BANGLADESH: RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL COHESION

2019 PROJECT YEAR EVALUATION DATASHEET

WFDD introduction: To culminate the first year of the project entitled “Bangladesh: Religious Dimensions of Development and Social Cohesion” which focused on religious dimensions of education, WFDD and BRAC University CPJ hosted a series of four dynamic events in Dhaka in early January, 2020 to disseminate research findings and to encourage a productive interfaith dialogue and to engage more widely within the concerned Bangladeshi communities. These involved a public lecture on in Islamic thought, a workshop for selected delegates for a conversation on Science and , a dinner discussion on faith-based education in Bangladesh, and a day-long forum discussing pathways to pluralism in Bangladeshi education. Three publications, now finalized and available (first report, second report, policy brief), were a foundation for the events.

In order to explore the impact the events had and to further the conversation and partnerships created, WFDD/CPJ enlisted Fadlullah Wilmot, Regional Program Manager for Middle East and Africa at Muslim Aid, as a “friendly critic”, due to his extensive knowledge and experience in the Islamic development sector. WFDD/CPJ chose the “friendly critic” monitoring method in order to go beyond simple surveys and reporting on numbers. Below, he gives a general overview of the four events and offers feedback and insights to help improve our future programs and events.

1. PROJECT/PROGRAMME BASIC DATA

Title World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD)/CPJ BRAC University January 2020 events in Bangladesh, with four components under the project name Bangladesh: Religious Dimensions of Development and Social Cohesion

1. Public Lecture: “Reconsidering the Ethical in Contemporary Islamic Thought” 1 January 2020 2. Workshop: Advancing the Conversation between Science, Theology, and History in Islam” on January 2-3, 2020 for selected madrassah delegates 3. Dinner Discussion: “Current condition of faith-based education in Bangladesh” with Muslim Leaders 4. Forum: Faith and Education in Bangladesh: Pathways to Pluralism 7 January 2020; participants included religious leaders, international and national development organizations, major religious groups, civil society, academic institutions, and think tanks, both Bangladeshi and internationally.

Location Dhaka Bangladesh

Participants Component 1 95 Component 2 32 Component 3 23 Component 4 130

Problem analysis Historically, Bengal was a multi-religious society where the practice of Islam was syncretic. Even after partition in 1947 and in spite of considerable migration there is still a substantial minority of Hindus in the country, together with smaller groups of Christians, Buddhists and followers of traditional beliefs. Even after the liberation war that gave Bangladesh independence from Pakistan in 1971, Hindu migration continued but Hindus still form 8.96% of the population. Although secularism was one of the founding of Bangladesh and is emphasized by the ruling party where political Islam is viewed negatively, political concessions had to be made in order to retain power. Bangladesh was not immune from the impact of Islamic social movements of the 90s which influenced the struggle for power between authoritarian political parties. As a result of the factors mentioned above, there are contested ideas about the role of religion in society and what constitutes orthodox or ‘proper’ Islamic practice as well as relations between and non-Muslims in Bangladesh. The impact of fundamentalism and the lack of clarity on the role of ethics, and human in the way Islam is traditionally taught in Bangladesh have led to a narrow view of the faith. This complex mosaic of parallel and intersecting tensions continually throws up new configurations and alignments that have profound effects on the everyday lives of citizens.

In this context, WFDD and the Berkley Center’s multi-year research program, in partnership with the Centre for Peace and Justice of BRAC University, in Bangladesh brings together leading scholars and development practitioners working at the intersection of religion and international development. It is a potentially powerful entry point for stimulating dialogue, analysis, and action. The diverse perspectives and expertise have already helped to provide a nuanced understanding of contemporary Bangladesh (social, political, economic, and religious). The 2020 workshops provided more insight into the critical development challenges in Bangladesh’s politically fraught context and the role of religious leaders in it and provided an idea what further engagement is needed with religious leaders and madrassa educators in the country with a long-term vision and approach.

Faith dimensions of education in Bangladesh are deep-rooted and complex, involving both education delivered by religious bodies and treatment of religious topics in the national education system and curriculum. Prior work by BRAC University and WFDD highlighted areas where a broader dialogue and analysis is sorely needed, as well as capacity building and training. The overall framework relates both to knowledge about what is happening (myths and partial understandings abound) and underlying concerns about core objectives and values (whose values, purpose of educational programs).

