By M. Feki and N. Maruani - MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) Inquiry & Analysis Series N° 339- Washington D.C. U.S.A.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Unlike Islamic curricula in some Arab states, the Islamic curricula in Tunisia consist of a compilation of articles and book excerpts from a variety of original sources.
For example, the 11th-grade textbook on Islamic thought is a compilation of articles by 29 authors - including excerpts of books and essays by renowned scholars such as 14th-century North African scholar and historian Ibn Khaldun, 9th-10th century Iraqi theologian Abu Al-Hasan Al-Ash'ari, and luminary Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, alongside Muslim reformist thinkers from the modern period, such as Rifa' Al-Tahtawi, Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani, Muhammad 'Abduh, Ali 'Abd Al-Razeq, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida, and Sa'd Al-Din Ibrahim.
An examination of the 11th and 12th grade schoolbooks shows that they focus on three aspects: the separation between religion and politics, individual freedom, and tolerance for the other.
This report examines two textbooks on Islamic thought for the 11th and 12th grades in Tunisia, and provides a general overview of some of the books' major themes: secular versus religious rule, the necessity of avoiding religious conflict, the need for education in order to attain freedom and harmonize between religion and modernity, the value of the European Enlightenment, and the importance of consultation, tolerance and dialogue.
In essence, the Islamic education curricula in Tunisia represent a continuation of the spirit of the early salafiyya (Islamic reformers).
While in contemporary usage the word salafi has become a near-synonym for "radical Islamist," many of the original salafiyya, including those whose writings are included in the Tunisian textbooks, promoted a moderate form of Islam and openness to modernity.
The movement was later largely subsumed into both Arab nationalism and Islamism, with Muslim liberalism being progressively relegated to the sidelines. Historically, Tunisia has been something of an exception to this trend, and this is reflected in the schoolbooks discussed here.
(...)
The 12th-grade religious instruction textbook discusses religion as a possible source of conflict.
A text by Muhammad 'Abduh, titled "The Relation between the Sciences and Religion, and the Spread of Extremism among Muslims" attacks the observance of practices not mentioned in the Koran: "The great number of religious people in Islamic countries who are in charge of ensuring that everyone observe religious ceremonies never mentioned in the Koran, such as burials and other ceremonies linked to the various aspects of life - births, weddings, coronations, etc. - where do they come from?
And what can Muslims say today about the great number of saints, righteous men and religious leaders who create [new] religious currents throughout the Muslim world? And how is it possible that believers pray to saints, to righteous men, and to religious leaders, perhaps even more than they pray to God?"
It may be noted in this context that when they were originally published, these ideas of 'Abduh's found an especially receptive ear among the representatives of the salafiyya in North Africa; the latter became engaged in a bitter polemic with the proponents of Maraboutism, a popular form of Sufism widespread in North Africa that attached great importance to the veneration of saints.
(...)
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saints and Schoolbooks
Friday, March 30, 2007
Unlike Islamic curricula in some Arab states, the Islamic curricula in Tunisia consist of a compilation of articles and book excerpts from a variety of original sources.
For example, the 11th-grade textbook on Islamic thought is a compilation of articles by 29 authors - including excerpts of books and essays by renowned scholars such as 14th-century North African scholar and historian Ibn Khaldun, 9th-10th century Iraqi theologian Abu Al-Hasan Al-Ash'ari, and luminary Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, alongside Muslim reformist thinkers from the modern period, such as Rifa' Al-Tahtawi, Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani, Muhammad 'Abduh, Ali 'Abd Al-Razeq, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida, and Sa'd Al-Din Ibrahim.
An examination of the 11th and 12th grade schoolbooks shows that they focus on three aspects: the separation between religion and politics, individual freedom, and tolerance for the other.
This report examines two textbooks on Islamic thought for the 11th and 12th grades in Tunisia, and provides a general overview of some of the books' major themes: secular versus religious rule, the necessity of avoiding religious conflict, the need for education in order to attain freedom and harmonize between religion and modernity, the value of the European Enlightenment, and the importance of consultation, tolerance and dialogue.
In essence, the Islamic education curricula in Tunisia represent a continuation of the spirit of the early salafiyya (Islamic reformers).
