Muslim Children Research Articles

Tanzimat Dönemi Eğitim Reformları Işığında Çanakkale'de Gayrimüslim ve Ecnebi Mektepleri

The Ottoman statesmen adopted the Ottomanism policy and attempted to equalize Muslim and non-Muslims subjects in legal terms, as well as conducting social, economic, administrative and judicial reforms, during the Tanzimat Period, which was a milestone in the Ottoman modernization process. Islahat Fermani (The Reform Edict) granted to non-Muslim subjects with the right of opening their own schools and institutions, on condition that they would be under state control, in 1856. Greeks, Armenians and Jews only had traditional schools at the level of Sibyan schools in Canakkale until the proclamation of the Statute of General Education of 1869. The 129th article of the Statute defined non-Muslim and foreign schools as Private Schools. Construction and administration of these schools were left to the relevant communities or persons. However, curriculums, textbooks and teachers of these schools had to be approved by the state. Starting from the 1870s, Greek and Armenian communities opened schools of Iptidai (Elementary) and Rusdiye (Primary) levels for girls and boys. The Greeks constructed two new schools for girls and boys at the beginning of the 1900s. Armenians also founded a new school after 1903. The Jewish community, however, continued to educate their children in their old schools located around their synagogue. In time, the number of traditional Jewish schools increased to three. The Greek and Armenian schools were bound to the Greek and Armenian Patriarchates in Istanbul. Jewish schools were directed by the rabbis. On the other hand, Alliance Israelite Universelle, Catholic and Protestant schools were opened as foreign schools in Canakkale in the last quarter of the 19th century. The General Education Statute stipulated that starting from the Idadi level, all Muslim and non-Muslim boys were to receive education in mixed schools teaching in the Turkish language. Thus the Ottoman government was aiming both at the training of staff needed by the state, and at integrating Muslim and nonMuslim children which would unite them under the ideal of Ottomanism. An Idadi School was opened in Canakkale in the year 1888. This school was later converted to a Sultani School in the year 1911. However, education statistics show that Greek, Armenian and Jewish elements did not show interest in these schools. The First World War caused the interruption of education activities in Canakkale. On the other hand, the migrations and deportations that happened during the First World War, as well as the Turko-Greek population exchange that started in 1923 changed the demographic structure of Canakkale

Fat mass and fat-free mass as indicators of body composition among Bengalee Muslim children

Background: The composition of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) are now considered to be important indicators of body composition.Aim: This cross-sectional study determines the body composition using FM and FFM among children.Subjects and methods: The study was conducted among 1248 children (619 boys; 629 girls) aged 5–12 years and belonging to the Bengalee Muslim population of West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, triceps and sub-scapular skin-folds were recorded and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Body composition was assessed using FM and FFM.Results: The age-specific mean values of FM and FFM ranged from 1.93–3.07 kg (boys) and 1.91–3.62 kg (girls) and from 14.69–23.44 kg (boys) and 14.18–22.87 kg (girls), respectively. Statistically significant sex differences were observed in FM and FFM (p < 0.05). Age- and sex-specific smooth percentile curves were derived for BMI, FM and FFM using the L, M and S modelling approach for further evaluation of body composition.Conclusion: These findings are important for future investigations in the field and in epidemiological and clinical settings so as to accurately identify risk of lower or higher adiposity and body composition using FM and FFM.

Religion, Politician Identity and Development Outcomes: Evidence from India

This paper investigates whether the religious identity of state legislators in India influences development outcomes, both for citizens of their religious group and for the population as a whole. To control for politician identity to be correlated with constituency level voter preferences or characteristics that make religion salient, we use quasi-random variation in legislator identity generated by close elections between Muslim and non-Muslim candidates. We find that increasing the political representation of Muslims improves health and education outcomes in the district from which the legislator is elected. We find no evidence of religious favoritism: Muslim children do not benefit more from Muslim political representation than children from other religious groups.

