Arabic: a gateway to critical thought and lifelong learning
Lindsey Fraser and Janet Coles, University of Leeds, UK
Paper presented at SCUTREA, 33rd annual conference, University of Wales, Bangor,
1-3 July, 2003
Introduction
In a rapidly changing world there have been contesting discourses about how adult education connects to ‘the emancipatory potential of new social movements which combine a critical, global analysis with a more localised focus for action’ (Usher, Bryant and Johnston,1997). Malcolm and O’Rourke (2002) intimate that the current dialogue on social purpose tends to be addressed on a macro level with few practice-based contributions. Concern has been expressed that past traditions of working with particular social groups and movements should not become part of 'forgotten memory' (Alexander 1994). Moreover adult educators who take a radical perspective have had to contend with the increase in deficit model learning such as basic skills and personal growth courses that indicate a desire for individual rather than collective solutions (Barr 1999).
This paper relates to current practice which is grounded in social purpose adult education. The curriculum area, Islamic Studies may for some, seem antithetical to the transformational aspects of lifelong learning. Islam is constantly portrayed in the media as a medieval barbaric religion (Said, 1981), the ‘other’, juxtaposed with modernist rational Western Christian values. Contrary to this view, it is actually the case that Muslims are required to study, ‘the search for knowledge is an obligatory duty on every Muslim…education is a lifetime occupation' (Ravat, 2001). Also in Britain, the politicisation of the Muslim community which became evident during the Rushdie affair and who subsequently mobilised on both domestic issues, for example Muslim schools and international issues, most recently the anti-war protests, has given added impetus to the gaining of religious knowledge, 'a number of researchers have found that a growing minority of young Muslims are developing an active interest in the study of their religion' (Jacobson, 1998).
Arabic and Islamic Studies
Well established links with local minority ethnic communities led to the development of a part-time Continuing Education Islamic Studies programme in 1996. This was a direct response to concerns expressed by local Muslims about the lack of Islamic knowledge in their communities.
The programme content was negotiated with members of the Muslim community. The curriculum consists of certificates in Arabic Language, the language of the Qur'an and Islamic Studies which is interdisciplinary and incorporates history, law, gender, cultural studies and theology. The programme is evolving and remains responsive. Provision is delivered in local settings with every attempt made to overcome structural barriers such as finance, childcare, transport and timetabling.
The number of participants has increased significantly since its inception. The programme is delivered in community settings and there are more requests from groups than we have the capacity to deliver. Inner city socially deprived areas are specifically targeted but the course also attracts a cross section of both Muslims and non-Muslims from a wide age range. A high proportion of students are women.
Student Voices
The students attend for different reasons relating to lack of provision elsewhere, educational progression, personal development and imparting knowledge to children.
ShaziaI came to learn about my religion to pass onto my children
RiffatI always enjoyed reading about religion and growing older, I have greater faith and am interested in learning what faith actually is…It is a way to get into Higher Education. I could have applied directly to University to do a part-time degree, but having been away from education for so long, the course really helped me to get my writing skills again.
ZaidaBecause it’s hard for women, OK we’ve got brothers and dads or husbands who have got the knowledge and can go to mosques and places to get it [knowledge] but we can’t get it from anywhere. I don’t know any place where I could sit down and ask questions or even find out about Islam that’s in English as well: Usually it’s in a different language and it’s hard for us to understand.
TahiraI think there is a lot of scepticism as well about these study groups and Qu'ranic teaching
When we asked a group of young women why they were learning Arabic language, other factors besides religion were uppermost, 'I want to learn Arabic to improve communication with other Muslims', 'I really want to travel throughout the Islamic World'. The main reason for non Muslims attending was to gain a greater understanding of Islam. Living in multicultural communities and international events also influenced their participation.
Peter My interest in doing the course was because I feel that we in Britain need to try to understand the profound changes which the future will bring, especially in West Yorkshire as we move into a true multifaith society.
Some students indicated that the University involvement was definitely a factor in their attendance.
Nadya It is very important because you know that you belong to something that is recognised and what you’re doing is going to be recognised – the credits and Certificate mean a lot to me – it means I can go to someone and say ‘I did this course with Leeds University’, the name means a lot.
ZaidaI know if a university course then it is going to have quality and it is in English…at study circles there is no assessment to see if we really understand what we are studying – there are not different interpretations …
Students were asked about the impact of the Islamic Studies programme on their lives. A snapshot of a group discussion is given below. Islamic Studies student voices demonstrate the lack of boundaries between global and community; religion, culture, and identity; the self, the family, local and wider networks.
