Discusses a study of 19 junior and senior high school textbooks used in the Washington D.C. area to introduce students to the Arab World and Islam. Findings indicated that Middle Eastern culture and history were frequently measured by western standards, information was often inaccurate, the Arab-Israeli conflict often portrayed Arabs as being at…

The sociocultural problems of Turkish children living in Germany are explored. Turkish immigrant children in Germany must be socialized in two societies, the traditional Turkish culture of their parents and that of German society. Religion and the Islamic-value system are often at odds with German values. (SLD)

The American Textbook Council asked 6 experts to review 19 leading secondary-level civics and history textbooks and several nonhistory social-studies texts to determine whether current texts recognize religion's contributions and whether religion has disappeared from the classroom. History texts improved coverage of religion considerably, if…

Presents a sampling of available ERIC documents and journal articles about Islam. Includes brief descriptions of each of the 10 items and an explanation of how to find the materials. (DK)

Contextualizes the prejudice directed at Britain's two million- strong Muslim community in the history and geography of Islamophobia across the western world, focusing on: the reality versus the image of Islam; racism and Muslim identity; the roots of Islamophobia; the interface of race and gender; and different perspectives on cultures and…

Imam Yahya Hendi came from afar--the occupied Palestinian Territories--to become, in 1999, the first full-time Muslim chaplain serving at a university in the United States. He is now the chaplain at Georgetown University. Rumee Ahmed, appointed earlier this year as Brown University's first Muslim chaplain, had a significantly shorter trip, moving…

We evaluate the argument that Islamist terrorist attacks represent a distinctive "4th wave" of transnational terrorism that has supplanted Leftist terrorism. Drawing on ITERATE data for 1968-2003, the annual count of Leftist attacks has declined since the end of the Cold War while Islamist attacks have persisted and spiked upward in 2002-03.…

In order to defend their place in the university, departments of Theology and Religion point to the way in which they model the multicultural ideal. At the University of Hamburg, an initiative to establish a Chair in Islamic Theology has argued for the social necessity of promoting the study of minority religions. Although there is a problem with…

The past two decades has witnessed the mushrooming of Islamic schools in Europe, the United States and South Africa. Initially, these schools were concerned essentially with providing an Islamic ethos for learners. More recently, however, they have begun to focus on the process of Islamization. The Islamization project was initiated in the United…

This article examines the need for the Muslim community of Britain to educate their youth with regard to a Muslim "way of life". The aim of this study is to examine the theological basis for Islamic education. It further explores the status of Muslim schools in Britain with regard to culture and religion. This study highlights the…

As countries' populations become more religiously diverse, a need to review the religious education syllabus that operates is often perceived. One such country is Zambia, which was not only traditionally religiously diverse but has become even more so with the advent of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and other non-African faiths. This article…

While European education systems fundamentally rest on a rather monolithic world-view, some of them are explicitly oriented towards Christianity and others are comparatively secular. Apart from this, they differ in the way that they offer opportunities for Muslim minorities to enjoy a modern and competitive as well as religious-moral education.…

This article explores use of several terms that signify Islam, and provides guidelines to clarify their use in internal and external discourses. Building on this foundation, the article delineates a typology of Islamic education and their associated institutions. This enhances understanding of important conceptual differences that hinge upon…

Since 2001 many observers of education in the Muslim world have expressed concerns about the radicalizing influence of madrasahs. These critiques often assume that the ichotomization of sacred and secular common to civic society in the West is a necessary ingredient of any educational reforms designed to prevent the spread of religious extremism…

What kind of perceptions of God do children have? Do they believe in God? Does change take place over time and is there a connection with changes in society? These questions are answered on the basis of texts and surveys involving children between 8 and 12 years of age in Sweden during 2002 and similar material from the years 1969, 1979 and…