of Work: “Fajr Birds” Creative Arts Outcomes: Bird calls are best heard at dawn and dusk; times Music – Organizing Sounds when God Almighty encourages humans to praise MUS2.2 Improvises musical Him – “glorify your Lord morning and evening.” (Al phrases, organizes sounds, and Insan, 76:25). Within this unit of work, students are explains reasons for choices. encouraged to compare the Australian bird calls to MUS3.2 Improvises, experiments, other birds and record these bird calls using selects, combines, and orders applications that allow for organizing and sound using musical concepts. experimenting with sounds. Examples of typical Australian bird calls at dawn and Music – Listening dusk include the Kookaburra and Cockatoo. MUS2.4 Identifies the use of Students will have the opportunity to combine and musical concepts and musical order sounds (E.g. bird calls with the athan), as they symbols in a range of repertoire. identify the use of musical concepts and symbols in a MUS3.4 Identifies the use of range of styles. musical concepts and symbols in a range of musical styles. This unit of work will encourage students to reflect on God’s majestic creations and the lessons we may take Drama – Making from observing birds. The Prophet (peace be upon DRAS2.2 Builds the action of him) stated: “If you were to rely on Allah as He the drama by using the elements should be relied upon, He would provide for you as of drama, movement, and voice He provides for the birds. They go out early in the skills. morning hungry and return in the evening full.” DRAS3.2 Interprets and conveys (Tirmidhi). dramatic meaning by using the elements of drama and a range of movement and voice skills in a variety of drama forms.

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 173 TABLE 10.3  (Continued)

Stages 2–3 Unit of Work: “Fajr Birds” Drama – Performing Students will also have the opportunity to create and DRAS2.3 Sequences the action take part in a drama performance based on the of the drama to create meaning famous 13th Century poem by Farid ud-Din for an audience. Attar – “The Conference of the Birds.” Students DRAS3.3 Devises, acts, and will find inspiration for their play based on the retold rehearses drama for performance version by Alexis York Lumbard, Demi, and Seyyed to an audience. Hossein Nasr. The poem/play is about a group of birds led by the wisest bird, the Hoopoe, coming to Visual Arts – Making realization of their spiritual achievement through VAS2.1 Represents the qualities journeying toward God Almighty. of experiences and things that are interesting or beautiful by In addition to exploring music and drama outcomes, choosing among aspects of students will create artworks of native birds by subject matter. assembling materials in a variety of ways. Students VAS2.2 Uses the forms to suggest will practice drawing Australian native birds based on the qualities of subject matter. simple structure of simple shapes and convert these VAS3.1 Investigates subject drawings into sculptures using air-drying clay. matter in an attempt to represent likenesses of things in the world. VAS3.2 Makes artworks for different audiences assembling materials in a variety of ways. This unit of work also links with ICT and English outcomes.

Secondary Years (7–12) Ideas that Align to the Australian Syllabus TABLE 10.4  Secondary years (7–12) ideas that align with Australian syllabus

Stage 5 Unit of Work: “Still-Life Art” Visual Arts Artmaking Outcomes: Practice 5.1 Develops range and autonomy in selecting and applying visual arts conventions and procedures to make artworks. Conceptual Framework 5.2 Makes artworks informed by their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist – artwork – world – audience. Frames 5.3 Makes artworks informed by an understanding of how the frames affect meaning.

Students will explore the changing nature of practice in the visual arts using traditional subject matter. Students will investigate and employ the conceptual framework and the frames to explore a variety of artworks from traditional decorative art to documented examples of temporal sculptural artworks. Students will evaluate Islamic art in context to Islamic Geometry and Design. Students will learn to identify shapes and forms as pattern work and learn to interpret these forms as visual elements that are deeply rooted in spiritual representation and meaning. Students will assess the Still-Life artwork, Waratah (1883) by Lucien Henry and demonstrate an understanding and skills (Continued )

174  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al. TABLE 10.4  (Continued)

Stage 5 Unit of Work: “Still-Life Art” Representation to critically and historically interpret art 5.4 Investigates the world as a source of ideas, informed by their understanding of practice, concepts, and subject matter in the visual arts. the conceptual framework, and the frames. They are to create a Still-Life drawing and Conceptual strength and meaning printmaking Lino Edition of four that 5.5 Makes informed choices to develop and depicts Islamic geometry and design as the extend concepts and different meanings in artwork’s background. their artworks. The exploration of Islamic geometry will Resolution also act as an interdisciplinary unit of work, 5.6 Demonstrates developing technical branching into mathematics. Students will accomplishment and refinement in making explore: artworks. • Measurement to create an even and balVisual Arts Critical and Historical anced drawing grid. Studies Outcomes: • Lettered/numerical Grid tables to evaluPractice ate scale and proportion through Still5.7 Applies their understanding of aspects of Life object drawing/printmaking (Lino practice to critical and historical Printing) interpretations of art. • Observation and application of Fibonacci sequence and composition in Still-Life Conceptual Framework drawing/printmaking (Lino 5.8 Uses their understanding of the function object Printing & Islamic Geometry) of and relationships between artist – artwork – world – audience in critical and This will allow students to develop a broad historical interpretations of art. understanding and knowledge of the visual arts and world history and help students to Frames gain confidence in applying the frames and 5.9 Demonstrates how the frames provide the conceptual framework to their art different interpretations of art. practice. Representation 5.10 Demonstrates how art criticism and art history construct meanings. Stage 5 Unit of Work: “Street Art” Practice 5.1 Develops range and autonomy in selecting and applying visual arts conventions and procedures to make artworks. Conceptual Framework 5.2 Makes artworks informed by their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist – artwork – world – audience. Frames 5.3 Makes artworks informed by an understanding of how the frames affect meaning.

Students will investigate modes of expression through visual form. They will learn to identify art practice through analyzing the structural, cultural, subjective, and postmodern frames in context to public and ready available street art. Students will explore the conceptual framework and learn to identify and explain the continued evolution of graffiti art throughout art history. Students will explore graffiti in a historical context and historically assess how codes, signs, and symbols were used as visual modes of communication.

Approaching Music and Fine Arts 175 TABLE 10.4  (Continued)

Stage 5 Unit of Work: “Street Art” Representation 5.4 Investigates the world as a source of ideas, concepts, and subject matter in the visual arts. Conceptual strength and meaning 5.5 Makes informed choices to develop and extend concepts and different meanings in their artworks. Resolution 5.6 Demonstrates developing technical accomplishment and refinement in making artworks. Visual Arts Critical and Historical Studies Outcomes: Practice 5.7 Applies their understanding of aspects of practice to critical and historical interpretations of art. Conceptual Framework 5.8 Uses their understanding of the function of and relationships between artist – artwork – world – audience in critical and historical interpretations of art. Frames 5.9 Demonstrates how the frames provide different interpretations of art.

This unit will investigate contemporary graffiti artists that have forged the art of Arabic calligraphy into graffiti, coining the term Calligraffitti. Students will explore the art practice of calligraffiti artist, Elseed. Students will assess art practice and explore calligraphy and graffiti in context to cultural paradigms that branch into traditional and contemporary forms of art. Students will create an artwork that explores calligraffiti and then develop that form into a 3D sculpture using sustainable and recyclable materials. Students will also investigate the global economic art bubble in relation to street artist Banksy. Students will evaluate how street art is converted into private collector investment, selling for millions of dollars, altering the viewing perspective. Why is a Banksy street artwork valued and protected with Perspex or in some circumstances removed from its original site into a Sotheby’s warehouse or a gallery, while other street art is undermined and valued, at times even removed? This question will allow students to critically analyze the conceptual framework and to develop key critical thinking skills.

Representation 5.10 Demonstrates how art criticism and art history construct meanings.

Conclusion This chapter outlined, albeit briefly, the various Sunni Muslim positions on music and art–based learning and demonstrated that, despite these differences, with the right amount of creativity, music and arts–based learning outcomes can be achieved for each of the broader Muslim community stances. We have also stressed that being cognizant of cultural/religious understanding, both one’s own and those of students and families, is an essential skill of effective pedagogy. Within educational systems there is often latitude for teachers in designing lessons to fulfil curriculum standards while being responsive to the needs of the learner. The practical examples of sample assignments and further material

176  Frances M. Leap, Mohamad Abdalla and Samah Taki et al.

provided in the resources of this chapter can aid and inspire educators to teach music and art to Muslim learners, indeed to all learners, in ways that are responsive to their cultural and religious needs. It is a worthy undertaking.

References Sahih al-Bukhari (n.d.). Book 65, Hadith 299. Sunnah.com. Retrieved 6 24, 2020, from https://sunnah.com/urn/44550. Sahih al-Bukhari (n.d.). Drinks, Book 74, Hadith 16. Sunnah.com. Retrieved 6 25, 2020, from https://sunnah.com/bukhari/74/16. al-Juday, S. (2004). al-Mūsīqa wa l-Ghinā’ fi Mīzān al-Islam (“Music & Singing in the Scale of Islam”) [Arabic]. (al-Ṭab’ah 1. ed.). Bayrūt: Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Rayyān lil-Ṭibā’ah waal-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī’. al-Kanadi, A. B. (1991). The Islamic Ruling on Music and Singing: In Light of the Quraan, the Sunnah, and the Consensus of our Pious Predecessors. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Abul-Qasim Bookstore. al-Qaradawi, S. Y. (2007). Fiqh al-ghinā’ wa-al-mūsīqá fī ḍaw’ al-Qur’ān wa-al-Sunnah [Arabic] (al-Ṭab’ah 1. ed.). Bayrūt: Bayrūt: Mu’assasat al-Risālah lil-Ṭibā’ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī’. Committee,A. R. (2004, 7 15).The Ruling of Listening to Music in the Light of Al-karadawi`s Fatwa. (A. R. Committee, Compiler) America: AJMA Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America. Retrieved 6 23, 2020, from https://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa/en/352/ the-ruling-of-listening-to-music-in-the-light-of-al-karadawis-fatwa Faruqi, L. I. (1987).The Cantillation of the Qur’an. Asian Music, 19(1), 1–25. Retrieved 6 20, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/833761.pdf. Hickman, R. (2004). Teaching Art to Muslim Students. Visual Arts Research, 30(2), 55–61. Retrieved 6 26, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20715352.pdf. Izsak, K. (2013). Music Education and Islam: Perspectives on Muslim Participation in Music Education in Ontario. The Canadian Music Educator, 54(3), 38–43. Retrieved 5 12, 2020, from https://pepper-mt.oise.utoronto.ca/data/note/281968/Music%20Education%20 and%20Islam.pdf. Khabeer, S. A. (2016). Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the United States. New York: NY University Press. Majah, S. I. (n.d.). Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 36, Hadith 95. Sunnah.com. Retrieved 6 23, 2020, from https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah/36/95. Muslim, S. (n.d.). Book 1, Hadith 611. Sunnah.com. Retrieved 6 25, 2020, from https:// sunnah.com/urn/1606050. Muslim, S. (n.d.). The Religious Prohibition Against Images. COPENHAGEN, Denmark: The David Collection. Retrieved 5 12, 2020, from https://www.davidmus.dk/en/ collections/islamic/cultural-history-themes/image-prohibition. Nasr, S. H. (1987). Islamic Art and Spirituality. New York: SUNY Press. Ogunnaike, O. (2017, 12 5). The Silent Theology of Islamic Art. Berkeley, CA: Zaytuna College. Retrieved 5 12, 2020, from https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/the-silenttheology-of-islamic-art Murata S., & Chittick, W. C. (1994). Vision of Islam (1st ed.). New York: Paragon House.

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UNESCO. (2014). Learning to Live Together Education Policies and Realities in the AsiaPacific. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved 6 23, 2020, from https:// unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0 000227208&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/ attach_import_12eec809-3597-47b5-8e44-0301012e4c0b%3F_%3D227208eng. pdf&locale=en&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/p.

PART III

Islam Inspired Curriculum Renewal

11 CONSIDERING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ISLAMIC EDUCATION Claire Alkouatli

Development in Context Objectives of Islamic education suggest that Islam ought to be taught and learned across the domains of a young Muslim’s life – home, school, mosque, ­community  – to be internalized within the heart, mind, body, and soul, for refinement and application across a lifetime. This chapter thus takes a developmental perspective on Islam as encompassing shared faith-based concepts, principles, and practices, broadly aiming to facilitate the integration of cognition, emotion, and embodiment in consciousness of God. Islamic Education refers to the education of Muslims in their Islamic faith (Douglass & Shaikh, 2004) and being Muslim involves “conscious praxis of the faith” (Zine, 2004, p. 181). Along with unique learning objectives, Islamic education is composed of unique content and pedagogies, as methods of teaching and learning. Taken together, these components suggest a unique type of Islamic human development. Human development generally refers to changes that occur with the passage of time, with changing biological and environmental factors. As educators, environmental factors concern us most because we can alter them. Educators1 who understand child and youth development may be better able to design learning experiences toward social, emotional, and cognitive development (Schonert-Reichl, 2017). Indeed, the ways and pedagogies by which we engage learners have impacts on accelerating or decelerating their development: “Instruction is not limited to trailing after development or moving stride for stride along with it. It can move ahead of development, pushing it further and eliciting new formations” (Vygotsky, 1987, p. 198). If what we do with learners can literally draw development forward, implications are profound. Employing particular pedagogies

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in an Islamic classroom may directly contribute to a young person’s engagement, meaning making, and internalization of Islamic material and, simultaneously, draw forward their development. Other pedagogies may do the opposite. Educators must understand human development to construct educational spaces and employ pedagogies that draw development forward. In terms of who we teach, how we teach, and when, this chapter aims to help educators understand some processes of human development within Islamic contexts and offer some suggestions on how to engage these processes through pedagogies. While considering Islamic education in light of concepts that have evolved in secular, Western contexts is helpful, we need to consider human development in light of concepts drawn from Islamic sources in order to obtain a fuller picture. In previous times and places, where Islamic principles and practices were consistent across homes, schools, and societies, there may have been less need to define the contours of human development and pedagogies through which it was realized. Yet, cultural contexts and pedagogies have changed, and both have significant effects on human development. Many young Muslims are minorities in larger dominant secular Western societies and spend significant amounts of time in non-Muslim learning environments – even those who attend full-time Islamic schools. The starting point of this chapter, then, is the importance of the sociocultural environment on development in general, toward understanding the particular impact of enriched Islamic environments on Muslim children’s development. Scholars describe human development occurring through processes of “progressively more complex reciprocal interaction” between an active, evolving young person and the people, objects, and activities in his or her immediate environment (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006): [D]ifferent environments produce discernible differences, not only across but within societies, in talent, temperament, human relations, and particularly in the ways in which each culture and subculture brings up the next generation. The process and product of making human beings human clearly varies by place and time. (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994, p. 584; italics added) If the process of making human beings human differs across environments, which environments are young Muslims inhabiting? What are the developmental qualities of Islamic environments? What do the ends of Islamic development look like in a global, technological world? Clear answers to these questions are critically important in terms of the Islamic learning environments we construct and the pedagogies as tools of development we employ. This chapter draws from literature in the field of Islamic Education, as well as data from two studies conducted with Canadian Muslim educators, which

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collectively illustrate distinct Islamic understandings of how development unfolds across the lifespan. The first study focused on perspectives and practices of human development in a mosque–school classroom (Alkouatli & Vadeboncoeur, 2018); the second one engaged 35 Muslim–Canadian educators in discussions on their pedagogies in teaching and learning Islam (Alkouatli, forthcoming). In the next Section 2, the reader will be introduced to some general pathways to development considered in light of Islamic education. In Section 3, uniquely Islamic perspectives are described. In Section 4, three pedagogies drawn from a saying common in Muslim communities are examined as ways to enhance human development: Play, dialogue, and companionship. In the last Section (5), the reader is urged to consider the environments they create with Muslim learners and their own roles in processes of Islamic human development.

Pathways to Development in Light of Islamic Education Some concepts drawn from a sociocultural theory of human development (Vygotsky, 1967, 1987, 1994, 2004) help illustrate how development happens and are relevant in Islamic contexts. First, what we do with children in a learning environment is a pathway to developmental change. Individuals develop through participation in mature forms of cultural behavior (Wertsch, 1998; Vygotsky, 1987): The child’s higher psychological functions, his higher attributes, which are specific to humans, originally manifest themselves as forms of the child’s collective behavior, as a form of co-operation with other people, and it is only afterwards that they become the internal individual functions of the child himself. (Vygotsky, 1994, p. 353) In other words, the practices in which we participate, in a sociocultural environment, shape our development at the deepest levels, including our consciousness, described as the very origins of thought unified with emotion (Vygotsky, 1987). The idea that consciousness itself develops in cultural context is significant for Muslim educators in designing learning environments. The educative rigor of an environment may be related to the degree and quality of learners’ participation, often enabled by adults, and the affective and cognitive context surrounding participation (Vadeboncoeur, 2017). In an Islamic educational context, the degrees and qualities of children’s participation in Islamic practices, like congregational prayer, for example, and the affective and cognitive valence of that participation, may contribute to development. Of the many practices that take place within an environment, there are some that are ideal, or final forms – “refined and perfected by humanity” (Vygotsky, 1994, p. 352) – which exert influence on a developing person. A common

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example is language: While a young child speaks in babbles, adults speak back in the final form of the language. Eventually, the child also comes to speak in that final form. Let us agree to call this developed form, which is supposed to make its appearance at the end of the child’s development, the final or ideal form – ideal in the sense that it acts as a model for that which should be achieved at the end of the developmental period; and final in the sense that it represents what the child is supposed to attain at the end of his development. (Vygotsky, 1994, p. 348) Final forms, modeled by adults, illustrate the endpoints of development that interact with the child as the child develops. Without exposure to final forms, the form may fail to develop in the child, or may develop in a distorted way (Vygotsky, 1994). This concept might prompt Muslim educators to think about final forms of Islamic practices in their own classrooms, including aspects of character, Islamic reasoning, and social etiquette (adab): Which forms are present? How are they role modeled? How do we enable children to engage with final forms? While many Muslim educators are cognizant of the importance of Islamic environments for learning, the elements mentioned here provide some specific touchstones: Creating participatory learning environments and enabling engagement with final forms of Islamic practices. Speaking together is a second primary pathway to development, whereby language fosters the development of individual thinking processes. First, the child begins to use language in relationships, to serve social functions. Gradually, over time, the child comes to use language as inner speech, whereby the words of others become the child’s own inner thoughts (Vygotsky, 1994). In an Islamic learning environment, words carry great weight: From specific pronunciation, meaning, and memorization of the Arabic words of the Qur’an, to Muhammad’s words in context, to the words that make up dua (supplication), to the 99 Divine names, to Islamic expressions in everyday speech. Speaking meaningful words together with young Muslims is a primary pedagogy in Islamic education and internalization of such words is a primary goal. Importantly, how we do so – and the emotional and cognitive framing around speaking together – may contribute to depths of internalization and may be specific to a particular place in time. In a contemporary Canadian cultural context, for example, Muslim educators identified that exploring meaning, providing reasons, and encouraging independent investigation and freedom to question and contradict are important pedagogical approaches with Muslim–Canadian children (Alkouatli, forthcoming). If the words we speak with children eventually become their own thoughts, then the developmental gravity of speaking Islamically with learners becomes visible. It also provides insight into Aisha’s famous statement that Muhammad’s character

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was the Qur’an (Ware, 2014, p. 7), which suggests that Muhammad embodied the Qur’an, and its words and concepts constituted his very cognitive structure (Alkouatli, 2018). Participating in learning environments characterized by final forms of social practices and speaking together (Vygotsky, 1994) may have implications within a site of Islamic education in terms of the developmental potential of the commonest practices, like creating a convivial learning environment, reciting Qur’an together, and participating in congregational acts of worship. Yet, these two pathways alone fall short of painting a complete picture of human development in Islamic education, whose roots originate deep within Islam as a faith tradition (Mogra, 2010; Rufai, 2012) that contains unique Islamic understandings of human development.

Islamic Dimensions of Human Development At the first world conference on Islamic education in Mecca, 1977, a definition was presented: “A process that should aim at the balanced growth of the total personality […] spiritual, intellectual, imaginative, physical, scientific, linguistic, both individually and collectively, and motivate all these aspects towards goodness and the attainment of perfection” (as cited in Al-Sadan, 1997, p. 90). This description glimpses prominent themes reflected in the literature on Islamic Education, characterized by holism and Divine unity (tawhid) – where God is a primary force in development – considered here in three concepts. First, the human being who learns and develops is comprised of unique developmental domains, including spiritual ones: “Education must begin with a spiritual understanding of who human beings are, for we are ultimately spiritual beings. We are in this world for a purpose, and we have a responsibility towards the Creator and to His creation” (Nasr, 2012, p. 13). This responsibility alludes to a second concept: Islamic education aims toward unique objectives of learning and development, the center of which is God-consciousness or taqwa (Sahin, 2013). Given the first two concepts, a third is that unique pedagogies link learners to learning objectives. This three-part conceptualization has implications for Muslim educators in terms of who we are educating, toward which ends, and pedagogies operationalizing this process.

Human Beings, Objectives of Human Development, and Pedagogies Linking the Two A primary human dimension is the ruh (soul), as a pure, non-individual aspect of the human being, which functions as an access point to God-consciousness (Rothman & Coyle, 2018). Other interacting elements of the human being include the unity of ‘aql (cognition or intellect) and qalb (emotion or heart)

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(Al-Attas, 1980), whereby the heart is the place where consciousness resides in the form of intellect (Rothman & Coyle, 2018). The nafs often refers to the lowest part of the human self (ego or self ), attracted to worldly desires; yet its ability to be refined across the lifespan constitutes a developmental objective (Rothman & Coyle, 2018). Along with illustrating unique, holistic dimensions of the human learner, the Meccan description also highlights objectives – goodness and the attainment of perfection – in a process of refinement that Islamic education supports. Educational and developmental objectives coalesce within the Islamic tradition (Alkouatli & Vadeboncoeur, 2018) and have been described as fostering “Godly, moral humans” (Obeid, 1988, p. 173); sharpening the mind through reflection on creation; and purifying the whole self through the teachings of the Qur’an (Al Zeera, 2001). In considering pedagogies as methods of teaching Islam, some scholars have asserted that educators have flexibility because pedagogy is not tied to aqidah (creed) (Rufai, 2012). Yet, if an educator’s worldview is colored by aqidah, then there may be implications on pedagogy. While educators should employ contextually relevant best pedagogical practices in teaching Islam, unique Islamic understandings of human beings and objectives of human development indicate particular pedagogies. Pedagogies derived from Islamic primary sources – described within the Qur’an and illustrated in the life of Muhammad (see, for example, Abu Ghuddah, 2017; Alkouatli, 2018; Sahin, 2013) – may be optimal for engaging learners in teaching and learning Islam. The possibility for a human being to attain to God-consciousness (taqwa), and its position as a primary objective of Islamic education (Sahin, 2013), is a significant point in an Islamic conception of human development. Additionally, developmental dimensions of the human being theoretically depart from secular ones, aim for unique objectives, and require unique pedagogies, all of which outline unique Islamic perspectives on how human beings become optimally human.

Islamically Coherent Leading Activities Perspectives on Islamic human development highlight a continuous process across the lifespan, rather than a series of distinct developmental stages (Obeid, 1988). Leading activities have been described as dominating the lives of people at particular age periods and propelling a growing child toward full participation in cultural life (Cole & Engeström, 2006). In Western cultural contexts, leading activities have been identified as play in early childhood; formal instruction in middle childhood; and peer relations in adolescence (Cole & Engeström, 2006). An Islamic iteration of leading activities can be found in a saying, common in Muslim communities and articulated by one of the Canadian–Muslim

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educators, whereby education is considered in terms of three major periods of seven years each: For the first seven years, play with them. For the second seven years, teach them knowledge and manners. And, then, for the third seven years, be friends with them. It is not hadith; some say that Ali Abi Talib said it, in terms of educating children. (Abid, interview, April 2019) This saying features the leading activities of play, instruction, and mature companionship. While it chimes with the sociocultural emphases on play in the early years and formal instruction in middle-childhood, this Islamic saying asserts that in the adolescent years adult companionship, rather than peer relations, is paramount. Given the ubiquitous nature of this saying, it serves well as an Islamically coherent pedagogic framework for considering play, formal instruction, and companionship as leading activities in Islamic Education. Each leading activity can be expressed in myriad relevant pedagogies, depending on the needs of a learning community, the context, and the proclivities of a particular educator in engaging unique dimensions of learners toward Islamic educational objectives. In the sections that follow, these leading activities are examined as imaginative play in the first seven years; formal instruction as participatory dialogue in the next seven years; and companionship as mediated role modeling in the final seven years. These pedagogies may not seem typical to descriptions of Islamic education, historically described as heavy on lecturing, note-taking, disputation, and memorization (Rufai, 2012) and likely reflecting the resources, needs, and cultural norms of particular times and places. Yet, derived from the common saying, they approach criteria described in Ajem and Memon’s (2011) seven principles of Islamic pedagogy. A pedagogy is “Islamic” if it reflects a Qur’anic ethos, the teachings and practices of Muhammad, and the intellectual and spiritual heritage of his followers. In addition, it must aim to develop a student’s intelligence (aql); faith (iman); morality and character (khuluq); and practical knowledge personal religious obligations ( fard ain), as well as worldly responsibilities. Previous scholarship has suggested that play, dialogue, and companionship hold potential in deepening internalization of content material while stimulating development (Vygotsky, 1987). Table 11.1 illustrates leading activities expressed as pedagogies characterizing each age period. In the interests of space, play is explored more extensively than the other two.