An overview of post-divorce support for Muslim children in the context of South African Law, Islamic Law and the proposed 2010 Muslim Marriages Bill

After 350 years of non-recognition, and following a protracted procedure, Muslim religious marriages and divorces are currently in the process of being directly and formally recognised in terms of South African Law. A 2010 ‘code’ of Muslim Personal Law has been framed that can satisfy and synthesise both diverse Muslim (ideological) perspectives and the relevant constitutional commands (guarantees of religious freedom and equality to all South Africans). One of the key objectives of the proposed legislation is to regulate the consequences flowing from the termination of such marriages through divorce. My paper provides an analytical overview of the legal consequences flowing from a Muslim divorce in the context of South African Law, Islamic Law and the proposed 2010 Muslim Marriages Bill and focuses on the post-divorce support and position of minor and dependent Muslim children. As such, it is limited to the areas of guardianship, care, access and maintenance.

Teaching Innovation: Module Construction for Teaching of Arabic Language Grammar Based On Symbols (Formulas) For Secondary Schools in Malaysia

This study is concerned with the learning and understanding of the grammar in the Arabic Language using symbols and simple formulas for secondary school students in Malaysia. Today, the use of symbols and formulas in education has been manifested by current research as it is not only used in language research, but also in various disciplines including science, mathematics and religion knowledge. This study locates symbols as the main fundamentals in learning the grammar in the Arabic Language. It shows that the grammar learned can be categorized and concluded in specific symbols and identified by formulas. It is hoped that this study can both achieve and to help the students with developing their learning techniques in simple ways. As a result, students will not any longer face the problems of trying to understand grammar using the Arabic Language method. Hence, the study method used in this paper is a practical developmental research method. (1) The first part begins with simple history about the issue of learning grammar in the Arabic Language in a simple way. Here, I will show several scholars within the field that have related and discussed their ideas in terms of facilitating the grammar learning. (2) Next, the technique of using symbols and formulas will be elaborated in various knowledge disciplines. This is to prove that learning by using symbols and formulas can help and facilitate the method of learning grammar in the Arabic Language.(3) From here, I will show several symbols and formula methods which are used in the module. I hope that it is used as an easy and simple tool or guideline to understand and master grammar in the Arabic Language. In addition, I will use a mind map technique visual to explain a specific topic in order to give students a clearer picture. Therefore, I strongly feel that a special focus should be given in grammar when learning the Arabic Language and when using the symbols and formulas technique. With that said, a kind of learning innovation can be explored and especially if this technique is exposed via ICT (Information and Communication Technology). I hope that this suggested technique will achieve the objective of learning grammar in the Arabic Language in a simple and effective way for students in Malaysia. This effort would benefit mostly the Muslim children currently learning grammar in the Arabic Language because we know that the Arabic Language is practiced as a Quran Language and also a Communication Language amongst the Muslim nation.

Efficiency of traditional chewing stick (miswak) as an oral hygiene aid among Muslim school children in Lucknow: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundOral hygiene practices vary from country to country and from culture to culture. ‘Miswak’ as an oral hygiene aid is a pre-Islamic custom contributed to ritual purity. The beneficial effects of miswak in respect to oral hygiene and dental health are attributed to its mechanical and pharmacological actions. AimThe aim of the present study was to assess and compare the oral hygiene status and gingival conditions in Muslim school children of Lucknow city. Materials & methodStudy population comprised of 297 individuals in age group of 12–15 years from residential and non-residential Islamic institutions in Lucknow city. Oral hygiene status was assessed using the Gingival Index (1963), Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (1964) and Plaque Index (1964). ResultsStatistically significant difference of mean gingival index score was observed among miswak and toothbrush & toothpaste users. Miswak users had lower mean gingival index score. Mean plaque score was lowest among combined users of toothbrush and miswak. ConclusionMiswak users exhibited a better mean gingival score as compared to toothbrush & toothpaste users, while the mean plaque score was lowest among the combined users of toothbrush and miswak.