A plethora of faith-inspired education providers have emerged in Bangladesh, in a dynamic environment

2 where issues of quality and content of education are a national focus. Different groups vie for the market and constituents, both collaborating and competing. Unanswered questions and sometimes fractious debate turn around how different groups envision the delivery of education and where in this delivery they locate the imparting of values. The most prominent faith-inspired institutions are Catholic and Islamic (the ) schools but there are others yet to be clearly identified. Besides faith-inspired institutions, the secular government education system teaches religion in primary as well as in secondary schools. There is considerable controversy over the public curricula, with allegations that it is yielding to Islamist pressure, for example to Islamise secular textbook content and to continue misogynic, intolerant and rigid interpretations of Islamic teachings

The COVID-19 emergency has complicated the picture in many ways, disrupting education across the board and presenting multiple risks of exacerbating inter-group tensions and discrimination.

The four components of the 2020 programme linking public awareness, a workshop with madrassa leaders, a discussion with prominent Muslim leaders and a multi-faith workshop on religion in society came together as a coherent approach to several crucial issues related to faith and development in Bangladesh. It is important for the general public and Muslim religious leaders and teachers to understand the important role of ethical behaviour in Islamic civilization. How can Muslims pursue justice, peace respecting the human dignity of all persons in order to embody the divine attributes of compassion and mercy which are the fundamental teachings of Islam in the contemporary world. Therefore, the issue of Islamic ethics is linked to the attitudes of madrasa teachers, to textbook designers, and to international donors who are working to make education overall better and more relevant to Bangladeshi society. In respect to education the issues in Bangladesh include • the direction and areas of tension of madrasa education in the Bangladesh context (which seems to have similar issues as found in other madrasa discourses) • how public schools and orthodox madrasas address religion as part of the design of the society.

Objectives Achievement Objective All Muslim societies and communities are facing the challenge of how to understand Component 1: the ethical but given the situation in Bangladesh there is a great need and a potential To inform the to pursue this approach. The lecture was well attended, and the questions were general public in pertinent and relevant which shows the willingness of the community to engage in Bangladesh about some critical thinking and the imperative to bring the humanistic tradition of Islam the challenges in back into conversation with the normative tradition in new kind of dialectic to Muslim ethics and understand the human predicament in the present. It is important to continue this sort to improve the level of dialogue. of public literacy on Muslim ethics Dr. Moosa began by laying out the global political context of Islam. He identified the major trends and tensions in the religion’s interactions with the politics of power. He then focused on the importance of considering the question of the ethical in Islam, outside of questions of power. In the study of Islamic ethics, Dr. Moosa argued, it is important to return to the fundamentals of the story of ethics in Islam, examine how contemporary Muslims adopt this story and add their own voices to it. He argued that the study of Islamic ethics in contemporary times is impeded in several ways.

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Principal among these is that modern Muslims view their knowledge of Islam as superior to that of all previous generations. This stance, Dr. Moosa noted, is the arrogance of posterity.

He explained two major approaches to understanding Islamic ethics in present times. Firstly, there is a version that Dr. Moosa explained using the metaphor of telephone directories. He explained this to be the tradition of adhering to the ‘big books.’ These were texts that began being produced by Muslim scholars in the Umayyad period, addressing questions of moral philosophy in Islam. An approach to understanding Islamic ethics is thus to rely on these books produced up until the 4th century after the Prophet and disregard all that has followed. This body of knowledge is thusly construed as the only valid ethical standard for Muslims. The elements of Arab, Persian, and Indian culture that have merged into Islam are thus excluded because, in this narrow view, Islam is not a type of culture.

Dr. Moosa was critical of distilling out culture from the study of Islamic ethics and dismissing culture as irrelevant. He argued that Islam is manifestly intertwined with culture and to appreciate this, one need not look any further than the fact that Islam was revealed in the language, and not through some non-cultural medium. Islam, in his view, was not only originally shaped within the Arab culture but also, when transferred to different parts of the world, it picks up the distinct colors, smells and hues of its destinations.

Dr. Moosa then described a second approach to understanding Islamic ethics. This is the approach taken by madrasas. This involves adherence to a thin segment of the ‘telephone directory’ of Islamic texts. This approach demands strict adherence to the derived code. Where one digresses, they are labelled as deviants, modernists, or the enemies of God. This approach, argued Dr. Moosa, shows little understanding of the .

Tracing the history of a third alternative, from the works of great thinkers like Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, Dr. Moosa advocated for a new journey into the history of Islam, encouraging new generations of Muslims to engage deeply in Islamic scholarship with sophisticated tools and more inclusive approaches. He pointed to the example of Al-Mawardi, a Shafi’i jurist from the 10th century who emphasised the importance of the humanities to the work of a jurist. Al-Mawardi’s work reveals that the juristic endeavor to find Islamic ethics is always bound to and benefits from the human experience. while literature embodies the beauty of human life. Dr. Moosa criticized madrasas that teach Arabic and Persian only for the sake of expanding vocabularies and not for enriching the understanding of literatures, that is, following only the normativity of the ‘telephone directory’ and not its complex history. This, Dr. Moosa argued, is the great modern tragedy of Islam, as this loss of literacy and complexity has meant the death of the Muslim soul.