Play: Imagining with the Youngest Learners (0–7) While there are many ways of enriching learning playfully, the specific focus here is on imaginative play – variously described as “pretend, symbolic, or fantasy play,” whereby a signifier (e.g. a banana) is often used to represent the signified

188  Claire Alkouatli TABLE 11.1  Islamically coherent leading activities

Age period

Leading Activity

Pedagogies

Early years (0–7) Play • Imaginative Middle childhood Instruction play (8–13) • Dialogue Adolescence (14+) Companionship • Mediated role modeling

Developmental Aims • Cognitive, social-­emotional, spiritual development + purification • Mastery + appropriation of Islamic principles + practices • Assembling one’s own Islam, relevant to place + time

(e.g. a telephone) (Göncü & Vadeboncoeur, 2017, p. 422). Children engage in imaginary play in order to explore experiences of emotional significance and to understand things that happen in their cultural worlds (Göncü & Perone, 2005; Lindqvist, 2001). For example, when a child pretends to be a mother, she begins to develop an understanding of the meaning of motherhood.

Play in Development Several aspects of imaginary play hold potential for development. First, the pleasure of play often compels a child to act against immediate impulses and toward self-restraint. While play appears to be free, it is an illusory freedom because a child’s actions in play are subordinate to the meanings of things and rules stem from the imaginary situation itself (Vygotsky, 1967). Take, for example, two children pretending to be sisters: Sisters are supposed to act in certain ways. So, roles are governed by particular rules, based in experience and specific to the child’s understanding. While subordination to rules may be difficult in other areas of a young child’s life – resisting candy or sitting quietly in preschool, for example – in play, self-subordination to rules is not only possible but pleasurable because it extends the play (Vygotsky, 1967). A child’s greatest achievements come in play, “achievements which tomorrow will become his average level of real action and his morality” (Vygotsky, 1967, p. 14). As children literally role-play their social futures, there may be important implications of play with Islamic material, but this has not been studied. Second, play functions in the vital transition toward abstract thought, whereby children start to separate meanings from objects. For example, a piece of wood becomes a doll; a stick becomes a horse. The child has severed the meaning of horse from a real horse, but still needs the stick as a pivot “to keep the meaning from evaporating” (Vygotsky, 1967, p. 13). As a child begins to create imaginary situations and develop creativity (Lindqvist, 2001), s/he is simultaneously developing the ability to think abstractly (Vygotsky, 1967). Imaginary play has been linked to favorable outcomes including language and literacy development, social-emotional awareness, social competence, and divergent thinking (Berk, Mann, & Ogan, 2006). These features situate play as the

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leading edge of development because, in play, children are functioning beyond their current developmental level: “In play, a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself ” (Vygotsky, 1967, p. 16). Play theorists have suggested that cultural differences in approaches to play raise the question of what is or is not “universal” in imaginative play (Göncü & Vadeboncoeur, 2017). Bearing this question in mind, you might consider optimal ways of engaging children in imaginary play in making meaning of Islamic material specific to your own classroom contexts.

Pedagogical Example of Imaginary Play I explored the potential of imaginary play in a Muslim mother–child playgroup that consisted of nine children, ranging from two to five years old, along with their mothers2 (see Alkouatli, 2020). The mothers of this playgroup, whose cultures along with Canadian included Algerian, Moroccan, Bosnian, Pakistani, Syrian, Lebanese, were striving to establish Islamic identities with their children in a dominant secular Canadian culture. As an activity that allows both children and adults to make sense of the cultural contexts in which they are embedded (Göncü & Perone, 2005), play is well suited for a parent–child playgroup. Each session was framed around a story from Islamic history, told sitting together in a circle and enacted using wooden figures of animals, fabrics, stones, and shells (see Figure 11.1) to introduce context and concepts. The challenge was to draw

FIGURE 11.1 

Storytelling materials assembled in preparation to tell the Hijrah story

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children imaginatively into a world that was geographically, historically, and culturally different from their own, providing children with a whole new world in which to explore and create meaning (Lindqvist, 2001). Within every story, there are natural points to interject imaginative play. In Ibrahim’s story, for example, after he left his wife and child in the deserted valley of Becca, they found the spring of Zamzam and the town of Mecca formed. Later, Ibrahim returned. Here, I paused to invite the children to imagine what we might do if we had actually been there. During these imaginative gaps in the story, I guided children as they discussed ideas collectively. How might his wife and child feel upon Ibrahim’s return? Would they be excited? How could they welcome him? One child suggested making a cake. Another suggested a meal. The children enthusiastically agreed on the meal idea and went off to prepare it, using natural play materials (see Figure 11.2), which they eventually arranged on a large tray and brought back to the storytelling circle. The story continued. In another imaginative gap, the children constructed a tent out of strips of fabric (see Figure 11.3), imagining a dwelling in which Ibrahim and his family might have lived. Weaving imaginary play into storytelling is a way to encourage children develop cultural awareness and make meaning of Islamic material by effectively

FIGURE 11.2 

Preparing to make a meal for Ibrahim

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FIGURE 11.3 

Making a tent to live in the desert at Mecca

inviting them to enter the story. For Muslim children, concepts in the Qur’an illustrated in the life story of Prophet Muhammad and the other prophets contain a wealth of play themes to explore. Engaging children in play pedagogy provides space for creative imagination to flourish toward enhanced cognitive, social-emotional, and spiritual development, as children assemble and internalize their own meanings of Islamic material.

Dialogue as Instruction in Middle Childhood (8–13) As a leading activity in the middle childhood years, how we “do” instruction is critical. Student boredom can interfere with learning and has been a critique of pedagogy in some Islamic educational contexts (Shamma, 1999). Recalling that speaking together is foundational for thinking alone, dialogue is a type of participatory instruction that can contribute to knowledge construction and the development of critical, creative, and caring thinking (Lipman, 2003): If we want children to question themselves, they should first learn to question one another. If they are to reason with themselves, they must first

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learn to reason with one another. […] In sum, if we want children to learn how to think for themselves, we should engage them in thinking together. (Cam, 1995, p. 17, italics added). Dialogue can evoke inquiring, collaborating, and challenging (Cam, 1995); it may be most effective when it is collaborative, when learners build upon each other’s ideas through contributing, listening, and responding (sometimes critically) in a process of advancing toward shared understandings superior to previous individual understandings (Wells, 1999). In thinking together in a mixed-ability dialogic group, facilitated by an educator, each child encounters challenge at the edge of ability in terms of content knowledge, ways of thinking, vocabulary, and/or grammar. Additionally, participants engage in processes of dialogue: “They come to think as the process thinks” (Lipman, 2003, p. 21). In guiding dialogue, then, an educator facilitates internalization not just of ideas and information, but also ways of speaking and thinking among learners. In an Islamic classroom, dialogue may be useful in terms of learning how to reason Islamically and triangulate thinking with Islamic principles. High-quality dialogue may be considered as a master instructional paradigm. While little empirical research has explored the potential of dialogue in Islamic Education, Ahmed (2014, 2019) studied how participation in halaqah, as a traditional, dialogic, circle of learning with an Islamic frame of reference, may contribute to learning, identity, and character development for young Muslims. Table 11.2 provides a sample lesson plan of how dialogue might be constructed with Muslim learners in exploring an important Islamic text: Oh humankind, We created you all from a male and a female and made you into different communities and tribes, so that you come to know one another; the most noble among you is the one most aware of God (Qur’an 49:13). Based on Lipman’s (2003) community of inquiry structure, the lesson plan is centered on a textual prompt, whereby questions are collectively generated to stimulate dialogue. Within an Islamic frame of reference, intended to guide learners in making meaning of an Islamic text, it is an example of an educational halaqah (Ahmed, 2014). While a primary goal of this lesson is to build individual and collective content knowledge, additional development benefits include sharpening children’s cognitive and social-emotional skills by generating questions, thematically categorizing similar questions, and collaboratively engaging in thinking together. This basic dialogic design aims to foster critical, creative, and caring thinking skills in dialogue led by a more-experienced facilitator/educator.

Considering Human Development 193 TABLE 11.2  Sample dialogic halaqah lesson plan

Activity

Description

Text prompt

Students each read aloud 5 a word from the verse (Qur’an 49:13). Invite children to pose a 15 question that came to mind from the text. Write all questions on the board. Together, categorize questions into groups with a leading question in each. Ask which leading question to explore (show of hands). Select question. As a group, discuss the 15 question, asking for reasons, agreeing/ disagreeing, building on each other’s points. A larger discussion plan contains additional related questions.

Questions: Generation

Selection

Dialogical inquiry

Discussion plan

Extension exercise Presentation

Time

Each child writes a 15 reflection on what they learned during the dialogue. Present reflections to 15 the group.

Pedagogic Purpose Reading together strengthens reading skills + bonding. Brainstorming questions, analyzing questions into groups, and coming to consensus is collaborative cognitive work.

Speaking, reasoning, debating, and thinking together draws development forward An educator’s metaperspective guides the discussion, bridges ideas, and maintains dialogic flow. Solidifies personal meaning making. Refines public speaking skills.

Discussion Plan Discussion plans foster conceptual and instructional intention; educators can use these questions to guide dialogue.

Conceptual Topics Difference • What are some differences between communities or tribes? • Are differences always visible? • How do differences relate to gaining knowledge? • How do you feel when you encounter differences in people?

Nobility • What does it mean to be noble? • What can we do to increase our nobility? • Can people who are different to each other both be noble?

Knowing God • How can we know God? • What is the difference between knowledge and awareness? • What is the difference between iman (faith) and taqwa (God-consciousness)? • How does knowing God relate to nobility?

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Companionship: Mediated Role Modeling with Muslim Youth (14–21) Adult–young-person relationships are central to development in all age periods (Vygotsky, 1987) but may be particularly pertinent in last several years of childhood in an Islamic trajectory. Affective educator–student relationships, rather than didactic interaction, are primary in developing a young person “both mentally and morally for the capacity to act as and to remain ‘God’s caliph on earth’” (Polat, 2017, p. 810). Islamic education historically centered this adult-educator/ youth-student relationship differently from that of the parents: “The parents are the cause of the children’s present existence in this mortal life, while the teacher is the basis of their eternal life …” (Al-Ghazali as cited in Abu Ghuddah, 2017). An educator’s companionship with students – including meaningful and mediated role modeling – may be as educative as direct instruction (Halstead, 2004). Mediation is described as helping a learner pay attention to important details in the learning environment, make connections between concepts, and draw deeper meaning out of a situation (Kozulin, 2003). Role modeling illustrates principles and practices in action. Mediated role modeling final forms of Islamic practices within an educative relationship may collectively contribute to depths of learning and development. Described in the literature as “giving the learner examples and adults serving as proper models for the young” (Obeid, 1988, p. 174), role modeling was empirically discerned in the two studies conducted with Muslim–Canadian educators. One described role modeling aiming toward primary objectives: The Prophet Muhammad, what is he acting, actually? Islam! So, when I follow Muhammad I’m not following Muhammad for his personality! I’m following him because of Islam and what Allāh has commanded him. Now, what are the children doing? They are acting like what I am acting. I am acting Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Muhammad is acting Islam! And in the end, we act Islam! (Imran, interview, March 2015) In other words, the students follow the teacher, who follows Muhammad, who follows God. In enacting Islam, then, the educator is a living link between the students and God, via Muhammad, who perfected enactment of Islam. In the critical-interpretive study on pedagogy (Alkouatli, forthcoming), while many of the 35 educators emphasized the primary pedagogy of role modeling final forms in Islamic Education – from social etiquette to mastery of ritual practices – some of them highlighted the importance of role modeling specific to local cultural context. Ruby, a homeroom teacher, explained: “There are thousands excellent examples in our Prophet’s daily life but, besides that, they [the students] need to see someone who is in Canada and who is interacting with non-Muslims,

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living their lives, and applying the teachings of Islam. Happily and successfully!” (interview, April 2019). Ruby illustrated mediated role modeling when teaching her students about salah (prayer) by showing them her own pocket prayer mat that she always carries in her bag, explaining: “No matter where I am, I don’t miss any prayer – even if I have to pray in public. I am proud of my religion and when I speak about the importance of praying on time, I mean it!” Here, Ruby was a contextually relevant role model for her Canadian–Muslim students. An important aspect of mediation is providing young Muslims with the reasons underlying Islamic principles and practices. Rasha, a principal at an Islamic elementary school, emphasized “giving them why” (halaqah, April 2019) and other educators described insufficient reasoning: “Being born in a Muslim household is not a good enough reason” (Sideen), nor is, “Because it’s written in our Qur’an and Sunnah” (Fatima). Hamza noted, “Being a Muslim is not enough, you should understand why you are a Muslim” (halaqah, April 2019). Mediated role modeling final forms is a special form of role modeling in companionship with learners, whereby educators highlight the relevance of Islamic principles and practices to contemporary context and provide pertinent whys. In summary, leading activities build upon each other across the lifespan – we play, dialogue, and commune at all ages. The learning and development taking place through pedagogies in one period of life serves as a foundation for the next.

Toward Muslim Self-, Social, and Spiritual Development Islamic classrooms are unique niches of development and Muslim educators can be catalysts in the development of young Muslims by optimizing relationships and opportunities for participation in Islamic practices. Dimensions of human beings, objectives, and pedagogies hail from a larger Islamic conceptual system, where human development is an ongoing process of self-, spiritual-, and social-transformation. Two implications are, first, that developmentally powerful environments for Islamic learning and development must be consciously constructed as microcosms of a larger Islamic ummah, characterized by pedagogies relevant to time and place. Evoking positive affect and cognitive challenge include featuring pedagogies that are participatory, playful, dialogic, relational – built upon a foundation of deep purpose – all of which stimulate young Muslims in “their physical, intellectual, and spiritual capacities and potentials” (Al-Attas, 1980, p. 17). Second, adult educators in the lives of children are paramount. Today, some adults are taking steps back from this central role, using technology as a replacement educator and deeming children as the experts when it comes to technology. Both sentiments are developmentally unsound. While technology can be an excellent educational supplement, nothing replaces the value of a living, breathing, human educator for whole human development, as illustrated in Islamic

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primary sources. The importance of the educator, central to Islamic Education since Muhammad first taught it, is enshrined in conceptions of Islamic human development (Abu Ghuddah, 2017; Alkouatli, 2018; Al-Sadan, 1997; Halstead, 2004; Mogra, 2010). Three characteristics of Muhammad as an effective educator are knowledge of human beings, including how people learn and develop; content knowledge; and a personality that attracted students’ hearts and minds (Abu Ghuddah, 2017). Muhammad’s attributes as an educator set a sacred precedent that many Muslim educators today endeavor to understand and emulate (Mogra, 2010). A child may be an expert when it comes to technological skills but her life experience and, consequently, her powers of discernment, vision, and imagination (Vygotsky, 2004) may be, as of yet, impoverished compared to an adult’s. Children need caring, visionary adults in their educational lives in helping navigate the complex developmental challenges that technology and globalization have wrought. Muslim educators need to be these visionary adults in a Divine responsibility to our communities’ children. This chapter outlined some principles and pathways of human development to consider how Muslim educators might optimize Islamic learning environments and pedagogies for development. There has been significant change in cultural contexts and pedagogies of teaching Islam, over time, yet the process of making human beings Muslim has not changed: Participating in Islamic practices toward increasing God-consciousness and the embodiment of Qur’anic principles in character and consciousness in the way of an enduring role model for differing times and places.

Notes 1 In this chapter, the term “educator” denotes any adult who teaches Islamic material and guides young Muslims along an Islamic path, including teachers in formal and informal Islamic schools, parents, and community leaders. 2 I established this playgroup informally as community service; it was not part of an academic study. As such, the children featured in the photos are either unidentifiable or they are my own.

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Ajem, R., & Memon, N. (2011). Principles of Islamic Pedagogy, a Teacher’s Manual. Islamic Teacher Education Program. Canada: Razi Group. Al-Attas, S. M. N. (1980). The concept of education in Islam (keynote address). First World Conference on Muslim Education. Jeddah: King ‘Abdul ‘Aziz University Press. Alkouatli, C. (2018). Pedagogies in Becoming Muslim: Contemporary Insights from Islamic Traditions on Teaching, Learning, and Developing. Religions, 9(10), 367. Alkouatli, C. (2020). Exploring Islam through Play. Islamic Horizons. July/August 2020, pp. 56–57. ISNA. USA. Alkouatli, C. (forthcoming). Muslim educator’s pedagogies:Tools for Self and Social Transformation. Alkouatli, C., & Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2018). Potential Reproduction and Renewal in a Weekend Mosque School in Canada: Educators’ Perspectives of Learning and Development. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 19, 29–39. DOI:10.1016/j. lcsi.2018.04.012. Al-Sadan, I. A. (1997). An investigative study of the present professional preparation for teachers in primary schools in Saudi Arabia, with especial reference to Islamic and Arabic subjects (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from University of Hull Digital Repository, https://hydra.hull. ac.uk/resources/hull:8001 on 10/22/19. Al Zeera, Z. (2001). Wholeness and Holiness in Education: An Islamic Perspective. Herndon,VA: IIIT. Berk, L. E., Mann, T. D., & Ogan, A. T. (2006). Make-believe play: Wellspring for development of self-regulation. In D. G. Singer, R. M. Golinkoff, & K. Hirsh-Pasek (Eds.), Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children’s Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth (pp. 74–100). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-Nurture Reconceptualized in Developmental Perspective: A Bioecological Model. Psychological Review, 101(4), 568. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In Lerner, R., & Damon, W. (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Cam, P. (1995). Thinking Together: Philosophical Inquiry for the Classroom. Alexandria, NSW: Hale & Iremonger. Cole, M., & Engeström, Y. (2006). Cultural-historical approaches to designing for development. In J.Valsiner, & A. Rosa (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook on Sociocultural Psychology (pp. 484–507). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Douglass, S. L., & Shaikh. M. A. (2004). Defining Islamic Education: Differentiation and Applications. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 7(1): 5–18. Göncü, A., & Perone, A. (2005). Pretend Play as a Life-Span Activity. Topoi, 24, 137–147. Göncü, A., & Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2017). Expanding the Definitional Criteria for Imaginative Play: Contributions of Sociocultural Perspectives. Learning & Behavior, 45(4), 422–431. doi:10.3758/s13420-017-0292-z Halstead, J.M. (2004). An Islamic Concept of Education. Comparative Education, 40(4), 517–529, doi:10.1080/0305006042000284510. Kozulin, A. (2003). Psychological tools and mediated learning. In A. Kozulin, A. Gindis, V. S. Ageyev, & S. M. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context (pp. 15–38). New York: Cambridge University Press. Lindqvist, G. (2001).When Small Children Play: How Adults Dramatise and Children Create Meaning. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 21(1), 7–14. Lipman, M. (2003). Thinking in Education (2nd ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Mogra, I. (2010) Teachers and Teaching: A Contemporary Muslim Understanding. Religious Education, 105(3), 317–329. doi:10.1080/00344081003772089. Nasr, S. H. (2012). Islamic Pedagogy: An Interview. Islam & Science, 10(1), 7–24. Obeid, R. A. (1988). An Islamic theory of human development. In R. M. Thomas (Ed.), Oriental Theories of Human Development: Scriptural and Popular Beliefs from Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, and Islam (pp. 155–174). New York, NY: Peter Lang. Polat, M. (2017). Tasawwuf-Oriented Educational Philosophy and Its Relevance to the Formation of Religion and Ethics Course Curriculum. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(5): 806–814. Rothman, A., & Coyle, A. (2018). Toward a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy: An Islamic Model of the Soul. Journal of Religion and Health, 57(5), 1731–1744. doi:10.1007/s10943-018-0651-x. Rufai, S. A. (2012). Proposing an Islamic-Based Alternative to Dominant Western and Islamic Teacher Education Models: An Attempt at Curriculum Improvement. ASEAN Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 4(1), pp. 44–60. Sahin, A. (2013). New Directions in Islamic Education: Pedagogy and Identity Formation. Leicestershire, UK: Kube. Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2017). Social and Emotional Learning and Teachers. The Future of Children, 27(1), 137–155. doi:10.1353/foc.2017.0007. Shamma, F. (1999). The curriculum challenge for Islamic schools in America. In A. Haque (Ed.), Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems and Prospects (pp. 273–295). Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications. Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2017). Vygotsky and the Promise of Public Education (pp. 169–202). New York: Peter Lang. Vygotsky, L. S. (1967). Play and Its Role in the Mental Development of the Child. Soviet Psychology, 5(3), 6–18. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky. Volume 1: Problems of General Psychology (R.W. Rieber & A.S. Carton, Eds.). New York, NY: Plenum Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1994). The problem of the environment. In R. van der veer, & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Vygotsky Reader (pp. 338–354). Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and Creativity in Childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97. Ware, R. T. (2014). The Walking Qur’an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry in education: Building on the legacy of Vygotsky. In C. D. Lee and P. Smagorinsky (Eds.), Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy Research (pp. 51–85). New York: Cambridge University Press. Wertsch, J.V. (1998). Mind as Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Zine, J. (2004). Creating a Critical Faith-Centered Space for Antiracist Feminism: Reflections of a Muslim Scholar-Activist. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 20(2), 167–187. doi:10.2979/FSR.2004.20.2.167.