Tarbiyah for shakhsiyah (educating for identity): seeking out culturally coherent pedagogy for Muslim children in Britain

Drawing upon Islamic epistemology to confront the challenges of a postcolonial world, some European Muslims are rejecting existing educational provision, seeking to formulate culturally-coherent pedagogy. This paper contributes to the debate on Islamic schools in Britain through the findings of a qualitative study of a British Muslim community education project initiated by home-schooling mothers who believe in ‘Holistic Islamic Education’. The study demonstrates parallels between the experiences and motivations of these mothers and indigenous education movements in that they seek to provide a ‘Qur’an-centred’ worldview, reviving classical Islamic education and synthesizing it with modern pedagogy as a defence against the dominant secular culture. Their pedagogy involves the nurturing of shakhsiyah (personality/identity) through tarbiyah (holistic upbringing) as a means to navigate the complexity of multiple identities and the challenges of modernity faced by Muslims in Britain.

Muslim Children's Other School

During my service as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Far North Province of Cameroon, I lived just around the corner from a Qur'anic school. Each afternoon on my way back to work after lunch, I passe...

Development of Science Spiritual Model for Pre-school Education

According to the Islamic Education Philosophy, the success of the education system can be achieved when an individual who has total devotion to God in all areas could be produced. The objective of this paper is to develop a science spiritual model for pre-school level to cultivate a balanced character of Muslim child as early as that, to be at the starting point to the formation of personality in the future. This model focusses on the development of the child’s spiritual intelligence through comprehensive application of three skills such as cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence and physically intelligence, all of which are part of the National Education Philosophy where it emerges in the implementation of contemplation (tafakkur). This approach is expected to endow with strong foundation for the students in developing their spiritual cognitive intellegence as a preparation to obtain the next level of education more efficiently, especially to strengthen their spiritual elements .

Social Identity and Educational Attainment: The Role of Caste and Religion in Explaining Differences between Children in India

The aim of this article is to gauge the size of the educational gap between children, aged 8–11 years, belonging to the different social groups in India. It is well established that educational attainments vary considerably between India's caste and religious groups with Muslims, Dalits (the Scheduled Castes), Adivasis (the Scheduled Tribes), and the ‘Other Backward Classes’ (the OBC) being the most backward. Using data from the Indian Human Development Survey of 2005 – which tested over 12,300 children, aged 8–11, for their ability to read, write, and do arithmetic at different levels of competence – this study examines inequalities within social groups in the test scores of children to argue that inter-group comparisons of educational attainment should take into account not just the mean level of achievement of the children in a group but, also, the degree of inequality in the distribution of achievements between children in the group. The article then proceeds to enquire why different children have different levels of educational achievement. The central conclusion is that, after controlling for a number of parental, household and school-related factors, children from all the different social groups, when compared to Brahmin children, were disadvantaged, in some or all of the three competencies of reading, arithmetic, and writing. However, this disadvantage was greatest for Muslim, Dalit, and Adivasi children. These children were disadvantaged with respect to all three competencies and their disadvantage embraced failure as well as success. Using a decomposition analysis, the article quantifies the ‘structural advantage’ that Brahmin and High Caste children enjoyed over their Dalit and Muslim counterparts.

Ramadan in Liverpool

This article addresses the way in which Muslim children negotiate the Christianity they encounter in an Anglican Primary School in Liverpool. The title picks up the two focal points of the discussion: the writing of Tariq Ramadan and the impact of fasting during the month of Ramadan on the life of the school. With regard to Tariq Ramadan's writing, the article first evaluates his opposition to ‘tolerance’ and ‘integration’. Second, it sets out Ramadan's understanding of the more equalitarian term ‘respect’, and third, his arguments for a ‘new pluralism’ and his proposals for how Muslims should live in a Christian majority context are discussed. The practice of fasting during Ramadan is used to begin a discussion of how observation of Christian and Muslim religious festivals requires negotiation by Muslim pupils at an Anglican Primary School. A scale of resistance and acceptance is used to elucidate the negotiating strategies they employ. The discussion covers three Muslim events (Ramadan and the two Eids) and three Christian (Harvest, Christmas and Easter). The pupils' negotiating strategies and the reactions of school staff are evaluated, and recommendations are made for how Anglican Faith Schools might promote mutual understanding between the Christian and Muslim communities.

