Muslim Education in ChallengingTimes. A Conference Report.

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The Association of Muslim SocialScientists (UK), The Association ofMuslim Social Scientists (Germany)and The Islamic Cultural Center inIreland organized a three day con-ference in Germany on: MuslimEducation in Europe.

The past year has seen a variety ofchallenges to Muslims living in theWest, ranging from the hostility ofIslamophobic prejudice to the sub-tler questioning of Muslim loyaltieswithin a system of liberal democ-racy. Perhaps foremost among thesechallenges has been the debate am-ong both the Muslims and the non-Muslims with regard to the manner

in which future generations ofMuslim children are to be educatedin the West. During this year'sAMSS conference, some speakersfrom different European countriesand the United States tackled theissue of education in the peacefulsurroundings of Bonn's Gustav-Stresemann-Institute. The changedenvironment in which Muslimsnow find themselves was marked bythe absence of Dr. Zaki Badawi,now some eighty years of age, cour-tesy of newly adopted German anti-terrorism regulations!

A common set of core concernswere in evidence among partici-pants. Should Muslim educationseek to achieve assimilation or inte-gration for Muslim children inEurope? Is the task of the Muslimeducationist to reform Islamic edu-

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ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIMSOCIAL SCIENTISTS (UK)

ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM SOCIAL SCIENTISTS (UK)

NEWSLETTER . •

EDITORIAL

Team SpiritRevisitedOur editorial in issue focusedon the subject of team spiritwhere we emphasized how thisspirit had permeated the rela-tionship of those working forthe AMSS leading to its success-ful launch in during thefirst annual conference. Lastmonth the work and dedicationof the past three years were rec-ognized and acknowledged inthe form of an award presentedat The Muslim News Awards forExcellence 2002 ceremony held

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cation or to revive it? Where is thebalance between protecting varietyand achieving social harmony?What follows is an attempt to cap-ture the richness and breadth ofthought that characterised the dis-cussions on such questions. The factthat it was Europe, not the Muslimworld, that played host to thisunfettered exchange of ideas is apoint to ponder.

Dr. Tariq Ramadan reminded theconference attendees that whilst weknow how to be good Muslims, thequestion of how to remain a goodMuslim is the practical one forMuslims living in Europe. We mustprepare our children to deal withEurope as it is, not aim for an ide-alised Islamic environment. For Dr.Ramadan “halal or haram?” was toosimple a question in the Europeancontext. He argued that we shouldstudy the context of the Prophet’s(saw) actions in order to deriveprinciples, and then proceed toapply those principles in today'scontext. This would be a far betterapproach than merely replicatingthe Prophet's actions. Akram Khan-Cheema used the example of swim-ming to develop the point that con-text should not be confused withsubject matter. He pointed out thatswimming is not haram, but theconditions in which Muslims swimmay be. Clearly, the context withinwhich children are educated is avital part of the Islamic educationalmix.

Whilst it is self-evident that thegoals of education should bedefined before implementation ofan education policy is attempted, italso seems that Muslim education-ists do not often have the samegoals. One easily forgotten point isthat if the goals are not well enoughdefined, then performance measure-ment becomes rather difficult. Onestrategy, Dr. Ramadan argued, thatMuslim educationists should adoptis good tools and good goals.Sometimes good tools are adopted(learning Qur'an, for example)along with bad goals (earning a high

income perhaps), and sometimesbad tools (beating children whomisbehave) are combined with goodgoals (the promotion of goodbehaviour). Yousif Al-Khoei wishedto find the middle ground betweenvisions of educational utopia and aneducational safe haven. According tohim neither vision achieved the nec-essary balance in Muslim education.The former promotes unrealisticgoals given the realities on theground, whilst the other is evidenceof a siege mentality among themore traditional Muslims. Mr. Al-Khoei feared that a kind of schizo-phrenia is being created in Muslimchildren by a system (he did notspecify which system, though per-haps he was thinking of the madras-sas) that forces cultures and lan-guages upon children that are inap-propriate to the society aroundthem.

The distinction between tarbiyyah(the transmission of knowledge)and ta‘lim (the instruction of pureinformation with no values attachedto it) came to the fore in many dis-cussions. One participant noted thatthe more modern idea of leavingchildren to determine truth forthemselves denies the very conceptof instruction. In his examination ofUK education policy, Dr. JeremyHenzell-Thomas struck a chordwith many participants. He saw atendency towards micro-manage-ment of school affairs from a cen-tralised authority, a bureaucraticstrangulation of individuality, afocus upon materialism at theexpense of spirituality, and of mem-orisation at the expense of under-standing. He also identified theadoption of performance targetsand the promotion of quick pay-back strategies such as testing asevidence of the intrusion of heart-less corporate ideas into an environ-ment where they do not belong. Inanother section of his address, hereminded the audience of the needto appreciate the subtleties of lan-guage when developing policyresponses as Muslims. “We can take

a secular approach without beingsecular, we can stick to fundamen-tals without being fundamentalists”he urged.

Various presentations providedpractical guidance for those on thefront-line of Muslim education. Dr.Nasim Butt highlighted the manyforms of intelligence (for example,spatial, musical and logical) andasked how many Muslim schoolshave understood this or catered forit in their syllabus. Dr. MusharrafHussain focused upon the promo-tion among pupils of self-assess-ment skills, of social skills (usingsuch tools as the “critical friend”),and the instillation of daily religiouspractice (for example in the pro-nouncement of a du‘a before eat-ing). Tackling the sensitive issue ofmusic, Diane Harris stressed herbelief that knowledge of pitch andrhythm are as essential for recitingQur’an as they are for understand-ing classical or popular music. Manyparticipants in the music sessionseemed to agree that terminologywas a key barrier to progress, withterms such as “music” being too eas-ily confused with “musicality”.During a discussion of sex educa-tion, the Islamic Foundation's“Miracle of Life” publication wasaired as an example of a successfulMuslim adaptation to circum-stances. Various speakers concludedthat if the will is there, the teachingof sensitive subject matter can beimplemented within traditionalIslamic norms. Dr. Sabiha El-Zayatfrom Germany suggested that theArabic language should be broughtinto the syllabus as a theme acrossmany subjects rather than merely asa subject in its own right.Meanwhile, Joe Ahmed Dobson andTarek El Diwany addressed fundingissues in Muslim education.

Perhaps the most earnestly debatedissue was that of citizenship.Muslims are not foreigners inEurope, argued Dr. Ramadan. Hisreminder that modern Europe wasbuilt upon the foundation ofMuslim arts and sciences is indeed

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Tribute

At a reception held in Londonon January the annualAMSS Lifetime Achievement

Award for was presented by Dr.Anas S. al Shaikh-Ali, Chairman ofAMSS (UK), to a scholar whosename and outstanding work isknown to almost every BritishMuslim. What many did not knowhowever, is that the infamously hard-working Islamic scholar and commu-nity activist known as Shaikh Dr.Zaki Badawi has reached an hon-ourable eighty years of age, with anendless list of lifetime achievementsthat are unmatched by any otherindividual. From putting Muslims onthe political map after the RushdieAffair to clarifying the Islamic under-standing of Jihad after September ,Dr. Badawi’s message has always beenclear, consistent and confident.

Though not a British citizen him-self, Dr. Badawi’s work with thecommunity has for decades beeninspired by his vision for a confidentBritish Islam; one that is summed upin his famous statement, “Britain isthe best place in the world to be aMuslim.”It is no wonder then that such adiverse mix of people gathered tocelebrate eighty years of Dr. Badawi’slife at the Muslim Cultural HeritageCentre on January . Theevent, jointly organised by AMSS,Al-Khoei Foundation, FAIR and Q-News, was attended by over a hun-dred and fifty representatives of notonly British Muslim organisationsbut people from every sector, frompoliticians to leaders of other faithcommunities. Indeed the diversityamongst the crowd itself was testi-mony to not only the varied workthat Dr. Badawi has been involvedin, but how much he is respected forhis relentless efforts.

The programme for the eveningbegan with the flavour of Lebanesecuisine and ended with the fervourof enthused individuals who spokepassionately about their work withDr. Badawi and how his commit-ment to furthering the cause ofBritish Islam has increased dialogueand understanding between Muslimsand non-Muslims in this country.Amongst those who conveyed theirheartfelt appreciation were represen-tatives of the four organisationshosting the event: Sayid Yousif alKhoei of Al Khoei Foundation, aswell as Ms. Khalida Khan, Trustee of

FAIR, Dr. Anas al Shaikh-Ali,Chairman of AMSS (UK), and Mr.Fouad Nahdi, Publisher of Q-News.Speakers also included: Sidi HassanLe Gai Eaton, Sir Sigmund Stern-burg, Chair of Three Faiths Forum,Rev. Dr. David Marshall, Chaplainto the Archbishop of Canterbury,and Lord Ahmed of Rotherham.Messages of goodwill were also sentby the Prime Minister, the Rt.Hon.Tony Blair (reproduced below) andread out by Lord Filkin, HomeOffice Minister; the Shaikh of Al-Azhar University, Cairo, read out byImam Dr. Anas Abu-Shadi; Dr. Taha

...

