Teach Middle East Literature

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addressing Islamophobia

  • 45% of Americans would not vote for a qualified Muslim for political office
  • 33% believed that Muslims were more loyal to Islam than to America
  • 41% believe Muslim culture “glorifies suicide”
  • 28% believed that the Quran promotes violence
  • 25% do not oppose “mass detentions” of Muslims.

Newsweek, July 2007

"Islam is a world of many histories, many peoples, many languages, traditions, schools of interpretation, proliferating developments, disputations, cultures, and countries."

Edward Said

 

Facts:

  • Over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and practitioners are not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but also throughout Asia and rest of the world.
  • Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country.
  • Approximately 7 million Muslims in the United States (compared to 6.5 million Jewish people, 3 million Native Americans).
  • There are Muslims of every political point of view, every racial group, speaking an enormous diversity of languages.
  • Only about 15% of Muslims worldwide are Arabs.


Teaching Literature of Today's Middle East
Routledge Press, 2012

Fundamentalism:

Going beyond stereotypes of “Islamic fundamentalism” means recognizing that there is a wide range of religious and political positions within and among Muslim countries and it means attempting to understand the logic and appeal of Islamic piety and revivalism and its social and historical causes. - Allen Webb

"Fundamentalism is a global fact and has surfaced in every major faith in response to the problems of our modernity. There is a fundamentalist Judaism, fundamentalist Christianity, fundamentalist Hinduism, fundamentalist Buddhism, fundamentalist Sikhism and even fundamentalist Confucianism." - Karen Armstrong

"The processes of democratization and Islamic resurgence have become complementary forces in many countries. The most effective opposition to authoritarian regimes is expressed through a reaffirmation of the Islamic identity and heritage." - John Esposito


Teaching Resources:

Inside Islam: What One Billion Muslims Really Think (2010) -- documentary film about the most comprehensive survey of Muslim beliefs.

Quran and other Muslim texts

Islamicfinder.org - for finding mosques and Muslim speakers and resources near your zip code

Reel Bad Arabs - documentary about how Arabs are portrayed in American film

Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law -- information on teaching about religion


Suggested Reading for Teachers and Students:

What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam by John Esposito. 2002. A easy to read introductory text that answers almost any question students may have.

An Introduction to Islam: Third Edition by Frederick Denny (2005). A comprehensive introduction often used as a college text. Used copies are inexpensive.

Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet (1993), Islam: A Short History (2002), and Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time (2007) all by Karen Armstrong

Who Speaks For Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think by John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed (2008) describes the results of the most extensive survey ever taken of Muslim attitudes.

Women and Gender in Islam by Leila Ahmed argues that the oppressive practices to which women in the Middle East are subjected are due to patriarchal interpretations of Islam rather than Islam itself.

The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam (1992) by Fatima Mernissi makes a similar case.

Islam by Fazlur Rahman. 1979. A text for studying Islam, includes information about the history of the faith and its complexity in the present.

EJ Article 98.3
History PP
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