Teaching Classic Islamic Texts in Modern Settings: The In-Class Struggle
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
An assumption is often made that there is a link between extremism and
the study of some classical Islamic texts. This article examines that claim
by exploring the influence of classical Islamic texts on the extreme
behaviour of Muslim students. Analysing the journals of twelve
American Muslim students, wherein they recorded their responses to
selected authentic texts, this study unexpectedly finds that the active
thinking of 60 percent of the students was not significantly stimulated
after studying these texts. The 40 percent of students who were
stimulated were those who had pre-existing knowledge and experiences
developed within Western educational and intellectual traditions rather
than Islamic traditions. Thus, it would appear that much of the
contemporary criticism of classical texts is in fact misplaced—any text
can work remarkably well given the proper methods of teaching and
environment. Criticism, if any, should be levelled at the broader, specific
political and/or intellectual ferment within which texts are positioned.
Metrics
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Authentic Textsextremismmadrassareading strategy
• Baqir Salman al-Najjar, 2003. Sira’ al-Ta’lim wa al-Mujtama’ fi al-Khalij al-Arabi (the Struggle of Education and Society in the Arab Gulf). Beirut: Dar al-Saqi
• Blake, J. Herman, and Saufley, Ronald W. 1979. “A Case Study in Faculty Development.” In Individualizing the System: Current Issues in Higher Education, edited by Vermilye, Dyckman W. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass publishers.
• Brill, Stephen. 2011. Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix American’s Schools. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Castillo, Daniel Del. 2001. “A Special Report from Afghanistan.” In The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Coll, Steve. 2004. “Islamist Networks: The Afghan-Pakistan Connection.” Book Review, The Washington Post.
• Dijk, Teun A. Van & Kintsch, Walter.1983, Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. Orlando, Florida: Academic Press.
• Doumato, Eleanor Abdella.2003. “Manning The Barricades: Islam According to Saudi Arabia’s School Texts.” In The Middle East Journal, Vol. 57, No.2.
• Graesser, Arthur C and Clark, Leslie F. 1985. “Structures and Procedures of Implicit Knowledge.” Norwood, New Jersey.
• Hanvey, R. “Cross-Cultural Awareness.” In Smith, E. C. and Luce. L. F. (eds.). 1979. Towards Internationalism: Readings in Cross-Cultural Communication, Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
• Abbas Ihsan, ed., 1987. Rasa’il ibn Hazm al-Andalusi, (in Arabic), Vol.1-4. Beirut: al-Muasasah al-arabiyya lil dirasat wa al-Nashr
• Jackson, Holbrook. 2001. The Reading of Books. Illinois, University of Illinois Press.
• Kate, Allan S.1993. (Book Review). Language and Society, Vol.22, No.4, Cambridge University Press.
• Magomeddadaev, Amirkhan. 2003. “Politicization of Islam in Daghestan: The Factors Behind It.” In Central Asia and The Caucasus, Journal of Social and Political Studies, vol.3.No 21.Sweden.)
• Malkawi, Fathi. 2003. “The Future of Muslim Education in the United States: An Agenda for Research.” In American Journal of Islamic Social sciences, Vol.20. No.3 & 4.
• Mestenhuser, Josef A. 1988. “Concepts and Theories of Cultural Learning.” In Culture, Learning and the Disciplines, edited by Josef A. Mestenhauser. Washington: National Association for Foreign Students Affairs.
• Moeller, Aleidine J. 1994. “Content-Based Foreign Language Instruction in the Middle School: An Experiential Learning Approach.” In Foreign Language Annals, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter.
• Rahman, Fazlur. 1979. Islam. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
• Shamma, Ferida. 1999. “The Curriculum Challenge for Islamic Schools in America.” In Haque, Amber, ed., Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems and Prospects. Beltsville, Maryland: Amana Publications.
• Singer, Harry and Donlan, Dan. 1989. Reading and Learning from Text. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
• Tocqueville, Alex De, 1983. The Old Regime and the French Revolution, Trans. By Stuart Gilbert. New York, Anchor Books, Doubleday.
• U.S. 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Committee on Terrorists Attack Upon the United States. 2004. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
• West, Michael and Donato, Richard. 1995. “Stories and Stances: Cross-Cultural Encounters With African Folktales.” In Foreign Language Annals, Vol.28, No.3.
• Williams, Bryon Mac. 2002. “In Russia, A Small Islamic University Is a Large Political Thorn.” In The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 15.
• Williams, John Alden. 1961. Islam. New York: George Braziller.
• Zaid, Walid. 2004 June 18. “How the Holy Warriors Learned to Hate.” In The New York Times, (Op-Ed).