“I am pleased to sendbest wishes to Zaki onhis th birthday andlook forward to many

more years of partner-ship in our efforts to

make Britain a bettersociety for all.”

Friends and admirers gather to pay tribute to an outstanding man

Cont’d on page 7

relevant, as was his assurance that“Muslims have something special tooffer ... the minority feeling is atrap”. Other speakers insisted thatMuslims should teach their childrenthat they do not belong to Europe.“What else does ‘lakum dinakum waliya din’ mean?” asked Dr. Mush-arraf Hussain. Dr. Imran Alawiyecautioned that children should betaught to respect those institutionsthat are in keeping with Islam evenif the institutions themselves are notexplicitly Islamic. Teaching childrenthat non-Muslims are “bad” caneasily lead children to disrespectnon-Muslim teachers at school. Thiscan be counterproductive, not leastfrom the perspective of the child'sown educational achievement, heargued.

In an effective workshop on citi-zenship, Dr. Jeremy Henzell-Thomasurged participants not to be cynicalabout citizenship, to understand theconcepts of dialogue and dialectic,of discussion and debate, and tocontribute to the various nationalefforts at improving inclusivity ineducation. His position was that ifIslam's arguments are better thanthe non-Islamic alternatives, weshould seek to demonstrate that factthrough engagement. In this regardhe showed the value of well-directedresearch, giving as one example thefrequently cited relationship betweenreligion and war. According to hisresearch, of the ten worst wars ofhistory nine had little or nothing todo with religion. Other delegatescould not suppress the equallydeeply felt notion that citizenshipeducation is a strategy for coercingcitizens into harmony with theexisting establishment order. Withthe Muslim community facing deepsocial inequality, evidenced forinstance by its over-representationin the prison population, and withthe continuing media stigmatisationof Islam, Mr. Al-Khoei feared thatMuslims could become the “newJews of Europe”.

From among the non-Muslimspeakers, Professor Karl Nipkow dis-cussed religious freedom and the

societal impact of religious educa-tion. Religious education shoulddelve deep rather than simply skat-ing over the surface, he argued. Hewent on to distinguish “weak toler-ance” (an expression of indiffer-ence), and “strong tolerance” (anappreciation of the intellectual posi-tion of other faiths) of which hebelieved only the latter is of truevalue to society.

On matters of political representa-tion, Shabbir Mansuri, foundingdirector of the Council on IslamicEducation in California, argued foran Islamic institutional frameworkto be established so as to bringabout change from within the exist-ing system. This would contrastwith previous, rather unsuccessful,attempts at challenging the so-calledgatekeepers to bring about changeon behalf of Muslims. Yousif Al-Khoei insisted that governmentoften has no way of knowing who tospeak to in the Muslim communitybecause of the latter's fragmenta-tion. With regard to the Muslimcommunity's internal organisation,Dr. Anas al Shaikh-Ali noted thatmany fatawa in respect of EuropeanIslam are still being given byMuslim scholars who have eithernot lived in the West or not visitedit. Indeed some fatawa relating tothe European Muslim are still pub-lished entirely in Arabic and aretherefore inaccessible to the veryaudience for whom they are pre-sumably intended. Meanwhile, Dr.Sabiha El-Zayat discussed the caseof the Islamische Federation inBerlin, the first Muslim organisationin Germany to have been grantedthe right to teach Islamic ReligiousEducation in German state schools,as part of her examination of theinteraction between politicalauthority and those promotingIslamic curricula.

In a fascinating presentation, YahyaMichot examined “populo-fascism”and used a historical analysis of thetreatment of minorities to under-stand political developments follow-ing September . Secular criticismof religious education often focuses

upon the harm of implanting ideol-ogy in children, yet the implanta-tion of ideology seems quite accept-able when part of the secularresponse to religion. Respecting thelaw was not enough to satisfy theSpanish Inquisition, pointed out Dr.Michot. For them the objective wasto eradicate every last ounce of non-Christian belief within their juris-diction. Perhaps today materialistsecularism has replaced Christianityas the overarching religion, and per-haps the tools of the Inquisitionhave been blunted in favour of lessvisible weapons, but a questionremains over the manner in which aMuslim should engage with the sec-ular society. In a widely applaudedpresentation, Rabeya Muelleraddressed this issue in her discus-sion of secular pedagogy. Sheargued that God has given us themethod of understanding andimparting revelation, and that thismethod allows pluralism withoutrequiring a “claim of dominance”.

This year's AMSS conference pro-duced a number of key points forfurther action. It was decided thatan agreed syllabus on the teachingof Islam should be produced for the to age group in the UK, basedupon the successful Berlin model.Also a paper is to be produced onunder-performance and under-achievement among Muslim chil-dren in England and Wales. In addi-tion an Arabic language teachingsyllabus for both primary and sec-ondary students will be preparedand discussed in a forthcomingworkshop. The UK and Germanbranches of the AMSS and theIslamic Cultural Centre of Irelandshould be congratulated for staginga very well managed conference in amost welcoming setting. �

Tarek El Diwany Tarek El Diwany is a researcher andwriter in the field of banking andmonetary economics. He runs a smallinternet software company and is theEditor of www.islamic-finance.com.He is also the author of The Problemwith Interest.

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N E W S

The AMSS (UK) is pleased to launch the first paper in its Occasional PaperSeries The Challenge of Pluralism and the Middle Way of Islam by Dr.Jeremy Henzell-Thomas. The aim is to publish a number of research papers,articles and lectures from the Association’s conference programmes as well asfrom social scientists willing to make contributions, in order to generateinformed debate on issues of vital importance.

Occasional Paper Series

In a world increasingly polarised by the events ofSeptember th Dr. Jeremy Henzell-Thomas presents abeautifully written, impassioned plea, appealing to thehigher virtues of man to realise within himself, and thesociety around him, a spiritually deeper and more mul-ticulturally aware social order. On the level of individ-ual existence man is simply a creaturepassing through a series of stages on theroad to self-development. The natureand quality of this development willlargely be governed by his interactionwith those around him. As with individ-uals, so with nations and communities.As citizens of a largely interdependentworld, it is imperative that we try tounderstand ourselves and the myriad ofcultures around us, more perhaps intoday’s volatile world than at any otherperiod in human history.

Unfortunately, a gross lack of com-munication, understanding and multicultural awarenessis daily stifling our natural sense of justice, peace and“fair play”, and, in a climate of extreme volatility, loadedrhetoric and empty dialogue are only serving to fuelever increasing flashpoints of conflict. In addition tothis the parameters of debate increasingly seem to hingeupon a societal sense of “us” and “them” polluting oursense of citizenship. When the “them” are more oftenthan not dwelling amongst us, as our neighbours, co-workers and friends we would do well to heed Dr.Jeremy’s advice urging man-kind to engage in real,meaningful dialogue. Empty debates between two posi-tions only serve to give an illusion of dialogue, whenwhat is required, rather, are truth seeking encounters as

a means to reconciling opposites. The author alsopoints to the need for convergence, entirely possible in atruly pluralist society. Muslim participation in thisprocess is critical as Pluralism is an ideal environmentto project core Islamic values. There is a great need foractive engagement by Muslims today and they should

rise to the challenge instead of retreatinginto isolation. An important area ofconvergence between the West (astypified by the Anglo-Saxon spirit) andIslam is that of the “middle way”, one ofthe most important guiding principlesin English life. The ideals, principles andethics of the “middle way” need to berevived to restore our sense of balance,beauty, harmony and justice. An appre-ciation of the “other” does not mean theflattening out of differences into a newpulp (of course no-one can be under-stood from all conceivable angles) but a

celebration of diversity and multiculturalism.The high principles and ethics embodied in the ideas

put forward by the author, himself the traveller-linguistwhose story he relates with much admiration in hisshort narrative, are a way forward. Openness and com-mitment rather than the exaggeration of differences isthe essence of his message.

, . . -

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Scholars to ShareResearch on Islamin Britain Establishment of a ResearchNetwork to Meet Bi-Annually

During the first half of the sthere was a group of Muslim andnon-Muslim scholars and resear-chers who met bi-annually at theCentre for the Study of Islam andChristian-Muslim Relations (CSIC)in Birmingham, to share news ofmutual research on Islam in Brit-ain. For various reasons, this re-search network lost momentumover a number of years, but thiswas certainly not due to lack ofinvolvement and participationamong those with a research-activeinterest in British Islam. At a recentmeeting, Professor Jorgen Nielsen(University of Birming-ham), DrSean McLoughlin (Uni-versity ofLeeds) and Dr. Sophie Gilliat-Ray(Cardiff University) felt that it wasimportant to try to re-establish theresearch network. They intend tomeet bi-annually as before, but thistime rotating the meetings aroundthe three universities ofBirmingham, Cardiff and Leeds.They plan to retain the pattern forthe day of open discussion andsharing of news in the morning,followed by a formal paper by aninvited speaker in the afternoon.

The first meeting of the re-launchednetwork took place at Cardiff Uni-versity on Monday January.

For further information or if youwould like to join the network pleasecontact:

Gilliat-RayS@cardiff.ac.ukTel:

The second scheduled meeting willbe at Birmingham University onTuesday April.�

If you wish to join perfectionto become whole then come with uslearn to tend to your soul ...

