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The Importance of Islamic Studies from an Islamic Worldview in Australia

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Islamic Schooling in the West

Abstract

The Australian Muslim population, which represents 2.2% of the total population, is one of the most diverse communities in Australia in terms of ethnicity, country of origin and linguistic background. Because of Australia’s secular and liberal policies and practices, the current national and international debate on Muslim integration in Western societies, Islamic radicalisation and anti-Muslim political attitudes and rhetoric, Australian Muslims face prejudices, namely negative media portrayals of Muslims and Islam, and attacks against Muslim educational institutions (e.g., Islamic schools). Despite these prejudices, Australian Muslims show strong attachment to Islamic studies as a means to develop an Islamic worldview constructed on Qur’anic teachings and prophetic traditions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Religion in Australia”.

  2. 2.

    Amanda Wise and Jan Ali, “Muslim Australians and Local Government. Grassroots strategies to improve relations between Muslim and non-Muslim-Australians. Final Research Report for the Centre for Research and Social Inclusion,” accessed 17 June 2009. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/grassroots/.

  3. 3.

    Riaz Hassan, Australian Muslims: A demographic, social and economic profile of Muslims in Australia (Adelaide: International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim understanding, 2015), 44–47.

  4. 4.

    Raihani Raihani and David Gurr, “Parental involvement in an Islamic school in Australia: An exploratory study,” Leading and Managing 1, no. 16 (2010): 2.

  5. 5.

    Irene D. Clyne, “Educating Muslim children in Australia,” in Muslim Communities in Australia, ed. Abdullah Saeed and Shahram Akbarzadeh (Sydney: UNSW Press, 2001), 119.

  6. 6.

    Mesut Akdere, Darlene Russ-Eft and Natalie Eft, “The Islamic worldview of Adult learning in the workplace: Surrendering to God,” Advances in Developing Human Resources 8, no. 3 (2006): 355.

  7. 7.

    Nidhal Guessoum, “The Qur’an, science, and the (related) contemporary Muslim discourse,” Zygon 43, no. 2 (2008): 413.

  8. 8.

    Sunnah and Hadith are the second-most important sources of Islamic authority for Muslims. They both refer to actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad who lived and acted in accordance with God’s teachings and, therefore, He represents the perfect model for all Muslims.

  9. 9.

    Narayanan Annalakshmi and Mohammed Abeer, “Islamic worldview, religious personality and resilience among Muslim adolescent students in India,” Europe’s Journal Psychology 7, no. 4 (2011): 721.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., 721.

  11. 11.

    Mark J. Halstead, “An Islamic concept of education,” Comparative Education 40, no. 4 (2004): 520.

  12. 12.

    Rida Blaik-Hourani, Ibrahima Diallo and Alia Said, “Teaching in the Arabian Gulf: Arguments for the deconstruction of the current educational model,” in Teaching and Learning in the Arab World, ed. Christina Gitsaki (Berne: Peter Lang, 2011), 345.

  13. 13.

    Annalakshmi and Abeer, “Islamic worldview,” 721.

  14. 14.

    Halstead, “An Islamic concept of education,” 520.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 520.

  16. 16.

    Sarfaroz Niyozov and Nadeem Memon, ‘Islamic education and Islamization: Evolution of themes, continuities and new directions,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 31, no. 1 (2011): 13.

  17. 17.

    Halstead, “An Islamic concept of education,” 525.

  18. 18.

    Nimat Hafez Barazangi, “Religious Education”, in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, ed. John L. Esposito (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 2.

  19. 19.

    In France, for example, Article 1 of the 1958 Constitution mentions ‘France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion […]’ (emphasis added).

  20. 20.

    Asad Zaman, “Developing an Islamic world view: An essential component of an Islamic education,” Lahore Journal of Policy Studies 1, no. 1 (2006): 95.

  21. 21.

    Prejudice against Muslims is not recent in the history of Australia. Australia’s first Muslims, known as the ‘Afghan cameelers’, faced systemic prejudice under Australia’s White policy.

  22. 22.

    Nahid Kabir, “Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Australian media, 2001–2005,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 26 (2006): 314.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., 315–6.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., 320.

  25. 25.

    Richard Wike and Brian J. Grim, “Western views towards Muslims: Evidence from a 2006 cross-national survey,” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 22, no. 1 (2010): 16.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., 18.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    Emad A. Algamdi, “The representation of Islam in Western media: The coverage of Norway terrorist Attacks,” International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 4, no. 3 (2015): 198.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., 203.

  30. 30.

    Bergen, Peter, and Swati Pandey. “The Madrassa Scapegoat.” The Washington Quarterly 29, no. 2 (2006): 115–125.

  31. 31.

    Hazem Rashed, “Towards a common ground: Arab versus Western views about the challenges of Islamic religious education curriculum of the twenty-first century,” Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 45, no. 6 (2015): 954.

  32. 32.

    Saeeda J.A. Shah, “Muslim schools in secular societies: Persistence or resistance!,” British Journal Religious Education 34, no. 1 (2012): 60.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., 60.

  34. 34.

    Ibid.

  35. 35.

    David Weber and Nikki Roberts, “Perth Mosque attack: Car firebombed, anti-Muslim graffiti sprayed in ‘act of hate’,” accessed 10 November 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-29/firebombing-ant-islam-graffiti-attack-at-thornlie-mosque-school/7552394.

  36. 36.

    Charlotte Hamlyn, “Perth Mosques, Islamic School Vandalised in Weekend Attacks,” accessed 5 November 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-20/mosques-islamic-school-vandalised-in-perth-weekend-graffiti/5827552.

  37. 37.

    Sharri Markson, “Islamic school Al-Faisal College ‘has never had a child who is gay’,” accessed 14 November 2016. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/islamic-school-alfaisal-college-has-neverhad-a-child-who-was-gay/news-story/a79078065cc974276c9c0f8a50144e19.

  38. 38.

    Annalakshmi and Abeer, “Islamic worldview,” 721.

  39. 39.

    Hassan, “Australian Muslims,” 44–47.

  40. 40.

    Amy Nelson, “The Surrendering: An Introduction to Islam,” in Five Voices, Five Faiths: An Interfaith Primer, ed. Amanda Millay Hughes (Cambridge: Cowley, 2005), 100.

  41. 41.

    Sachiko Murata and William C. Chittick, “The Koran,” in The Vision of Islam, ed. Sachiko Murata and William Chittick (Minnesota: Paragon House, 1994), xiv.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of South Australia, Magill-Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Ibrahima Diallo

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  1. Ibrahima Diallo
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  1. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Mohamad Abdalla

  2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Dylan Chown

  3. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Muhammad Abdullah

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Diallo, I. (2018). The Importance of Islamic Studies from an Islamic Worldview in Australia. In: Abdalla, M., Chown, D., Abdullah, M. (eds) Islamic Schooling in the West. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73612-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73612-9_12

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