I focus on issues of equilibrium in Muslim women's education to understand
the tension between the ideals and practice and its ramifications for Islamic
and Muslims' education in the United States. I argue that one maintainer of
Muslim women's low effectiveness, perpetuated across new generations of Muslims,
is the general perception that women are the preservers of culture and religion
by proxy. The issue before us: How is it possible for a morally dependent individual
to instill the character of autonomous spiritual and intellectual Muslim who
can integrate effectively in a "pluralistic" society?
In addition to the various degrees of perceptions and misconceptions about Islam,
religious tolerance and Multiculturalism, the problem is mainly of perceiving
women, particularly Muslim women as morally dependent and, hence, socially and
politically irrelevant or non-central to issues of Islamic education. With the
exception of few, the majority of Muslim women are neither involved in the educational
decsion-making of the Muslim community nor of this nation. Often perceived as
preservers of customary practices instead of agents of cultural change and contributors
to inter-cultural understanding, Muslim women and their Islamic higher learning
has been marginalized.
See also: Guest Editor. Religion and Education. The Equilibrium: Issues of Islamic Education in the United States. Volume 25, Number 1 & 2, (Winter) 1998.
Click here to view a PDF of the pre-print.
Copyright 1998, Religion and Education, Nimat Hafez Barazangi.
This is a pre-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in the edited journal Religion and Education following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available through Religion and Education: http://fp.uni.edu/jrae/islamicissuetoc.htm