The Conference of the Birds is atwelfth century spiritual allegoricalpoem. The story of the quest for aking undertaken by the birds of theworld, it also describes the mysticalIslamic path to enlightenment.Though hugely popular and influen-tial in the Islamic world, the poem isstill relatively unfamiliar in the West.Combining anecdotes and satire withpassages of great mystical beauty, thepoem uses the birds’ journey todescribe the stages of spiritual expe-rience. At the end of the tale thebirds discover that what they areseeking is nothing other than thepassionate union of the individualsoul with the Divine.

Richly illustrated with illuminationsfrom Persian manuscripts in theBritish Library, this is the only mod-ern illustrated edition of TheConference of the Birds. Through hisreworking of these important pas-sages and his detailed introductionto the poem, Raficq Abdulla allowsreaders access to a mystical classic.

Publisher Frances Lincolnwww.franceslincoln.com£.

pp

American Journal of Islamic SocialSciences (AJISS)The contents of the present AJISS issue(vol., no., Summer ) include:

Murad Wilfried Hofmann, Has IslamMissed Its Enlightenment?; Kamran A.Bokhari, A Constructivist Approach toAmerican Foreign Policy; David D.Grafton, The “Religious Secularism” ofLebanon and the United States; M.AslamHaneef et al, Values & Their Relationshipto Social Problems in Malaysia: An IslamicFramework; AbdulHamid AbuSulaymanCulture, Science, and Technology: How toRespond to Contemporary Challenges;Chandra Muzaffar, Morality in PublicLife: The Challenge before Religion. �

For subscriptions or submissionsplease contact the editor at:

AJISS, P.O. Box , Herndon,VA -, USAeditor@iiit.org www.iiit.org

Islamic Banking &InsuranceProgrammesThe Institute of Islamic Banking &Insurance (IIBI) in London will becommencing a series of ExecutiveDevelopment Programmes inMarch . Each Programme is of days duration and will run on aquarterly basis, covering a widerange of theory and practice in thefield of Islamic finance, bankingand insurance. In addition to athorough examination of the coreconcepts, this year’s programmeswill offer a number of advancedmodules on topics of special inter-est. These will include an analysis ofthe Islamic mortgage market in theUK, and an examination ofMalaysian moves to establish theIslamic gold dinar as a medium ofinternational trade settlement.�

For further information please contact:Rumman Faruqi, IIBI Tel:

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A powerful critique of the popular westernnotion that the veil is a symbol of Muslimwomen’s oppression. The author challengesboth the pop culture view of Muslimwomen as being utterly subjugated by men,as well as the more complex arguments putforward by liberal feminists such as Mernissiand others. The author puts forward thecase that the judgment of the veil as beingan oppressive feature of Islam is based onliberal understandings of ‘equality’ and ‘lib-erty’ that preclude other ways of thinkingabout ‘equality’ and ‘liberty’ that offer a pos-itive approach for contemplating thewearing of the veil.

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RETHINKING MUSLIMWOMEN & THE VEILChallenging Historical & Modern Stereotypes

by Dr. Katherine Bullock

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Jabir al Alwani, IIIT USA, read outby Mr. Siddique Seddon; RabbiProfessor Jonathon Magonet,Principal, Leo Baeck College, readout by Ms. Mehri Niknam, TheMaimonides Foundation (extracts ofwhich are reproduced below).

Ms. Niknam also presented Dr.Badawi with a folio from a th cen-tury Persian Qur’an on behalf ofProfessor Nasser Khalili, Chairmanof the Maimonides Foundation, inrecognition of Dr. Badawi’s invalu-able leadership in Jewish-Muslimdialogue.

The evening came to an end withwords of gratitude from Dr. Badawihimself, who reminded the audiencethat this should not just be a celebra-tion of his life, but of the progressand achievements of the BritishMuslim community. In his inspiringspeech, Dr. Badawi spoke of how hehas helped to nurture a confidentBritish Muslim identity over thedecades and how far the communityhas come from the days when he firstconveyed this message. It came as nosurprise then that his closingremarks were met with a standingovation when he ended the eveningby declaring that, “The British

Muslim community has arrived!”�

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initiatives aimed at establishingIslam in Britain, including setting upthe Muslim College, the Council ofImams and chairing the ShariahCouncil.I am pleased to send best wishes toZaki on his th birthday and lookforward to many more years of part-nership in our efforts to makeBritain a better society for all.”

“I am sorry that I cannot attend thereception to celebrate the th birth-day of Shaikh Dr. Zaki Badawi. I am,however, delighted to send my verybest wishes for this important occa-sion. Shaikh Badawi’s contributionto British Islam has been invaluable.During the last three decades he hasprovided crucial leadership as anImam, teacher and social commen-tator. Learned, articulate and bold hehas been a great defender of main-stream Islam and its message of tol-erance, compassion and justice.Over the years he has taken many

Messages:

Prime MinsterTony Blair

Rabbi Prof. Jonathon Magonet

Dr. Taha Jabir al Alwani

“The Azharees (graduates of AlAzhar University) who have lived inthe West and mastered its languages,culture and thought are very few.Even fewer are those who have addedto this a knowledge of Islam and itscontemporary methodologies withwhich Islam can contribute to theWest and enrich its values andthought. Professor Shaikh ZakiBadawi ... has acquired both the tra-ditional and contemporary knowl-edge of Islam. He has combined thiswith the purest of Islamic thoughtand the best and most useful ofWestern knowledge. Indeed, he is amodel for contemporary Azharees,just as Imam Muhammad Abdu wasin his time...I do hope that Al-Azharand other Islamic universities andschools will regard Shaikh ZakiBadawi, and the few like him, asmodels to be emulated. May AllahAlmighty bless our Brother ProfessorZaki Badawi with health and contin-ued intellectual contribution. Andmay He bless him with a long andfruitful life and plentiful reward. MayAllah bless our Ummah with morescholars of his calibre.”

TOWARDS A FIQH FORMINORITIESSome Basic Reflections

by Dr. Taha Jabir al Alwani

MARITAL DISCORD Recapturing the Full Islamic Spirit ofHuman Dignity

by Dr.AbdulHamid AbuSulayman

QUR’AN & POLITICS A Study on the Origins of PoliticalThought in the Makkan Verses

by Dr. Eltigani Abdul-Qadir Hamid

Forthcoming

IIIT Publications

“I would like to take this opportunityto convey my very best wishes toZaki on this occasion of a welldeserved tribute for his extraordinarycontribution to British life and to thevalues of interfaith dialogue.”

�

A W A R D S

In recognition for a distinguished career and service to the field of Islamic thought, communityservice and the promotion of inter-faith relations, the AMSS (UK) gave its LifetimeAchievement Award to Professor Zaki Badawi. Professor Badawi is Principal of the MuslimCollege in London, Chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council, UK, Chair of FAIR and amember of the AMSS Executive Committee. He began his studies at Al-Azhar in Cairo andobtained a PhD from the University of London. He has taught at Al-Azhar in Cairo; KingAbdul Aziz University in Jeddah; Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria; and also at theUniversity of Malaya in Singapore. He frequently writes and broadcasts on Muslim affairs.

AMSS (UK) 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award

Principal, The Muslim College

Presentation of the AwardJanuary

The award was presented to Charles Le Gai Eaton at a ceremony held at the House of Lords inJune in recognition of his achievement in bringing to light the universal and authenticmessage of Islam. Charles Le Gai Eaton was born in Switzerland and educated at CharterHouse and Kings College, Cambridge. He worked for many years as a teacher and journalist inJamaica and Egypt (where he embraced Islam in ) before joining the British DiplomaticService. He retired early to take up an appointment as Consultant to the Islamic CulturalCentre in London. He is the author of many well-known publications including Islam and theDestiny of Man and Remembering God. He writes, lectures and broadcasts on religious topics.

AMSS (UK) 2002 Building Bridges Award

Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster

Presentation of the AwardJune

Award for Excellence for AMSS (UK)

The Muslim News Awards for Excellence was held in London on th December . At theevent, attended by HRH The Prince of Wales, as well as Muslim and non-Muslim politicians, pro-fessionals, students and community workers and leaders, the AMSS () won The Fazlur RahmanKhan Award for Excellence in Engineering, Technology and Science. The AMSS (UK) won the award

for its work on the social sciences by providing a unique platform for the development of Islamic thought throughresearch, publications and conferences, and for creating an awareness of Islamic opinions on topical and emergingacademic issues relevant to Muslims. Receiving the Award on behalf of the Association, Dr. Anas al Shaikh-Ali, theChairman said: “I am sure the Executive Committee, the Advisory Board and all our members and supporters will bedelighted to see that the work and the potential of the Association have been so quickly recognised and acknowl-edged. The main reason for its success is team work and team spirit.”

