Education and islam

English Montreal School Board, Work shop

for the spiritual community animators June, 2010

May Abou Zahra

[email protected]

May Abou Zahra, 2010



It was a century of mass production, couch-potatoes, and one size fits all.

20th century: building big things that did

things for peoplepeople

All the 21st century success stories are about "helping people to help each other", from Talking Heads and Teachers' TV, to eBay and Google.


The 21st century is one of symmetry. These heardnew technologies have given us all a voice and a hunger for

that voice to be.

Did you know?


The 21st century mantra "helping people to help

themselves" should move us forward here in

a way that is efficient for

everyone's time, and agile enough to respond to personalised needs.


? What would you like for future in

education?


Smile Moving from National to Glaobal

We live in a Global World


Listen to student voice listening to the authentic voice of learners

does two things well: it helps us to build better, more personalised, learning, but it also triggers a meta-level reflection in our learners.


Cooperation and team spirit �  “We need cooperation and team spirit.

Modern society does not rely on individuals... we need teams of people to work together.

�  We have seen clearly that through cooperative learning students become more motivated.. and of course they learn better.


This is not just a method for learning...

it's about how you live your life“ Stephen Heppell: http://

www.heppell.net/

(Students) … think about their learning and as a result they perform better.



Communication between teachers and the

students



Teachers have often different social and cultural universe then students. What will happen if : Teachers don’t have information about the culture and religion of students?


Case Study

Case Study

� That develops a ditch in the communication and sometimes of the negative representations.


It could be a problem for learning process.



(-) MOTIVATION

(-) COMMUNICATION

= ?

Negative result on learning process



Solution

�  It is important to have teachers who are more representative of the cultural diversity (religious diversity) of the country.

� The presence of such teachers certified immediate communication and more confidence.



Definition :

Culture Islam and life style


� Talk about a public figure, named one of Time magazine's as most important innovators of the twenty-first century ( a leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world)



Talk about

Le siècle de lumière "islam of enlightenment"

Appreciation of the Diversity of the Human

Race and Islam.




Culture �  Culture is the means by which people

“communicate, perpetuate, and. develop their knowledge about attitudes towards life. Culture is the fabric of meaning in terms of which human beings interpret their experience and guide their action” (Geertz 1973).

�  Usunier (1993) delineates several sources of culture: language, nationality, education, ethnicity, religion, family, gender, social class and organization.


Islam and life style �  Muslims do not distinguish between the

religious and the secular but consider Islam to be a complete way of life (Kavoossi 2000, Lawrence 1998).

�  They derive this life-system from the teachings of the Qur’an (which Muslims believe is a book revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad in seventh century Arabia), and from the sunnah (the recorded sayings and behavior of Prophet Muhammad).


Islam and life style

� The Islamic worldview is based on concepts of human well being and good life which stress brotherhood/sisterhood and socioeconomic justice. This requires a balanced satisfaction of both the material and spiritual needs of all humans (Chapra 1992).


Appreciation of the Diversity of the Human Race. � A striking feature of Islam is its diversity.

Prophet Muhammad emphasized the equality of different races and ethnic groups.

�  Diversity is clearly illustrated in a comprehensive photographic record of the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca (Nomachi 1997).


Appreciation of the Diversity of the Human Race.


Appreciation of diversity of human race

“No Arab has superiority over any non-Arab and no non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; no dark person has superiority over a white person and no white person has any superiority over a dark person. The criterion of honor in the sight of God is righteousness and honest living.” Saying of Prophet Muhammad (Sallam and Hanafy 1988)

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other....” (Qur’an 49:13) “Let there be no compulsion in religion....” (Qur’an 2:256)

Public figure Tariq Ramadan


�  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLbewOVFwc&feature=player_embedded#

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan is very much a public figure, named one of

Time magazine's most important innovators of the twenty-first century. He is among the leading Islamic thinkers in the West, with a large following around the world. But he has also been a lightning rod for controversy.