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Note: CPJ has worked to enroll four madrasa delegates from the January Madrasa Discourses workshop into Dr. Moosa’s Madrasa Discourses 2020 Summer Intensive program. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this program is being conducted online from July 6th-24th, 2020.

Objective This trial of the potential of the Madrasa Discourses project in Bangladesh was Component 2: successful as it showed the need, possibilities and challenges in equipping Islamic To trial the religious leaders with the necessary tools to confidently engage pluralism, modern potential of the science, technological advances, and new philosophies. The fact that the presenters Madrassa spoke in Arabic combined with Dr. Moosa’s Islamic education background, Discourses provided increased credibility to the participants. The impact of madrassa education approach in on its 3 million students and how Islam is taught by the 230,000 teachers in the over Bangladesh to raise 13,000 different madrassas (in their distinct categories, in Bangladesh is important. awareness of Many of the graduates of these madrassas will be teaching Islam to the general , in particular public. It is important to note that about 44% of madrasa students come from middle- madrassa leaders of income and 5.42% from upper middle class and affluent families. Given the a broad range of impact of how Islam is taught in the madrassas there is a need to work on revitalising challenges in Islamic education from within, retrieving resources from the Islamic tradition to Islamic thought in preparing future ulama who both teach and show in their lives the respect for human particular their dignity, justice and peace. understanding of science and The Madrasa workshop was led by Dr. Ebrahim Moosa, Dr. Joshua Lupo, and Dr. theology Rana Dajani (Hashemite University, Jordan) and introduced young and recently graduated madrasa scholars in Bangladesh to a condensed version of the three-year project. The seminar sessions with appropriate readings in the philosophy of science, history, the study of religion, and Islamic thought were lively. Dr. Josh Lupo’s presentation gave an opportunity to engage with the Western study of religion through lectures and discussions covering the major theoretical developments at the intersection of science and the philosophy of religion. Dr. Rana Dajani discussed the challenges that the new cosmic story—including the big bang and evolution—poses for contemporary Muslim thinkers and teachers to explain these emerging phenomena in terms of the Muslim theological and philosophical perspectives. Dr. Ebrahim Moosa ended the workshop with reflections on hermeneutics and history in the Islamic tradition emphasising the relationship between history and contingency with special attention to how these fields impact the interpretation of Islam as a religious tradition. Dr. Moosa discussed the impact on “morals and ethics” (/Shari’ah), dialectical theology, and the interpretation of texts. Particularly interesting was the discussion of the work of al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd (Averroës), and the relationship of their work to contemporary debates in hermeneutics.

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The 2-day program showed that there was a real benefit and the potential to introduce the Madrassa Discourses in Bangladesh. The advantage of two Arabic speakers (Moosa and Dajani) not only gave increased confidence in the authority of the two speakers but also made understanding easier. The presentation of the non-Arabic speaker (Dr. Lupo) might have had more impact if the slides could have been in Bangla or Arabic. The format of lecture followed by breakout sessions enabled more engagement but a more structured approach to the breakout sessions might have been more productive. While assigned reading material was shared beforehand, it may have been too academically orientated for the non-English speaking participants. Bengali translations would have been useful and should be taken into consideration for the future. It might have been more useful if more reading material (especially in forms that participants could readily digest) had been provided before the workshop as well as a guide to available teaching materials. A pre-and post survey of attitudes and understanding of the topics covered might give a better understanding of the impact as well as a follow up of how this would impact on their teaching and attitudes.

Note: Dr. Samia Huq and Dr. Joshua Lupo remain in contact and have a few selected madrassa attendees who would be interested in attending Dr. Moosa’s Madrasa Discourse Summer Intensive program held abroad, though it is on-hold due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective The dinner aimed to create an interface for scholarly exchange between the Madrasa Component 3: Discourses team and prominent ulama based in Bangladesh and was an opportunity Dinner Discussion: to gauge reactions to the pilot workshop conducted by the team with madrasa The dinner graduates during January 2-3 and to explore the future potential for launching the discussion was to Madrasa Discourses project in Bangladesh. The discussion showed that there was see where the indeed a real need to bring ulama into the conversation and to develop a better Ulama leadership understanding of contemporary challenges and it is essential to have more was in terms of discussions with the ulama community of Bangladesh. thought. Unfortunately, rather than the issue of ethics, pluralism, modern science, technological advances, and new philosophies, the participants focused more on the perceived divide between the general curriculum and the madrasa curriculum. Some viewed that there is a bias against madrasa graduates and other participants were of the opinion that madrasa and non-madrasa stream graduates present a mixed range of competencies such that those with madrasa backgrounds are not necessarily always the ones at a disadvantage. Many participants argued that there were inadequate resources, but others pointed out the deep-rooted conservatism among those at the apex of the madrasa system had translated into a systemic resistance towards change.