Reading the Qur'an: the contemporary relevance of the sacred text of Islam

grew up reading the Qur'an on my mother's lap, writes Ziauddin Sardar. It's an experience I share with most Muslim children. And so it is that our connection to the Qur'an is infused with associations of the warmest and most enduring of human bonds. In reading the Qur'an, Sardar - one of Europe's leading public intellectuals - laments that for far too many Muslims, the Qur'an he had learned in his mother's lap has become a stick used for ensuring conformity and suppressing dissenting views. Indeed, some find in the Qur'an justification for misogyny, validation for hatred of others, an obsession with dress and mindless ritual, rules for running modern states. Arguing passionately but reasonably against these trends, Sardar speaks out for a more open, less doctrinaire approach to reading the Qur'an. He contends that the Qur'an is not fixed in stone for all time, but a dynamic text which every generation must encounter anew, and whose relevance and implications for our time we have yet to fully discover. The words of the Qur'an imply movement: the religious life, it tells us, is not about standing still but always striving to make our life, our society, the entire world around us a better place for everyone. Sardar explores the Qur'an from a variety of perspectives, from traditional exegesis to hermeneutics, critical theory, and cultural analysis, drawing fresh and contemporary lessons from the Sacred Text. He also examines what the Qur'an says about such contemporary topics as power and politics, rights of women, suicide, domestic violence, sex, homosexuality, the veil, freedom of expression, and evolution. Ziauddin Sardar opens a new window on this remarkable Sacred Text, in a book that will engage all devout Muslims and will interest anyone curious about the Qur'an and Islam today.

Some views on the life of Muslim women in Turkestan in the late XIX - early XX centuries

Issues of public health and education of Muslim women much gained in importance in Russian Turkestan in the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. In the 1880s European classes, clinics and other institutions were set up in local towns. The first clinic for indigenous Muslim women and children, for instance, appeared in Tashkent in 1883. Gradually they caught on. These changes were well reflected in mass media, mostly newspapers, which constitute an important yet poorly studied primary source for the study of pre-Revolutionary Turkestan.

Liberalism, Feminism, and Group Rights

1. IntroductionThe U.S. federal government could exempt Lakota from laws prohibiting smoking mescaUne or Buddhists from military conscription. A local government could exempt Mormons from laws prohibiting polygamy or Amish from laws prohibiting child labor. A school board could exempt fundamentalist Christian children from a curriculum requiring study of On the Origin of Species or Muslim children from policies prohibiting wearing hats in school. These are all possible group rights. As per these examples, three features characterize such rights. First, they can be granted eitiier by law or mere policy. Second, they are granted to a proper subset of those governed by the institution that grants them. Third, individuals receive these rights qua members of a religious, cultural, or ethnic minority group. While this characterization does not fully specify the property being a group right, it suffices to focus discussion.Some opponents of group rights, most notably Susan Okin (1999a, 1999b), think that liberal institutions should be wary of granting group rights, even if such rights advance some liberal values. For group rights, such opponents claim, often undermine a basic commitment of liberalism, the commitment to women's equality (i.e., to a minimal feminism). This concern motivates the following argument:(1) Some group rights, if granted, would harm women more than they would harm men (i.e., would harm women differentially).(2) Liberal institutions typically will fail to distinguish harmful from innocuous rights.(3) Liberal institutions should not grant rights that would harm women differentially.(4) Therefore, liberal institutions should not grant group rights.1What follows challenges this Okin-inspired argument against group rights. The challenge focuses on (2), the claim that liberal institutions typically wiU fail to distinguish harmful from innocuous rights. A subsidiary argument motivates (2): male members of minority groups often determine which rights to request and how to frame requests; they often present requests to representatives of liberal institutions who know little about the requesters' group; consequently, the procedures by which rights are granted are likely to ignore women's welfare; so, liberal institutions typicaUy will fail to distinguish harmful from innocuous rights. This subsidiary argument, although important, overstates the case. On one reading, (2) suggests that one who considers requests too hastily typically will fail to distinguish harmful from innocuous rights. On another reading, (2) suggests that one who considers requests quite carefully typically wiU fail to distinguish harmful from innocuous rights. The Okin-inspired argument is sound only given the latter reading. On that reading, however, (2) is false. For, if reviewers carefully deploy appropriate guidelines, they typically wiU distinguish harmful from innocuous rights.The bulk of the paper (§3-4) develops preliminary guidelines for distinguishing harmful from innocuous rights. The guidelines consist of two types of questions. Reviewers should emphasize certain questions when they initially are inclined to grant a requested right (§3). Such questions help one avoid granting rights that Uberai institutions should refuse based on their commitment to women's equality. Reviewers should emphasize other questions when they initially are inclined to deny a request on the ground that the requested right would harm female members of the rightrequesting group (§4). Such questions help one avoid denying rights that liberal institutions should grant despite their commitment to women's equaUty. Although the guidelines are preliminary, the paper aims both to exemplify the sort of reasoning that would generate more thorough guidelines and to suggest that effective guidelines are attainable.22. Three PresuppositionsBefore proceeding, three presuppositions should be acknowledged. First, it is presupposed that, unless the Okin-inspired argument is sound, Uberai institutions should grant some group right; i. …

