Islamic education and the challenge of democratic citizenship: a critical perspective

Abstract

This article analyzes how concepts of liberal and progressive Islam, which have been developed in the political and theological academic literature, may inform the curriculum of Islamic education and the practice of religious educators in Islamic schools in the US. We investigate the meaning of in-faith Islamic education and how it can conform to the life in a democratic, multicultural, and multi-faith society. Liberal Islam challenges the transmissionoriented and rigid interpretations of Islam and seeks to appreciate and to contextualize the religious claims which are compatible with ideals of reflective education, rational thinking, mutual respect, and equal citizenship. It suggests that students become critical 'consumers' of Islam, its moral and civic purposes, and the cultural politics of religious interrogations.

Locally-grounded, embodied, and spiritual: exploring alternative constructions of democratic education with/in Indonesian schools

“…Some of the post-1998 governments, democracy activists, and moderate religious leaders have engaged in efforts to contest and curb the growing conservatism, anti-democratic Islamist groups, the persecution of religious minorities, and terrorist bombings (Fealy 2019;Mietzner 2018). Correspondingly, in the field of education, international and Indonesian studies on democratic education have discussed similar tensions between religious truth claims and democratic multicultural citizenship (e.g., Ahmad 2004;Wijaya Mulya, Aditomo, and Suryani 2021) or exploring religious discourses which are supportive of democracy (e.g., Saada and Gross 2017). However, little is known about how (religio-)spiritual democracy may manifest in education, particularly how it might expand and challenge the dominant meanings of democracy to include wider cosmological entities.…”

Liberalism and Democracy in the Perspective of Islamic Education

“…Both form an idealogy and perspective, which was very important in the early period of modern ideas in the West (Bakar, 2014). Furthermore, according to Saada & Gross (2016), the ideas of liberal Islam in the literature focus mainly on the implementation and interpretation of Islamic laws (Sharia) and how they are modified based on the dynamic life of the Muslim and non-Muslim community.…”

The Islamic Moderation Values on the Islamic Education Curriculum in Indonesia: A Content Analysis

“…Living in a democratic society such as Indonesia requires Moslems to understand some fundamental information about religion in their community. 77 Shura, a Qur'anic term, on the other hand, is a mechanism for freedom of expression and distribution of opinions through openness and honesty. Both are indicators of respect for others.…”