12 DEVISING AN ISLAMIC APPROACH TO LEARNING AND TEACHING THROUGH HADĪTH JIBRĪL REORIENTING OURSELVES TOWARD EDUCATING FROM WITHIN AN ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW Farah Ahmed

Introduction Imam al-Ghazali is reported to have said, “Useless is the Muslim who is neither a learner nor an educator.” While the authenticity of this statement is not confirmed, it is nevertheless reflective of an accepted maxim for Muslim educators (Guenther, 2009) in considering how to orient themselves and their learners toward learning and self-development. The ethos of this statement is that life itself is a process of learning and teaching. This essential “truth” and the centering of knowledge and learning that it implies was a unique hallmark of Islamic civilizations (Rosenthal, 2006). Moreover, this statement is not referring to teaching and learning knowledge in the abstract, devoid of purpose. In classical Islam, ‘ilm (knowledge) was not understood as curriculum content to be examined at the end of a course, testing whether it had been memorized or “learnt.” Acquiring ‘ilm was for acting upon it and teaching it to others; for establishing Islamic ways of being; for bringing Islam into the world. In this regard, education was an ongoing journey of self-development. Teaching was as integral a part of that journey as learning. They were two sides of the same coin, as is evidenced in the many manuals that refer to adāb-al’ālim wa-l-muta’āllim (“Rules of conduct for those of knowledge (educators) and those who wish to seek it (learners)”) (al-Thani, 2016; Az-Zarnuji, 2003). This approach to life was moreover considered the only way to be. Without learning and teaching, Islam could not be “lived.” Due to the purposeful nature of this teaching and learning, educational practices were necessarily informal and far-reaching. The social description given above is not focused on the development of institutionalized higher education

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in madrasahs in the classical period. Rather it is a description of the social ethos that led to informal halāqat (circles of learning) in masājid (Mosques) and homes, social gatherings for reading and understanding the Qur’an, scholastic debates in bookshops (Guenther, 2009) and communal dhikr (spiritual gatherings). At the center of all of this was the desire to gain ‘ilm, which is often translated as “knowledge;” however, “knowledge” does not capture the multi-dimensionality of ‘ilm, which can only be authentically understood if it also incorporates embodying and enacting “knowledge.” Rosenthal recognizes this; he is also aware of the pervasiveness of ‘ilm as a concept that has shaped Islamic civilizations, “There is no branch of Muslim intellectual life, of Muslim religious and political life, and of the daily life of the average Muslim that remained untouched by the all-pervasive attitude toward ‘knowledge’ as something of supreme value for Muslim being” (Rosenthal, 2006, p. 2). Despite acknowledging the “supreme value” of knowledge and thereby teaching and learning in Islamic civilization, the impact of the foundational concepts presented in Ḥadīth Jibrīl on the Islamic milieu can only be fully grasped if we consider classical Islamic orientations toward knowledge, teaching, and learning, which are pre-modern and therefore somewhat unfamiliar to our contemporary ways of thinking. “Premodern” means ways of life that existed before the European Enlightenment worldview came to dominate the world through colonialism. This worldview has evolved and is further entrenched by contemporary neoliberalism, i.e. the idea that everything in society should be directed by a free market. In this worldview, the ultimate aim of every human endeavor, including education, is the creation of wealth. This emphasis on material success combined with the centering of individual liberty and a “scientific” approach to social “progress” now dominates global educational thought and colors how we think about education, teaching, and learning. The classical Islamic orientations presented in this chapter are incompatible with this neoliberal worldview. A conscious advancement of these classical ways of thinking, drawn from our heritage, will support learners and educators in reorienting their approach to the study of Islam in particular, and education more broadly. Such a reorientation draws upon specific conceptual understandings from an Islamic worldview in order to reconstruct lenses through which we as educators can think about teaching and learning. One way of doing this is by devising and using principles that can help reconstruct these lenses, for example the “Principles of Islamic Pedagogy” devised by Ramzy Ajem and Nadeem Memon (2011). Another way is by drawing on foundational Islamic concepts and understanding how they might frame our understanding of education. In the rest of this chapter, I draw upon a reading of Ḥadīth Jibrīl developed in Islamic Shakhṣiyah Foundation1 (Ahmed, 2016) to help educators begin this reorientation and outline some strategies used by educators in

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Shakhṣiyah Schools in the UK. The reading presented here draws out four foundational Islamic concepts encapsulated in this ḥadith and uses them to think about how we approach teaching and learning from within an Islamic worldview.

Ḥadīth Jibrīl (Gabriel) The full text of the Ḥadīth as recorded in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim is reproduced here to contextualize the reading given below. Umar ibn al-Khattab reported: “One day when we were with Allah’s messenger, a man with very white clothing and very black hair came up to us. No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of us recognized him. Sitting down before the Prophet, leaning his knees against his, and placing his hands on his (own) thighs, he said, “Tell me, Muhammad, about Islam.” The Prophet replied, ‘Islam means that you should bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s messenger, that you should perform the ritual prayer, pay the alms tax, fast during Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to go there.” The man said, “You have spoken the truth.” We were surprised at his questioning him and then declaring that he had spoken the truth. The man said: “Now tell me about īmān.” The Prophet replied, “Īmān means that you affirm belief in in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and that you affirm the Decree [predestination], the good of it and the bad of it” Remarking that he had spoken the truth, the man then said, “Now tell me about Iḥsān.” The Prophet replied, “Iḥsān means that you should worship God as if you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you.” Then the man said, “Tell me about the Hour” The Prophet replied, “About that he who is questioned knows no more than the questioner.” The man said, “Then tell me about its marks.” The Prophet said, “The slave girl will give birth to her mistress, and you will see the barefoot, the naked, the destitute, and the shepherds vying with each other in building.” Then the man went away. After I had waited for a long time, the Prophet said to me, “Do you know who the questioner was, ‘Umar?” I replied, “Allah and His messenger know best.” He said, “He was Jibrīl (Gabriel). He came to teach you your dīn (way of life).” Much has already been written on the unique character of this ḥadith, in that it encompasses an overall understanding of dīn, providing a concise definition, laden with layers of meaning. As such, it has been subjected to extensive commentary, which demonstrates its relevance to all aspects of the Islamic worldview and Muslim life. Another unique characteristic of this ḥadith is that it can be read as the Prophet responding to questions from an educator as opposed to asking questions as an educator. Nadeem Memon has offered some useful reflections on this point arguing that this incident not only illuminates how to teach, but also what to teach, thereby providing

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guidance for curricula (2007). I wish to offer a few other remarks related to pedagogy. Traditionally, scholarly interpretation in relation to the pedagogical nature of this episode has focused on the Prophet as the teacher of the ḥalaqah (circle of learning), and Jibrīl is presented as a learner who arrives and attends the  ḥalaqah. In this interpretation, Jibrīl is asking questions for the benefit of the other learners, so they can learn from the teacher what they need to learn 2. However, the ḥadith can also be read as Jibrīl taking the role of an educator, as part of his broader role as a messenger who is charged with bringing revelation to Prophet Muhammad, who in turn is charged with bringing the revelation to humankind. If we read this ḥadith in this way, with the exchange between Jibrīl as educator and the Prophet (peace be upon him) as learner, there are a number of interesting pedagogical features that we can observe. First, Jibrīl clearly has a sense of purpose, which comes through in the description of how he sits in front of the Prophet and commands the Prophet’s attention. Teaching is clearly a moment of connection between these two beings. Second, he is effectively “assessing” the Prophet’s knowledge and understanding, while simultaneously teaching the Prophet’s companions. He does this through a dialogic exchange. Although the exchange consists of direct questions and answers, without the kind of deliberative shared thinking that is characteristic of most human dialogue, it is nonetheless a meaningful interaction between the educator and educated. There is clearly an existing relationship of mutual respect. As educators, this role modeling should have a deep impact on how we view our relationships with our learners. Another significant point for educational purposes is the acknowledgement that all human knowledge has limits. The Prophet says, “He who is questioned knows no more than the questioner” and demonstrates his acceptance of this situation. He does not feel the need to know the answer to this particular question, neither, it appears, does Jibrīl. Both are content in their submission to Allah’s omniscience and aware of their own epistemological limitations. The Prophetic example here reorients our approach to knowledge to be one of humility. In recognizing the limitations of our knowledge, we need to be aware that our knowledge is always incomplete and that we should be tentative in our conclusions as learners and indeed as educators. This acknowledgement applies as much to our current understandings of Islam as of anything else. We need to be open to our Islamic understanding developing over time and be open to learning from the understandings of our learners. The surprising nature of ḥadith Jibrīl and its specific pedagogical style is further enhanced by the layers of educational significance in the foundational concepts that are being “taught” within the ḥadith.

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Four Foundational Concepts in Ḥadīth Jibrīl I suggest that there are a number of concepts in this foundational ḥadith that can have a direct bearing on how we orient ourselves toward teaching and learning. They have an educational quality that can lay the foundation of our understanding in relation to the purpose, mode, and practice of education. The concepts discussed in this chapter are from the elucidation given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl of our dīn as īmān, Islam, and iḥsān. These four foundational concepts provide a launch pad to reorient our approach. The concept of dīn provides a holism that enables us to reconsider the ontology of educational aims and practices. The concepts of īmān, Islam, and iḥsān are (in my reading) intimately interwoven with corresponding concepts of tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb. Elsewhere, I have also explored another layer of connections whereby the terms tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb can be understood through the three dimensions of the human being as jism (body), ‘aql (intellect), and nafs (ego/self )3. However, due to limitations of space in this chapter, I will not discuss these further conceptual relationships here. Figure 12.1 enables visualization of these complex conceptual relationships and Table 12.1 facilitates understanding of how these concepts can be embodied both within individual Muslims and through the relationality within Muslim communities.

FIGURE 12.1 

Conceptual relationships in Islamic ideas of the human person and education

204  Farah Ahmed TABLE 12.1  Conceptualizing an ontology of the Muslim self and Muslim communities

through foundational concepts given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl

Ḥadīth Jibrīl generates an embodied Islam at the individual and communal level. Dīn Īmān Islam iḥsān

through an understanding of dīn as a holistic way of life built upon tawḥīd. through a worldview of īmān (belief/faith/conviction) as bearing witness to and recognizing Allah in every thought, every word, and every action. through the practice of Islam as submission to the will of Allah through acting according to His sharīah, which is a means toward dīn, a holistic way of life, not just a legal code. through an understanding of the purpose of life, and thereby education, to be attaining iḥsān (sublime and beautiful moral excellence) through a strong ongoing relationship with Allah.

Dīn: The Holism of Dīn-al-Islam and Reorienting Our Understanding of Education The concluding sentence of the ḥadith is the Prophet saying He came to teach you your dīn’. This indicates that the dīn can be understood as the drawing together of īmān, Islam, and iḥsān. In this sense the meaning of dīn is understood to be multi-layered, yet its central tenet of tawḥīd holds all these layers of meanings in synchronization. According to Professor Recep Senturk, Dīn-al-Islam has the capacity to provide understandings of the world and our place in it through a notion of multiplexity. The dīn allows for, “a multiplex existence (Maràtib al-Wujüd) as well as multiple levels of epistemology (Maràtib al-’Ulüm), multiple levels of methodology (Maràtib al-Usül), and multiple levels of meaning (Maràtib al-Ma’ànï) and truth (Maràtib al-Haqàiq)” (Senturk, 2017). Dīn-al-Islam begins by asserting tawḥīd (the holism, oneness, or unity of Allah (God)), and extending this to unity of creation, unity of knowledge, unity and therefore equality of humanity, unity of those who have testified and submitted (Muslims), unity of dīn (Islamic way of life), and unity of every other concept and human endeavor within Islamic culture. And yet as Professor Recep has indicated, this unity is realized through multiplexity. Multiplexity is not just multiple objects, persons, or ways; it is multiple relationships between concepts, persons, and ways of being. In this way there is a capacity for dīn to be realized on multiple levels within a person, between persons, and across different regions and cultures in time and space. This understanding explains how Islam is so multifarious and yet so unified. What does this unity in multiplexity have to say about how we reorient ourselves to teaching and learning Islam? First, it is essential that as educators we have a deep understanding of dīn, as all-encompassing as a way of life and not just related to the five pillars. In this regard, our teaching and learning needs to always be from an Islamic worldview. This perspective may lead us to the Islamization of knowledge or Integrated education

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discourse. However, a fuller approach is found in Holistic Islamic Education (HIE) (D’Oyen, 2008). Holistic Islamic Education involves a reworking of classical Islamic educational thought, based on attempting to synthesize classical Islamic pedagogy with contemporary educational methods and full-time schooling. Some Muslim educators have developed various approaches to the theory and implementation of HIE, such as, the “Tarbiyah Project,” which provides an “Integrated Learning Model” (Tauhidi, 2001), a proposal for a neo-Classical/ Montessori approach devised by D’Oyen (2008) and “Principles of Shakhṣiyah Education” devised by Ahmed (2016). These approaches attempt to provide a holistic interdisciplinary education from an Islamic worldview. Second, we need to understand that within dīn-al-Islam there is no one set or fixed way of life. Rather, the dīn has this miraculous capacity to operate on so many levels and so many ways. While the civilizational culture of 13th-century Fez and 19th-century Indonesia are markedly different, they are also both recognizable as distinctly Islamic (Abd-Allah, 2006). Within Muslim communities in Western contexts there are a range of expressions of dīn-al-Islam, which nevertheless cohere in the same masajid and community centers. Both of the above understandings of dīn-al-Islam will have a direct impact on curricula. How can our curricula be both unified and multiplex? How can curricula center Islam as an anchor for all learning and yet do justice to disciplinary conventions that differ so markedly for example in art and mathematics? How can curricula do justice to the multiplexity of Islamic teachings and culture? My argument here is that far from creating new challenges, these understandings of dīn-al-Islam can help us address the supposed binary gap between “Islamic Studies” and national curriculum requirements. Reorienting ourselves in this way, both as educators and as learners, allows for coherence within complexity. It allows us to reorient our approach to learning Islam as a dialogic one, whereby far from taking in “knowledge,” we as lifelong learners are engaging with layers of meaning and engaging with those meanings in very personal ways. We do this by centering our relationships, which in themselves are also multiples; relationships with Allah, with ourselves, with our educators, and with all those we come into contact with as well as the natural environment and cultural influences that shape who we become. In doing so, we bring our own layers of learning into the multiplexity of Islamic culture. We hold this together by holding fast to the wisdom of usul-al-fiqh and the established normative rulings it produced through the multiplexity of the different madhabs. As Umar Faruq Abd-Allah notes, it is this capacity within shariah and fiqh that it holds together a normative Islamic worldview and celebrates cultural diversity within it. “For centuries, Islamic civilization harmonized indigenous forms of cultural expression with the universal norms of its sacred law. It struck a balance between temporal beauty and ageless truth and fanned a brilliant peacock’s tail of unity in diversity

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from the heart of China to the shores of the Atlantic. Islamic jurisprudence helped facilitate this creative genius.” (Abd-Allah, 2006) I suggest that these sites of “creative genius” and the tangible manifestations of their creativity in the arts and sciences must infuse our curricula. This can be done throughout all disciplines as highlighted in other chapters in this volume. The Shakhṣiyah holistic curriculum focuses on connections between knowledge and connections to the lived experiences of learners. While the former can be somewhat determined in planning, they also emerge through learning sessions. The Shakhṣiyah curriculum consists of three or six week long themes. At the beginning of the theme, a “knowledge harvest” is conducted whereby learners share what they already know, make connections between their knowledge, and craft inquiry questions for the forthcoming theme. This approach achieves the multiple aims of connections between knowledge, between subject disciplines, and to the lived experiences of learners. Ultimately, not only are teachers and learners appreciating culture, they are also generating culture and building a community of inquiry. The above understanding of dīn can also support us in reorienting our pedagogy more broadly. In the reading of Hadīth Jibrīl presented here, the three main Islamic terms for education have a relationship with the foundational Islamic concepts given in Hadīth Jibrīl. Relationships between īmān, Islam, and iḥsān, and tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb, are illustrated below.

Īmān and Tarbiyah Tarbiyah is commonly translated as education; however, it is better translated as “upbringing,” which includes formal and informal education. According to the classical Arabic lexicographer Rāghib al-Asfahānī (d. 402 A.H./1011 C.E.), the word tarbiyah means: “To cause something to develop from stage to stage until reaching its completion ( full potential).” This indicates that it is directly connected to the concept of fiṭrah, that is, human nature as inclined toward recognizing Allah. Thus, tarbiyah is the nurturing of the human fiṭrah toward Allah ta’ālá, it involves bringing up a child to achieve his or her full potential as a human being and as a Muslim. In doing so, this particular human being will realize their fiṭrah by fulfilling their potential, that is, leading a flourishing human life in submission to Allah. At the root of this human flourishing is īmān, a firm conviction in Allah as al-Ahad, al-Khāliq and Rab-al-’alāmīn. Tarbiyah is thus intimately intertwined with nurturing and nourishing īmān through a recognition of Allah as One, as Creator, and as Lord of all the worlds. Although these tenets of īmān are universal truths, they are understood by individual children and young people in many different ways. It takes a journey of lifelong reflection to maintain and develop īmān. Often educators assume that children have this understanding,

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this connection to Allah. Actually, īmān needs to be consistently nurtured, and it needs be done in a personalized way. Each individual child is unique; this is part of the miracle of creation. Each will respond to īmān in his/her unique way. Īmān must be contextualized within the individual Muslim child’s reality to have an effective impact on his/her life and being. In Shakhṣiyah Education, īmān is established by relating the ‘aqīdah to all the complexities of an individual child’s contextualized growth and development through personalized tarbiyah. Children learn about the tenets of īmān in context, in relation to their life, home, family, community, and the wider world, so that it has meaning for them. For example, the understanding that Allah is al-Khāliq can come through recognizing that all that is observed and verified through the physical sciences, has been created by Allah; that this creation follows specific patterns observable to human beings through mathematics. Moreover, that the human being has been given a natural tendency by Allah to look for patterns, and that this tendency enables us to recognize Allah in His creation. Furthermore, our capacity to be creative through Art and Design, is also given by Allah and is ultimately only meaningful when it is used to glorify Him. Thus, our creation and appreciation of Art is sacred activity. These layering of meanings in īmān are an indication of the “multiple levels of meaning (Maràtib al-Ma’ànï) and truth (Maràtib al-Haqàiq)” described by Senturk (2017). It is through multi-level nurturing that tarbiyah becomes holistic and meaningful. This tarbiyah is highly dependent on the intuition, spirituality, and sensitivity of the teacher toward the learner in her care. She must have a deep reflective understanding of this learner and the skill to connect the learner with his fiṭrah. Moreover, the teacher must also recognize that in engaging in this tarbiyah, she also is learning. This very action is also being carried out as one strand of her relationship with Allah. Elma Harder has ably described this in her chapter on “The Two Learners” (Harder, 2006). Although, īmān will also be nourished through ta’līm and ta’dīb; it appears to me to have a foundational relationship with tarbiyah. This is further evident in the relationship between the arkān al- īmān (six pillars of faith as given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl) and fiṭrah. I have discussed the relationship between fiṭrah and belief in Allah, but do not have space in this chapter to discuss how the other five pillars of īmān, namely belief in “angels, books of revelation, prophets and messengers, day of judgement and all good and bad being from Allah,” are related to the fiṭrah, and are to be nourished through tarbiyah. However, suffice it to say that these core beliefs reflect the tendency in human beings to recognize our existence as a miracle that is contingent on a greater being, namely Allah who is as-Samad (absolute and self-sufficient); who has full control over our lives and has communicated His majesty to us through Angels, Books, and Messengers. Tarbiyah is ultimately nurturing the remembrance of these tenets of faith and facilitating the embodiment of this belief system.

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Islam and Ta’līm Ta’līm is commonly translated as education or teaching; translations imply that it involves as the transmission or inculcation of ‘ilm (knowledge). This includes knowledge acquired through ḥawās (sense perception), through inductive and deductive reasoning (‘aqli), and knowledge acquired from revelation i.e. Qur’an and Sunnah (naqli). However, it is well understood that this transmission of knowledge must necessarily transform the being, the understanding and the actions of the human being (Rosenthal, 2006, p. 67); and that such a transformation ultimately leads to the attainment of Islam (submission). According to Ḥadīth Jibrīl, submission and thereby Islam comes into being in the human being through the practice of arkān al- Islam (five pillars of action as given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl). Thus, Islam is “taught” not just through imparting or transmitting ‘ilm, but through such ‘ilm being realized in performative action. The act of shahādah is the physical utterance of the shahādatain, two formulaic sentences, that when uttered constitute an action and create an embodiment of the knowledge contained therein. This action transforms the being of a human from a non-believer to a Muslim and brings him into a new plane of existence and embodiment. His worldview changes and he now “knows” and “bears witness” to these two universal truths. In doing so, he has embodied the “knowledge” of the shahādatain, that is, acknowledging that Allah is One and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Moreover, utterance of core Islamic beliefs through the formulaic recitation of Qur’an, ḥamd and du’a in salah, combined with the physical movements of the body, whether alone or in congregation, is another core activity in any planning of ta’līm-al-Islam (teaching Islam). This foundational teaching is of an embodied action, and all further ta’līm builds on this by the learner being transformed by application of the knowledge learnt through physical action, reflection, and embodiment. To know something is to be something, for example, to know Allah is ar-Razzāq, is to have complete trust in Allah to provide sustenance. This is embodied through sakinah (tranquility) and sabr (patience) in times of hardship. In Shakhṣiyah Education, a great deal of emphasis is placed on each child gaining Islamic knowledge and understanding in a manner whereby it is translated into action and embodiment. Our approach is to support children in developing a dynamic Islamic worldview. This happens through dialogue and discussion to generate understanding of Islamic concepts and their relationships to each other, in order to build an Islamic conceptual framework. Such a framework enables children and young people to have a frame of reference to think through how Islam can be enacted in their lives and communities, and how it might contribute to wider social and political issues. This chapter is an illustration of how such a framework might work. In drawing the connection between acquiring knowledge through ta’līm and embodying this knowledge through ‘amāl ṣālih

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(pure and righteous actions), we as educators can begin to think through how our teaching approaches might enable learners to embody the knowledge they have learnt. Similarly, through a dialogic engagement with concepts and their connections, for example, the concepts of amānah (trusteeship) and our world as khalq (creation) of Allah, learners can grasp the responsibility on all human beings to look after our world. This engagement happens in the dialogic space of halaqah (circle of learning) held daily. Teachers introduce Islamic concepts and ask key questions designed to elicit a dialogue between learners (Ahmed, 2019). In this way, learners develop the critical thinking skills of being able to make these connections for themselves. They develop a cognitive conceptual framework that provides them with a lens through which to make sense of an ever-changing world. This framework is strengthened through a more “traditional” approach of learning basic fiqh and aḥkām sharī’ah (sacred rulings and law). However, teachers understand that it is the conceptual framework and its embodiment in the being and actions of the children that will enable them to understand how to act on the fiqh and more importantly, how to understand the myriad of nonIslamic worldviews and their manifestations that they will come across over their lifetime. Acquiring knowledge through ta’līm develops Islam (submission) in the believer. Through this personal inward and outward submission, the īmān and character of a Muslim is made manifest in his or her ‘amāl ṣālih (pure and righteous actions), as is stated repeatedly in the Qur’an. These actions have an impact in communities and societies and in our interconnected age, they also impact the global world.

Iḥsān and Ta’dīb Iḥsān is “beautification,” “perfection,” or “excellence”; it derives from ḥusn, meaning goodness and beauty. Attaining iḥsān is the Muslim’s responsibility to obtain perfection, or excellence, in worship, such that we worship Allah as if we see Him, and although we cannot see him, we undoubtedly believe that He sees us. This is the definition given in Ḥadīth Jibrīl. Having iḥsān involves one’s inner faith (īmān) manifested in āmal (deeds and action), while conscious of a direct relationship with Allah ta’āla. It is also a sense of social responsibility borne from religious convictions, in that excellence is sought in our worldly life and interactions with each other. Ta’dīb translates as enhancement of character through education; it can also be translated as disciplining. It is traditionally considered to be the development of the capacity in an individual to discipline the nafs (self ), thereby generating good character. Ta’dīb involves education that goes beyond knowledge to the inner dimensions of the human self. These inner dimensions of an individual’s

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shakhṣiyah, that is, those pertaining to the spiritual, are essential to Shakhṣiyah Education. The young Muslim is nurtured to cultivate a reflective personality and develop the ability to control and discipline her nafs in order to attain iḥsān. Within daily dialogic halaqah, learners are given the space and skills for reflection, contemplation, and an awareness of their inner world. Through Qur’an, hadith, stories, poetry, and reflection on Islamic concepts, they engage with moral values and how iḥsān is sought in these values (Ahmed, 2005). Through ta’dīb, the nafs is tamed, the heart is purified, and the personal relationship with Allah ta’āla is developed. As educators, we need to work with individual children to support a desire to attain iḥsān and develop their understanding of how to attain it within their context. Part of this work includes supporting children’s awareness of their own feelings and desires and developing understanding that their nafs can be drawn toward negative feelings and wrong actions. Teachers can complement this by supporting an awareness of how to nurture positive feelings and values and how to transform these into Islamic ṣifāt (qualities and characteristics) through remembrance of Allah and being present in the moment, especially in ṣalāt and other forms of worship. Teachers can support children to understand that Allah is with us always. They can encourage children to explore how feelings and behavior are not the same thing, thereby supporting them to become conscious of the inner as well as the outer. They can emphasize that disciplining the nafs is a lifelong struggle that requires ongoing diligence and hard work. That this inner journey leads us toward Allah, it helps us to develop a close relationship with Him, thereby enabling us to attain iḥsān. Teachers and thereby learners come to understand that there is a catalytic developmental connection between actions and consciousness of Allah, that acts of worship change our level of consciousness, thereby enabling us to draw close and know Allah at another level of consciousness. (Trevathan, this volume). There are theorizations of the term ta’dīb that go beyond the brief outline given above. Syed Naquib al-Attas’ argues that ta’dīb is the most comprehensive way of understanding education in the Islamic paradigm (al-Attas, 1980). For al-Attas, attaining adāb is authentically becoming, through knowing and recognizing the “proper place of things.” All creation is an ecosystem that needs to be understood relationally. In this reading, there is a strong societal dimension to ta’dīb, which leads not just to the iḥsān of an individual but of society as a whole. According to al-Attas, Muslims have become entrenched within a secular Western worldview and are looking to understand their problems through this inauthentic lens. For al-Attas, only a regeneration of adāb, through education reconfigured as ta’dīb, will allow Muslims to understand the “proper place of things” and thus faithfully address the needs of their societies.