Polio: Eradicated, But Can It Return?

th is World Polio Day. This communicable disease spreads through human-to-human contact, usually entering the body through the mouth due to faecally contaminated water or food, causing paralysis of essential muscles, such as those controlling swallowing, heartbeat, and respiration. Sixty years ago, the largest number of polio victims was reported in the United States. In 1952, there were 57,879 cases reported with 3,145 deaths. In a weeklong special son National Public Radio (NPR) News, McCarthy [1] reported that India has been free of polio that has afflicted it for millennia. India has 175 million children aged 5 years and younger and all of them are the target for the massive campaign that has nearly enabled India to claim a polio-free status. With this success, the world has never been closer to eradicating polio. Since World Polio Day in 2011, India is able to claim no new cases since January 11, 2011. This is historic and offers hope and a resurgence of effort to eradicate this crippling disease in the few active regions of remaining endemic countries. NPR reports that a decade ago, Nigeria perceived the war on polio to be a “Western plot to sterilize Muslim children” [2]. Conversely, the countries of India and Pakistan may find polio to be the ultimate exercise in diplomacy in that polio may knit program strategies together as they seize this historic moment for global health [1]. Since the 2011 World Polio Day, the number of new cases of polio has declined from 467 at this time last year to 171 this year. In the developing world, children are given an oral vaccine made of a live, no paralytic polio virus. The vaccination entails two drops for partial immunity, making mass vaccination campaigns achievable in poor countries [3]. The vaccine causes an infection that usually lasts a few weeks. The infection can spread to others and immunize them, too. However, but if the virus spreads too far among previously unvaccinated people, its genes will change and the virus will regain its ability to cripple and kill such as the outbreak of paralytic polio in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 2000 and 2001, crippling 21. The World Health Organization reported more than 1,300 cases of the disease in 16 countries in 2005, with cases in Indonesia, South Asia and West Africa. Our strongest motive for writing this editorial was to take this opportunity to thank the medical professionals who worked during the polio epidemic and to recognize the efforts of the health staff of the time whose names never made it to print. The health professionals of the day not only rose to the challenge, but learned from it; their robust and optimistic response has ultimately eradicated the disease hopefully.

Between the State and the Malam: Understanding the Forces that Shape the Future of Nigeria’s Qur’anic Schools

The present paper attempts to answer the question: what accounts for the persistence of Qur’anic schools as separate schools operating at cross-purposes with the Nigerian state in the provision of education to millions of Muslim children officially reported to be “out of school?” To answer this question, the paper traces the long years of mutual isolation between the state and Islamic institutions, particularly in northern Nigeria, that was at first a product of colonisation, but subsequently a reflection of state failure to meet its obligations toward a people struggling to come to terms with the loss of their cultural and religious values as western influences became pervasive. The paper suggests that by remaining faithful to those values, ideas, and practices that hold together the cultural-religious essence of life, Qur’anic schools and their owners fill a void that neither the new religious elite nor the post-colonial Nigerian state has been able to recognize. The paper expresses concern, however, that although culturally-relevant, the bond between Qur’anic schools and their communities further isolates young generations of Nigerian Muslims from constructively engaging with the state. An inclusive state policy on education based on constructive engagement with the hidden clients of Nigeria’s submerged Qur’anic schools is what the country needs if these schools are to play any future positive role in education.