It is appropriate, before going fur-ther, to devote a few lines to explor-ing the meaning of ‘total quality’(TQ) and how appropriate its appli-cation is to European Muslimschools. TQ’s pedigree originated inthe total quality management preoc-cupations of business and industryin Japan and the USA. Its impactwas not felt in Britain until the earlyeighties. A brief survey of literaturefrom Juran () to Deming ()to West-Burnham (, )reveals total quality as meaning dif-ferent things in different situations.It resembles much more a broadframework than a unitary model.However, the common denomina-tors in TQ’s guiding principles maybe summed up as mission and cul-ture, the collective role of leadershipand team-based management, pro-vision and measurement of qualitycustomer service, and constantanalysis and review of work process-es involving all employees. Suitablyrefined to the situation and needs ofany given organisational context,these different strands are harnessedto the pursuit of continuousimprovement. The turn of thisdecade saw recognition of TQ’spotential as a mechanism for schooleffectiveness and improvement.

In applying the principles of totalquality to a public service likeMuslim education, concerns may be

expressed about the importation ofbusiness and manufacturing princi-ples. What possible use could theybe, given the gulf between mass-producing industrial componentsand satisfying the individual educa-tional needs of young Muslims?Cultures and day-to-day problemsdiffer, but there are also similarities.Quality has always been importantto practitioners in Muslim schools,even if the means for securing ithave not been particularly well codi-fied in the past. Quality issues aremuch more in the public domainnowadays as a result of the marketcontext of competition andaccountability in which schools haveto operate, which in turn reflectswider economic pressures andchanges. The adoption and adapta-tion of TQ’s guiding principles,therefore, is perfectly feasiblebecause of their complementaryrelationship to many of the prac-tices internationally acknowledgedby educational research to be validand successful. The emphasis inschool effectiveness literature onteamwork, shared decision makingand creating a positive school cul-ture, for instance, closely parallelsDeming’s philosophy (Weller, ).

The extent to which different char-acteristics of total quality are rele-vant, singly and in an inter-relatedsense, to one key factor in Muslimschool effectiveness, i.e. provision

for the most able, is the subject ofthe remainder of this paper. Writersabout TQ have grouped its compo-nents into various discrete but inter-related categories. For the purposeof discussion here, the four broadheadings of vision, people, preven-tion and customers are used (West-Burnham, ).

Putting this heading first underlinesthe difference between ‘total quality’and ‘total quality management’approaches. Discarding the term‘management’ enables one’s empha-sis to move from a purely transac-tional level - whereby short-term,controllable and attainable process-es are subjected to regular review -to a more transformational plane,involving the communication ofvision and commitment. It is one inwhich moral imperatives are para-mount.

How does that apply to a Muslimschool? The core purpose of anyeducational establishment should beto offer an environment in whichteaching and all-round expectationsare of sufficient quality to have themaximum impact on pupils’ learn-ing and progress (Sammons,Hillman and Mortimore, ). Ahigh quality school is one that clear-ly articulates such an over-archingpurpose and then sets about meet-ing its goals, thus demonstratingthat it is ‘fit for its purpose’. Thissense of mission becomes fulfilledby permeating and enthusing allaspects of strategic planning, there-by facilitating its total applicationwithin the institution. It mustattract everyone’s hearts and minds.

My belief that this kind of visionprovides a moral basis for actionleads me to justify provision for ablepupils in terms of helping them‘achieve their full potential byensuring Muslim schools createlearning environments in whichthey are able to progress as far andfast as they can’. In addition, I wouldargue that every Muslim schoolshould have a policy statement

Total Quality Provisionfor Able Children inEuropean MuslimSchools of the 21stCentury

C U R R E N T I S S U E S

acknowledging provision as an inte-gral part of a wider commitment toquality teaching methods, classroomresources and learning styles. Toensure consistent application, thisshould be reflected in departmentalpolicies for the most able.

There is also a need for leadership.Leaders are crucial in the imple-mentation of any vision by virtue oftheir conviction that it is attainable,particularly in the time-lag betweenimplementing developments andachieving improved results (Barber,). Their status provides themwith sufficient clout to prioritise,enthuse, resource, celebrate andgenerally ‘make things happen’.From a quality assurance viewpoint,they have a further role in auditingand evaluating whether the provi-sion programme is successfullyachieving the aims set for it.

A total quality approach calls forthe ‘significance and responsibilityof every employee’ to be recognisedin an organisation’s pursuit of itsmission (West-Burnham, ). Inthat sense, everyone is a leader. Aquality culture requires all of itsmembers to take a personal respon-sibility for its delivery. Therefore,the greater the opportunities forevery teacher - individually or on ateam basis - to be involved in theproduction of his/her subjectdepartment’s interpretation of thewhole school policy for able chil-dren, the more likely one is to raisehis/her awareness, promote a senseof ownership in the initiative, andfoster a common approach, withinthe limits of acceptable diversity, toextending these pupils. There isalways a danger that when one per-son has a named responsibility, oth-ers tend to think they need not beinvolved. A quality managementapproach will both invite anddemand active participation at alllevels (Hampton, ). The ideal isthat all teachers feel sufficiently con-fident that even if a young Ghazzali(or his female equivalent) started inYear , they would have a clear ideahow to recognise, cater for and cele-

brate his talents.Mention has been made (in the

abstract) of the ethical reservationssome Muslim teachers might hold.Herein lies a possible problem forapplying total quality principles toan organisation such as a Muslimschool, that is characterised by ‘phe-nomenological perspectives’ (Daviesand West-Burnham, ). How, inthis particular case, can greater con-sensus in outlook be worked for?My suggestion is that a programmefor the most able be set in the con-text of equal opportunities for all.To be true to their name, Muslimschools should foster a climate thatrecognises each child has equalvalue and individual needs. Just aspupils with special educationalneeds must be catered for, so thosewith marked talents should beencouraged in their achievements.

One of the reasons for the needs ofthe most able remaining unconsid-ered in many Muslim schools is thepopular belief that they are a verysmall minority. The notion thathigh ability is restricted to purelyintellectual talents, however, hasbeen questioned by research indi-cating that there are multiple intelli-gences by which children can learneffectively (Gardner, ; Perkins,). Failure to provide teachingand learning opportunities thatwork through, and aim at, these dif-ferent areas could be represented asneglecting the right of a sizeableproportion of one’s ‘customers’ (or‘trusts’ from an Islamic point ofview) in the school population tooptimise their potential.

In getting away from the tradition-al equation of quality with exclusiv-ity (Pfeffer and Coote, ), andmaking one’s definitions of abilityinclusive, Muslim teachers who areinclined to dismiss provision as ‘elit-ist’ because of the distinctiveness itconfers on a small minority mightwell think again.

As with leadership, there is a quali-ty assurance dimension to the cre-ation of collegial structures. Themore staff are trusted and involved

in meeting the needs of the mostable, the greater the devolution ofresponsibility to each of them forpersonally maintaining qualityteaching and learning experiences.

Much of what has been writtenabout total quality concerns qualitycontrol, assurance, management,audit and assessment of the ‘prod-uct’ - in this case, the creation of anappropriate learning environmentfor able pupils. It is to do with spe-cific techniques to help ‘translateprinciple into practice - the abstractinto concrete experience’ (West-Burnham, ). In defining thestandards for a quality programmefor the more able, first one has toestablish methods of identifyingpupils. One problem with introduc-ing TQ initiatives is the lack ofsound data on which to build them.Suitable techniques and proceduresinclude:

- Observation and nomination by teachers- Assessment by teachers- Observation of pupil performance- Observations and nominations byparents- Checklists of general and subjectcharacteristics of high ability- Primary school profiles and assess-ment records- Standardised achievement andintellectual ability tests. Followingthis, Muslim schools must specify anumber of mechanisms, proceduresand processes that would cover thekey areas of curriculum provision,organisational strategies and teach-ing methodology:- Curriculum provision.Incorporating extension and enrich-ment in schemes of work will helpable pupils develop wider knowl-edge and use high-level skills or cre-ative responses. Individual studyprogrammes will cater for thosewith specific talents or deep interestin a topic. Enhancement shouldextend beyond subjects to a centralprogramme of problem-solving, vis-its, courses, workshops, competi-

tions, etc. There must be scope for‘fast-tracking’ to GCSE, A-Level andeven first-year degree work, takingadvantage of modular courses anddistance-learning materials.- Organisational strategies. Mostable pupils benefit from interactingwith each other, although othertypes of grouping should beemployed, such as mixed age andspecific interest. Operating with-drawal groups is a further option.Classrooms and resources should beorganised to allow for group workand supported self-study.- Teaching methodology. Muslimteachers should use a broad reper-toire of open-ended tasks, groupand individual work, problem-solv-ing activities and investigations, aswell as more formal teaching.Differentiation of this kind will helpthem match tasks to the variety inpupils’ preferred learning styles.Variety is important, too, in themeans by which they record theirwork and the resources available.Tasks should be challenging andsometimes the cause of struggle.Repetition must be avoided, sinceable children usually need the leastreinforcement.