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Conclusion Ḥadīth Jibrīl offers educators a range of foundational concepts that can deepen our understanding of education from an Islamic perspective. In this chapter we have looked at the teacher–learner relationship modeled in this ḥadith and we have explored the four foundational concepts of dīn as īmān, Islam, and iḥsān. Moreover, we have related the latter three concepts to the Islamic educational terms tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb. We have not explored another layer of connections whereby the terms tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb can be understood through the three dimensions of the human being as jism (body), ‘aql (intellect), and nafs (ego/ self ). Such connections can enable us to explore the ontological, epistemological, and axiological dimensions of the human being. Moreover, we have not considered other conceptualizations of education such as tahdhīb al akhlāq (refinement of moral qualities) or tazkiyah tul qalb (purification of the heart). Islamic understandings of the human being are complex and multi-layered. However, as educators our work is the growth and development of the human being. As such, it is important that we develop our understanding of Islamic concepts related to the human being. At Islamic Shakhṣiyah Foundation, we have done extensive work in theorizing shakhṣiyah Islāmiyah as a dialogical Muslim-self imbued with agency. This has been in conjunction with empirical academic research aimed at evaluating practice (Ahmed, 2018). In all the conceptualizations given above, teachers need to be aware that learners need to have agency in order to actualize these attitudes. While a teacher can lead a learner to water, she cannot force the learner to drink. The thirst must be there within the learner, thirst for knowledge, learning, growth, and development. Through tarbiyah, ta’līm, and ta’dīb, teachers can develop īmān, Islam, and iḥsān in the individual shakhṣ (personhood) of each child. They can develop an understanding of dīn as a holistic way of life that can take root in all cultures. They can help children and young people to understand that as individual shakhṣ, each of us has to f ind our own way of living our dīn, within the normative understandings of Islam, and within our own specif ic cultural contexts. Living the dīn means an ongoing dialogical relationship with Allah, with our own nafs, and with the rest of creation.

NOTES 1 Details of the schools run by Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation can be found at http://isf. education. 2 This traditional scholarly explanation is from private correspondence on 11th September 2020 with Dr Sohail Hanif of Cambridge Muslim College, UK. 3 Recordings of Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation’s Ramadan 2020 webinar series can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/IslamicShakhsiyah/.

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References Abd-Allah, U. F. (2006). Islam and the Cultural Imperative. CrossCurrents, 56(3), 357–375. Ahmed, F. (2005). Halaqah Curriculum. Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation. Ahmed, F. (2016). Principles of Shakhsiyah Education. Shakhsiyah Research and Resources. Ahmed, F. (2018). Pedagogy as Dialogue between Cultures: Exploring Halaqah: An Islamic dialogic pedagogy that acts as a vehicle for developing Muslim children’s shakhsiyah (personhood, autonomy, identity) in a pluralist society [Thesis, University of Cambridge]. https://doi.org/10.17863/ CAM.25849. Ahmed, F. (2019). The potential of halaqah to be a transformative Islamic dialogic pedagogy. In N. Mercer, R. Wegerif, & L. Major (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Research on Dialogic Education (1st ed., pp. 647–659). Routledge. https://www.routledge. com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Research-on-Dialogic-Education/ Mercer-Wegerif-Major/p/book/9781138338517. Ajem, R., & Memon, N. (2011). Principles of Islamic Pedagogy: A teacher’s Manual. Islamic Teacher Education Program. https://www.mnblind.org/pdf/19-general-islamic-books/ 8444-118-principles-of-islamic-pedagogy/file. al-Attas, S. M. N. (1980). The Concept of Education in Islam:A Framework for an Islamic Philosophy of Education. First World Conference on Islamic Education, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. al-Thani, A.-S. (2016). Desire of the Aspirant: On the Etiquette of the Teacher and the Student. Islamic College for Advanced Studies Publications. Az-Zarnuji, B. al-Din. (2003). Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning (G. E. V. Grunebaum and T.M. Abel, Trans.; 2nd Revised edition). Chicago, Illinois, US: Starlatch Press. D’Oyen, F. (2008). Holistic Islamic Education for 21st century Britain: A Preliminary Analysis of neo-Classical and Montessori Education in Light of Islamic Educational Thought [Unpublished Masters Thesis]. Roehampton University. Guenther, S. (2009). Al-Jahiz and the poetics of teaching: A ninth century Muslim scholar on intellectual education. In A. Heinemann, J. L. Meloy, T. Khalidi, & Manfred Kropp (Eds.), Al-Jahiz. A Humanist for Our Time (pp. 17–26). Orient-Institut Beirut. https://www. academia.edu/8004772/Jahiz_and_the_Poetics_of_Teaching. Harder, E. R. (2006). Concentric Circles: Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Learning – A Foundational Approach. Al-Qalam Publishing. Memon, N. (2007).The Prophetic Standard: Incorporating the Instructional Methods of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Schools. ISNA Education Forum Papers. ISNA Education Forum. http://www.isna.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/the_prophetic_standardincorporating_the_instru.pdf. Rosenthal, F. (2006). Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam. BRILL. Senturk, R. (2017, February 15). Inaugural Lecture – What Is a University? What Is a University? Inaugural Lecture, Istanbul, Turkey. https://www.academia.edu/35266050/ What_is_a_university. Tauhidi, D. (2001). The Tarbiyah Project: A Holistic Vision of Islamic Education.Tarbiyah Institute. http://www.tarbiyah.org.

13 SITTING, DEBATING, MEMORIZING, AND DISCIPLESHIP Considering Historical Patterns of Islamic Pedagogy for Contemporary Islamic Studies Mujadad Zaman

Language is not merely the vehicle of meaning it is also its driver, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein reminds us. Since entire worldviews have the potential to be made in the words of our choosing, language is the first frontier of any educator. The teacher is entrusted in making sound use of their potential (and privilege) to ensure that the worlds which words enhance learning. In this regard, “education” is itself a term which harnesses the possibilities and ideals of learning more generally. Derived from firstly, educere, that which is drawn or “led out” in Latin, and educare to “nurture” from within (Rost, 1979, p. 53), this etymology relates to a complex process which involves the external (zahir) forms of learning and the inner (batin) actuality for the learner. In making use of this inner and outer trope, the present chapter attempts to draw out the possibility of meanings which emerge from historical pedagogic practices from Islamicate civilization. In other words, what are these outer forms of learning and how may they inform us about Islamic education. In order to do so, the forms of pedagogy are reexamined in relation to the meanings and relevance for pedagogues, jurists, and spiritual guides across Islamic history have given them in order to consider their possible efficacy in today’s institutional milieu of Islamic studies. These I identify as sitting (on the ground), dialectic, memorizing, and discipleship. While not exhaustive of pedagogic accounts in Islamic history, these patterns, pentimentolike, emerge as a means, as shall be considered here, for deliberation in accordance to their merits within the present secular circumstances of teaching Islam in schools.

Loosening the Gordian Knot for Pedagogues If we begin with the observation that knowledge takes many forms and is a communication which either explicates, mirrors, or contends with competing visions of reality, the educationalist is tasked with the problem of how to make

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sense of and “heal” those differences for the student. Muslim thinkers have historically tackled this question of knowledge and learning by invoking its one, Divine, spring. In this regard, Al-Ghazali mentions a Prophetic tradition in his Ihya that says the Prophet was once asked: “O Apostle of God! What works are best?” To which he replied, “Your knowledge of God.” He was then asked, “which knowledge do you mean?” He answered, “your knowledge of God.” Again, he was asked, “we enquire about works and you reply concerning knowledge.” Muhammad then said, “With your knowledge of God, a few works will suffice but without such knowledge, no works, however, numerous, avail.” (Faris, 1987, pp. 6–7) The prophetic counsel to forge the bond between knowledge and deeds would make it educations leitmotif for Muslims. Similarly, a proverb attributed to the Caliph and cousin of the Prophet, ʿAli ibn Abī Tālib, says, “manners are the manifestation of intelligence” (al-Quḍāʿī, 2014, p. 229) namely, to a greater or less degree, we are ethically what we know. “Knowing” in this context is then coterminous with being, as Biron’s repose in Love Labour’s Lost suggests “learning is but an adjunct to ourself, and where we are our learning likewise is” (Shakespeare, 2012, p. 4.3.). For contemporary, often secularly inclined, approaches to education, this distinction between “learning as ethics” has little relevance since what you know is distinct from who you are as a person (Dupré, 1993). This spilt between knowledge and ethics marks, in one sense, the history of philosophy and a break with pre-modern accounts of the subject. Recounting these developments, Michel Foucault argues the construction of this distinction lays in the philosophy of 17th century thinker, René Descartes, through whom asceticism (self-discipline and ethical conduct) cesses to be a necessary prerequisite in the acquisition of knowledge and ultimately truth (McGushin, 2007, pp. 181–191). In other words, who you are as a person has little relevance to your mastery of knowledge. For the modern educationalist, and especially the teacher of Islamic studies, this historical development translates into a broader orthodoxy about education and ethics. The educationalist who wishes to create a rapprochement with the substance and content of Islamic education from an age in which such prejudices and distinctions were not set, will find modern education is indeed, in this case, insufficient in accommodating for the past. Moreover, such orthodoxies may view with suspicion profiteering the importance of premodern systems of transmission, learning, and ethics as well as education as a form of “embodying” knowledge within the human being. The exercise of drawing out from models of the past is beset by distinct disadvantages since not only is the weight of intellectual history stacked against them as are the proclivities of Educational studies, as a modern academic discipline. Learning from the

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past is not, it seems, as simple at first sight. However, not to engage with, draw out, and honestly consider what Islamicate civilization has to say about learning and education, is perhaps premature and is worthy of sincere consideration, as is the task of its potential application. Though strewn with difficulties, the present academic climate, especially with the rise of post-colonial critique, offers a propitious moment to emerge for Islamic education.

Islamic Pedagogy Firstly, the idea of “Islamic pedagogy” opens an important question, not unlike the conceptual divide between Muslim and Islamic education (or even Muslim and Islamic philosophy). To designate something “Islamic” here means to highlight the importance of the latter’s reliance on ideals found in the scriptural, prophetic, and other religious sources in animating the vast venture of learning in Islamicate civilization more generally.1 For Islamic Education apposite “sources” are to be found in the practices of formal and informal modes of learning in history. Here, for example, the historical view of the Quran as a “teacher” in medieval Islamic thought is notable and holds significant educational relevance. This pedagogic imperative in the scripture is partly referenced by the language of revelation.2 Paired to this is the role of the Prophet as a communicator of those divine meanings. For the educationalist, Qur’anic injunctions to “follow the prophet” (itib’ah an nabi) infer the primacy of his role in this manner; a pedagogy discerned from his life. Consider, “Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (Q 3:31) or “O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you” (Q 4:59). Furthermore, It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom – although they were before in clear error. (Q 62:2) In this chapter the pedagogic features to be discussed as “Islamic” appear in myriad contexts outside of an Islamic one, and thus have no specific distinctiveness to Islam. However, we are here interested in the differences of degree, the specific meanings associated with them within an Islamic mien, which illicit ideas for educational consideration in Islamic studies. Similarly, to speak then of “prophetic pedagogy” is to suggest that the life of the Prophet offers distinct educational moments which can and have arguably been incorporated into the historical vernacular of learning (in myriad forms) within Islamic history. This refers specifically to cases inspired by the Prophet, based on incidents from his life (hadith) as well as summative accounts about his person (sunnah) more generally. While a thorough academic consideration of the Prophet’s legacy to

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pedagogy has yet to be undertaken in the literature, pedagogy as ethics and the emulation of the Prophetic manner, stand as defining features of its approach. This is foregrounded by hadith in which the prophet is quoted as saying, “my lord educated me and He perfected my education” (addabanī rabbī wa ahsana ta’dībī) (Seesemann, 2017, p. 22). Similarly, another hadith mentions “He sent me as a teacher and as one who makes things easy [for others]” (Ghuddah, 2015, p. 14). It is then in reference to the stature of the Prophet that many of the following patterns of pedagogy are to be explored; these being sitting, dialectic, memorizing, and fellowship through discipleship.

Patterns of Pedagogy The idea of a “pattern” is employed here from the work of the architect and theorist Christopher Alexander whose influential A Pattern Language documents the varying ways in which societies across history converge on similar ways of conceiving architecture. In so doing, concurrent forms of building, proportions, and sensibilities to building emerge and it is these patterns which form his ideas of architecture. In our present context, what is meant by the presence of such patterned pedagogies infers a remarkable comity which can be said to run through Islamic history more generally. Why this may be the case, i.e. emerging patterns of learning and pedagogy, is a contested issue and one which William A. Graham posits about Islamic civilization in the following way: No tradition, not even the Buddhist or Christian, has manifested itself in such widely varied geographical, historical, and cultural milieux with such diversity of particular manifestations and simultaneous continuity of generic social, religious, cultural, and political traits. It is a truism to say that there is no single entity called “Islam,” only the various “Islams” of local contexts: To speak of Islamic society or civilization is to speak of myriad local or regional traditions of sharply differing forms and often rapidly changing historical circumstances. On the other hand, to speak of any particular Islamic society is also to speak of a shared tradition that is astonishingly recognizable across all of its regional divisions and historical eras. Consequently, while those engaged in Islamic studies dare not lose sight of the many variations and changes Islam has known as a global religious and cultural tradition, they must still press forward to generalization about the wider Islamic tradition its historical manifestations, if justice is to be done to the impressive continuities it has and does exhibit. (Graham, 1993, pp. 495–496) Discerning chords of educational congruity throughout Islamic history is contentious not least for methodological reasons. The method of creating patterns

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of pedagogy here is the result of logging the frequency in which the following forms of learning occur and reoccur throughout Muslim sources. What is presented here is however, not exhaustive of the historical material available and only serves as a propaedeutic account for further research. Moreover, we must be careful not to be heavy-handed with the intentionality of such patterns (i.e. why they appear in Islamic history) even when they have precursors in the putative traditions of the Prophet. Perhaps all we can do say that they are intimations of a broad and vibrant Islamic tradition with the Quran and Prophetic example at their center.

Sitting The first pattern considers the physical space of learning and how arrangements are made between body and place through being be seated on the ground. Here the seemingly innocuous example of the Prophet as speaking, teaching, or sermonizing to his congregation while seated on the bare earth (at other times on a slightly raised platform) remains an ostensible remnant of his pedagogic legacy.3 Numerous examples are given in the hadith literature and exegetical commentaries regarding the nature and virtues of such sitting. Again, these relate to the ethics, in Islamic belief, of the Prophet and his emulation (imatatio Muhammadi) as a perfected example of comport and Godly submission for humankind.4 In one tradition it is related, for example, that “his sitting place could not be distinguished from the sitting places of his Companions because he would sit wherever space remained in the gathering,” or “most occasions the Messenger of Allah sat facing the direction of the prayer (qibla)” (al-Nabahani, 2015, p. 203). Moreover, the practice of sitting on the floor in a class and in front of a teacher (shaykh) is commonly witnessed in historical and contemporary accounts of teaching. For example, Ibn Jamāʻah, the 14th-century jurist, writes in his Rules for the Conduct of Teachers that the majlis (teaching gathering) of hadith in the early community after the Prophet, led by Imam Malik ibn Anas, would honor this example. In preparing for his classes, Imam Malik we are told would “purify his body, apply perfume, change attire, and place a cloak over his head. He would then sit on a raised platform and burn aloes wood until he had finished reciting hadith”. He would add “I wish to honor the hadith of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace” (Cook & Malkawi, 2010, p. 165). One may similarly point to the importance of sitting as it is related to other dyadic arrangements such that “when the messenger of Allah would sit with his companions, they would sit around him in circles” (al-Nabahani, 2015, p. 202). This formation, often referred to as a halaqah, is [a] circle-time instituted by Prophet Muhammad in his tarbiyah (education) of early Muslims; it is conducted purely orally with students and teacher

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sitting in a circle on the floor. An integral part of traditional Islamic education, the halaqah continues to be core in practice in Muslim cultures, credited with transformation of personalities, empowerment of individuals and communities through a social-justice agenda, and the development of Islamic intellectual heritage, including sciences, arts and mysticism. (Ahmed, 2012, p. 725) These sunnah of the Prophet, observed and preserved by the community of believers (ummah) through the ages, and passed into the pedagogic repertoire of varying modes receives however, little to no attention in the academic accounts of Islamic education. Why this may be the case, one may argue, is due to its uninteresting nature. Furthermore, it may be informed by an ambivalence toward non-European, oriental-Islamic cultures, whose ubiquitous predilection  to floor-sitting perhaps overlook the fact that it may have intentions attributed to them other than mere convenience, cost, etc. In other words, sitting on the floor may have more meaning attributed to it than we may at first assume. We here may illustrate this with a number of cases in which the teaching space, as a sacred domain for the transmission of knowledge, is “prepared” by the careful attention of the pedagogue toward that space. Examples of this kind of attention to detail can be traced from a number of early sources right through the Islamic middle ages (and indeed to the present day). As educator Karen Keifer-Boyd explores, the orchestration of the elemental features of the body, of which sitting is vital, can be, and are, used to empower and disempower the student in equal measure (Keifer-Boyd, 1992). This contemplation upon the daily experiences of Islamic education is then essential when considering the place and value of such seemingly “innocuous acts” in a larger account of pedagogy.

Dialectic Another pattern, to which we may observe, alongside memorization, is within the domain of assessing student proficiency through their respective expositing and defending of truth claims through debate (dialectic). Again, its origins are to be found in numerous scriptural and Prophetic traditions5 and their influence necessarily differs from region to region in the medieval Islamic world. The madrasa, for example, which was often the site for such intellectual theater, forms relative agreed purposes of dialectic and argumentative disputation. The socalled ādāb al-baḥth wa-al-munāẓara becomes a science inspired by the ostensible claim of “attaining truth.”6 These traditions do not speak of merely mimicking the inherited Aristotelian tradition of debate (Widigdo, 2018) yet also develop new terrain for the exposition of ideas and thought (Young, 2016, pp. 192–213). A number of important points emerge here epso facto as a recurring feature for the refinement of argument and precision of thought through such methods, none

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more important than tadeeb (the refinement of the student) and the culmination of learning through such pedagogy (Chamberlain, 2002, pp. 152–175; Huff, 1993). An early exponent of the study, the 10th-century jurist al- Shāshī opens this discussion in terms of that which is praiseworthy and opprobrious with this form of discourse. al-Baji, the 11th-century scholar, in whose Minhaj, speaks of the importance of the ethical and pietist conditions of the disputant when engaging such that “for verily the aim of intellectual investigation (nazar) is getting to the truth (isbat al haqq); and when the dialectician (munazir) takes upon himself what we have described and comports himself properly according to what we have mentioned, he will derive benefit from his jadal, and be blessed for his nazar if God wills” (The Dialectical Forge, p. 188).7 Again, there is an acknowledgement that sieving through theologically ambivalent or legally difficult arguments is within the special domain of the students’ development. While this may indicate a certain openness to the receptivity of the contents of knowledge, it must also confer to the modern reader, the polyvalent manifestations of “truth” which such pedagogies catered for.

Memorization The idea and use of memorization remains a highly contentious issue in formal education today with its criticism focusing on the passivity and potentially indoctrinatory impulses it may create for students. This can be traced in the reevaluation of post-scholastic learning in Europe, especially with the popular Ramist reforms in the 16th century of the standard Aristotelian curriculum. In particular, the role of memory, as being subordinated to an account of psychology, is availed from the traditional role within the study of Rhetoric, serving to aptly signify this change (Reid, 2013, pp. 8–13). Moreover, the rise of the French Enlightenment signals another change in this regard. Such sentiments are apparent in novella of the time and Rousseau’s Emile offers a marked statement of this when the protagonist is told assuredly that “Emile will not learn anything by heart.” For the further decline of memorization in schools in the 19th century see (Birch, 2008, pp. 1–30). This mistrust of memorization can be viewed in other academic contexts, where it is viewed as a contrivance to other, perhaps higher, pursuits of learning. For example, this attitude can be viewed in Marshall Hodgson who, for example, argues that education in medieval Islam consisted in “teaching of fixed and memorisable statements and formulas which could be learned without any process of thinking as such” (Hodgson, 1974, p.  438). However, a contemporary interest in memorization is alternatively establishing its worth within the greater architecture of pre-modern learning. As Mary Carruther’s work on medieval memory suggests, far from being a restrictive or passive determination, memory was rather seen as an “activity” of mind since “it was memory that made knowledge into useful experience, and memory

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that combined the pieces of information-become-experience into what we call ‘ideas,’ what they [pre-modern thinkers] were more likely to call ‘judgements’” (Carruthers, 2015, p. 2). Memorization in this context refers to the use of inculcating textual information for the purpose of educational and personally edifying ends. Its primary place and significance within medieval (and modern) Islamic education draws back to the very sources of the revelation. Scriptural and prophetic accounts, as in all the classical sciences (transmitted or rational) relied on rigorous methods for the preservation and exposition of knowledge with memory playing a key role. However, the act of memorizing texts serves only one part, though a significant one, in the process for their respective transmission. Early Islamic culture, primarily oral in nature, reified memory as an “act” of personhood concomitant with the intellectual virtues of eloquence and refinement (tadeeb).8 The stature of memorizing in this period can be encapsulated in the popular pedagogic proverb the “first part of knowledge is keeping silent; the second, listening; the third, memorizing; the fourth, reasoning; and the fifth, spreading it” (Rosenthal, 2006, p. 258). This complexity is examined in Gregor Schoeler’s exhaustive account of memory in early Islamic history as a practice rivaling that of writing (Schoeler, 2006, pp. 28–44). Here, an orientation toward the individual as a “means for truth” (in distinction to the Cartesian dyad mentioned above) sets up freedom from the book and paves a mosaic for the embodiment of knowledge. The Prophet himself is described as a “walking Qur’an.” In this regard, Rudolph T. Ware comments on the West African tradition of Qur’anic schools which foster a philosophy whereby they entrain knowledge into body such that Human “bodies of knowledge” are made, not born. Islamic learning is brought into the world through concrete practices of corporeal [bodily] discipline, corporeal knowledge transmission, and the deeds of embodied agents. Knowledge in Islam does not abide in texts; it lives in people. From this viewpoint, some of the non-sense of the Qur’an school may make sense after all. If the goal was not so much to impart discursive knowledge as to transform a vile lump of flesh into God’s loving Word, then remolding the body was essential. (Rudolph T. Ware III, 2014, p. 8)

Discipleship Of the three proceeding patterns, the concept of discipleship is one most comprehensive and potentially far-reaching. It crosses over the bounds of formal discursive learning within madrasas to instruction in craft, the organization of guilds ( futuwwa), and discourses for spiritual aspirants (tasawwuf ), among other things. In all such cases, the master–student dyad stands as an embodiment of

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learning and ethical discernment in which successful transmission is key to the realization of the student. “The shaykh [teacher] is like the prophet to his people” (Geoffroy, p. 143) says a popular hadith and the example of the Prophet himself is one which is often cited as a supreme embodying of Godly knowledge. As the perfected human being (insan al kamil) and example for humankind, the Prophetic manner stands in Islamic belief as distinctly capable of enunciating Divine truths through his conduct. In other words, his actions reflect the high regard that God holds for him, when it is stated “In God’s messenger you have indeed an excellent example for everyone who looks forward with hope to God and the Last Day” (Q 33:21). The fellowship with his family (ahl), companions (ashab), and adversaries all stand as an important reference point for the community of believers through whom the transmission of knowledge occurs.9 It is for this reason that the role, place, and stature of the teacher, as inheritor to the Prophet, is taken with great care and studied reserve. This is partly the reason why the renowned 14th-century jurist, al-Shatabi, honors the role of the teacher in the following way that “indeed knowledge was first in the hearts of men and then it was transferred to books; now the keys to knowledge are in the hands of the scholars” (Moosa, 2015, p. 125). Here ethics is tied to the contents of learning since the student stands for the possibilities of being an “inheritor” of the Prophet and thus be part of a new generation of students to gain felicity (barakah) in the preservation of knowledge. In order to achieve this, the role of the teacher as murabbi, shaykh, pir, usthadh, etc. exists as a model of discipleship and one reflected in various forms of education, extending beyond formal learning. Moreover, the spiritual discipline of tasawwuf, for example, the importance of attaching oneself to a master who guides and travels with one through the process of self-actualization is essential. This being, al-Ghazali argues, since spiritual maturity for most of humankind will occur through either mushāhada (the witnessing of adab in others) or muṣāḥaba (discipleship with a master). This connection to a master is evidenced even within the study of crafts, the importance of attaching oneself to a master who is upright and a sincere truth seeker (muḥaqqiq) serves as a primary condition for their election. In the medieval education of the novice calligrapher, for example, the role of the teacher is given great prominence since it is he who is endowed with the duties of preserving and manifesting the word of God. In this regard, we see medieval guilds ( futuwwa) were often headed by a master Craftsman who also was a spiritual leader for the community of guildsmen. Such examples a consilience of spirit remains in their conception of education which, as Ibn Sīnā, explains should be undertaken for the spiritual development of man, and with the aim of deepening his understanding of the world around him … and to use this understanding as a gateway to spiritual love and apprehension of God. (Shah, 2016, p. 24)

