Religion, Citizenship and Hope: Civic Virtues and Education about Muslim Traditions

Religious education’s double hermeneutic

“…Hermeneutics raises a broader set of questions for students of religion than simply those around the interpretation of revealed texts. This broader reach and significance of hermeneutical questions has been acknowledged in the work of Farid Panjwani (2008Panjwani ( , 2012Panjwani ( , 2017 for example, who stresses that the question of what it is to be a Muslim is an issue for Islam itself, and the fact that this is a live question, or is in question, needs to be acknowledged by anyone who would try to teach Islam (not least, in the recognition that 'Islam' as such cannot be presented to students; Panjwani recommends instead asking students to discuss the diverse ways that Muslims have addressed particular matters of faith and culture). 'Hermeneutical' concerns in the study of religion might in this sense take in criticisms of attempts to essentialise religion or engage with 'authoritative' representations of a religious tradition rather than with the diversity of its voices.…”