Indeed, in 2004, Ramadan was prevented from entering the

U.S. by the Bush administration and despite two appeals, supported by organizations like the American Academy of Religion and the ACLU, he was barred from the country until spring of 2010, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally lifted the ban.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Radical-Reform-Islamic-Ethics-Liberation/dp/

0195331710#noop



Based on Tariq Ramadan works and philosophy

http://www.tariqramadan.com/spip.php?rubrique6


Le siècle de lumière "islam of enlightenment"

Le siècle de lumière "islam of enlightenment" �  The world of Islamic reference, what I

would call "islam of enlightenment" (le siècle de lumière) is reform tradition that has emerged from the beginning, scholars and thinkers who have taken the text found seriously, but who have never stopped to think, to reason and to renew. It was for them to marry the faith and reason, the recognition of the divine commandment with the affirmation of human freedom: they were creative and believers.


� These are, as early as the 8th century, great scholars of the law schools, some of their students, and the extraordinary flowering of the xe to xive century such as al-Kindî al-Farabî, al-Ghazali, ash-Shatibî, philosophers, Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, not forgetting Ibn Khaldûn, figures. I cannot mention them all, but must not omit figures of Sufism deep and demanding that filled the Muslim history.


� Briefly, the “Islam of the Lights” is the sum of all these scientists and intellectuals and all these great moments of the history of Islamic civilization where fidelity with the texts strengthened and nourished intellectual energy and human creativity.



Moderate Muslims? �  The topic of moderation in practice crosses the

Islamic literature since the origin. �  In Coran and the prophetic traditions which

accompany it, the Moslem women and the Moslems have to show moderation in all the fields of the practice.

�  “God wants for you the facility and not the difficulty” points out Coran and Muhammad (PBSL) affirms “Facilitate the things, do not make them difficult” and it gave itself the example by choosing the reductions (as not to fast Ramadan on a journey) so that the faithful ones do not fall into excess.


�  Thus, right from the start, the majority of the scientists included/understood the Koranic formula qualifying the Moslems of “the community of the happy medium”.

�  Very early, it appeared two tendencies in the nature of the practice:

�  those which applied the lesson to the letter without taking account of the context or the reductions (ahl Al `azîma)

�  and those (ahl rear-rukhas) which held account of the latter and the flexibility of the practice according to the social context and the time and in situation of need (hâja) and/or need (will darûra).


Misunderstanding of the concept of moderation �  In the Western society where there is no

daily practice or visibility of the religion even in the United States, the fact of speaking about prayer, fast, moral obligations and vestimentary related to the religion seems already almost excessive.

�  Moslems moderate would be those who do not express vestimentary distinction, who drink alcohol.


Moderate Muslims �  The immense majority of the scientists

(ulamâ) and the Moslems throughout the world or in Occident (whatever the traditions Shiites or sunnites and the schools of right) promote and follow the way of moderation and flexibility in practice. They remain strict on the fundamental principles but propose adaptations according to the environment and the time.


The stories and the references are not the

same ones and the concept of moderation is always to consider interior

of each universe of reference.


Listen and understand students

There is, for once, a very clear global consensus that hearing the learner's voice makes learning more personalised and improves learning.


But where is student Voice

In the 21st century we don't hear the students' voices through a representative "student council",


we hear it through the channels that technology has brought us: texts, podcasts, diaries and blogs, Conversations, forum, wiki, and more.

Tools to improve communication

� Teachers profile can help but it is important to give teachers tools and time to improve this communication beyond the simple transmission of knowledge of which they have initially the load.


�  Initial training has some very considerable distance to go.

�  It is important to be creative � We have to learn to listen to student voice � Understand their universe of reference


It will be necessary to take communication issue and its temporal and space

organization seriously.


To avoid gaps in communication, all the

ghettos in order and to develop new projects allowing the women, the men

and the children - all citizens and residents – to better communicate, take

time to listen, to be expressed and to better know.


Engagement and communication are keys to make a success of an active, interactive and creative teaching


Wouldn't it be great if we could have a better

communication? Would it be good if kids could collaborate, have fun in school and

be creative.


Education and islam

Education

leading islamic

prophet muhammad

21st century

life style

human race

white person

dark person

abou zahra