Lessons in hatred: the indoctrination and education of Germany's youth

The main focus of this article examines the evidence presented against the defendant Julius Streicher during his prosecution by the International Military Tribunal in 1945–46, which alleged that his anti-Semitic propaganda, aimed directly at Germany's youth, indoctrinated and educated them in lessons of hate. In order to substantiate that Streicher was guilty of ‘the perversion of youth in Germany’, the prosecution needed to prove that such actions were criminalised under the jurisdiction of the Nuremberg Charter. This article analyses the case from a purely legal perspective, focusing on how the prosecution sought to establish Streicher's guilt with the evidence used against him. After analysing this historical episode in which German children were indoctrinated with Hitler's anti-Semitic ideology of hatred, the article considers several contemporary situations where Muslim children are educated in lessons of hatred, and compares any similarities with the Streicher case. In conclusion, it evaluates how the courts in the United Kingdom have dealt with cases involving ‘incitement to racial hatred’, and finally argues that legislation in the UK needs to specifically criminalise those persons intend on educating children in lessons of racial indoctrination and protect Muslim children who are targeted by radical extremists.

The Reporting of the September 11 th Terrorist Attacks in American Social Studies Textbooks: A Muslim Perspective

This study analyzes the reporting of the September 11 th terrorist attacks in social studies textbooks from a Muslim perspective and reports on findings from a study of the responses of American Muslim children to the treatment of the events of September 11 th in social studies textbooks. Constructivist grounded theory was used to centralize the participant's perspective in the readings of social studies textbooks leading to emergent themes that developed into a theoretical framework about basic social processes within the reading. Propaganda-making is suggested here as a theoretical conceptualization of the processes undertaken by textbook authors, and the category "Muslim reactions" is suggested as a typology of Muslim responses to these characterizations. Exploring how readers engage with the text and how the text engages with the reader in the construction of knowledge, the framework developed in the study can be used to inform a culturally relevant pedagogy and curricula in the teaching of 9/11 in social studies classrooms.

Review of Wanni W. Anderson, Mapping Thai Muslims: Community Dynamics and Change on the Andaman Coast

Anthropologists who continue to revisit areas where they have conducted fieldwork sometimes produce ethnographic memoirs about the changes that they have seen evolve over time in a community. If decades have gone by, they can write about people they once knew as children and provide a longue duree, or longitudinal analysis. This book is one such type of memoir, although it is written with a number of scholarly goals in mind and with numerous (if very short) references to a range of perspectives about globalization and Islam. The author’s stated goal is to present a non-monolithic portrait of Muslims in Thailand by focusing on the lesser-known Thai Muslims of the southern Andaman coast. Overall, this short book highlights how the Thai Muslim community in this region has responded to new occupational opportunities associated with tourism and increased economic interconnectedness, how a more globalized Islamic consciousness has affected their beliefs and practices, and how they view the ongoing violence that has engulfed the Muslim area on the other side of the country. Set on the island of Nipa, across the water from Krabi town in southwestern Thailand, the area was first visited by the author in 1979. She returned in 1981 to investigate Muslim children’s play culture in order to compare with her earlier work on Buddhist children’s play culture in central Thailand (e.g., p. 5). She returned for a longer stay in 1982 as a member of one of Harvard University’s research teams on cross-cultural studies of adolescents in a changing world. She also investigated local villagers’ notions of ethnic and religious consciousness. Subsequent revisits in 1984, Cont Islam (2013) 7:245–247 DOI 10.1007/s11562-011-0170-y

CHILD CUSTODY DISPUTES IN FAMILIES OF MUSLIM TRADITION

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in America and by all accounts, there are 2.35 million Muslims in the country today. Muslims separate and divorce at rates consistent with the general population and almost half of those born in the United States are in relationships with non-Muslims. It is not surprising that issues of religious education take center stage in child custody disputes. In addition, 64% of foreign Muslims cite the U.S. disrespect for Islam as the overwhelming factor in their resentment for America and Americans and they constitute the greatest potential risk for child abduction of American Muslim children. As more Muslim Americans separate and access the family law courts, we as lawyers, judges and child custody experts must be prepared to address the unique aspects of religion and foreign travel that these families present.