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Apropos to Islamic Studies The aim of this chapter has been to open a conversation for teachers concerning the value and applicability of certain historical pedagogic features in Islamic education for today’s teaching environments. These “patterns,” as I refer to them, have emerged over time and place and the frequency of their appearance speaks to a special feat in the pedagogic environments found in the Islamic world. Yet despite their historical vibrancy, whether they can be “employed” into our present context requires a sensitivity toward a number of factors. First among these is realizing the context of teaching Islamic studies in the early 21st century and how history, society, culture, etc. affect the ways in which religion is considered and taught in schools. Moreover, the modern “education speak” of terms such as implementation, delivery, and impact seem unlikely to warmly receive such pre-modern ideas of learning. Therefore, thinking about an “Islamic model” of learning which could be implemented and delivered only caters to and restricts the historical richness of such education and empowers our contemporary instinct for models and systems of learning which may be imported and franchised. The examples presented here show that education is a subtle art to which sensibilities toward the individual are necessary and carry ideals through which the essential qualities of life find expression. In one sense, the patterns explicated above cannot be implemented since they inhabit a world entirely different to our own; the mien of Islamic studies in a secular high school or university speaks a language virtually incomprehensible to a world preoccupied with the accentuation of adab. Perhaps then we should not think of this endeavor as one of grafting old world ideas to our own but an attempt to see how we may retain sympathies with the past through honoring its achievements. It is in the degrees of differences that we find a world so different to ours and from which we may learn and potentially germinate ways of seeing and being in the world. For example, of the four patterns mentioned, each serve, rather surprisingly, to indicate potential, and relative, efficacy for educational discourses. The first pattern of sitting on the ground, ought to be compared with contemporary ergonomic studies of student work environments where the positive effects of students sitting on the floor, with their shoes off, shows a positive effect on concentration and stress levels in classrooms (Saner, 2016). Moreover, in the study and value of memorization of facts in class, while unpopular today, show nonetheless the potential benefits for students’ selfesteem and motivation for independent learning (Berglund & Gent, 2018). As for dialectic, this remains the most popular of the four patterns in schools and is evidenced through the international rise of debating clubs and tournaments. Finally, for discipleship, its applicability for modern schooling seems less apparent yet the continued importance and role of the teacher as among

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the primary factors in the wellbeing of students and their success at school serves to demonstrate this point, albeit in new ways (Hattie, 2008). Again, the developments which may arise from such findings cannot entirely be reconciled with our presentation of the patterns since superordinate concerns of the 21st-century context and its influence upon how we think and organize knowledge are ever present. The “limpidity of an argument does not correspondent a priori to its veracity” says a principle in informal logic. In other words, the simplicity of an argument does not make it correct, and therefore the mentioning of pedagogic techniques in one context does not infer their relevance for others. For those within the academy, to offer Islamic studies teacher’s novel ways of thinking about their discipline, helping them connect to a rich, vibrant, and living tradition, advocating autonomy for their cause and the encouragement of exploring new (old) ideas is certainly a positive prospect for the future. Standing at the forefront upon those lines in which culture, history, and thought are sublimated, the teacher in her classroom is ever bounded to the social good and in fellowship of those whom the Prophet proclaimed are “the best of people” since they are defined by “those who bring benefit to the most people.”10

Notes 1 For a further distinction between “Islamic” and “Muslim” education see Nuraan Davids and Yusef Waghid, 2016, Ethical Dimensions of Muslim Education, Palgrave, pp. 42–46; Nadeem Memon and Mujadad Zaman, 2016, Philosophies of Islamic Education: Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses, Routledge, pp. 5–10. 2 This pedagogic imperative in the scripture is partly referenced by the language of revelation. Ibn Manzur mentions in his authoritative Lisan al-‘Arab (The Tongue of the Arabs), that the word ayah, used to define a verse of the Quran as a “sign” is also related to the verb ‘allama “to teach.” See Vincent J. Cornell, Teaching and Learning in the Qur’an, The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning (online). http://jsr.shanti.virginia.edu/back-issues/vol5-no-3-october-2005-teaching-and-scriptural-reasoning/teaching-and-learning-inthe-quran/ accessed May 4, 2020. 3 The Shāma’il literature, which focuses on the physical character and manner of the Prophet, includes a number of traditions relating to his sitting and reclining. Positions such as that of qurfusa’ are mentioned, which is to sit with one’s thighs raised to the stomach and one’s arms enfolding the legs.This is also related to times when the Prophet would, in the same position, tie a cloth around his mid-range to free the arms (ihtiba), See, at-Tirmidhi, Shāma’il, pp. 121–125. There are also traditions of his customary entreating God for forgiveness upon rising from a gathering and leaning upon one hand as he did so (al-Tabarani, al-Mu’jam al-kabir). 4 The foundational “hadith Jibril” includes an important note on the seating orchestration between the Prophet and the Archangel Jibril in this meeting when “[Jibril] then leaned his knees against his (the Prophet’s) knees and placed his hands on his thighs.” 5 In legal as well as exegetical traditions the case for reason and discussion finds an antecedent within Quranic and hadith literature. Take, for example, the hadith of Mu’adh ibn Jabal being questioned by the Prophet concerning delivering of religious

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decisions (fatwa) with Mu’adh informing the Prophet he shall strive with alacrity in the endeavor and use his reason (ajtahid bi ra’yi). Niẓām Ad-Dīn Ash-Shāshī, 2017, Usul ash-Shashi, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, translated by Mansur Ali, Turath Publishing, p. 19. 6 The development of this method and its uses within scholarly exchange is evidenced in myriad incidents. For example, for the lively discussion of methodological differences between qiyas (reasoning) and jadal (dialectics) between 11th-century Shafi jurists al-Shīrāzī and al-Juwaynī see Sohaira Siddiqui, 2019, “Jadal and Qiyās in the Fifth/­Eleventh Century: Two Debates between al-Juwaynī and al-Shīrāzī,” Journal of the ­American Oriental Society, vol.139, no.4, pp. 923–944. 7 See also the popular poem Risālat Ādāb al-baḥth by the 14th-century Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī as a peaking in the establishment of the dyadic rules of this scholarly tradition. 8 The importance of this facet of learning is exemplified in a number of medieval texts. The 9th-century scholar, Ibn Qutayba’s popular, Adab al-Katib, serves to highlight this early proclivity and its subsequent influence. See Josef W. Meri, 2006, Medieval Islamic Civilization,Vol. 1: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, p. 364. 9 The hadith literature also discusses the relevance of discipleship from a number of traditions. For example, Jabir reports that “the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Verily, every prophet has a disciple and my disciple is Al-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwam’. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3514. See Renaud Soler, 2017, Transmission and Practice in Sufi adab of the Ḥāfiẓiyya Khalwatiyya, a Sufi brotherhood of Middle-Egypt (19th–20th Century) in Francesco Chiabotti, Eve Feuillebois-Pierunek, Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen and Luca Patrizi (eds.), Ethics and Spirituality in Islam Sufi Adab, Brill, pp. 649–668. 10 Ṣaḥīḥ, al-Bukhārī, Book 19, Hadith 1839.

References Ahmed, F. (2012). Tarbiyah for Shakhsiyah (Educating for Identity): Seeking Out Culturally Coherent Pedagogy for Muslim Children in Britain. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 42(5: Indigenous Knowledges and Education), 725–749. doi: 10.1080/03057925.2012.706452. al-Nabahani, Y. (2015). Muhammad: Character and Beauty: Wasa’il al-Wusul Ila Shama’il alRasul. (A. A. Surqah, Übers.) Al-Mednia Institute. al-Quḍāʿī, a.-Q. (2014). A Treasury of Virtues: Sayings, Sermons, and Teachings of ‘Ali, with the One Hundred Proverbs Attributed to al-Jahiz. (T. Qutbuddin, Übers.) New York University Press. Ash-Shāshī, N. A.-D. (2017). Usul ash-Shashi, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence. (M. Ali, Übers.) Turath Publishing. Berglund, J., & Gent, B. (2018). Memorization and Focus: Important Transferables between Supplementary Islamic Education and Mainstream Schooling. Journal of Religious Education, 66, 125–138. doi:10.1007/s40839-018-0060-1. Birch, D. (2008). Our Victorian Education,Wiley-Blackwell Manifestos. Wiley. Carruthers, M. (2015). The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture. Cambridge University Press. Chamberlain, M. (2002). Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190–1350. Cambridge University Press. Cook, B. J., & Malkawi, F. H. (2010). Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought: A Compendium of Parallel English-Arabic Texts. Brigham Young University.

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Cornell,V. J. (2005). Teaching and Learning in the Qur’an. The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning JSR, 5(3). Abgerufen am 4. 5 2020 von https://jsr.shanti.virginia.edu/back-issues/ vol-5-no-3-october-2005-teaching-and-scriptural-reasoning/. Davids, N., & Waghid,Y. (2016). Ethical Dimensions of Muslim Education. Palgrave Macmillan. Dupré, L. (1993). Passage to Modernity: An Essay on the Hermeneutics of Nature and Culture. Yale University Press. Ghuddah, A. a.-F. (2015). Muhmmad the Perfect Teacher: Insights into his Teaching Methods. Muslims at Work Publications. Graham, W. A. (1993). Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 23(3), 495–522. Abgerufen am 15. 7 2020 von https://www. jstor.org/stable/pdf/206100.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A961f8517d868501161aef4c64b0 b2b9a. Hattie, J. A. (2008). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. Routledge. Hodgson, M. G. (1974). The Venture of Islam, Volume 1 The Classical Age of Islam (Bd. 1). University of Chicago Press. Huff, T. E. (1993). The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West. Cambridge University Press. III, R.T. (2014). The Walking Qur’an Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa. The University of North Carolina Press. Keifer-Boyd, K. T. (1992). Deep-Seated Culture: Understanding Sitting. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 12, 73–99. Abgerufen am 16. 7 2020 von https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jstae/vol12/iss1/7/. McGushin, E. F. (2007). Foucault’s Askesis: An Introduction to the Philosophical Life. (J. McCumber, Hrsg.) Northwestern University Press. Memon, N. A., & Zaman, M. (Hrsg.). (2016). Philosophies of Islamic Education Historical Perspectives and Emerging Discourses. Routledge. Meri, J. W. (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia,Vol. 1 (Bd. 1). Routledge. Moosa, E. (2015). What is a Madrasa?. Edinburgh University Press. Faris, N. A. (1987). The Book of Knowledge. American University of Beirut. Reid, S. J. (Hrsg.) (2013). Ramus Pedagogy and the Liberal Arts: Ramism in Britain and the Wider World. Ashgate Publishing. Rosenthal, F. (2006). Knowledge Triumphant: The Concept of Knowledge in Medieval Islam. BRILL. Rost, H. (1979). The Magnificent Tale That Is Education. The Journal of Educational Thought (JET)/Revue de la Pensée Éducative, 13(1), 53–59. Abgerufen am 14. 7 2020 von https:// www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23768462.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A7c6292eb0cc4da4f23de 823d6a9b065c. Durkheim, E. (1961). Education and Sociology. The Free Press. Saner, E. (25. 5 2016). “The secret to calm classrooms? Lose the shoes.” The Guardian. Abgerufen am 8. 5 2020 von https://www.theguardian.com/education/shortcuts/2016/ may/24/secret-to-calm-classrooms-lose-the-shoes-schools. Schoeler, G. (2006). The Oral and the Written in Early Islam. (J. E. Montgomery, Hrsg., & U. Vagelpohl, Übers.) Routledge. Seesemann, R. (2017). ʿIlm and Adab Revisited: Knowledge Transmission and Character Formation in Islamic Africa. In M. Kemper, & R. Elger (Hrsg.), The Piety of Learning: Islamic Studies in Honor of Stefan Reichmuth (Bd. 147, S. 13–37). BRILL.

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Shah, S. (2016). Education, Leadership and Islam:Theories, Discourses and Practices from an Islamic Perspective. Routledge. Shakespeare, W. (2012). Love’s Labour’s Lost. London: Dover Publications. Siddiqui, S. (2019). Jadal and Qiyās in the Fifth/Eleventh Century: Two Debates between al-Juwaynī and al-Shīrāzī. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 139(4), 923–944. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.139.4.0923. Soler, R. (2017). Transmission and Practice in Sufi adab of the Ḥāfiẓiyya Khalwatiyya, a Sufi brotherhood of Middle-Egypt (19th–20th Century). In F. Chiabotti, E. F. Pierunek, C. M. Jaouen, & L. Patrizi (Hrsg.), Ethics and Spirituality in Islam Sufi adab (Bd. 1). BRILL. Widigdo, M. S. (2018). Aristotelian Dialectic, Medieval Jadal, and Medieval Scholastic Disputation. American Journal of Islam and Society, 35(4), 1–24. doi:10.35632/ajiss. v35i4.106. Young, W. E. (2016). The Dialectical Forge: Juridical Disputation and the Evolution of Islamic Law. Springer.

14 EVALUATING, REDEVELOPING, AND ACTION PLANNING ADVICE FOR EDUCATORS Seema A. Imam

Introduction and Background The previous chapters have set the stage for work yet to be done by educators in Islamic schools, each still in their various stages of continuous purposeful development. Much foundational thought has been covered in this volume so that we can envision the practical steps one might consider such as evaluation, redeveloping, action planning, and how to shape the process with constructive advice for educators. We recognize this book as a potential guide, if you will, for practitioners who are working in or with Islamic schools to deliver the best possible Islamic education to the students they serve. The concepts being conveyed are not meant for curriculum coordinators alone, for it is recognized that few schools have the luxury of a dedicated curricular coordinator but more importantly because school curricula are multifaceted and require many voices to create, massage, and implement such curricular documents for a school or school consortium. This chapter is meant to speak to a wide audience of educators, namely teachers, team leaders, curriculum developers, administrators, policymakers, and school consultants. The mindset and the actions taken by this wide range of stakeholders is what truly develops the school environment, culture, and overall school landscape. With this focus, your school will in essence address the null, implicit, and explicit curricula in the work you may embark on. Muslim educators are embracing monumental tasks with massive courage globally. However, I approach this chapter from within a Western (American) context knowing fully that the insights shared here will have some applicability for Muslim educators committed to Islamic education globally. In the West, Muslim educators are perhaps in the middle of a unique journey toward what

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I perceive as the main goal, that of establishing schools to serve Muslims who found themselves raising families in secular societies in need of strong Islamic educational programs and institutions. Undoubtedly, the goal was, and is, to raise children who will grow up as practicing Muslims with a sound Islamic worldview through which they envision their academic goals and their career and life choices that best suit them, in that order. Yet, we know that most of the schools may have been haphazardly and quickly established to serve a variety of ages and grades that the founders deemed essential, only to continue over the years adding, subtracting, and learning as they went along in the process of school creation. Most of the early schools’ founders had barely begun to serve in their fields, they were not in education and had not grown up in the West. I have heard some say that they had never in their wildest dreams imagined they would be building an Islamic school for the families of their community. Newcomers to these schools also join Islamic schools to serve, share their expertise, and have the best of intentions, yet many of us know that we have much work to do. Not surprising then, in roughly four short decades, we have welcomed the children of the children who pioneered as the first students in the early immigrant-­established schools and a good number of them have returned as licensed educators. We are grateful for that beginning and the natural transitions. We ask Allah’s blessings upon the founders and teachers who tirelessly established schools for Muslims in the Western world. We look now, to a future we may never live in. El-Moslimany (2018), a retired educator with a Ph.D. in Botany who founded and served forty years as an Islamic school director in Seattle, said, “If God wills, we can do better than adopt, adapt, or combine those failed systems of education” (p. 15). She is speaking here of the mainstream schools that Muslims readily used as their model. Her writing strikes me as though we were in the same room at the same school and had very much the same desires. I was there in an Islamic School, in the early 90s, like her, long ago as a founding principal myself, 1990–1995, and vividly recall the far too simplistic approach to building a “school.” We had an architect for the building, tile layers with professional tools who had laid floor tiles many times before, but we brought members of the community and asked them to teach without a degree in teaching and without providing them a curriculum. Sure, we purchased the books like the public schools used, we brought Islamic studies, Arabic, and Quran teachers to teach these respective classes but they were individuals without a career, who would teach for us. They were practicing Muslims, yet they had not studied teaching theory or psychology, nor Arabic, Islamic Studies, or Quran beyond the classrooms of their youth and were not required to subsequently study education. As I mentioned earlier, the schools in essence began without a curriculum. Now, it is further complicated by the fact that teachers for the most part who taught the subjects, Quran, Islamic Studies, and Arabic, the subjects that represent precisely the reason we have built the schools in the first place, are not qualified

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and in some cases are still teaching in a school today. This is how many Islamic schools began in the United States, but also in Canada, Australia, and the UK for instance. This is the historical foundation of many of the schools in existence today; some school boards have their first chairperson still at the helm of the school after 30 years. Since the early years, some improvements have been made but when you call for a curriculum review, few if any of the schools seem to have a complete comprehensive document to discuss with you. A few cities have schools that work as a group or have a systemic structure to collaboratively do curriculum work. Most schools will need to evaluate, develop, and build their action-planning agenda with their faculty and staff and it may be pretty much a solo mission with each school essentially on their own. The schools also have plenty of things to be managed. Back in the day in my school board meetings, discussions revolved around reducing the consumption of paper and keeping the heating bill low rather than the plan we would establish to create a comprehensive school curriculum. We struggled to find teachers, as mentioned earlier; few Muslims in the early 90s had taken education as a field of study and so, we adopted the public school curriculum and adapted some Arabic books where the pictures in the books showed busy city streets with buses on Cairo’s streets where the passengers were hanging out of the doors and clinging to the tops of buses. These images were not in a context for the students to identify with. They were secular and did not adequately align with the mission of an Islamic school in the West. Any school evaluating and basing their school on the tenets of Islam would be challenged to locate language materials. Most of the schools around us, maybe 60 at the time, in the country shared similar encounters and challenges. Today in the United States there are 300 full-time Islamic schools, give or take. It is easy to grasp the notion that each school building is unique with multiple initiatives that already exist within a varied and nuanced landscape of student demographics, student levels of achievement, faculty preparedness, administrative leadership, instructional readiness, and curriculum awareness. Many new books have been published that use Western contexts. Students can identify with the clothing, images of cars dropping and picking them from their Islamic Schools. In some schools, textbooks, the library, and electronic books are precisely in tune with other schools in the neighborhood and up to date. There is a large selection of Islamic Studies books that have been published by various publishers. Yet, questions constantly arise about how to approach curriculum development and how to build a curriculum that can remain if and when a teacher or teachers no longer remain in a given school. The professional dialogue demonstrates that this is an area still weak in many schools. Among faculty, oftentimes, the shared understanding of the curriculum does not exist. This is happening in the landscape where quite a large number of educators have progressed to the level of doctorate, some without teaching experience but the pool

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for teachers and administrators has exponentially improved. Schools are taking great pains to become accredited programs and somewhere around 50 schools have achieved this. For these reasons, there is much hope for this new era of Islamic Schools to emerge with a focus on curriculum development where we move from narrow development within a single school to more and more wide and deliberate collaboration. Thus, this background information is the backdrop from which I have derived a plethora of threads of advice given freely and as a consultant for over 30 years. I say these things as a result of my lived experience, a blessing, like the earlier authors in this volume, where my life has revolved around schooling, now as a professor completing 25 years in teacher preparation, a former public school teacher for nearly two decades and a founding Islamic school principal, I believe that what has been presented before this chapter is precisely what administrators and teachers may need to consider as we continue the journey toward stronger institutions and more satisfying outcomes for the millions of Muslims that these institutions will potentially serve. I am primarily addressing or discussing schools that were established within the last 35 years essentially when large immigrant populations settled in the United States. I am not discussing the Clara Mohammad Schools in the United States, simply because I do not have adequate awareness of how they were established. Their history and development would be a good topic for another time; I suspect I have a lot to learn from the development of these early Islamic schools by Americans in the American landscape. In addition to that, there are schools all over the world, in the UK, Australia, and more whose experiences we can learn from. This book can be an educator’s guide to curriculum development no matter where your school is located. When the overwhelming task becomes more malleable it is easier to take a phase-by-phase approach. Looking ahead we will discuss evaluation, redevelopment, and action planning.

Evaluating Schools are institutions that require regular evaluation, revision, and action planning which, in most cases, will lead to faculty professional development. I usually suggest to Islamic school stakeholders that we embrace the process of accreditation because it is a system of assessing what we say we are doing, why we are doing it, and how well we think we are doing it. This helps ensure that we will determine what we need to work on. Accreditation helps each school look at themselves. This means that the administration, along with the parents and teachers, analyze the school, its programs, and the areas of teaching and instructional skillsets for school and program development enumerating a wide range of teacher professional development to enhance all areas. It requires that the various stakeholders are deeply involved. I do not consider this question

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of “whether” to become accredited or not, as a very valid question, because I believe in accreditation based on, accreditation’s merit as a tool. I do believe that we can strengthen still further the Islamic education strand and that Islamic school educators should be focused on this area. I do believe that one day we can set our guidelines and build schools that are founded on the core of Islam and not on the core of academics. I would not let what is deemed “core curriculum” subjects become less emphasized. All of the school and institutional framing is a mindset. It needs Islam at the core, Quran at the heart, Islamic history perspectives, understanding of Muslim contributions, a multitude of role models, and finally an Islamic worldview to succeed. Beyond the accreditation process and specific-to-Islamic schools there are some important foundational curricular questions concerning evaluation. I hope that schools are seeking input from all levels of stakeholders and that every group feels heard and listened to. Here are a few questions that must be answered: • • •

• • •

• •

•

Where does Islam come in? Is Islam only a part of a particular subject matter, such as the Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies? If Islam is not permeating the entire school curricula, is that a plan? Is Islam an after-thought or and add on? Do the school curricula teach Islamic values, Muslim character development, Islamic history, and does the school have an Islamic worldview that children internalize? Does everyone know about and have an awareness of what curricula are being used? Are there created or aligned curricula? If not, why not? Does the school’s curricula document exist? Do the school curricula look essentially like the neighboring public school with added subjects such as Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies, which are not integrated? Who oversees the implementation of the school’s curricular goals and implementation? Is there cross-referencing, for example, does third grade know what is done in second grade and fourth grade? Repeat this across subjects and throughout the program. Are we certain that we will involve enough stakeholders that we do not have classroom teachers in isolation creating curriculum and also that we are not mandating teachers to implement something that they had no part in?

I hope these ideas take you back to earlier chapters and you have taken good notes throughout this guidebook to bring this thinking to your school teams. I have visited many schools and have asked these and similar questions only to find that teachers, administrators, and board members are unsure of what the

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school’s foundation is based on and what the curriculum plan is. I have yet to visit a school that pulls out and shows documents of how their school is Islamic and how the overall decision from vision, mission, and core values are realized throughout the curricula. I do often see Islamic curricula and when I ask, “Who teaches Islam and Islamic Studies, Muslim character traits, and Islamic worldview?” I almost always hear the words, “the Islamic Studies, Quran and Arabic teachers teach all of the Islamic subjects.” The concept of Islam permeating the school and every one teaching and role modeling is often foreign. Too often stakeholders have come to consider everything taught as its own subject. This is certainly an abbreviated look at what to think about when evaluating your school for an analysis of its quality, but I hope it begins to point at a developing agenda or the action plan, for you and the stakeholders that go way beyond the process of accreditation and helps you determine what your school should and must deliver, focus on, and be deliberate about. In the accreditation process, you will survey the stakeholders, use achievement data, and can even reach out to the graduates. The above questions suggest that we need to get in touch with what makes our school Islamic or not and how or if we feel satisfied. It is essential to check in with stakeholders, with graduates, even do a deep dive into the Islamic part of the school’s landscape. For example, ask graduates in focus groups how they are feeling and if the school prepared them to live as a Muslim and to raise their own family.

