Suhailah Hussien

This study attempts to reconstruct Western critical pedagogy from an Islamic perspective and to explore its contribution to the resolution of the crisis in the Muslim mind and Islamic education. It analyses the underlying philosophical assumptions behind critical theory, compares it with Islamic philosophy of education and with the Islamisation of Knowledge project, reconstructs the Western critical pedagogy and uses the arguments of Muslim scholars to justify the need for critical pedagogy in Muslim education. It is argued that an Islamised critical pedagogy can offer an adequate resolution to the crisis in the Muslim mind.

Western critical pedagogy is an important theoretical and practical resource for an understanding of the crisis in education in the Muslim World. Critical pedagogy may be considered as a young “paradigm” in thinking about education but “in the 1970s, it was hailed by many as the viable and vigorous alternative to other traditions in the social sciences.”1 Its ability to “synthesise all previous approaches with a clear critique of the societal conditions of education has made it the ultimate, if not the best, available paradigm for education.”2  The purpose of this study is to reconstruct critical pedagogy from an Islamic perspective and use it to realise the tawhidic way of life.

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 Jerald F. Dirks

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision of June 1963, which banned public prayer from the public schools, Christian religious education was often a routine part of the overt instruction provided by the American public school system. However, in the wake of that legal milestone, even though instruction in the Judeo-Christian interpretation of religious history continued to be taught covertly, American churches began relying more heavily on providing Christian religious education. This article briefly presents Christianity’s contemporary status in the United States and reviews such religious education methods as Sunday school, vacation Bible school, Christian youth groups, catechism, private Christian schools, Youth Sunday, and children’s sermons. The survey concludes with a look at the growing interface between such education and the lessons of psychology as well as training and certifying Christian religious educators.