How is one to ensure that thesecharacteristics of a quality pro-gramme actually appear? The idealis that everything is done rightwithout checking (Crosby, ),but in reality it is necessary toemploy quality assurance measures.It is here that I return to my earlierpoints about the part to be playedby everyone, from senior staff toclassroom teachers, in monitoringthe translation of principle intopractice. If anyone has the key role,arguably it is the latter. TQ is ameans of improving personal effec-tiveness and aligning all individualeffort throughout an organisation(Stott, ). The active involvementand responsibility of everyone inagreeing a process, and then imple-menting it in a consistent mannerso that they become managers oftheir own quality, is what marks agenuine ‘democratising’ of quality

within the institution (Harvey andGreen, ).

The measurement of quality, itspotential for incrementally improv-ing and developing pupils’ needs,are questions that go beyond amechanistic preoccupation withprevention and processes.Consequently, there must be assess-ment and monitoring procedures inplace to guage each each child’sprogress, the extent to which valueis added and the continuing ‘fitnessfor purpose’ of the overall pro-gramme.

However, to be sure that the quali-ty of provision is what it should be,quality assurance must be linked tothe moral basis identified for theprogramme, viz. the creation of anappropriate learning environmentfor the most able. The implication isthat teachers see their role in termsof raising questions, offering chal-lenges, encouraging the use ofdivergent learning activities andproviding a responsive environmentthat makes the act of learning aninteractive process. Underpinningthis must be the cultivation of areflective understanding of the basiclearning processes and how individ-uals differ in their capabilities tolearn. By marrying prevention tovision, one should be more certainthat pupils are benefiting from theenhancements offered and thatthese do indeed constitute challeng-ing experiences. Also, one can moreconfidently claim to be workingtowards a state of ‘zero defects’ interms of optimising the achieve-ment of all the pupils involved inthe programme. This leads to a dis-cussion of how far one’s programmefor the most able represents ‘quality’to the customer.

Who are ‘customers’ in Muslimschools? The philosophy of totalquality points to those people ‘whoreceive products or services from anorganisation, including those withinthe organisation’ (Smith, ).Applied to a school setting, they are

simple enough to identify. Theinternal customers are, first, theclassroom teachers who look totheir senior staff to ‘supply’ the pro-gramme for able pupils. In turn,they make the appropriate imple-mentation for their customers, viz.the pupils who are in direct receiptof provision. The next link compris-es the parents (Murgatroyd andMorgan, ). This notion of theinternal/external customer chain is akey element of TQ. I referred earlierto the importance of an inclusivedefinition as far as the pupils areconcerned, in view of the growingrecognition that high ability cantake various forms. Only a smallminority of pupils are academic ‘all-rounders’, whereas per cent ormore of a school’s population willexcel in one or a few areas (Dentonand Postlethwaite, ). It is a mir-ror image of the bottom end of theability scale as identified in the

Warnock Report and the SENCode of Practice.

This focus on the customer can beproblematic for a sector that tradi-tionally has been supplier-led, par-ticularly given the basic tenet of TQthat quality is defined by the cus-tomer (West-Burnham, ). Arethe pupils identified as having highability actually customers? Is theterm better applied to their parents,who expect appropriate educationalprovision for their children’s needsin turn for their taxes fundingMuslim schools? It might be moreaccurate to refer to the children as‘consumers’ or ‘clients’. Do thepupils actually know their needs?Are they in a position to judgewhether they are being met? Aretheir parents, given their sometimesover-optimistic opinions of theirchildren’s talents, in a position tojudge? Should we reject such prod-uct-based notions as inappropriateto the education service and thinkof teachers as having a transforma-tive relationship with their ‘cus-tomers’ because they do somethingto, rather than for, them (Harveyand Green, )? These questions

explain why education has longdefined and interpreted quality inPlatonic terms of what pupils areassumed to need. They also revealthe semantic and conceptual natureof attempting to define the ‘cus-tomer’ in a service that is not accus-tomed to such thinking (West-Burnham and Davies, ).

It is difficult to identify a precisemechanism by which programmesfor Muslim pupils can fit Juran’saxiom: ‘Quality is what the cus-tomer says it is’ (Davis and West-Burnham, ). However, in a moregeneral sense, Muslim schools canshow how responsive they are by thetype of learning strategies extendedto the most able. Offering pupilssome ownership of the organisationand completion of their work, per-mitting a variety of means ofrecording work, promoting the useof creative and critical thinkingskills, and employing internal ratherthan external methods of motiva-tion are all means by which they canbe transformed into critical, self-aware and autonomous individuals.It will better equip them to makeinformed choices and decisions.This particular focus in makingthem co-managers of the teachingand learning process requires theirteachers to become more likeenablers and guides and resourcemanagers. There is likely to be noturning back. Once pupils have tast-ed the ‘delight’ of a quality learningexperience, they will not acceptsomething inferior (Tribus, ).Again, it brings one back to theover-arching vision of what aMuslim school should be offeringby way of a suitable learning envi-ronment.

Quality assurance must involvesome kind of mediating influencefrom pupils and parents, based onassessments, tutorials, consultationevenings, etc., so that they candeclare their levels of satisfactionregarding the fitness of provision.Customer requirements exert aninfluence, too, with the increasing‘market economy’ in which schools

exist: Muslim parents (like others)will pick and choose establishmentsthat offer services for the most ablematching their own specifications.The DfEE’s Circular / (now, ofcourse, the DfES) recommends thatevery school should include in itsprospectus details of its arrange-ments for able children (state-fund-ed Muslim schools are no excep-tion). The customers might not besovereign, but the effect of theirnotional ‘spending power’ on theformula funding of schools cannotbe ignored. It would be a foolish(and unfit for purpose establish-ment) that allowed its provision tobe seriously at variance with theirbroad expectations of what shouldbe available. The time has longpassed when parents were preparedto be passive recipients of profes-sional opinions, and it mirrors theexpectation of customised qualityand service in other ‘markets’(Davies and West-Burnham, ).

-

Awareness of the responsibility toreview and enhance the quality ofany Muslim educational programmehas led me to some initial thoughtson a suitable model for reviewingthe effectiveness of the strategy Ihave formulated as part of my edu-cational research. The four headingsunder which my programme can bediscussed from a total quality per-spective have a lot in common withthe typology comprising theEuropean Foundation for QualityManagement (EFQM) madel, whichhas been translated into a settingmore suited for educational usewith support from the Royal Mailand Sheffield Education Authority(Sisum, ; West-Burnham, ).Adapted to my programme forenhanced quality provision for ablechildren in Muslim schools, thecomponents of the model couldconsist of:

Senior leadership- Proposing a vision and relating the

programme to it- Prioritising provision via schooldevelopment plan- Coordinating, monitoring andevaluating whole school and depart-ment provision- Allocating appropriate and suffi-cient resources- Organising in-service training(Inset) for professional developmentof staff in this area- Recognition and celebration ofpupil achievements in school andthe wider community.

Staff management and involvement- Motivation, involvement and con-fidence of all staff in implementing provision arising from shared senseof purpose- Pursuit of professional develop-ment regarding provision for themost able through Inset- Development of identificationprocedures for departments- Employment of appropriate cur-riculum, organisational and teach-ing strategies- Use of school procedures forassessing and monitoring pupils’progress;opportunities for regular review andreflection.

Policy and strategy- Development of a policy and strat-egy embodying total quality princi-ples- Foundation of policy on knowl-edge of effective learning processesand awareness of good practice insimilar initiatives elsewhere- Clear communication, a strongsense of purpose and identificationof defined goals- Regular review and up-dating ofpolicy.

Resources- Timetabling of central enhance-ment programme- Funding for appropriate depart-mental resources- Facilitation of alternative groupingarrangements and withdrawal classes- Allocation for staff professionaldevelopment

Processes- Establishment of clearly definedprocedures for identifying ablepupils- Specification of processes fortranslating principles into practicein terms of curriculum provision,classroom organisation and teach-ing methodology- Active involvement of staff inimplementation of policy on consis-tent basis- Use of common format for assess-ment and monitoring records - Effective liaison with partner pri-mary schools to ensure systematictransfer of information- Continuous evaluation of provi-sion to monitor its continuing ‘fit-ness for purpose’.

Staff satisfaction- Researching, evaluating andresponding to staff perceptions of,and satisfaction with, policy imple-mentation.

Pupil and parent satisfaction- Researching, evaluating andresponding to pupil and parent per-ceptions of, and satisfaction with,the variety of classroom learningexperiences available- Extent of pupil involvement involuntary and extra-curricularactivities organised as part of theprogramme- Extent of parental involvement inproviding a supportive home envi-ronment, and engaging in regulardialogue with the school.

Impact on stake-holders- Popularity with prospective par-ents of identifying arrangements forable pupils- Cooperation of partner primaryschools in establishing effective liai-son arrangements for transfer ofinformation- Interest and involvement of gover-nors in development of provision- Support from LEA (LocalEducation Authority) in terms ofresources, guidance and externalauditing from inspection/advisoryteam- Interest and involvement by mem-bers of the wider community, e.g.

business and industry, the media,higher education.

School outcomes- Creation of a school culture inwhich able Muslim pupils are posi-tively encouraged to express theirtalents- Contribution to the creation of ahigh-quality teaching and learning environment for all pupils- Fulfilment of the Islamic ideal ofproviding an appropriate educationfor children of all abilities and apti-tudes.