Redeveloping To redevelop our schools, we should take into consideration the ideas we have just discussed in the earlier section on evaluating the school, working over a couple of academic years using summer for writing up the outcomes as a way to approach it long term. The first step is revisiting the vision, mission, and core values. What is the outcome the school intends to deliver on? I will briefly discuss a few examples of available programs. Stakeholders would consider how they might be used, whether in part or full to meet the school’s desired outcomes. The logic behind the vision, mission, and core values are profound. I am not bringing it up so you feel it has to change or be updated but bringing it up so schools and stakeholders revisit the school’s vision, mission, and core values and make a clear decision that these are accurate for the current school, students, and families. Then determine the mindset to go over the ways you and your school family are living these already or agree together that what is being done currently is not adequate. Next, gather your stakeholders, revisit these for the upcoming school year. Either way, set out on a plan to precisely look at how you will or do, bring your vision, mission, and core values to life and how you will or do, walk the talk of core values, vision, and mission. My purpose is not to help you rewrite these statements but for you to decide if they are worthy,

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then use this guide, redevelop your strategy. It is important to live the vision, mission, and core values. It is good to hold a few school meetings to brainstorm and discuss this. Some examples of how educators have developed programs to enhance or build an Islamic school may help demonstrate that overall mindset. I will name a few in the paragraphs that follow and give a few brief points about these programs. Of course, there are many things out there that you may find and want to consider, however, if the answer was readily available, I would doubt the need for this volume to be published. No matter what a school selects there will still be the need to organize and construct a comprehensive curricular plan in writing, combining, or noting, how you intend to proceed. Your school will need to be altered so to speak in the coming years to set it on track you determine is best. It is not an easy quick fix or quick decision. Let us start with books – two popular publishers that have a plethora of English materials on Islam for Islamic schools and some curricular guides are IQRA International Educational Foundation and Noorart Islamic Curriculum and Books. Some materials you will encounter were created for weekend schools that spend a very small amount of time with students as compared to full-time schools. These materials do not necessarily say what program they are for. In the past, many schools used textbooks only and used the suggested grade levels from the publishers. Publishers are not writing up the curricular planning documents. I believe schools must decide what is to be taught level by level and then match the materials to be used to walk your school through these challenges. What curricular objectives are we teaching toward, what materials will we use, and how will we measure what students are learning? I am also aware that this sounds simple but it is not intended to. Please have a look at some of the more comprehensive plans that educators have created, consider adopting them in part or whole, as you determine what your school needs and then create your school’s plan for instructional delivery. For textbooks, there are dozens of bookstores online and hundreds of new books being published as we speak to meet the textbook demand and can be discovered in large book fairs when vendors attend conferences as well. Bear with me for a moment, the school needs a foundation; let us look at programs. As you begin to look at what I am suggesting conduct an internet search on a program called, “Operation Snowball,” for example. It is an alcohol and drug prevention program focusing also on leadership development. This program is a public-school program used in Illinois and other areas. Similarly, for an Islamic school program, I will mention briefly four programs that come to mind. Of course, each has a different focus and outcome; I bring this all up along with the Operation Snowball program to demonstrate to school stakeholders that any program needs to fit the school population. Most programs are established to serve a need. Is a Quran program sufficient, is a whole child approach the way to

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go? Take a close look at Concentric Circles, a book that is available online by Elma Harder (2006), based on the Quran and the teaching of young children. Another program is a whole-child approach developed by the late Dawud Tauhidi (2001), called The Tarbiyah Project, which is a framework for reforming Islamic education and has been completely implemented in two or three schools that I am aware of. Both have great potential for a school that understands what they aim to achieve and have educators on board who can implement such programs. There are no manuals or professional development available that I am aware of. The third is The Principles of Islamic Pedagogy; I believe it is mentioned in this volume and written by Shaikh Ramzy Ajem and Nadeem Memon (2011), which is a wonderful work that can be seen as a teacher’s guide for faculty. It is intended to create awareness and teach the purpose of life, from an Islamic perspective to creating an Islamic environment within a school to building within the hearts of the teachers and students the concept that learning and the learning space is sacred. It includes valid Hadith and Quranic references to support seven principles of Islamic pedagogy. Thus, it helps teachers implement an Islamic foundation in their class and subsequently in the school. Teachers need to be good role models and engage in being accountable; this teacher’s guide does that well. Finally, and more recently, there is a program available for professional development presentations in person or online for social and emotional learning, from Define 360 by Wadud Hassan. All four of these are worthy of your review in your redevelopment phase of your school’s curricular endeavor as you consider a foundation for your school. Full references to these resources can be found at the end of the chapter. Students in schools across the West learn best if not exclusively in English. Very often we still conduct the Quran class as though students understand Arabic and can grasp the meaning of the Quran. This is critical because this book is the conversation from God to the believers, and having traversed this journey myself aiming to learn Arabic, I am keenly aware that children and young adults need a Quran to read and understand in English while they attain all the other skills of being a Muslim. There is a contemporary translation with modern English by a translation and interpretation scholar, Dr. Ahmad Zaki Hammad, which is available: The Gracious Quran. Because it is a translation or interpretation in modern contemporary English, Muslims like myself and hopefully the Muslim students and teachers that may not have grasped the level of Arabic to fully comprehend the Quran can be touched and weep when reading the messages of their Lord in English. Please consider that students need us to open their eyes to the Quran in more than phonetic sounds or with the idea that any translation will do. This is extremely important to our students. In my master’s degree program, we learned that to read meant to understand and that is an important and logical reality and something schools can address in a strong Arabic language arts program. Let us start with a good translation when students do not understand

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the level of Arabic needed to read with understanding. Doing so is not to replace the need to learn Arabic. Finally, then, in redeveloping, we are starting with a product or outcome we want the school to deliver on. How will we get there? Like evaluation, it is a broad group of stakeholders, like board members, adminstrators, teachers and families that need to buy in and that is important. Plan not to rush and allow a couple of years of dedication to this work. When stakeholders feel asked and listened to, they feel to be a part of the decision-making and are far more likely to help make the redevelopment happen, and that leads us to action planning.

Action Planning When I think of action planning in schools, I am thinking about accreditation and continuous improvement, then, I think about involving teachers in what they know and do best, which is teaching. Who can best align the content, the skills of third grade, middle school math, or high school science with Islamic content and Islamic understanding? Of course, we know it is the classroom teachers, departmental teachers, and subject matter experts. They will also require Islamic knowledge experts and an understanding of age-appropriate content and skills. While the focus is on the challenges many schools face, some schools may feel that they are doing well. I would say that may be true but every school can embark on identifying areas to improve and work on them. While the reader begins to draw out the ideas and thoughts from the reading of various chapters in this volume, I hope that you will benefit from three topics I have focused on for this action-planning section of the chapter. Three possible areas for your action plan are: (1) Curriculum integration of content subjects and Islam; (2) Thematic all-school curriculum planning, and (3) Special factors all schools should focus on.

Curriculum Integration of Content Subjects and Islam Curriculum integration is something that I am fond of using as an educator. I feel that it is really important at the classroom level but that some schools can successfully implement the strategies at the school level. First of all, it can save time once the material is prepared because you are using student time wisely. What better outcome of schooling could there be than for the students to see connections and crisscrossing of knowledge that they can use in their lives. You tell me, who understands why they are learning to read when they first learn? Do youngsters embrace this skill because they know they will need it to read? I doubt it. So, if educators can combine reading skills and vocabulary words with content subjects, would that not be something we then do naturally, like reading? I think so.

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My advice to teacher candidates for their first September start of school is to push two tables together and spread out their books and curriculum guides and open them to the table of contents. I then ask them to start to diagram what they see. I suggest they diagram on the inside of two or three manila file folders. I ask them to use different colors of ink. So, it is the same for teachers in Islamic schools. We can do this along with the Islamic studies teachers for each grade level. We can imagine an altered version of this if we are teaching in a departmental middle school. Then we could complete this task as a team of middle grades teachers. We might begin by considering what the characterrich stories are to be read this year. You may want to get a calendar and think through ways to connect science content, social studies content, and Islamic studies content. Let the brainstorming begin and collect the data in a variety of forms or formats. Make connections and draw lines. Think of as many ways as possible to connect the content. Connect stories to a weather unit, or a character in a novel who makes a poor choice to an Islamic studies unit. I am a particularly big fan of mind maps, especially electronic versions. This is just a quick example. Try to envision what awesome things can come out of connecting large chunks of the curriculum in preparation for teaching in an integrated curricular model. Teachers, for their materials and teaching, can take a forty-page spiral notebook for capturing throughout the year how things in their curricula connect. Find themes that are expandable, then fill the pages with short notes and mind maps of how you see things connect. One year in a sixth-grade public school setting I used a theme of water and for the entire school year much revolved around water. For example, the water in the body, the water on earth, the freshand saltwater, the water cycle, water reclamation, and the oceans. Several of our reading stories also took place on a river or at sea. We decorated the room as well, integrating art, and demonstrating our learning. I will tell you that reading skills, science content, social studies content, math skills, and informational skills, like maps, were all of sudden more fun and student attention was good. In an Islamic school take the Kaba, Hajj, immigration, health, character, and all the choices that come to mind, to consider what may fit each grade level. Thematic teaching was the starting point but integrated curricula were also enjoyed here. The outcome of the brainstorming is a lot of awareness of what will be taught this year. The second step can be teachers going to the gym or the lunchroom and creating the next level of concept maps for each grade level, then teams of early grades K-2, intermediate grades 3–5, middle grade 6–8, and so on going over subjects at their grade level and noting the academic skill sets as you go. Divide up so not all the groups are in the same room. Then higher-grade teachers can do something similar. Teachers can commit to planning with one another throughout the school year and writing this up in the summer. This is one step toward curriculum integration.

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In essence, the best teachers are the ones who know their curriculum and are keenly aware of the skills they will teach. Great teachers will struggle with poor curricula and great curricula will not be carried out by poor teachers. So, curriculum coordinators, team leaders, and administrators beware. Furthermore, implementing Islamic values in our teaching and considering ideas from the earlier discussion on Islamic pedagogy is exactly the place where the kind teacher who nurtures his or her students, who embody the Islamic role modeling comes in, students do not learn from teachers they do not like. Thus, the curriculum and the success we have in teaching our students are dependent on the quality of our teachers. According to Jacobs (2004), “We should be developing our staff based on what our students in the school need the staff to develop …. Staff development should be matched to demonstrate gains in student performance” (133). We should be planning for curriculum development as well as professional development. I believe done well, students in Islamic schools will begin to see the world through their rose-colored lens, by which I mean if we achieve our goals in curriculum work, students will see connections of Islam to everything they do and learn and it will extend into their lives and future decisions. The rose-colored lenses are the knowledge they have of Islam and how they base their thinking and view of the world on Islamic values.

Thematic All-School Curriculum Planning A thematic all-school curriculum plan intends for all grades to participate in and would make a great immediate step for the school as an action plan to take on easily. It would be similar to the water example used at a class level but would be a topic for the whole school. Thematic all-school curriculum is a very helpful tool in attaining goals we strive to reach. Such programs are ideal when developed for all-school assemblies, designed for the student body research. Develop a thematic plan that works with your age and stage of development. In some of the topics, each class can take on some aspect of carrying it out. It can become the theme of the year, the theme of all-school programs. Schools can use the theme and have pennants; use your technology to design the school’s own tee shirts, mugs, pencils or pens, and other gifts to carry out what is being learned. Create a digital app. I have personally used a variety of themes for various programs over the years. Some examples are as follows: • • • • •

Branches of Iman Walking in the Footsteps of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Muslim Contributions in the World, Including Contemporary Contributions Timeline of Islamic History Places in Islamic history

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I have found that when all too often students in Islamic schools lack pride in the Arabic language or their religion and are hesitant, they may also not have much knowledge about the past and a program can do wonders. Here are some suggestions for making these themes stick. Of course, this simple advice, in and of itself could be a book, so this is a brief list: •

•

•

•

Muslim Contributions: Make the theme one of the Muslim contributions by making posters or digital infographics or videos and have students find historical contributions that they want to highlight going beyond medicine, to papermaking, sundials, cloth dyes, rubrics cube, literature, economy, calligraphy, map making, fabrics, weaving, cleanliness, environment, and more. It easily can take a year. Try indoor gardening or water reclamation. Hydroponics is a very successful and easy form of gardening. Take the advice from some of the contributions and try them out. Research, research, research, and start a website to share what you learn. Timelines: Start a timeline as a theme and take it around the cafeteria, add to it weekly, post it up high then make announcements weekly to take note of events and people being added. Be sure to cover terms like centuries and historical eras. Let students name the era we are living in. Branches of Iman (Faith): The branches of Iman (faith) are pretty interesting and support student thinking and curiosities. Start with physical fitness being part of Iman, a career being part of Iman, move through the various things that come up on how to live an Islamic life. Again, involve the students, make bookmarks, and other useful things that bear the facts being conveyed. Living the Sunnah (Prophetic Way): The Sunnah and walking in the footsteps of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) can be a great one. Use footprints around the schools to highlight that we are doing this. Again, when students post things others are less likely to deface it. Student involvement is a must. When they discover how cool the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are. You could try to cobble a shoe, find a kit on a craft website, and make shoes. Learning from this all taught outside of a boring reading somewhere increases the chances that it is internalized and treasured.

Resources to support such thematic development are ubiquitous. I have listed two for consideration here: 1. 1001 Inventions Muslim Heritage in Our World, edited by Salim T.S. Al-Hassani (2006), Co-edited by Elizabeth Woodstock and Rabah Saoud with accompanying website: www.1001inventions.com. Published by Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. www.Muslimheritage.com 2. A Journey Through Islamic History A Timeline of Key Events by Yasminah Hashim and Muhammad Beg (2012) published by Kube Publishing in the UK.

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Special Factors to Focus on The two special factors to focus on that I feel we should all highlight and build into the action plan of Islamic schools are extremely important contemporary topics. I have included (1) Digital learning and (2) Racism and Social justice. Once we include these topics they will have become foundational.

Digital Learning Schools all over the world were thrust into remote learning with the corona virus pandemic that has challenged our world since early in 2020. Most schools found themselves in new learning environments. I have heard about schools that called it home learning, online learning, eLearning, and a multitude of other names that were given. However, the digital format of learning that replaced the face-to-face classroom environment was the most common and was and is a big challenge. Islamic schools have now more fully begun to embrace their digital literacy and to engage in online learning. I hope Islamic schools everywhere will make this field of learning part of the action plan. We have tremendous resources available that will help prepare Muslim students for the world we live in. As a result of this challenge The Islamic Schools League of America and its listserve, the IECN, which can be found at theisla.org, are housing a large variety of resources shared by Muslim educators worldwide. As a teacher educator, I believe that schools are best served if there is a guide to focus on and I ask future teachers to be aware of the standards for students and standards for educators presented to us by the International Society of Technology Educators or ISTE. I have found these standards for both students and educators to be good pedagogy. Along the same line, I want to see teachers use digital tools and engage with technology in their classroom in meaningful ways so I teach about the use of the Triple E formula that helps teachers select the use of digital tools that will engage the learner, enhance the learning, and extend into the students’ lives. This comes from the book by Liz Kolb, Learning First, and Technology Second. It can be found at https://www.tripleeframework.com/ and offers an online rubric for the evaluation of one’s digital classroom choices. Using the online rubric is a great way to ensure that we are not just using technology for a wow factor.

Racism and Social Justice I do not think I need to say much on this topic because it is well known that Islam presents us with a non-racist ideology. We know from the final sermon of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that racism is not Islamic when he said, “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, no Arab has

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superiority over a non-Arab no non-Arab has superiority over an Arab: Also, white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over a white except piety and good action.” Yet, we have seen most recently the world coming to grips, and particularly in the United States, with the Black Lives Matter movement. I suggest that all Islamic schools could be model schools if we make this a learning opportunity to study in an anti-racist curriculum where the Islamic materials demonstrate the value of life and make the guidance of Allah something that our students will understand, embrace, and live. Reflect back to your notes from the earlier chapters in this volume particularly as it relates to social studies curricula. Again, a large variety of resources can be found at theisla.org. Links are available for materials, webinars, and more on the discussions of racism in and around our society and Islamic institutions. We cannot trust that the curricula that we currently use in our schools are appropriate. Too many of the social studies lessons available in America for example have taught us with lies. I am a product of the public schools and grew up in rural America where I did not learn the truth about my country. The null curriculum left gaping holes in my learning. I encourage all educators to take part in your action plan and increase historical knowledge, world history, Islamic history, and national history, no matter where you are from. To respond to racism I hope that all schools will engage with a social ­justice– oriented curriculum. Islam is full of teachings and practices that guide us toward a more just society. We cannot afford to passively participate in Islamic education if we are still in need of knowledge to enter the dialogue. I hope that this takes a position at the forefront of our schools for the coming phase of school development.

Concluding Thoughts In conclusion, I am excited about the publication of this volume for Muslim educators because it is long awaited. I am certain that educators worldwide will find their thoughts shared in the various chapters because throughout my adult life I have been a practicing Muslim and an educator. I have often felt that we need to join together to present a comprehensive plan for our work. I have always felt that education should be a top priority, that reading is a must, and that reading widely benefits us as we work in the field of Islamic education. As educators, we have a huge responsibility. We need all educators who are dedicated and committed to building still stronger Islamic schools to join the movement toward Islamic school development. We can strive together to develop curricula throughout our schools. We can be deliberate and pleasing to our maker, Allah. Finally, we can work to develop and live the “Islam” in our vision, mission, and core values, create integrated units, curricular guides, build foundational

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themes, and focus on special and timely subjects so that students become more keenly aware of their heritage, proud of their faith, and strong in their Islamic worldview.

Notes 1 Resources www.1001inventions.com; www.Muslimheritage.com; theisla.org; https:// www.tripleeframework.com/

References Ajem, R., & Memon, N. (2011). Principles of Islamic Pedagogy. Canada: Islamic Teacher Education Program. Al-Hassani,T. S. (2006). 1001 Inventions Muslim Heritage in Our World. Manchester: Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. El-Moslimany, A. (2018). Teaching Children a Moral, Spiritual, and Holistic Approach to Educational Development. Herndon: International Institute of Islamic Thought. Harder, E. (2006). Concentric Circles: Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Learning: A Foundational Approach. Sherwood Park: A-Qalam Publishing. Hashim,Y., & Beg, M. (2012). A Journey through Islamic History: a Short Timeline of Key Events. Leicestershire: Kube Publishing. Jacobs, H. H. (2004). Getting Results with Curriculum Mapping. Alexandria: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. Nicolle, D. (2003). Historical Atlas of the Islamic World. New York: Checkmark Books. Tauhidi, D. (2001). The Tarbiyah Project: A Holistic Vision of Islamic Education. Troy: Tarbiyah Institute.

‫بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم‬

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CONCLUSION EMERGING INSIGHTS ON ISLAMIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM RENEWAL Mariam Alhashmi

This volume has presented multiple perspectives on teaching Islam and curriculum renewal for the general education levels (K-12). The preceding chapters have discussed and considered renewal in Islamic studies curricula, overall school curricula, and in curriculum remapping approaches. The ideas put forward will hopefully open doors to educators, whether teachers, parents, curriculum coordinators, or administrators, to explore new dimensions for re-envisioning their curricula and taking them to the next level. The contributors to this volume aspired to discover and examine ways that enable one to better understand the current context, integrate beneficial knowledge, be guided by the wisdom of the Islamic tradition, and be inspired by solutions that meet the needs of learners today. Based on the concept of “tradition renewal” (tajdeed al-turath) (At-Tayyeb, 2014), we conclude this publication by weaving together the preceding threads of this volume in a number of themes, revisit some of the aforementioned implications, and discuss the resulting recommendations. But before we tackle the themes, we want to reiterate the concept of renewal (tajdeed) that this volume attempts to contribute to. Renewal is commonly called for and dependent upon reconfiguring systems of Islamic education so that they carry on the essence of the Islamic tradition in ways that are rejuvenating, authentic, applicable for our contexts, and relevant to learners. Renewal needs to be carried based on proper grounding, conducted through an accurate methodology, and governed by agreed-upon criteria so that it does not turn into random and misaligned attempts that become subject solely to trial and error to evaluate their success. To clearly state the case for this, Shaikh Ahmad At-Tayyeb (2014), the current Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, and a world-renowned authority on Sunni Islam, differentiates between

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the concept of “renewal of the tradition” (tajdeed al-turath) and that of “tradition and renewal” (alturath wa altajdeed). He defines the first as “dealing with the old tradition as a subjective reality that is subject to renewal while preserving firmly established roots” (p. 37). At-Tayyeb bases the renewal methodology on this definition. This is different from the concept of “renewal and tradition” which alludes to “reinterpreting the tradition based on the requirements and the needs of the times, where the tradition is the means and renewal is the end” (p. 37). Renewal approached through the first perspective enables us to review the tradition and discern authentic, correct, and needed practices from practices that are parasite, fake, and should be eliminated. Such discernment is key as we consider Islamic studies curricula, whether written, taught (enacted), or learned, and attempt to renew certain aspects in alignment with the Islamic philosophy of knowledge and education. At-Tayyeb (2014) explained that many contemporary bad practices in Islam are bad implementations of the tradition, which are not the tradition, and we should not judge principles based on deviating applications. A similar argument regarding the filtration of traditional practices is called upon by Bin Bayyah (2014) who cautioned that reality is not always as clear as the light of day but might be wrapped up with impurities and the darkness of doubt. We would need to shine the light of thought, powered by the brightness of experience and expertise, to vanquish the darkness. In such a process, we will need to refer to the maqasid, which are the objectives that the Islamic law aims to achieve and that realize the wisdoms behind rulings. Maqasid would be the compass that guides one through uncertainties and protects from being trapped by the literal and outward meanings of texts, fooled by personal desires, or mistakenly influenced by the external temporary circumstances (Achak, 2018). A deep level of understanding of Islamic studies and pedagogies is needed to achieve the desired growth of Islamic and Muslim educational systems steered by age-old Islamic guidelines as a framework for such a project. Dr. Umar F. Abd-Allah (2012) proposed some general guidelines: (1) trusting reason, (2) respecting dissent, (3) stressing societal obligations, (4) setting priorities, and (5) embracing maxims. Such guidelines are firmly based on the Qur’an and Sunna, supported by the general consensus of traditional Islamic scholarship, and provide tangible operational knowledge and guidance. For an illustration of grounded renewal in Islamic Studies, you may refer to Chapter 3, where Mohamad Abdalla demonstrates how a discipline, fiqh, responds to the realities of the day and to the changeability of time and place, while being guided by the five higher objectives (Maqasid) of Shari’ah and legal maxims. Curriculum renewal has the potential to make a remarkable impact on learning Islam in educational institutions. Educators will find in this book an array of proposals that offer guidance on redesigning the Islamic Studies curriculum in ways that are authentic and aligned to the tradition, relevant and engage the student, and prepare the learner to be a well-rounded human being. The cases

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and the examples drawn from schools as well as the critiques of Islamic education curricula lead to possibilities that speak to challenges faced globally in the field of Islamic Studies. Readers of this book will gain access to multiple signposts that will assist them to navigate their way through Islamic Studies curriculum adoption, adaption, and modification processes. This book will also assist educators in reshaping the school overall curriculum within an Islamic worldview in a contextual manner. In a language that speaks to the realities of our educational institutions today, we can perceive curriculum as consisting of three facets: The written curriculum, the taught curriculum, and the learned curriculum (Glatthorn, 1987), and use these as an organizing schema for the forthcoming discussion of the book themes. Under each of these three facets, we will elicit some of the themes that have emerged throughout this volume and that primarily speaks to educators who aspire to renew curriculum related to “education into religion” (Berglund, 2015), and its relevant curriculum orientations.