Riffat…they give a different view – when you change to these courses, they open a different door to it: What is the Qur’an and Hadith, what is faith?
TahiraI came into it purely to find out about my religion…I didn’t know it was Leeds University, I just thought ‘fantastic, there’s a course where you can find out how to read the Qur’an’. I had tried many times to read the Qur’an in English but found it quite a hard book to read.…[at University] I was actually learning what the Qur’an was and how to read it and at last I could understand that you could actually read this book… so it made us put it into context and helped us to work out how to read things and what the meanings of them are. So for me, it’s totally changed how I looked at my life, how I lived my life, how my children will be brought up ….
Shazia...the reading list that they give you is very good, it’s got Muslim and non-Muslim authors, it gives you a good view to form your own opinion. In Islamic history, I’m finding that really enjoyable to know the background of Islam, how it developed and that it was once a great Empire, and to look at it from both an Orientalist and Muslim point of view..
Nadya:I always wanted to learn about my religion and I wanted to learn the way this course teaches – the wide view – not from one narrow point of view – the community we were living in and the religion we’ve been taught was just through a keyhole really…and then we came to this course and it's helped me to look at religion in a wider range and there was nowhere else I could go...It opened other doors for me...I can see more places and more options…
Shazia...it’s an intellectual way of teaching. What we learn from mosques,.it's more practical. This helps because it goes into a more detailed, intellectual way of teaching…the tutor knows about this world [Britain] as well and then he explains about the other world...to compare and learn.
Culture and identity
Zaidawhat we learned growing up was more culture, and what we learnt here was purely religion, it gives a wider range.
ShaziaI grew up in Bradford, in a very close-knit Pakistani community: a lot of how you're brought up and taught is based on cultural, not Islamic considerations. As you grow older, you start to realise, and you can see contradictions, you can see things that you just cannot relate to. And there are things that will push you away from Islam because it seems oppressive: it seems all these things that it really isn't, and it's only once I came on this course and could see it for exactly what it was, and was able to read the Qur'an, and able to understand it as it is
ZaidaYou don't have guilty feelings inside you that you're doing anything wrong, because you can't be a rebel if you are following the word of God...and coming into this course as we've learned and we know 'OK, this is not Islam' this is culture. Because on these courses, we're encouraged to look: open our eyes, and look.
Nadya... most of us didn't have access to a lot of books and knowledge. I came from Pakistan at 15 years old. I don't think I was confused or had a wrong concept of religion, but I didn't know anything. I didn't have any clear concepts. Coming over to this course has made so many things clearer, and has really helped to bring up my children
ZaidaI teach children, voluntarily, at a school, and I could explain things to them now, if they ask me questions. I could explain something written in Arabic, and explain the difference between culture and religion, because its mainly children that ask these questions - their parents say they're not allowed to do some things and they ask if that's religion or culture, if its allowed or not, and now I could answer.
TahiraIn a way it's confidence, yes, and an ability to put things into perspective really…if you do feel 'yes, I know this for a fact', then I can put that across to people and to my children. There's no compulsion in Islam: that's one of the great things you learn, there's no absolute, categorical ' you have to do this' because you don't. You have to believe with your heart, that's the basic thing, and then you're able to do all the rest.
RiffatI think there is much more of an interest now in Islam amongst young people because of the antagonism and the way Islam is perceived at the moment. So you've got very young girls who are taking on scarves and long cloaks and you even come across very young attractive girls [who] have assumed that identity deliberately - they've gone out, they've started to read up about it and there is this real interest to find out what this 'terrible' religion of the world is. Everyone wants to know, even non-Muslim people are wanting to.
International affairs
Tahira...the idea of a suicide bomber - the question that inevitably arises from other people who know you are a Muslim - you can't just come up with your usual answer, which would be: 'Look, wherever Muslims are oppressed or struggling, I will support my brother.' You have to have something more. So you do go to look for Hadiths that say 'Is it ever OK to commit suicide?' I think it does make you question things more, and that's the most prevalent issue at the moment in the world, so it does make you want to go looking...
RiffatI think, for me, people have always mixed politics with religion and fought in the name of religion. Just because it’s a Muslim suicide bomber, you immediately associate it with Islam, and it's not at all.