This is not intended to be anauthoritative or exhaustive list ofcomponents. Definitions of whatconstitutes quality vary and reflectdifferent perspectives and interests.It is easier to state one is workingtowards quality than to define whatit actually means. A process ofexperiment, modification and adap-tation, therefore, may be necessaryuntil proven applications emerge.Strategies take time to establish andsustain themselves and mature onlyover time. All I would claim here isthat the EFQM model seems to rep-resent a useful framework to devel-op and customise when reviewingstrategies for school improvement.It offers scope for a holisticapproach to evaluating a pro-gramme of provision for ableMuslim pupils based on the princi-ples and processes of total quality. Ilook forward to the day that itbecomes an integral element ofschemes for improving quality andperformance in Muslim schools.�

Dr. Nasim Butt Dr. Nasim Butt is AssistantHeadteacher at King Fahad Academy,London and OFSTED Inspector. Hehas a PhD in Science Education andan MBA in Educational Manage-ment. He has successfully completedthe National Professional Qualifi-cation for Headship (NPQH), the

new qualification for head teachers inthe UK. His publications include:Science and Muslim Societies (),An Exploration of the Limits ofModern Science () and A Packof National Curriculum Workcards(‒).

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NOTICE!

AMSS (UK) AGMElection of New ExecutiveCommittee

The Annual General Meeting of theAMSS (UK) was held at theMuslim College on Saturday November . As it was themonth of Ramadan iftar was pro-vided once the fast broke. Afterpresentation of a financial reportof the AMSS (UK) accounts for theyear - as well as a reporton its activities during this periodelections were held for the formu-lation of a new ExecutiveCommittee. The results were as fol-lows:

:

. . -

:

. -

Once nominations are receivedfrom the organisations who jointlyfounded the AMSS (UK) theremaining members will be added.

The new Executive Committee isplanning to hold its first meetingearly in .

A seminar entitled, “Education forPeace and Justice in the Light ofSeptember the th” was held on -

October at HomertonCollege, University of Cambridge. Itwas jointly organized by the IslamicAcademy, Cambridge and theCambridge University School ofEducation. There were thirty-threeparticipants from different fields –university professors, educationofficers, school teachers and reli-gious leaders from three majorfaiths, Islam, Christianity andJudaism. Nineteen papers on vari-ous topics were presented.

The rationale behind the seminarwas as follows. The end of the coldwar was greeted by a rising tide ofoptimism that humanity, at least inthe area of international relations,was at long last turning to the waysof peace. Disputes might stillinevitably arise, but they could andwould be settled by negotiationbased on the principles of equity,respect and reconciliation.

All this was given a new and terri-ble twist by the events of September. The most secure countries of theWest felt threatened by an unpre-dictable and ruthless terrorism.Their reaction was swift and over-whelming. What was worse, suchacts of terrorism were claimed to bein the name of a major world reli-gion, Islam. The complex causes andinjustices lying behind such eventswere forgotten and too many com-mentators saw them as furtherexamples of religion as the source ofconflict, division and war. Yet thiswas gravely misleading. Most fol-lowers of Islam abhor such acts ofviolence on innocent peoples wher-ever they are found. Indeed Islamwith all the major religions of theworld has strong teachings on peaceand justice, which if they were fol-

lowed would create a very differentworld order to the one we nowexperience.

The seminar explored these teach-ings and above all suggested waysthrough education in which youngpeople might be made aware ofthose paths of peace made explicitby the religions. It also investigatedhow young people might becomemore media literate and learn tocritically re-evaluate those misrepre-sentations which too often attributeto the religions what they in factmost strongly oppose.

The seminar recognised that peacewithout justice is no peace at all.There is room for respect anddecency between people of all faithsand none, but the dominant faith orgroup professing a faith has to bewilling to give that respect, andallow other faiths to flourish. Inorder for people to understandIslam and Muslims there has to beestablished a context which ispresently largely absent; and toachieve this there has to be a com-plete change of heart in attitudesand approaches to Islam here in theWest engendered by honesty andtruthfulness.

Many participants presented evi-dence that Islam and Muslims arenot treated fairly in the Westernmass media and the Western litera-ture. Muslims are often blamed foractions for which they are not actu-ally responsible as was seen in thecase of Oklahoma City bombing.The whole Muslim community andtheir faith are blamed for any act ofviolence caused by an individualMuslim — very often the word“Islamic” is attached to an act ofviolence as if it is Islam that led tosuch an act. Justice and fairnessdemand that such ways of interpret-ing events should be avoided. Islam

is often projected in the mass mediaas a religion that breeds conflictsand terrorism, and the dissemina-tion of such ideas give rise to preju-dice and violent reactions towardsMuslims in the minds of the peopleof other faiths leading to mistrustand social disharmony.

In this connection, faith schoolsespecially have a very important roleto play in challenging discrimina-tion through interfaith dialogue,exchange programmes for staff andpupils. They have also a role to playin reducing prejudice. Educationalinstitutions in general play a veryimportant role in contributing toyoung people’s awareness of reli-gion, peace and justice but schoolsexist in the context of society as awhole and they cannot and shouldnot be expected to do everythingthat needs to be done in terms ofworking for peace and justice in thelight of September .

Islam’s condemnation of terroristicactivities was reiterated by manyparticipants but it was also stressedthat to remove terrorism by furtheracts of violence was not a solution.One should go to the root causes ofterrorism which in many cases areresults of gross injustice inflictedupon defenceless people. Many par-ticipants of the seminar drew atten-tion to the double standard at pres-ent operating at the internationallevel especially in the treatmentmeted out to the Palestinian people.

Muslims must present a properpicture of Islam to the West throughtheir own actions and the work ofda‘wah which might help to educatepeople in Islam and remove a lot ofmisunderstandings about it.

They should be more flexible andmore accommodating, as without areasonable level of compromiseMuslims would only make them-

Education for Peace and JusticeSeminar Report

selves segregated. They shoulddevelop a culture that is appropriatefor British Muslims, a culture that isgoing to strike roots in the Britishsoil. Muslims living in the West havethe tasks of confronting the chal-lenge of the West i.e. its secular phi-losophy and lifestyles; engaging infine-grained debates with Muslimscholars in order to find limits ofapplicability of Shari‘ah in theWestern context; and explore thecommon grounds among different

faiths which will help to promotemutual respect and tolerance.

In line with the usual practice ofthe Islamic Academy and the Schoolof Education it was decided that anAgreed Statement would be pro-duced which will encapsulate therationale of the seminar, the majorissues discussed and its recommen-dations.

This document will be sent toschools, departments of education,important religious leaders and

people in authority responsible forpolicy making.�

Dr Shaikh Abdul MabudDirector GeneralThe Islamic Academy Gilbert RoadCambridge CB HQUnited Kingdom

Tel/Fax:

E-mail: info@islamicacademy.ac.uk

FAIR’S SUCCESSFollowing the well received report that FAIR submittedto the House of Lords Select Committee on ReligiousOffences earlier this year, the organisation’s credentialsshould be further strengthened this year. In addition toa response to the DTI considering the employment sta-tus of imams, a consultative document on the subject ofMuslims and education in the UK is being prepared byFAIR in cooperation with AMSS (UK), The MuslimCollege, Al Khoei Foundation and FED 2000.

FAIR are also hosting a media seminar and a joint con-ference on the role of Muslims in Europe. However, itschallenging and wide-reaching report into the distur-bances in Bradford last year will probably be the mostheadline-grabbing. Raising questions about the distur-bances’ underlying causes, the subsequent sentencing,and the political motivation that has impacted upon alllevels of reaction, the report adds its voice to the grow-ing number calling for an independent enquiry into thesituation.

FAIR’s continued commitment to research excellencewill no doubt ensure that its academic research teamremain at the forefront of documenting the situation ofMuslims in contemporary Britain.

■ Christopher AllenPolicy and Research Coordinator, FAIR

AIMS & OBJECTIVESSet up as an independent charitable organisation theForum Against Islamophobia & Racism has been estab-lished to:

� promote better awarness of Islam� monitor and respond to cases of Islamophobia in the

media and popular culture� support and assist victims of religious and racial dis-

crimination� formulate advice for relevant agencies tackling

Islamophobic & Muslim-alienating trends in society � encourage good relations between people & commu-

nities of different religious, racial and ethnic back-grounds

These aims are to be pursued through several projectsand activities including: an Islam Awareness Project; aMedia and Popular Culture Watch; a Muslim EqualityCasework Project; an Institutional DiscriminationProject; and Policy Research and Lobbying.

Although specialist in nature, FAIR will emphasise part-nership and multi-agency working and work withorganisations across disciplines and communities. Itwill seek common purposes in building a fairer Britainfor all.

For further information or if you have something to reportor can contribute please contact:

FAIR16 Peninsular Court 121 East Ferry Road,London E14 3LHTel:

Fax:

fair@fairuk.org www.fairuk.org

Forum Against Islamphobia and Racism

in London. The AMSS (UK) wonThe Fazlur Rahman Khan Awardfor Excellence in Engineering,Technology and Science for its workin the social sciences, primarily forits role in providing a unique plat-form for the development ofIslamic thought through research,publications and conferences, andfor providing an awareness ofIslamic opinions on topical andemerging issues, as well as for host-ing successful conferences in theUK and Europe drawing on thecontribution of analysts and resear-chers through out the Muslim com-munity in Europe.