Written Curriculum Learning institutions select and develop their written curriculum which is the “official” curriculum that can be found in the school documents. It includes textbooks, programs, multimedia resources, annual plans, and unit planners. Some of the themes that emerged in this book and resemble curriculum development guidelines include the following: The Wholeness of Knowledge: Governed by the tawhid method of knowledge (Al-Attas, 1995), the different strands of knowledge in the Islamic tradition cannot be stripped from one another. Furthermore, Islamic sciences cannot be separated from other subject areas. The divisions and compartmentalization across Islamic studies and across curriculum subjects in general are alien to the Islamic worldview. Wholeness of knowledge calls for stepping back from the nitty-gritty work of developing textbooks, annual and unit plans, to considering the meaningfulness of the curriculum in the way it provides holistic education that relates to the learner’s soul, intellect, psyche, and body. The Islamic studies and the curriculum at large should emphasize the interrelated and interdisciplinary connections between knowledge branches and acknowledge the proper order of acquisition. Connections between sciences and the orderly and gradual acquisition of knowledge was widely discussed in the Islamic tradition (e.g. Al-Ghazali, 2004) This theme unfolded in a variety of ways in the previous chapters, within five explorations of this concept: •

Samir Mahmoud explained in Chapter 2 how the Qur’an contains the roots of all true knowledge, with the Islamic sciences and arts derived from its inner truth.

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•

•

•

•

Mohammed Rustom pointed in Chapter 4 to the false sense of dichotomy between theology and science that teaching Islam can unintentionally convey through contemporary curricula. In Chapter 7, Susan Douglass suggested integrating the curriculum across school subjects by anchoring social studies as a focal point for intertwining “sacred” and “secular” seamlessly to produce a well-rounded person open to the world. Stemming from the concept of the holistic dimension of human being and how education needs to be viewed as an integrated system, Dylan Chown provided in Chapter 10 a personal experience of leading a Health and Physical Education (HPE)/Sport department in an Islamic school and implementing practical ideas of transforming HPE in order for it to be transformative. Farah Ahmed, in Chapter 13, also presented a case from Shakhsiyah Education and shared with us some of the lessons learned in the area of developing an integrated curriculum that connects the child’s contextualized growth to the concepts of Iman and personalized tarbiyah.

Relevance and Appropriateness: The written Islamic Studies curriculum is often criticized for neglecting its relevance and appropriateness to the learners, which results in students detaching from Islamic studies and lacking interest in learning about it. It is important to tap into student internal motivation to avoid the common complaints of boredom that has been an issue with Islamic studies in some Islamic schools, as revealed by Mohammad Aballa’s study findings stated in Chapter 3. In our times of change, many educators find it challenging to make sense of the tradition in ways that touch the hearts and provoke the minds of the young. Textbooks and unit planners often appear to be far from the students’ daily circumstances, their concerns, their challenges, and their aspirations. A connecting layer, between the students and the tradition, calls educators for development and collaborative work to highlight the relevant curricular manifestations as related to the learners’ current realities. In several chapters, the contributors identified biased information in Islamic studies textbooks and in other humanities textbooks. Bakali in Chapter 5 confirms the issues raised by the students in the previously mentioned study by delineating examples of inappropriate information that can be found in the Islamic studies curricula and suggested connecting the study of Seerah issues and challenges that the students could deal with. For a more relevant and appropriate study of history, Susan Douglass in Chapter 7 proposed a new world history paradigm that is organized around a sequence of eras as global history periods that act as a platform for integrating disciplines. For an appropriate science curriculum and one that is grounded in the Islamic worldview, Omar Qureshi shared in Chapter 8 his experience leading the science curriculum renewal through a collaborative three-year project using

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the Understanding by Design (UbD) planning model. In another controversial field in Islamic schools, as Music and Fine Arts, Frances Leap, Mohamad Abdalla, Samah Taki, and Danielle Jebara presented in Chapter 11 ways of planning toward achieving the Music and Fine Arts curriculum Australian outcomes, as an example, within what is deemed acceptable by different Muslim communities. A method for approaching relevance was suggested by Mohamad Abdalla in Chapter 3 who offered critical insights with regards to speaking with rather than speaking for students. He proposed eight principles that enable for teaching fiqh that is true to the spirit of Islam and responsive to the needs and aspirations of Muslim learners. An important aspect of relevance is the acknowledgement of the different and valid opinions of Muslim scholars, particularly when teaching students in multicultural societies. A relevant written curriculum connects the students to their context through textbooks or planners that are locally developed and that speak to what the student is encountered with in his daily life. It is dynamic and responds to the emerging needs of the student and hence is continually reviewed for this purpose. Respecting different points of views conveys many essential teachings beyond those of the particular rulings including the vastness of the Islamic law, tolerant attitudes, and the ease and mercy that these differences in opinion yield. On exposing students to difference of opinion, Mohammed Rustom in Chapter 4 points to the importance of introducing these after laying out the spiritual and intellectual infrastructure, and after teaching children to genuinely love people. The unseen is a core concept and a critical pillar of Islamic Studies that speaks to the dual nature of the learner (al-Attas, 1995), and is often not sufficiently emphasized in the written curricula. The appropriate connection to the divine unseen world through the study of the Quran has been thoroughly discussed by Samir Mahmoud in Chapter 2. While examining the written curriculum, we urge educators to re-evaluate the effectiveness of using textbooks in their common and current form as the main component of the written curriculum. Islamic education curricula need to establish explicit connections to the Islamic canon, its living tradition, and its intelligent scholars across the centuries. This can be achieved by connecting the learners to the authoritative brief texts (Mutūn) in the disciplines of Islamic Studies. Renewal in this regard has the potential to make significant changes and reap rewards quickly and effectively. In several areas related to Islamic heritage, it is often found that our practices do not reflect our Islamic tradition as much as they reflect dated influences, foreign influences, or a heterogeneous, imbalanced mixture of both (At-Tayyeb, 2014). On a wider sense, “the written curriculum” is engrained in the Kitab al-Manthūr (the seen book, pointing here to the universe) and Kitab al-Mastūr (the written book, pointing here to the revelation). Through the Divine command to the Prophet Muhammad “Read” (96;  1), we learn through a “taught curriculum” of “wisdom and good instruction.”1

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Within this process, the learners obtain the fruitful benefits of knowledge in this life and in the hereafter – “learned curriculum.”

Taught Curriculum The taught curriculum is the enacted version of the written curriculum that bridges it with the learned curriculum. It is the way the written words and sentences are brought to life with the aid of a competent teacher, or arguably aided by a medium of well-developed interactive media or a technology mediator.2 The taught curriculum is highly dependent on a well-prepared teacher who embodies what he teaches, and “walks the talk” consistently, since children read what the teacher is before they listen to what the teacher says. Claire Alkouatli discusses the central role of the educator in nurturing the child’s whole human development in Chapter 12 and draws critical remarks pertaining to the place of technology within this process. Below are two key themes that relate to the taught curriculum: Distinctive Pedagogy: Contributors to this volume spoke of distinctive pedagogies that lend themselves to the didactic process of teaching and learning within an Islamic worldview. Mujadad Zaman described in Chapter 14 a prophetic pedagogy that is characterized by adab in simple acts such as the form of sitting, or more complex ones like argumentative disputation. Refining pedagogy should be a foundational work in the re-mapping process of an Islamic Studies curriculum. Drawing from such distinctive pedagogies has potential to address certain challenges that learners face today. For example, misconceptions and close-mindedness can be addressed through the revival of the isnad (the chain of transmission) and Ijaza (authorization from qualified teacher to transmit knowledge) traditions on genuine grounds (Ali & Ninowy, 2016). Revisiting the concept of ṣuḥba (companionship) through accompanying teachers in various settings and venues, and on a frequent basis with the aid of communicative technology, can support the revival of the isnad tradition especially among interested high school students who will have access to more opportunities for this tradition through increasingly reliable online venues and platforms. Riḥla (journey) is another tradition that can also enable for taking virtual guided trips to support the talaqqi (direct meeting) of authentic knowledge from resources that might not be available within one’s geographic location. The tradition of accuracy and citations can equip our young learners with protective awareness against inaccurate knowledge that is spreading, particularly in social media and cyber space. The tradition of perfection and dedication in knowledge seeking, along with the support structure used to cultivate it, can unleash the potential of Muslim learners to excel and effectively contribute to their countries and societies. Traditions of students teaching their peers and spreading knowledge, which they learn through mudhākara (conferring and recalling) circles will cultivate a

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vibrant community of knowledge in our learning institutions. The taught curriculum of Islamic Studies is often found to not pay sufficient attention to necessary skills and attitudes. Skills like critical and creative thinking, logic, debate, problem solving, and mastery of auxiliary sciences are essential components of the taught facet of a curriculum of teaching Islam. Attitudes such as those of the adab (etiquette) of difference, lifelong learning, and putting learning into practice are of no less importance and are also often overlooked. In his re-examination of traditional forms of pedagogy including sitting (on the ground), dialectic, memorizing, and discipleship, Mujadad Zaman in Chapter 15 advised that while these have shown to have merit in contemporary schools, they need to be explored and re-examined by educators for their specific contexts in which they would be implemented. The applicability of these pedagogic features in our varying contexts, Zaman suggested, remains a task for the teacher to work on as he explores the application of “old” ideas in new ways. Upon her analysis of the concepts of human development, Claire Alkouatli offered in Chapter 12 general pathways to development considered in light of Islamic education. Toward enhancing the child’s holistic development, she discussed three Islamically coherent leading methods of pedagogy: play, dialogue, and companionship. The idea of the distinctive pedagogy that is characterized by unique differentiating Prophetic features is not mutually exclusive, rather it provides opportunities for enriching pedagogy of Islamic Studies and for enriching teaching and learning as a whole, especially alongside the emergence of new challenges in multi-cultural classrooms. Balance of ta’leem, tarbiyah, and ta’deeb: Beyond the acquisition of information, the taught curriculum that embodies an encompassing Islamic worldview adheres to ta’leem but also places high emphasis on the element of tarbiyah and ta’deeb. Several contributors, in the preceding chapters, have critiqued the pattern of reducing the Islamic studies taught curriculum to include factual information only similar to some other subject areas. The dimension of tarbiyah and ta’deeb is the other side of the coin and is innate to the taught curriculum in Islam. While ta’leem sharpens baṣar (literally sight, alluding to information of outwardly things), tarbiyah and ta’deeb sharpen the baṣīrah (wisdom and the knowledge of secrets and implications behind choices and actions), which enable a Muslim to live a life of a good believer. On the attainment of akhlāq, which is related to the processes of tarbiyah and ta’deeb, Abdullah Trevathan concludes in Chapter 6 that refining character requires a substantive transformation of Muslim education. Teachers should not aim for the delivery of compartmentalized information, rather they are tasked with the roles of connecting souls to their Lord, nurturing character, enlightening minds, and transformation actions. Farah Ahmed drew guidelines from relating the concepts of tarbiyah, ta’leem, and ta’deeb to Iman, Islam, and Ihsan and discussed the practical implications of these important concepts.

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Learned Curriculum The learned curriculum is “the bottom-line curriculum” and that which the students actually learn (Glatthorn, 1987). Muslim scholars say that knowledge is what the chests embrace (learned curriculum), not what the lines contain (written curriculum); (al-ilm huwa ma wa’athu al-ṣudūr wa laisa ma hawathu al-sutūr). In Islam, the taught curriculum transcends the notions of remembering, comprehending, or even evaluating and creating knowledge as suggested in the commonly used Bloom’s taxonomy. The magnitude of the learned curriculum resides in the resulting actions, exhibited character, the acquired wisdom, and the unseen light that illuminates the heart of the learner. A key theme under the learned curriculum is discussed below: Actions as Fruit of Knowledge: Acquired knowledge is worthless if it does not lead to aligned action and character. Aiming at this fruit of knowledge is about speaking to the ultimate fourth level of intellect.3 Once reached and cultivated, the learner enters a cycle of an increase of knowledge that leads to an increase in taqwa (God-consciousness), which leads to an increase in knowledge. We should strive to elevate our curricula as to appropriately speak to the third and the fourth levels of the intellect. The first level differentiates the human species from animal species. This level can be addressed by curricula that are concerned with acquiring information and memorization. The limitation lies in stopping at this point and not building on it as the student grows in age and in knowledge beyond the first stage (7–14 years).4 Stopping at the second level is also not acceptable where curricula work on higher-order thinking skills and aim for the development of analysis, synthesis, and ­problem-solving skills. This is often encouraged at the second stage (around 14 years old or at the readiness of the learner) at which the learner has the capability of acquiring logical thinking skills. Bakali in his analysis of curricula in Chapter 5 has found space for improvement in this area where assessment questions often focused on surface level factual information through a two-dimensional approach. A unique power of curriculum in Islam lies in the third level in which the learner is trained to transit between the theoretical and the practical realms and to connect abstract concepts with life’s practicalities and applications in an aligned manner. The pinnacle of the curriculum culminates at the fourth level of the intellect described by al-Ghazali (2004), which grants the human being agency to make informed decisions for himself based on a solid foundation of knowledge and to obtain the power of self-control that enables his actions to be fully guided by his knowledge. The ultimate learned curriculum lies at this level and assessing for learning would be centered around these indicators described within this fourth level.

The Work Ahead of Us Forecasts on the future of learning foresee major changes to schools resulting from the rise in blended learning and the innovations of the fourth industrial revolution, such as Artificial Intelligence and its capabilities of tailoring

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instruction at a personalized level for each child. Robots have also started joining schools in roles related to the compartment of information. These innovations require further studies into their applications through collective efforts in light of the previously discussed themes and ideas around the renewal of studying Islam. Questions that require further investigation are: Coupled with the content becoming increasingly accessible through the exponentially rising numbers of online learning platforms, courses, and schools, how could this maintain the ideals of the learned curriculum? How can teaching Islam benefit from the innovations of the fourth industrial revolution in constructive ways that are suitable to its distinctive nature? How would Islamic studies curricula be further personalized through the tools of Artificial Intelligence? Will there be further customization of the methods of teaching and learning to relate the subject to every student? Would the Islamic tradition offer insights related to personalized learning? How can we connect students to qualified scholars from around the globe in authentic ways? Will students have access to a larger pool of knowledgeable scholars and hence we will see a rise in acquiring sacred knowledge? Will the practice of Ijaza pedagogy based on sama’ (direct learning) flourish when the barriers of space and travel have diminished? Will interdisciplinary Islamic studies courses and classes increase as connectivity and communication are optimized? How would educators cultivate ethics to best utilize Artificial Intelligence? Will we witness coherence of knowledge across the curriculum in Islamic schools as a result of the growing number of projects based on integrated curriculum models? This conclusion chapter was written during the COVID-19 pandemic and the following events that occurred in 2020. Humanity has always strived for tranquility amidst times of turbulence and this appears to be a time in which this need is intensified. Teaching Islam based on a renewed curriculum can grant the learners such a grounding through a written curriculum of wholeness, relevance, and appropriateness that is taught through a distinctive pedagogy that balances ta’leem (teaching), tarbiyah (nurturing), and ta’deeb (educating), and that aims at elevating actions and reaping the fruits of knowledge. Based on the discussed notion of renewal, such a curriculum will enable learners to establish strong roots that empower them to deal with changes in constructive ways. Within today’s global efforts toward reimagining education at large, instilling constants within the inevitable continuous waves of change and living with purpose while immersed in chaos and uncertainty become increasingly important. Through a curriculum that speaks to the 21st-century generation, and that is based on Islamic ideals, students will enjoy a learning environment that is welcoming, inclusive, virtuous, and illuminating to the totality of individuals and society, where the “angels surround them, mercy covers them, tranquility descends upon them, and Allah remembers them before those who are with Him.”5

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Notes 1 As in the Qur’anic verse: “Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and good instruction; And argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious” (16; 125). 2 While these methods have their applications, Muslim scholars speak about the importance of accompanying qualified teachers and learning from their actions as well as their words in a process akin to apprenticeship. Arabs say that “the tongue of actions is more eloquent than the tongue of speech.” Muslim scholars hence warned from taking knowledge from books alone before reaching mastery as many misconceptions can result from such a process. We need to ensure that the medium transfers the state of the teacher and the aspects of tarbiya and sulūk in addition to those of ‘ilm (knowledge). 3 In the Book of Knowledge (2004), Imam al-Ghazali describes four levels of the intellect and establishes the fourth level as the one that we should gradually raise to in our efforts of teaching and learning. The first level is the intuitive and this is what differentiates human beings from animals. The second level is of basic logic and that which enables one to differentiate between the possible and the impossible, for example. Both the first and the second levels of the intellect are intuitive while the third and the fourth are attained. The third higher level of the intellect is the one attained through experience and that which depends on one’s capacity and quality of experience.The fourth ultimate level of the intellect is that which elevates the learner to be able to lead one’s self and combat blameworthy appetites through the light of the intellect ending up with the ability to avoid that which ends in harm. Once this level of the intellect is activated, the more the child learns, the more he has power over his actions. Knowledge hence results in God consciousness (taqwa). 4 For an encounter on the developmental approaches of teaching and learning against the age of the learners you may refer to Memon & Alhashmi (2019). 5 Sunan Ibn Majah, 225.

References Abd-Allah, U. (2012). Living Islam with Purpose. Abu Dhabi: Tabah Foundation. Achak, A. (2018). Manahij Al-Ijtihad: Muqaraba fi Manhajiat Al-Ijtihad Tafsiran wa Ta’lilan wa Tanzilan. Abu Dhabi: Al Muwatta. Al-Attas, N. (1995). The Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam: An Exposition of the Fundamental Elements of the Worldview of Islam. Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC. Al-Ghazali, A. H. (2004). Ihya Ulum al-Din. Beirut: Al-Maktabah Al-Asriyah. Ali, A., & Ninowy, M. (2016). The Place of Isnad in Islamic Education: Demystifying “Tradition”. Lamppostedu.org. Retrieved from http://lamppostedu.org/wp-content/ uploads/2018/05/The-True-Value-of-Isnad-and-Ijaza.pdf. At-Tayyeb, A. (2014). Al-Turath wa Al-Tajdeed: Munaqashat wa Rudud (Tradition and Renewal: Discussions and Answers). Dar al-Quds al-’Arabi. Berglund, J. (2015). Publicly Funded Islamic Education in Europe and the United States. The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, 21. Accessed from https:// www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Final-Web-PDF.pdf. Bin Bayyah, A. (2014). Tanbih Al-Maraji’ Ala Ta’seel Fiqh Al-Waqi’. Abu Dhabi: Al Muwatta. Glatthorn, A. A. (1987). Curriculum Renewal. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED278127.

INDEX

Note: Bold page numbers refer to tables Abdalla, Mohamad 1–12, 35–48, 143, 153–176, 243, 245, 246 Abd-Allah, Umar Faruq 205–206, 243 abodes 46 Abrogated and Abrogating (Nasikh wa Mansoukh) 33 absence (ghayba) 80 abstract artwork 168 accreditation 230 acoustics 24–25 action planning 235 adab (social etiquette) 54–56, 79–80, 134, 184, 210, 222, 247, 248 adab al-bahth wa-al-munazara 218 adab-al’alim wa-l-muta’allim (rules of conduct for teaching and learning) 199, 200 Adam 89, 117 adhan (call to prayer) 154 adl ( justice) 135 adult companionship 186 afia (wellbeing) 134, 135 ahadith 156, 163 ahkam 29 ahkam shari’ah (sacred rulings and law) 209 Ahmed, Farah 192, 199–211, 206, 245, 248 ‘Aisha 127 Ajem, Ramzy 187, 200, 234

akathur (piling up for rivalry) 19 akhlaq (character) 77–90, 248; adab 79–80; current curricula and resources 86; curricular models and resources for 80–81; definitions of 79; educational mileage 85–86; hudar 80; meaningfulness 83–85; morality 87–88, 90; objectives for teaching and learning 81–83; obligations 87–88, 90; overview 77–79; perception of childhood 86; relevance 83–85; sneeze, imparting through 88–90; and teaching of theology 56 Al Khalq (The Creator) 78 Al Tirmidhi, Al Hakim 89 Alafasy, Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid 158–159 al-ahkam al-sultaniyyah 37 al-’Ali, Ibrahim 67 ‘Alam al-Shahada (Seen World) 24, 28, 30–31, 57 al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib 124, 210 al-Baji 219 alcohol 156 Alexander, Christopher 216 al-Farid, Ibn 58 Al-Ghazali 127, 199, 214 Al-Haqq (The Real) 23 Alhashmi, Marian 242–250 Al-Hassani, Salim T.S. 238

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al-hukm ‘ala al-shay’ far’u; an tasawurihi 116 Ali ibn Abi Talib 214 al-’ibadat (rituals or devotional matters), 37 alimas (female religious authorities) 143 al-Insan al-Kamil (perfect human) 126 Alkouatli, Claire 181–196, 247–248, 248 Allah 22, 22–23, 31, 41, 67, 78, 82, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 141, 156, 194, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206–207, 206–210, 215, 217, 228, 240 al-mu’amalat (civil transactions) 37 al-qada’ wa’l-qadr 58 al-Qaradawi, Shaykh 38 al-Qudat, ‘Ayn 58 al-Qurtubi 36 al-Razi, Abubakr Mohammad Zakariya 89 Al-Salabi, Muhammad 68 al-Seerah al-Nabawwiyya (Al-Salabi) 67–68 al-Seerah Nabawiyyah (Hisham) 67 al-shakk (doubt) 117 al-Shashi 219 al-Sihah al-Sittah (The Authentic Six) 66 Al-Tabari 156 al-Tafsir al-Kabir 31 alturath wa altajdeed (tradition and renewal) 243 al-’uqabat 37 al-wahm 117 al-zann al-rajih 117 amal 127 ‘amal salih (pure and righteous actions) 209 amanah (trust) 136, 209 American Islamic schools, science curriculum in 114 analogical reasoning (qiyas) 36 anashid 24 ancient civilizations 98 Anderson, Benedict 97–99 Ansari, Abd Allah 58 Anwar al-Tanzil 31 appended orientation 8 ‘aqida (creed) 7, 51–61, 207; adab 54–56; and akhlaq 56; and curriculum learning outcomes 57–58; and differences in theological positions 60–61; Muslim majority contexts 53; and pedagogy 186; purpose of 51; tensions and pitfalls

59–60; Western/ Muslim minority contexts 53 aql (faculty of intellect) 127, 135, 185, 187 ‘aqli (reasoning) 208 ‘Arabi, Ibn 58 Arabic language 25 Arabic Quran 25 Archangel Gabriel ( Jibril) 17 architecture 167 Aristotelian curriculum 219 arkan al- Islam (five pillars of action) 208 Armstrong, Karen 10 ar-Razzaq 208 art 163–164, 246; appreciation 165; Divine revelation as source of 154; expression 165–166; Islamic 166–168; non-Islamic 168–169; sample lessons 170 art curricula 164; in Islamic schools 166, 170; in secular schools 170 asexuals 47 Asfahani; Raghib al- 206–207 ashab (companions) 221 Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America 157 astronomy (‘ilm alfalak) 18 At-Tayyeb, Shaikh Ahmad 242 Australian Islamic schools: curriculum renewal 2; fiqh in 38–40; health and physical education in 131–134; sample art lessons 170–175 Australian Sports Commission 141 aware presence (hudur) 78, 80, 87 Awwam, Zubair ibn 67 ayat (verses) 29 Az-Zuhri, Shihab 67 Bakali, Naved 63–75 Bakr, Aisha bint Abi 67 balagha (rhetoric) 18, 219 barakah (felicity) 221 basrah 248 batin 213 Benn, T. 128 Berglund, J. 2–3, 4, 9, 10 Big Bang theory 114 big history 98 Bin Bayyah, A. 243 bioethics 47

254 Index

bisexuals 47 Black Muslims 160 body ( jism) 129, 135, 203, 211 Bukhari, Sahih al- 156, 163 Bulliet, Richard 109 Burke, Edmund, III 109–110 Burton, Bruce 147 Burtt, E.A. 123–124 call to prayer (adhan) 154 calligraphy 154, 164, 166–167 Carruther, Mary 219 The Cave (al-Kahf ) 31 Cave of Hira 29 character orientation 8 Charter for Compassion 10 childhood, Muslim perception of 86 Chown, Dylan 125–149, 245 Christianity 28 civic engagement 8, 46–47 civil transactions (al-mu’amalat) 37 civilization 98, 102–104 Clara Mohammad Schools 230 Clear and Ambiguous (Al-Muhkam wa alMutashabih) 33 cognizance of God (ma’rifa) 128, 134 Cold War 101 Common Core Curriculum 114 companions (ashab) 221 Companions (Sahaba) 21, 24, 29, 67 companionship (suhba) 247 comparative beliefs system 10 competency, at fifth grade 73–74 Compilation and Preservation of the Quran ( Jam’ wa Hifz al-Quran) 33 Concentric Circles (Harder) 234 consultation (mashura) 143 core curriculum 231 Cornell, Vincent 107 The Correct Balance (al-Qistas al-Mustaqim). (Ghazali) 120–121 cosmos (afaq) 31 creation (khalq) 78, 209 Crescent Academy 83, 84 culture 47 culture wars 97–99 curriculum integration 235–237 curriculum orientations 5–7; importance of 10–11; Islamic schools 8; madrassas 7–8 curriculum renewal 2, 242–250; learned curriculum 249; taught curriculum

