Abstract
A high profile radicalization agenda in Pakistani schools and Islamic seminaries, across the country, has risen concerns within Pakistani society and for the world as well. Post 18th amendment in the constitution of Pakistan in April 2010, the education ministry dissolved to the provinces of Pakistan, with responsibilities to design their educational curriculums on their own. Since then, the four provinces of Pakistan have re-designed their curriculums and republishing textbooks as per their understandings. This article looks critically at one of the important and compulsory subjects; Islamiyat (Islamic Studies), arguing that the textbooks reassure the students towards a violent-radical mindset against the Kufar (non-believers). Such content in the textbooks also places its emphasis on the significance of Jihad (struggle) in the historical context of Islamic wars against the non-believers. The study brings quantitative and qualitative analysis, based on the Content Analysis application on the Islamiyat textbooks, mentioning the amount of positive and negative terms. The study also provides detailed denotations and connotations of the said terms to determine the outcome of the textbooks. The study suggests that the content in Islamiyat textbooks diverts the students from using education for fundamental social change to practice negative actions towards the Kufar. This study discovers that in the existing curriculum of Islamiyat, seemingly negative terms, such as Jihad has been presented as a physical war against the non-believers. The result also shows much emphasis on Mujahideen (Warriors of Islam) who lost their lives during wars against Kufar. Therefore, it concludes that presenting Islamiyat as the sole driver of radicalization among educated youth could result in a security threat to world peace. Keywords: Radicalization, Education, Pakistan, Jihad, non-believers, global security
Highlights
This study employs the techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis to discover a direct or indirect relation between Islamiyat textbooks and radicalization in Pakistani society
The Islamiyat subject was made compulsory for all Muslims of Pakistan, during the Zia regime (1977-1988) known as Islamiyat (Islamic Studies) which aims at providing the basic education of Islam to the youth of Pakistan
Based on the discussions mentioned above, it can be concluded that Islam emphasizes the acquisition and spreading of knowledge/education
Summary
This study employs the techniques of qualitative and quantitative analysis to discover a direct or indirect relation between Islamiyat textbooks and radicalization in Pakistani society. The historical context of Islamic education in Pakistan Pakistan consists of four provinces; Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtoon Khuwa and Baluchistan The country inherited these provinces after it lost its eastern wing in 1971, commonly known as East Pakistan, Genesis of Radicalization: A Case Study of Islamiyat Textbooks in Balochistan, Pakistan currently Bangladesh. It further explains that the State teachings of the Quran and Islamiyat shall be compulsory to encourage people for learning the Arabic language and Holy Quran (GoP, 2012) With this concept, the Islamiyat subject was made compulsory for all Muslims of Pakistan, during the Zia regime (1977-1988) known as Islamiyat (Islamic Studies) which aims at providing the basic education of Islam to the youth of Pakistan. The education ministry was dissolved and the provinces were given such responsibility to design and create their education curriculum and textbooks
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