For an organization which reliesmainly on voluntary work providedby very busy people this award, wonafter only three years of function-ing, is seen as an important achieve-ment. Once again it should beemphasised that the most impor-tant factor behind this success is theselfless dedication of all thoseinvolved in the work of the associa-tion.

This dedication to team spiritdraws on the example of Abu Bakral Siddiq and Omar ibn al Khattab(RA) who debated with each otherand expressed different views butwere always united in action toachieve the objective of servingAllah (SWT) and following theSunnah of His Prophet (SAAS). Weshould all draw inspiration fromtheir glorious history and seek toremind and alert one another tothem as outstanding role models fororganising the affairs of society andproducing effective work.

Unfortunately, this team spirit hassuffered serious decline in manyMuslim circles being displaced toooften by internal disputes and per-sonal ambitions. Rather than team-work, one sometimes encountersorganizations relentlessly interestedin pushing their own agendas only.Individualistic agendas withinorganizations have also done untolddamage as individuals try to useorganizations to promote them-selves rather than the noble workthey have been entrusted with. It is

The Muslim CollegeLaunches its LatestCourseThe Muslim College has launched acourse leading to an M.A. degree inImamship. The course comprises adeep and broad study of the Qur’an,the Prophetic Tradition, Shari‘ah,Theology and Thought, IslamicHistory and Civilization, WorldReligions, Western Philosophy andCulture, Modern Islamic Move-ments, Public Speaking, MosqueAdministration, Pastoral Care, andthe use of the media. Special coursesare also arranged for Imams work-ing for the Prison service, or work-ing with the Health Service in hospi-tals or hospices.

For further information please contact:The Muslim College- Creffield RoadLondon W5 3RP Tel:

Fax:

registrar@muslimcollege.ac.ukwww.muslimcollege.ac.uk�

Cont’d from page 1

only when personal agendas are leftat the door that an organization canfully realize its potential and put thegroup dynamics into effective use.

One of the important achieve-ments of many of the conferencesthat the AMSS (UK) has organizedis the strong cooperation it hasmaintained with a number of theorganizations who have collaboratedwith and supported its activities, i.e.AMSS Germany, The Muslim Coll-ege, Al-Khoei Foundation, TheIslamic Cultural Centre of Ireland,FAIR, Q-News, IIIT and many oth-ers. The AMSS has proven beyonddoubt that team spirit, cooperationand selfless dedicated work openwide the door to the successfulgrowth and development of anorganization.

The award for excellence won bythe association is a credit to its Adv-isory Board, Executive Committee,and members. It is also a credit toall those organizations who haveworked closely with the AMSS andsupported its work. �

:

..

Members will be given:

-discounts on registration fees for allAMSS (UK) conferences;

- a free subscription to our quarterlyjournal AJISS and

- a free subscription to Islamiyat alMarifah (journal for arabic speakers);

-full voting rights.

Regular Members £.

Students (and concessions) £.�

Membership toAMSS (UK)

AMSS (UK)Specialist GroupsThe AMSS intends to establish anumber of specialist groups in vari-ous areas of the social sciences andprovide support to these groups toorganize activities in issues relatedto their own disciplines. The AMSSintends to begin with the formationof the following two groups:

- Media- Education

This will be coordinated with FAIRas well as other organisations work-ing in these two areas. Those inter-ested in joining these groups orcoordinating their activities, pleasewrite to the Executive Committeesending your name, address andshort CV. �

The term citizen as used in theGraeco-Roman world described thefree man of a particular city. TheRoman was the free man of theEmpire, the rest were subjects withfar fewer rights. In contemporarysociety the term applies to a personbelonging to a State, as British indi-cates a citizen of Britain, anEgyptian is a citizen of Egypt andDutch indicates a citizen ofHolland.

But what does it mean to be a citi-zen, or in other words what is citi-zenship? There are many defini-tions of the term but for this lec-ture I choose to define citizenshipas a set of legal, political and ethi-cal rights and duties that areshared by all members of a partic-ular state. The state is taken tomean a geographical location withinstitutions to identify and enforcethe law. The citizens themselvesshould in a democratic society bethe ultimate source of authority ofthe institutions that uphold thelaw. This is achieved through par-ticipation in decision-making byway of electing representative bod-ies or by referenda. The absence ofparticipation deprives the inhabi-tants of the state of the most impor-tant element of their citizenship.Thus women, racial, religious orpolitical minorities who, in somestates, are deprived of the exercise ofthe right to participate are onlypaper citizens who may carry thestate’s passport, be allowed the useof common facilities such as educa-tion and health services but theyresemble the subjects of Romerather than its citizens.

This concept of citizenship allowsfor pluralism in tradition, belief andpolitical affiliation for as long asthese diversities fall within a broadframework that covers the relation-ship between the different groupsand individuals. This frameworkallows for debate among the citizensas to the permissible level of diver-sity. Such debate must ensure a fairdistribution of the common good.The principle of justice is thereforeat the very heart of the idea of citi-

zenship. Justice itself is defined interms of the Declaration of HumanRights, which has been more or lessadopted by all the members of theUnited Nations.

It would be idle to suggest that allentitled to the enjoyment of citizen-ship get their dues, or that the uni-versal Declaration of Human Rightshas delivered its high sounding pre-scriptions. Both, however, set thestage for debate and developmenttowards a better world.

The Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and the concept ofcitizenship now built upon it are theproduct of a secular outlook inwhich religion is excluded thoughnot necessarily rejected. Citizenshipin Islam is of course wholly reli-gious. Based on the principlesenshrined in the revealed word ofAllah in the Holy Qur’an and on theaction, judgment and conduct ofHis Prophet. The starting point inIslam’s vision of citizenship is itsregard for the human race. In the

Qur’an Allah declares,“We havehonoured the children of Adam.”

This is the foundation of Islamicethics. Human life and dignity,regardless of race, colour or creedis sacrosanct. Only if the persontransgresses this rule would theright to be protected be deniedhim. Islam speaks less of humanrights and more of human duties.This approach sanctifies humanrights by basing them on obliga-tions to God. Thus the right to lifeis expressed in the Islamic systemas the duty to save life.“Whosoever saves one soul shallbe construed as if he had saved the

entire human race and whosoeverkills one soul shall be construed as ifhe had killed the entire humanrace.”

Sharing of resources, caring for theneedy etc. are there. Freedom ofconscience is instituted by theQur’anic verse: “No compulsion inmatters of religion.”

The Qur’an tells us that ourSustainer created Adam to be Hisvicegerent on earth. Adam’sdescendants inherited his place inrelation to this planet and also were

Citizenship in Islam

T O P I C A L I S S U E S

. .

“We have honoured the children of Adam.”

(The Qur’an)

This is the foundation ofIslamic ethics. Human

life and dignity, regardlessof race, colour or creed

is sacrosanct

made morally responsible for eachother through the various revela-tions that came over the centuries toguide them to the right conduct.The last of these revelations is theQur’an that lays the foundation fora society based on justice and toler-ance.

Let us see how it worked in prac-tice. The first Muslim political orderwas established in Madinah whenthe Prophet migrated to it in

CE. The Prophet entered Madinahon the basis of an agreement drawnearlier with some of the leaders oftwo Arab tribes in the city. Itassured the Prophet of protectioninside Madinah against all his ene-mies, especially the Makkans whowere pursuing him to kill him andend his mission. Once he settleddown in the city, he drew a series oftreaties with the Arab and Jewishtribes in Madinah setting out thesystem of government and the rulesthat transformed a primitive tribaljustice system based on collectiveresponsibility into a legal systemmaking every individual responsiblefor his/her action. The dutiesregarding the defence of the citywere outlined. The religious diversi-ty of the population was celebratedand the common framework for thesystem was defined. These docu-

ments are collectively called theConstitution of Madinah. Its recog-nition of pluralism is an example ofhumanity and justice. It states inthis regard: The Muslims are an‘Ummah (a religious community) inthemselves, and the Jews are an‘ummah in themselves. TheMuslims and the Jews are togetheran Ummah in themselves.

Thus the Madinah Constitutionrespected the rights of bothMuslims and Jews to follow theirreligious and social practices butboth were made bound by their citi-zenship of the city to co-operate forits defence and common good.

I have always cited the arrange-ment of Madinan society under thisconstitution as the first plural socie-ty in history. Many European histo-rians in the Age of Enlightenment,which led some of them to an anti-Christian attitude, showed con-tempt for Christian-ruled Europeunder the Holy Emperors anddivine kings. This was because of itsintolerance that manifested itself inreligious wars and the oppression ofother religions, or different inter-pretations of Christianity. They con-trasted the Christian epoch withthat of heathen Rome, favouring thelatter over the former. They admiredthe Roman tolerance of the gods ofthe people they conquered and mar-veled at their propensity to includethem in their own pantheon. Someeven condemned monotheism asinherently hostile to human free-dom to be different in belief andcustom. They longed for the toler-ant and permissive polytheism ofRome. No doubt they were oblivi-ous of the fact that Judaism andChristianity suffered terrible perse-cution under this so very tolerantRome! Why did the fate of thesetwo faiths differ from that of theancient Egyptian and Syrian gods?The answer is illustrated in thenovel Thais by Anatole France. Heleads us into the presence of theRoman Governor of Alexandriawho receives a Christian monk todebate the Roman perception of

Christianity. This took place whenthe Romans had grown tired ofthrowing the Christians to the lionsand allowed them, very reluctantly,to pursue their own faith. TheGovernor in Anatole France’s novelsays to the monk,“You Christiansare difficult. We Romans are willingto include your Christ among ourdeities if only you join the cult ofthe Emperor.”