Shazia…and this idea of a fundamentalist, - you are a fundamentalist and you are a terrorist and that's become synonymous with Islam. It does make you more determined to go out and make sure you don't present Islam in that way: it isn't a religion full of people that have been active, that want to kill people in the name of God all the time for no reason, so it does give you that desire to put Islam across as an intelligent religion. It isn't for fanatics, it's for every man in the street, it’s the lay person's religion, you don't have to be in a particular category of person to belong to it.
Riffat..,I do like to go and look things up and see why, more than I ever did before. Just 'I'm not really going to look that up because I'll have an opinion inside me' - I don't think that's good enough. What we learnt on the course is that you need Hadiths to back you up… If you haven't got evidence, you haven't got a leg to stand on. So you want to try and support your arguments with proper evidence.
TahiraI think there is much more of an interest now in Islam amongst young people because of the antagonism and the way Islam is perceived at the moment. So you've got very young girls who are taking on scarves and long cloaks and you even come across very young attractive girls have assumed that identity deliberately - they've gone out, they've started to read up about it and there is this real interest to find out what this 'terrible' religion of the world is. Everyone wants to know, even non-Muslim people are wanting to.
The media
Tahira…you've got fundamentalists, people who often are inarticulate, deliberately being presented on the news saying really outrageous, offensive things - obviously the viewer seeing that is going to think 'these Muslims are terrible people.' So, I think one of the things that has come out of that is perhaps people who are able to articulate things in a more reasonable, sensible way, are more willing to stand up and say 'we don't want to be perceived in that way - I am going to stand up and speak'. You don't have to come across as a fanatic or lunatic to be Muslim, you can be an ordinary woman who happens to wear a scarf on her head and who happens to be Muslim, but that's just her religion - she's just an ordinary person, like you who is watching the programme.
Zaida:Islam is so attacked at the moment - it’s the most demonised religion in the world and people want to defend it…[they say]'I won't have my religion demonised in that way and I will stand up for it, and if I have the ability, I will go out and explain these things.'
Tutor’s Voice
Raisa is a Muslim woman of North African origin. Her cultural perspective is different from the students of South Asian heritage. She brings an outsider’s reflexivity to the issues posed by the students.
We are trying to give people a greater sense of identity and confidence and therefore belonging to both this society and to the Umma – the worldwide community of Muslim. The women are having to deal with racism and sexism; they are living in patriarchal cultures and have to deal with these oppressions... Muslims here have to reconcile Islam and identity with European values which they are told are in binary opposition – Islamic fundamentalism and the fundamentalism of capitalism, 'If you're not with us, you're against us'.
Students do have a radical change of attitude…they start to understand that they have a commonality of values. At the beginning of the course students, both Muslims and non-Muslims can be on the defensive, they can self-censure and they stereotype. There are very diverse opinions in Muslim communities but one thing they have in common is anger, they want to know why they are being portrayed as they are…The Iraqi war really affects the students. They feel a widening gap between them as Muslims and the rest. They want to know about Islam and are desperate to understand what is going on. Political awareness has definitely been raised, I keep getting emails from students telling me about demos and events to do with the Middle East and Palestine.
Conclusions
There is an overwhelming need to establish platforms which promote greater inter-community understanding, not only do global events have a profound effect locally but the string of successes by the far right in European elections and in recent English local elections underlies the strength of anti-Muslim feeling, Herbert (2003). Adult education needs to support the voices countering the emotive language of the politicians and media which quickly becomes immersed into everyday usage connoting an aura of violence, menace and fear in relation to the Islamic faith. Melanie Phillips wrote in the Sunday Times that 'the attitude of many British Muslims should cause the greatest possible alarm that we have a fifth column in our midst'. Columnist Carol Sarler regretted that British Muslims had been treated with 'tolerance that allows an indigenous population to host another that hates us'. The editor of the MuslimNews, Ahmad Versi, accused the British media of 'demonising' Islam and reinforcing stereotypes, 'Muslims were accused of being terrorists, fifth columnists, traitors... and funding and supporting terrorism' (Bryne, 2002).
Religion, identity and culture are central to the popularity of this programme, '..studies have drawn attention to an increasingly common tendency for South Asian Muslims...to emphasise the distinction between religion and ethnicity as sources of identity…this approach to Islam…often goes hand-in-hand with a sense of the importance of religious study' (Jacobson 1998). Often they [young women] find the teachings of Islam directly contradict hallowed customs and traditions regarding the status and place of women in society…they argue that oppression of women is contrary to true Islam' (Greaves1999).