Abstract
Few greater challenges exist in Islamic schooling than those pertaining to matters of curriculum. After a short history of Islamic schools in North America, this chapter explores the underpinning features of humanism that make the ‘academic’ subjects in most Islamic schools decidedly un-Islamic. A comparison of basic Islamic principles with humanistic principles illustrates the problem. A number of key questions are posed for further consideration, which should be the foundation of a curriculum based entirely on Islamic principles.
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Notes
- 1.
Islamic History Project. A History of Muslim African Americans (Calmat City, IL: WDM Publication, 2006).
- 2.
Allan D. Austin, African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles (New York: Routledge, 1997); Muhammad A. Al-Ahari (ed.), Five Classic Muslim Slave Narratives (Chicago, IL: Magribine Press, 2006); and Jerald F. Dirks, Muslims in American History: A Forgotten Legacy (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1992), 35–38.
- 3.
Abdo A. Elkholy, The Arab Moslems in the United States: Religion and Assimilation (New Haven, CT: College and University Press, 1966).
- 4.
Sulayman S. Nyang, Islam in the United States of America (Chicago, IL: ABC International Group, Inc., 1999), 13.
- 5.
The Nation of Islam was started by a Pakistani, Fard Muhammed, who came to America in 1931. His plea to African Americans was to became Muslim in order ‘to achieve, money, homes and friendships’. His most faithful supporter was Elijah Poole, an African American born in Georgia in 1897 who later adopted the name Honorable Elizah Muhammad. He taught that Fard was God with ‘a social and cultural plan to set the Black man on the road to freedom’. Clara Mohammed was his wife and partner. She took her own children out of public school and started the Sister Clara Mohammed schools in 1935. (All information taken from Islamic History Project’s A History of Muslim African Americans, written under the guidance of Elijah’s son W.D. Muhammad.)
- 6.
Islamic History Project, A History of Muslim African Americans.
- 7.
Aminah Beverly McCloud, African American Islam (New York: Routledge, 1994), 118–119.
- 8.
English Literature in Muslim Schools Conference, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, 12 May 1997. Unknown speaker.
- 9.
Freda Shamma, “The Curriculum Challenge for Islamic Schools in America,” in Muslims and Islamization in North America: Problems & Prospects, ed. Amber Haque (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publication, 1999), 276.
- 10.
Shaikh Abdul Mabud, “The Emergence of Islamic Schools: A Conceptual Background”.
- 11.
The word of Allah transmitted without error from Allah to Arch Angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), which can be traced to this day via a chain of narration without error, addition or omission.
- 12.
Any saying, action, approval or attribute, whether physical or moral, ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
- 13.
Muhammad Shafiq, Growth of Islamic Thought in North America: Focus on Ismai’il Raji al Faruqi (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 1994), 96.
- 14.
Shafiq, Growth of Islamic Thought in North America: Focus on Ismai’il Raji al Faruqi, 97.
- 15.
Muhammad al-Attas , Islam and Secularism (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1978).
- 16.
Freda Shamma, Treasury of Muslim Literature: The Golden Age 750–1250 ce (Beltsville, MD: Amana Publishers, 2012). Lesson plans are available at www.muslimlit.com.
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Shamma, F. (2018). Islamic Worldview and Curriculum Development. 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_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73612-9_6
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