Muslim-Based Schools in South Africa and the Potential for Interreligious Dialogue as Democratic Engagement

Abstract

The proliferation of Muslim-based schools which accompanied South Africa’s transition to a democracy provides significant commentary not only on the historical bearing of these schools but also on their perceived role in relation to a democracy. Notably, while there are definitive differences between the contextual ideologies of an apartheid and a democratic state, it is possible to trace a common thread behind the formation of Muslim-based schools: specifically, that the state cannot be trusted with the education of Muslim children. Arising from the trajectory of Muslim-based schools are two interests that this article seeks to explore. The first centres on the motivations behind Muslim-based schools and whether these have shifted since their historical inceptions. The second examines how Muslim-based schools might (re)conceive of themselves in a democracy by drawing on their own paradigmatic foundations as a guiding philosophy for interreligious dialogue as a form of democratic engagement.