Abstract
This work intends to show how religious pluralism is described and valued in school textbooks for religious instruction at various school types in the Lebanese Republic, based on the premise that curricula and textbooks for the humanities reflect a society’s ideological climate. To that end, this chapter analyzes the contents and values of three series of school textbooks that are particularly widespread among Lebanese schools and are used for religious instruction for grades six to nine.
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Notes
- 1.
Lebanese couples who wish to live in civil marriage usually marry abroad, mostly in Cyprus. These marriages are acknowledged by the Lebanese authorities. Their implications, however, such as inheritance, custody and alimony have no legal basis in Lebanon. In November 2012, a civil marriage was concluded by a Lebanese authority for the first time in history, based on a Decree of 1936. However, its validity is still contested (see “Charbel says still to examine civil marriage request”, Daily Star online, 12 February 2013, retrieved 8 September 2016 from http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Feb-12/206091-charbel-says-still-to-examine-civil-marriage-request.ashx).
- 2.
See e.g. Arzuni 1997. This concept is not specific to Lebanon. Other states in the region likewise allow their religious and ethnic minorities to deal with family issues autonomously and/or reserve them seats in parliament, for example, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Jordan, while citizenship without being Muslim, Christian or Jew is impossible. The concept stems from the millet system of the Ottoman Empire, which, in turn, emerged from the Islamic principle of dhimma. But while in all the mentioned countries one denomination, Sunna, Shia or Jews, constitutes a clear majority, in Lebanon there is no one “religion of the state”, that is, no denomination that outnumbers all others.
- 3.
Data in this table stem from the institutions’ brochures, websites and/or interviews, which I collected with their representatives in May 2006. Data from websites were taken in 2008. Schools at which both Muslim and Christian students are enrolled are lined grey.
- 4.
Or the most perfect human being: akmal an-nas.
- 5.
For example, RC6, p. 77: tashri’ dini—tashri’ zamani.
- 6.
RSu6: 219–220; RSh7, units 17 and 18, even when it harms a good friend: 157; the lesson “The Democracy of Islam” (RSu7: 114–120) employs the term democracy to describe what is, in fact, wise dictatorship: it reports that Muhammad viewed himself as equal to his companions, that he did not regard the race of men and that he and the Orthodox Caliphs resorted to consultation with their companions when making important decisions.
- 7.
For instance, RSh7, lesson 11 and p. 157; RSh8: 79, 126, 187; RSh9, lesson 8; RSu7: 28–37, 54, 90, and lesson 11; RSu8: 179–180; RSu9: 26–28, 45 and 170.
- 8.
For instance, RSh7, lesson 1; RSh8: 55–56, lessons 10 and 128; RSh9: 9–17, 29–38; RSu7: 123–124; RSu8: 26. According to Riesebrodt et al. (2004), idealising the formative period of one’s own religion and attributing findings of modern science to its holy scriptures are typical methods of fundamentalist self-assertion.
- 9.
Interference with the behaviour of others is encouraged with reference to the Qur’anic command to command what is acceptable, and prohibit the reprehensible (al-amr bi-l-ma’ruf wa-n-nahy ‘an al-munkar) as leading to reward in the hereafter, see RSh7: 179; RSh8, lesson 4 and p. 81; RSh9: 91; RSu6: 210; RSu8: 126.
- 10.
RSh7: 169; RSh9: 51, lesson 13, where rich Muslims are encouraged “…to contribute to the provision of equipment and weapons for the Islamic armies, and (Islam) promised them the acquisition of the warriors’ wage…” (129, 143); in RSu8: 110–113 we read the heroic legend of Asma bt. Abi Bakr, who encouraged her own son to go to battle when both knew that he could not win and would die for certain.
- 11.
RSh7: 11, similar RSh8, lesson 1.
- 12.
Art. 10: “Education shall be free insofar as it is not contrary to public order and morals and does not interfere with the dignity of any of the religions or creeds”. The State of Israel is not addressed in the religious textbooks, but in history and civic education textbooks.
- 13.
In fact, no evidence for a correlation between women being unveiled in public and all these phenomena exists. Iran and Saudi Arabia, for instance, where the law forces women and girls to veil, have large industries of human trafficking and prostitution. A survey by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights showed that, in Egypt, wearing a hijab does not reduce a woman’s risk of being sexually harassed (Washington Post online, retrieved 17 August 2008).
Textbooks Cited
RSh6-9. = Jam’iyyat at-Ta’lim ad-Dini al-Islami [Society for Islamic Religious Teaching]: Al-Islam Risalatuna [Islam is Our Message], grades 6–9, Beirut 42005.
RSu6-9. = Ladaqi, Muhammad al-: Ath-Thaqafa ad-Diniyya, li-tullab al-marhala at-takmiliyya, ‘aqa’id, ‘ibadat, sira, akhlaq, tafsir [Religious Education, for Students of the Complementary Stage, Dogmas, Rites, History, Ethics, and Exegesis], grades 6–9, Beirut: Dar Lubnan li-t-Taba’a wa-n-Nashr 1967.
RC6-9. = Maksur, Wardé: Yasu’ Tariquna [Jesus is Our Way], grade 6–9, Beirut: Librairie Orientale 2003–2005.
References
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———. 2012. “Die Darstellung des Christentums in libanesischen Schulbüchern.” In Das Christentum in Schulbüchern islamisch geprägter Länder, ed. W. Reiss and J. Kriener, vol. 3, 41–288. Libanon, Syrien, Jordanien, Algerien and Hamburg: EBV.
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Kriener, J. (2018). Religious Pluralism or Multiplied Simple-Mindedness? School Textbooks for Religious Education in Lebanon. In: Podeh, E., Alayan, S. (eds) Multiple Alterities. Palgrave Studies in Educational Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62244-6_9
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