247–248; wholeness of knowledge 244–245; written curriculum 244–247 Dagkas, S. 128 dar al-ulums (K-12 Islamic school) 2 Dark Ages 104 debates 218–219 deeds (hasanat) 129 deeds (thawab) 129 Define 360 program 234 Descartes, Rene 214 dhikr (spiritual gatherings) 200 dialectic 218–219 dialectician (munazir) 219 dialogical inquiry 193 dialogue, as instruction in middle childhood 191–192, 193 digital learning 239 din-al-Islam (Islamic way of life) 204, 204–206 direct meeting (talaqqi) 247 discipleship 220–221 discussion plan 193 Disneyfication 86 Divine Command 22–23 Divine Reality (haqaiq) 87, 107 Divine Revelations 23, 154 Divine Speech 20, 23 Divine Throne (al-’Arsh) 32 Divine Will 87 Divine Word 25–26, 30 Douglass, Susan 95–110, 245 dua (supplication) 128, 184 educare 213 educating (ta’deeb) 219, 220, 248 education 213 educators: action planning 235; evaluating 230–232; redeveloping 232–234 educere 213 Egypt 28, 81 El Fadl, K.A. 81 e-learning 239 Elleissy, A. 2 El-Moslimany, A. 228 Emre, Yunus 58 environmental ethics 47 eras model 104–106 eschatology (ma‘ad) 57 ethics 87 evaluating 230–232

Index  255

evolution 114, 116–117 evolutionary biologists 118 faith (iman) 154, 187, 204, 206–207, 238 fajr (dawn prayer) 135 fard ain 187 Farooq, S. 128 Faruqi, Lois Ibsen 157–158, 158 felicity (barakah) 221 fifth grade, competency at 73–74 financial ethics 47 fiqh ( jurisprudence) 17 fiqh (practical living) 7, 35–48, 209, 246; in context 35–38; fiqh of the 46; of health 126; in Islamic schools 38–40; in Islamic studies curricula 40–45, 45–47; meaning of 36; origins of 87; overview 35; scope of 37 fiqh al-Aqaliyyat ( jurisprudence for minority Muslim communities) 38 Fiqh al-ghina’ wal-musiqa (al-Qaradawi) 157 fiqh al-nawazil ( juRisprudence of momentous events) 38 First National Peoples 131 First World 101 fitrah 206 5 Pillars approach 9 formal instruction 186 form-art of Islam 154 fornication 156 Foucault, Michel 128, 214 French Enlightenment 219 futuwwa (guilds) 220, 221 gay 47 gender diverse 47 gender relations 47 geography 96, 99–101 Geography for Life 100 geography-dominant model 99–101 geometric designs 168 ghaflah (heedlessness or distraction) 80 ghayba (absence) 80 Ghazali, Ahmad 58 God’s Speech (Kalam Allah) 22–24, 28–29, 30 God’s will (mashee) 128 good custodians (khalifa) 128 good living 128 Gospel (Injil) 23 governance/government 46 Gracious Quran (Hammad) 234

Graham, William 216 gratitude (shukr) 56 greetings 82 Grossman, P. 5 grounded orientation 8 guilds ( futuwwa) 220, 221 Gulistan 55 hadith 38, 54, 55, 59, 66–68, 72, 113, 114, 119, 134, 144, 153, 153–154, 156, 163, 215–216, 217, 221, 234 Hadith Jibril (Gabriel) 199–211; din 204–206; four foundational concepts 203; full text of 201; ihsan 209–210; iman 206–207; Islam 208–209; pedagogical features of 201–202; ta’dib 209–210; ta’lim 208–209; tarbiyah 206–207 Hafez 58 halaqah (circle of learning) 192, 193, 200, 202, 209, 210, 217–218 Hammad, Ahmad Zaki 234 Hanafi 37 Hanbali 37 haqaiq (Divine Reality) 87 Harder, Elma 234 Hardy-Weinberg theorem 118 hasanat (deeds) 128 Hassan, Wadud 234 hawas (sense perception) 208 Hawwa’ 117 haya (modesty) 144 Hayy b. Yaqzan 55 health and physical education (HPE) 125–149; in Australian Islamic schools 131–134; curricular transformation 141–142; Health Promoting School framework 146–147; hijabs 138–140; intentionality for participation in 136; Islam and 127–130; Islamic worldview 134–135; lessons for Islamic school educators 148; lessons for public school educators 148–149; and Muslim women 128, 129–130; niyah (intentions) 136; orientating anchors for 134; school vision for 132–133; sexuality education 142–144; sports aerobics 142; sports uniforms 136–137; stakeholders 133–134; tawhid 126–127; transformation of 134; unchallenged perceptions of 135 Health Promoting School (HPS) framework 146–147

256 Index

hifz 19 hijab 130 hijabs 136–137 hijrah 63, 67 hikaya (stories) 32 Hip Hop music 160 Hisham, Abdul Malik ibn 67 history education 95–110; big history 98; civilizations approach 102–104; geography-dominant model 99–101; global world history 104–106; historydominant model 101–102; Muslim school models for 106–107; New World History 98; periodization in 104; politicized, and culture wars 97–99; in schools 95–96; within social studies 96–97; world history 97–98 history-dominant social studies 101–102 Hodgson, Marshall 108, 219 Holistic Islamic Education (HIE) 205 Holtz, B. 5 home learning 239 hudur (aware presence) 78, 80, 87 human development: definition of 181; dialogue as instruction in middle childhood 191–192, 193; imaginative play 187–188; Islamic dimension of 185; in Islamic education 181–196; leading activities 186–195; mediated role modeling 194–195; objectives of 185–186; pathways to 183–185; selfdevelopment 194–195; social development 194–195; spiritual development 194–195 human expressions 154 humanities 96 Huraira, Ibn 89 I Love Islam and Learning Islam Textbook Series 44–45, 64, 68–70, 72 ibadah 127, 128 Ibn Abbas 36, 156 Ibn ‘Arabi 23 Ibn Jama’ah 217 Ibn Sina 127, 221 Ibrahim 87 identity 47 IECN 239 ihsan 127, 154, 204, 209–210 Ihya 214 Ijaza (authorization from qualified teacher to transmit knowledge) 36, 247

ijtihad 36 ilahiyyat 57 ‘ilm (knowledge) 17 ‘ilm (knowledge) 199, 200, 208 imaginary/imaginative play 187, 189–191 Imagined Communities (Anderson) 97 Imam, Seema 227–241 iman (faith) 154, 187, 204, 206–207, 238 immanence (tashbih) 164 Inimitability of the Quran (I‘jaz) 32 insan al kamil 221 integrated curriculum orientation 8 integrating Islam 3–4 intellectual investigation (nazar) 219 intentions (niyah) 127, 128, 133, 136, 160 International Society of Technology Educators (ISTE) 239 Interpretation (Tafsir) 32 interpretations (tafsir) 21, 31–33 intersex 47 IQRA International Educational Foundation 41, 233 IQRA Islamic Studies Curricula 41 IQRA USA 84 isbat al haqq 219 ishan 164 Ishaq, Muhammad ibn 67 Islam 154, 204, 208–209, 216 Islam and the Philosophy of Science (al-Attas) 124 “Islam at the Center: Technological Complexes and the Roots of Modernity” (Burke) 109 Islamic arts 18, 163–164, 246; appreciation 165; architecture 167–168; calligraphy 166–167; Divine revelation as source of 154; expression 165–166; practical guide to 166–168, 166–169; sample lessons 170 Islamic education/studies 3, 185; aims of 185; curriculum renewal 242–250; definition of 181; human development in 181–196 Islamic history 9, 41, 54, 70, 72, 95, 99, 102, 107–110, 154, 213, 215–217, 220, 231, 237; approaches to 108–110; and educational ideals 107–108 Islamic pedagogy 213–223; aqida 186; dialectic 218; discipleship 220–221; distinctive 247–248; and Islamic studies 222–223; memorization 219–220;

Index  257

overview 215–216; patterns of 216–221; sitting 217–218 Islamic religious education (IRE) 9 Islamic schools 4, 228–230; action planning 235; curriculum integration 235–237; curriculum orientations 6, 8; digital learning in 239; evaluating 230–232; fiqh in 38–40; health and physical education on 131–134; Quran 21–33; and racism 239–240; redeveloping 232–234; science curriculum in 122–123; and social justice 239–240; teaching of theology in 56; thematic all-school curriculum planning 237–238 Islamic Schools League of America 239 Islamic Services Foundation 44–45 Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation 200 Islamic studies 9, 18; curriculum orientations 7; I Love Islam and Learning Islam Textbook Series 44–45; and Islamic pedagogy 222–223; iSyllabus for Schools 43–44 Islamic studies curricula: fiqh in 40–45, 45–47; IQRA 41; Tasheel South Africa 42–43; themes/topics 46–47 Islamic Studies Standardized Tests (ISST) 72–73 Islamic Tahdhib and Akhlaq 82 Islamic worldview 3–4; in health and physical education 134–135; in science curriculum 114, 118–120 Islamizing 3–4 Islamnic values 81 isnad (chain of transmission) 247 istihsan ( juristic preference) 36 istishab (presumption of continuity) 36 istislah (consideration of public interest) 36 iSyllabus for Schools 43–44 Jebara, Danielle 153–176, 246 Jacobs, H.H. 237 jadal 219 Jami al-Tirmidhi 66 Jamiatul ‘Ulama (Council of Islamic Theologians) Taalimi Board 42 Jansson, K. 128 Jawad, H. 128 jihad 47 jism (body) 128, 135 journey (rihla) 247

A Journey Through Islamic History A Timeline of Key Events (Hashim/Beg) 238 Juday, Sheikh ‘Abdullah b. Yusuf al- 157 judgements 220 jurisprudence ( fiqh) 17 justice (adl) 135 K-12 Islamic schools 8; music curricula 159–161 K-12 Islamic Studies curricula 51 K-12 schools 242; aqida in 51; arts curricula 155, 164; curriculum challenges 2; geography in 96, 100; HPE in 132; Islamic 8; Islamic studies in 3, 5, 9, 11; Islamizing 3; madrassas 7; music curricula 159; science curriculum 113, 123; seerah in 64 kalam (theology) 17, 56, 120–121 Kalam theology 114 kalimat (words) 22 Keifer-Boyd, Karen 218 khalifa (good custodians) 128 khalq (creation) 78, 209 Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali 158–159 Khidr 87 khulq (natural disposition) 78, 187 khutbah 41 khutbah hajjatul widaa 63 Kitab al-Manthur (the seen book) 246 Kitab al-Mastur (the written book) 246 knowledge (‘ilm) 17 knowledge (‘ilm) 199, 200, 208 Kolb, Liz 239 la ilaha illa’llah (formula of divine unity) 51 landscape drawing 168 language 213 leading activities 186–195; dialogue as instruction in middle childhood 191–192; imaginative play 187–188; Islamically coherent 186–195; mediated role modeling 194–195 Leap, Frances 153–176, 246 learned curriculum 249 Learner Responsive Fiqh (LRF) 35, 40 Learning First, and Technology Second (Kolb) 239 legal maxims (kulliyyat) 37 lesbians 47 Levisohn, J.A. 6

258 Index

LGBTIQA 47 Lipman, M. 192 logic 120–121 logic (mantiq) 114 Love Labour Lost (Shakespeare) 214 ma‘ad (eschatology) 57 maazif 157 madhab (school of law) 39, 43, 205 madhahib (school of law) 37 Madina 67 Madinah 67 Madinan 71 madrassas 6, 7–8, 218 Mahmoud, Samir 17–33, 244, 246 Makkah 67, 73 Makkan 70 malakah 78 Malik ibn Anas 217 Maliki 37 Manning, Patrick 104–106 mantiq (logic) 114 maqamat 24 maqamat (sonoral arts) 24 maqams 24 maqasid 243 ma’rifa (cognizance of God) 128, 134 mashee (God’s will) 128 mashura (consultation) 143 masjids 167 maslaha mursala (consideration of public interest); 36 Masnavi (Rumi) 53, 55 Masud, Ibn 89 mathematics 96 Matthews, Michael 123 McCuaig, L. 128 McTighe, J. 121 mediated rolemaking 187, 194–195 medicine (tibb) 18 Memon, Nadeem 1–12, 187, 200, 201, 234 memorization 219–220 Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science (Burtt) 123–124 Middle East 101 Middle East Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) 108 middle schools 73, 74, 120, 235, 236 mileage 85–86 Minhaj 219 mizan 126 modesty (haya) 144

morality 87–88, 90 Moroccan Islamic IE Curriculum 84–85 Moses 28, 29 mosques 24–25, 154, 167, 200 mu’azinin 24 mu’azzin 24 mudhakara (conferring and recalling) circles 247 Muhammad 17, 24, 27, 29, 31, 32, 36, 51, 63–64, 82, 87, 153, 194, 214, 221, 239–240; authority of 65; emulation of 217; Hadith Jibril 201–202; health 126–127; and Islamic pedagogy 215; marriage 67; seerah of 66; stories and examples of life 66–67; as a walking Quran 220 Muhammadun rasulu’llah 51 muhaqqiq (truth seeker) 221 muhasabah (self-reflection) 136 Mujahid 156 multi-faith education 7, 9–10 multiple cultures 98 munazir (dialectician) 219 murabbi 221 muraqabah 78 Musa 87 Musa, Sheikh Abdullah Ramadan 157 musahaba (discipleship with a master) 221 mushahada (witnessing of adab in others) 221 music 155–157, 246; appreciation 160–161; Divine revelation as source of 154; expression 160–161; performance 158–159, 160–161; as sound-art 157–158 Music & Singing in the Scale of Islam (alJuday) 157 music curricula 159–161 musical instruments 156 musicians 158–159 musiqa 158, 162–163 Muslim American schools 82 Muslim citizenship 46–47 Muslim Hip Hop music 160 Muslim schools 4; teaching Islamic history in 106–107 Musnad of Imam Ahmad Hadith 63 mutun 246 My Islamic Books 64 nafs (self ) 31, 135, 185, 209–210 naql 127

Index  259

nas 36 nashid 154, 160–161 Nasr, S.H. 17, 154 National Curriculum for Islamic Studies (Nigeria) 81 national history 97 National Standards for Schools 84 Native Deen (musician) 160 natural disposition (khulq) 78, 187 nazar (intellectual investigation) 219 New World History 98 Next Generation Science Standards 114 Nigeria 81 niyah (intentions) 127, 128, 133, 136, 160 non-Western culture, civilizations approach 103 Noorart Islamic Curriculum and Books. 233 nubuwwa (prophecy) 57 nurturing (tarbiyah) 206–207, 248 obligations 87–88, 90 Occasions for Revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul) 32 Old Testament 29 one mob 133 1001 Inventions Muslim Heritage in Our World (Al-Hassani) 238 Operation Snowball 233 origins of the universe 114 paleoanthropologists 118 Parker, A. 128 participatory dialogue 187 patience (sabr) 208 A Pattern Language (Alexander) 216 pedagogy, Islamic 213–223; aqida 186; dialectic 218; discipleship 220–221; distinctive 247–248; and Islamic studies 222–223; memorization 219–220; overview 215–216; patterns of 216–221; sitting 217–218 peer relations 186, 187 People of Israel 28 perfect human (al-Insan al-Kamil) 126 philosophy ( falsafa) 18 pir 221 play 186; in development 188–189; imaginary 189–191; imaginative 187–188 political engagement 46–47 pre-school 42, 188 presentation 193

Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) 17 primary education 1, 42, 72, 83 Primordial Covenant 22–23, 24 “Principles of Islamic Pedagogy” 200 proper way 133 prophecy (nubuwwa) 57 Prophet 17, 24, 27, 29, 31, 32, 36, 51, 63–64, 82, 87, 153, 194, 214, 221, 239–240; authority of 65; emulation of 217; Hadith Jibril 201–202; health 126–127; and Islamic pedagogy 215; marriage 67; seerah of 66; stories and examples of life 66–67; as a walking Quran 220 Psalms (Zabur) 23 qalb (heart – spiritual center; seat of cognition) 135, 185 Qaradawi, Sheikh Yusuf al- 157 qawa’id al-Islam (principles of Islam) 114 qawl thaqil (weighty speech) 27 qawwali 158–159, 160–161 qiyas (analogical reasoning) 36 Quadri, Habeeb 121 Quadri, Sa’ad 121 queer 47 questions 193 Quran 17–18, 59–60, 65–67; Divine Authorship 17; in Islamic school curricula 21–33; as language and text 20, 25–27; as meaning and interpretation 21, 30–33; recitation of 154, 158; as root of all knowledge 17–18; as sound and recitation 19–20, 22–25; as structure and order 20, 27–30 Quranic studies: current situation in Western schools 18–22; curricula in the West 19–22 Qureshi, Omar 113–124, 245 racism 239–240 Ramist reforms 219 Rawh al-arwah 55 Razi, Fakhr al-din al- 26 The Real (Al-Haqq) 23 reasoning (‘aqli) 208 recitation of Quran (tajwid) 19, 24, 154, 158 redeveloping 232–234 regions 101 religious education (RE) 2; curriculum orientations 7; types of 2

260 Index

renewal (tajdeed) 242 renewal (tajdeed) 242 respect 133 Revelation-Tanzil 31 rhetoric (balagha) 18, 219 rihla ( journey) 247 Robinson, D.B. 127–128 Rosenthal, E. 18, 200 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 219 ruh (point of connection with the Divine) 135 ruh (soul) 185 Rules for the Conduct of Teachers (Ibn Jama’ah) 217 Rumi 53, 58 Rustom, Mohammed 51–61, 245, 246 sabr (patience) 208 sadd al-dhardi’ (blocking the means) 36 Sahaba (Companions) 21, 24, 29, 67 Sahih Al-Seerah 67 Sahih al-Seerah al-Nabawwiyya (al-’Ali) 67 Sahih Bukhari 66 Sahih Muslim 66 sakinah (tranquility) 208 salah 128 sam‘iyyat 57 Saoud, Rabah 238 Satan 53 Schoeler, Gregor 220 school of law (madhab) 39, 43, 205 school of law (madhahib) 37 science curriculum 113–124, 121; approaches to integrating Islam into 113–115; canonical connections 113; evolution 116–117; Islamic ethics in 114; in Islamic schools 122–123; Islamic worldview in 114, 118–120; logic and theology in 120–121; Muslim contributions 113; recommended readings 123–124; re-developing 121–122; teaching from Islamic perspective 115–118; theory 116; topical issues 114 Science Teaching: The Role of History and Philosophy of Science (Matthews) 123 Sciences of the Quran (‘Ulum al-Quran) 20, 31 Scottish iSyllabus – Schemes of Work 82 Scriptures 23 sculpture 169 Second World 101 secondary education 1, 42, 71, 98

Secondary Education Module 108 Seen World (‘Alam al-Shahada) 24, 28, 30–31, 57 seerah (prophetic history) 63–75; assessment and evaluation of 72–74; definition of 64–65; in “I love Islam” series 68–70; in Islamic educational curriculum of the UAE 70–71; sources of 65–68; teaching of 74–75 self (nafs) 135, 185, 209–210 self-development 194–195 self-reflection (muhasabah) 136 sense perception (hawas) 208 Senturk, Recep 204, 207 Seven Letters and Recitations (Ahruf Sab’a wa Qira’at) 33 sexuality education 142–144 Shafi’i 37 shahadah 208 shahadatain 208 Shakhsiyah Education 200, 207, 208, 210 Shari’a: divine nature of 36; major objectives of 37; meaning of 36; origins of 87; scope of 36; sources of 36 shaykhs (male religious authorities) 143, 221 shukr (gratitude) 56 sifat (qualities and characteristics) 210 simultaneous totality 29 Sinan 25 sira (Prophetic biography) 54, 55 sirah nabawiyya 106 sitting 217–218 skins (sports uniform material), swimming 141 sneeze 88–90 social development 194–195 social etiquette (adab) 54–56, 79–80, 134, 184, 210, 222, 247, 248 social justice 239–240 social studies 96–97 sonoral arts (maqamat) 24 soul (nafs) 31, 185 sound-art 157–158, 162 spiritual development 194–195 spirituality (tasawwuf ) 18, 220–221, 221 Sport Ability project 141 sports aerobics 142 sports uniforms 136–137 stakeholders 39, 133–134, 227, 230–233, 235 Starrett, G. 81

Index  261

still life drawing 168 stories (hikaya) 32 student voice 38–40 suhba (companionship) 247 Sunan Abu Dawud 66 Sunan al-Sughra al-Nisaa’I 66 Sunan ibn Majah 66 sunnah 36, 65, 66, 87, 126, 218, 238 Sunni Ash‘ari 17 Sura al-’Alaq 29 Sura al-Kahf 32 Surah al-Takathur 19 swimming 141 ta’deeb (educating) 219, 220, 248 ta’dib 209–210 tafsir (interpretations) 21, 31–33 Tafsir Al-Tustari 36 Tafsir bil-Ishara 31–32 Tafsir bil-Ra’y 31 Tafsir bil-Riwaya 31 tajdeed (renewal) 242 tajdeed al-turath (tradition renewal) 242–243 tajwid (recitation of Quran) 19, 24, 154, 158 Taki, Samah 153–176, 246 talaqqi (direct meeting) 247 ta’leem (teaching) 248 ta’lim 208–209 tanzih (transcendence) 18, 164 tanzil 30 taqwah 84, 127, 148, 185, 186 tarbiyah (nurturing) 206–207, 248 Tarbiyah Project 205, 234 tartib 20, 29 tasawwuf (spirituality) 18, 220–221, 221 tashbih (immanence) 164 Tasheel South Africa 42–43 taswir 18 taught curriculum 247–248 Tauhidi, Dawud 234 tawhid 18, 58, 60, 126–127, 148, 185, 204–206, 244 ta’wil 31 teaching (ta’leem) 248 teaching Islam: curriculum orientations 6–7; definition of 4 telos 128 terrorism 47 text prompt 193 Thabit, Zaid ibn 71

thawab (deeds) 128 thematic all-school curriculum planning 237–238; branches of iman 238; living the Sunnah 238; Muslim contributions 238; timelines 238 theology (kalam) 17, 56, 120–121 theory 116 Third World 101 Thobani, S. 2, 9 tibb (medicine) 18 tilawa 19, 24 Toledo guiding principles 10 Torah (Tawrat) 23 tradition and renewal (alturath wa altajdeed). 243 tradition renewal (tajdeed al-turath) 242–243 traditional indigenous games (TIGs) 131–134 transcendence (tanzih) 18, 164 transgender 47 Trevathan, Abdullah 77–90 Triple E formula 239 trust (amanah) 136, 209 truth seeker (muhaqqiq) 221 UAE Islamic educational curriculum 64, 70–71, 72 Uhud, battle of 67 Umar ibn al-Khattab 127 ummah 218 Understanding by Design 121, 246 uniforms (sports) 138–140 United Arab Emirates 64, 70–71, 81; grade 1-5 programs 84 Unseen World (‘Alam al-Ghayb) 21, 24, 28, 29, 30–31, 57 urf (customary practice) 36 usthadh 221 The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (Hodgson) 108–109 verbal images 27 verses (ayat) 29 War Within Our Hearts (Quadri/Quadri) 121 Ware, Rudolph T. 220 Watson, Andrew 109 weighty speech (qawl thaqil) 27 wellbeing (afia) 134, 135

262 Index

wholeness of knowledge 244–245 Wiggins, G. 121 Wilson, P.L. 88 Winkel, E. 82 Winter, T. 2 Woodstock, Elizabeth 238 world history 97–98; civilizations approach 102–104; eras model 104– 106; Eurocentric approach 102–104; geography-dominant model 99–101; global 104–106; history-dominant model 101–102; New World History 98

world religions/multi-faith education 7, 9–10 written curriculum 244–247, 246; relevance and appropriateness 244–245; wholeness of knowledge 244–245 Yusuf, Sami 158–159 zahir 213 Zainab 67 Zaman, Mujadad 213–223, 247, 248 Zaytuna College 121 Zubair, Urwa ibn 67