While in contemporary usage the word salafi has become a near-synonym for "radical Islamist," many of the original salafiyya, including those whose writings are included in the Tunisian textbooks, promoted a moderate form of Islam and openness to modernity.
The movement was later largely subsumed into both Arab nationalism and Islamism, with Muslim liberalism being progressively relegated to the sidelines. Historically, Tunisia has been something of an exception to this trend, and this is reflected in the schoolbooks discussed here.
(...)
The 12th-grade religious instruction textbook discusses religion as a possible source of conflict.
A text by Muhammad 'Abduh, titled "The Relation between the Sciences and Religion, and the Spread of Extremism among Muslims" attacks the observance of practices not mentioned in the Koran: "The great number of religious people in Islamic countries who are in charge of ensuring that everyone observe religious ceremonies never mentioned in the Koran, such as burials and other ceremonies linked to the various aspects of life - births, weddings, coronations, etc. - where do they come from?
And what can Muslims say today about the great number of saints, righteous men and religious leaders who create [new] religious currents throughout the Muslim world? And how is it possible that believers pray to saints, to righteous men, and to religious leaders, perhaps even more than they pray to God?"
It may be noted in this context that when they were originally published, these ideas of 'Abduh's found an especially receptive ear among the representatives of the salafiyya in North Africa; the latter became engaged in a bitter polemic with the proponents of Maraboutism, a popular form of Sufism widespread in North Africa that attached great importance to the veneration of saints.
(...)
Labels:
politics
By M. Feki and N. Maruani - MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) Inquiry & Analysis Series N° 339- Washington D.C. U.S.A.Friday, March 30, 2007
Unlike Islamic curricula in some Arab states, the Islamic curricula in Tunisia consist of a compilation of articles and book excerpts from a variety of original sources.
For example, the 11th-grade textbook on Islamic thought is a compilation of articles by 29 authors - including excerpts of books and essays by renowned scholars such as 14th-century North African scholar and historian Ibn Khaldun, 9th-10th century Iraqi theologian Abu Al-Hasan Al-Ash'ari, and luminary Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, alongside Muslim reformist thinkers from the modern period, such as Rifa' Al-Tahtawi, Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani, Muhammad 'Abduh, Ali 'Abd Al-Razeq, 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida, and Sa'd Al-Din Ibrahim.
An examination of the 11th and 12th grade schoolbooks shows that they focus on three aspects: the separation between religion and politics, individual freedom, and tolerance for the other.
This report examines two textbooks on Islamic thought for the 11th and 12th grades in Tunisia, and provides a general overview of some of the books' major themes: secular versus religious rule, the necessity of avoiding religious conflict, the need for education in order to attain freedom and harmonize between religion and modernity, the value of the European Enlightenment, and the importance of consultation, tolerance and dialogue.
In essence, the Islamic education curricula in Tunisia represent a continuation of the spirit of the early salafiyya (Islamic reformers).
While in contemporary usage the word salafi has become a near-synonym for "radical Islamist," many of the original salafiyya, including those whose writings are included in the Tunisian textbooks, promoted a moderate form of Islam and openness to modernity.
The movement was later largely subsumed into both Arab nationalism and Islamism, with Muslim liberalism being progressively relegated to the sidelines. Historically, Tunisia has been something of an exception to this trend, and this is reflected in the schoolbooks discussed here.
(...)
The 12th-grade religious instruction textbook discusses religion as a possible source of conflict.
A text by Muhammad 'Abduh, titled "The Relation between the Sciences and Religion, and the Spread of Extremism among Muslims" attacks the observance of practices not mentioned in the Koran: "The great number of religious people in Islamic countries who are in charge of ensuring that everyone observe religious ceremonies never mentioned in the Koran, such as burials and other ceremonies linked to the various aspects of life - births, weddings, coronations, etc. - where do they come from?
And what can Muslims say today about the great number of saints, righteous men and religious leaders who create [new] religious currents throughout the Muslim world? And how is it possible that believers pray to saints, to righteous men, and to religious leaders, perhaps even more than they pray to God?"
It may be noted in this context that when they were originally published, these ideas of 'Abduh's found an especially receptive ear among the representatives of the salafiyya in North Africa; the latter became engaged in a bitter polemic with the proponents of Maraboutism, a popular form of Sufism widespread in North Africa that attached great importance to the veneration of saints.
(...)
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