Tolerant Rome was only indulgentwith those who bowed to the divinehead of the Empire. TheConstitution of Madinah did notrequire the Jews either to changetheir custom or to acceptMuhammad as the Messenger ofGod. The system was based on con-sultation and participation. Nomajor issue affecting the destiny ofthe city was resolved without thematter being thoroughly debated bythe community. Although theauthority of the Prophet was fullyrecognized by the Muslims, he neverfinalized a decision without seekingtheir views and deferring to them.

When he was unexpectedly con-fronted by a well-armed Makkanforce at Badr, his original aim was tointercept the caravan trading in thestolen property of his companions;but the caravan fled and a superiorforce faced him instead. He did notissue an order to the Madinans tojoin the battle. Their agreementwith him was to defend him insidethe city, not to engage in conflictoutside it. But once he sought theiropinion, they agreed to stand byhim.

When on another occasion theMakkans marched on Madinah theProphet gathered the people to dis-cuss the crisis and suggest ananswer. He himself favoured stayingput in the city with its small defenceforce protected by the buildingsagainst the much more numerousenemy. The majority, however,insisted on meeting the Makkanssome distance from the town. TheMakkans won the battle but theQur’an instructed the Prophet thatnotwithstanding that the majority

To me religion is notonly the belief in one’sheart but also and per-haps even more impor-tantly the manifesta-tion of one’s words andactions.

decision proved wrong he mustnevertheless continue the practice ofconsultation: “Consult them in theaffairs [of state]”.

Now, who was consulted beforethis battle? The sources are silent onthis important matter. Searchingthrough the reports I came across apiece of information about thosewho fell in the battle. It included aJew by the name of Mukhayriqwho called upon other Jews to jointhe Prophet but they declined sayingthat it was the Sabbath that theyhad to keep. Mukhayriq on his parttold the Prophet that should he beslain he would leave his entire prop-erty to the Prophet. Such was theloyalty engendered by the respectaccorded to the Jews that this par-ticular Jew expressed his allegianceto a man he did not follow as a reli-gious leader but as the head of thecitizenry.

As the Muslim state expanded, thenon-Muslims retained their right ofcitizenship. Omar the secondCaliph, who began his reign twoyears after the Prophet’s death,chanced on a blind beggar inMadinah. He enquired who he was.The beggar said that he was aChristian carpenter until he grewold and lost his sight and now hadto depend on begging for survival.Omar said, “We [the Muslim state]would not be fair to you if we enjoythe fruits of your work when youwere young and healthy and thenabandon you in your sickness andold age.” Omar allotted the man apension from the treasury (bait al-mal).

The status of non-Muslim was reg-ulated into the Dhimmi systemwhich though given a bad name wasfar more just to the minorities thanany alternative. The majorityMuslims did not always enjoy thebenefit of Islamic citizenship as theMuslim world endured a series ofoppressive rulers. Nevertheless mostof these rulers adhered to the pre-cepts of the Shari‘ah and wereanswerable to the Ulema or theMuslim scholars who mediated

between the people and the rulers.I have so far dealt with Islamic citi-

zenship as it is practiced in Muslimsociety. Its essential characteristic isits concern for human beings as amanifestation of the worship ofGod. This is the fundamental differ-ence between this vision and that ofthe secular form of citizenship. Youmay have noticed that I have quotedfew texts focusing instead on theactuality of Muslim society. To mereligion is not only the belief inone’s heart but also and perhapseven more importantly the manifes-tation of one’s words and actions.Apologists for religions take refugein their usually idealistic scripturesfrom the failure of their adherentsto live up to them. It is my con-tention that Islam’s record in thequestion of citizenship especiallywhen it is concerned with pluralismis unequalled in any other culture.The land of Islam has over the cen-turies been a safe haven for the per-secuted and oppressed. The historyof the Jews in particular is punctu-ated with flights from persecutioninto the welcoming and safe landsof Islam.

To be sure, there were occasionallapses from tolerance to violencebut they were exceptions thatproved the rule; they were often areaction to provocation such as theCrusades or the expulsion andoppression of the Palestinians.

Another side to the issue has to dowith the Muslim residents of a non-Muslim country such as Holland orGreat Britain. Is there a place for aMuslim citizenship to operate? Inother words, does citizenship inIslam preclude Muslims from livingas a minority. Further, is it permit-ted for a Muslim to be a citizen of anon-Muslim state?

Over the long centuries of conflict,some scholars advised Muslims notto live outside the land of Islamexcept in cases of necessity. Thisview though often repeated by itsadherents has never been taken seri-ously. Muslims conducted them-selves in the spirit of their faith,

which is totally opposed to ghettoiz-ing their community. If one of themost important duties of theMuslim is to proclaim his/her faithto the world, how can they belocked into the cage of their home-land and not be allowed to step out-side it?

The fear of these isolationistsscholars that a non-Muslim envi-ronment will endanger the faith isgreatly exaggerated. The history ofIslam itself points to the rejection ofthis attitude. The Prophet (SAAS)lived in polytheist Makkah at thehead of a small band of followersand had the Makkans not threat-ened his life he would not havedeparted to Madinah. Ibn Ishaq

reports that as the Prophet (SAAS)began his journey to Madinah heturned to the city of his birth andsaid “You are the dearest spot onearth to my heart. Had your peoplenot driven me out, I would not bedeparting now.”

As the Muslim state expanded itdeveloped a system of internationalrelations based on classifying statesas enemies whose land is the Abodeof War, or friends whose land is theAbode of Agreement, both in con-trast with the land of Islam, theAbode of Peace. A Muslim may notvoluntarily reside in an enemycountry particularly if he/she isforced to act against his/her faith.Beyond this there is no restrictionon a Muslim living in and acquiringthe citizenship of any country thatdoes not demand that Muslimsshould abandon their faith anddesist from fulfilling their religiousduties.

A Muslim therefore may becomepart of a non-Muslim society as acitizen in a democratic system thataccords him/her all the rights andcharges him/her with all the dutiesas other citizens. Like the Muslimconcept of citizenship, the demo-cratic system gives space to others,allowing for diversity in religion,culture and custom within thebroad umbrella of being committedto the common good. Muslims have

to accept the basic aspects ofdemocracy such as respect for thelaw, the various bodies of govern-ment accepting the right of the stateto monopolize arms and to imposethe rule of law etc.

Accepting citizenship of a non-Muslim country is an obligation forthose who make their home there.This is because without acquiringthe status of citizens they wouldprecluded themselves from theprocess of decision making. Thisneglects a fundamental religiousresponsibility to sow concern forothers. The Prophet (SAAS) said,“Those who care not for the affairsof the Muslims cease to be one ofthem”.

He was addressing a mono-reli-gious group, but we can legitimatelycarry the message further and saythat those who do not care for otherhuman beings do not deserve to becounted among them.

Islam has enjoined Muslims tocare for their neighbours, which inthe modern world means the entireinhabitants of our planet. Thosewho interpret Islamic citizenship asconfining Muslim loyalty to onlyone section of humanity miss theessential universality and humanityof Islam.�

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Islam in AmericaISNA Conference

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Call for Papers

Abstracts are invited for papersto be presented at the “Islam inAmerica” ISNA conference to beheld in Chicago, USA.

The arrival of thousands ofMuslim refugees in America hascreated many challenges for theAmerican Muslim communityand the American mainstream.The conference will offer anopportunity to discuss the poli-cies of seeking refugee status inthe Unites States. It will also pro-vide a forum for the sharing ofexperiences and information onresources and institutions at theindividual and community levelavailable for helping and hostingrefugees.The conference willbring together AmericanMuslims already engaged in theresettlement of Muslim refugees,review the progress in this area,probe and identify the successand the failure, establish wherethe field has evolved, and planfor the future at a national level.

Deadline for receipt of abstracts:March ,

Please send abstracts and papers to:ISNA-Islam in America, P.O. Box ,Plainfield, IN , USATel: -- ext.

Fax: --

siddiquisa@isna.netmahmad@isna.net�

Notes The Qur’an : The Qur’an : The Qur’an : The Qur’an : Alfred Guillaume, The Life ofMuhammad, (Oxford UniversityPress, ), p. Anatole France, Oeuveres,(Gaullimard, ), p.

The Qur’an : The Qur’an : The Life of Muhammad, p. The Life of Muhammad

Teaching IslamIslam in Higher EducationConference

A one-day conference for:Academics Policy Makers ●

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The Depiction of Islam

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