Many participants were of the opinion that there was a lack of a spiritual dimension in mainstream education but provided little understanding of the need to review the role of ethics, human dignity, justice and peace in religious education. This was a

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difficult discussion and shows the need for more such discussions and perhaps more preparation and time.

Objective The well-attended forum by a diverse group of faith leaders, educationalist and Component 4: development actors was a very useful contribution to developing a shared a. To bring understanding among the participants and a commitment to overcome divisions, to together accept diversity and overcome hatred in order to move towards a more united and scholars, faith respectful atmosphere where attitudes concerning major faiths and civic values are actors, tolerated and celebrated. The forum crated a space for faith communities, civil development society actors, educators, policymakers, and development actors to engage in practitioners thoughtful reflection and dialogue as a steppingstone to address current problems and affecting the religious and educational landscape in Bangladesh and the important policymakers to role that faith plays in Bangladeshi society. The UN Resident Coordinator for reflect on Bangladesh highlighted the importance of a religious curriculum which accepted education diversity and taught civic values. She discussed the danger that extremist challenges pose in some Muslim majority nations. The acceptance of diversity and pluralism are facing critical, given the rising waves of divisive politics across the world. Bangladesh and beyond, with a Dr. Samia Huq*: Interim Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, Associate focus on Professor, and Research Fellow at Centre for Peace and Justice, BRAC University education both presented a general overview of the project and emphasized the current situation of by religious faith-inspired education in Bangladesh. She described the vast majority of faith- institutions and inspired education providers in Bangladesh as seeking to teach ‘for’ religion instead to promote of ‘about’ religion. Such forums here in the country can advocate for teaching ‘about’ religious religion in a way that is collaborative, inclusive, and non-combative. literacy and understanding. Professor Katherine Marshall: WFDD’s Executive Director, Professor of It also focused Development, Conflict, and religion and Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for on key Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University highlighted the challenges and objectives set out for the Forum series and specifically for this event, focusing on prospects for challenges that lie at the intersection of development, faith, and education. Six areas pursuing of focus are pertinent in exploring religious dimensions of education challenges: (a) pathways to education delivered directly by religious entities; (b) education about religion; (c)

* Dr. Samia Huq is currently the Dean of General Education at BRAC University as of June 2020.

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pluralism education to inculcate religion; (d) educational of future religious leaders and through scholars; (e) education that aims to reach neglected groups like ; and (f) education. education about civic values. The forum focused on the latter point regarding civic b. To examine values but reflected on the previous five as well. specific roles that religious institutions Dr. Sudipta Roy*: Faculty Fellow in Education at Colby College, USA, Director of currently play in American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, and consultant at the World Faiths education, both Development Dialogue presented a summary of a forthcoming research review: in terms of “Pathways to Pluralism in Bangladeshi Education: A Review.” He outlined the existing team’s research on the topic and highlighted questions regarding diversity in institutions as Bangladesh’s religious sector, how social cohesion and pluralism are represented in well as the textbooks and curricula, and descriptive characteristics of social cohesion and pertinent pluralism that emerged from the data. Notably, Dr. Roy and the team had undertaken curricula, a content analysis of the NCTB and Quomi madrasa textbooks, finding that religious notably in and cultural diversity in Bangladesh were not well presented in the texts, which, languages, rather, focused on Islam and Bangladesh’s national superiority. Minority cultures and social sciences, religions were often represented as ‘tokens’ in the texts, shown simply for the sake of humanities, and including them rather than explaining their practice in-depth. Additionally, while religious gender parity is shown visually, social norms are still presented as patriarchal and studies. stereotypical in the textbooks. In conclusion, Dr. Roy argued that the religious and c. To foster joint secular platforms that address education requirements must work together and that if learning, build ideas of social cohesion are not well developed, the education that the poor (and regional and others) receive will not properly prepare them to be contributing members of global networks Bangladeshi society. Dr. Roy’s research is timely and significant as the government of common of Bangladesh is set to update the national curriculum in 2021 in an effort to make it ideas and more pluralistic and cohesive. sharing of experiences to Ms. Sun Lei: Education Specialist, UNESCO Dhaka Office presentation on “Global work towards Citizenship Education in the Twenty-First Century,” focused on SDG goal 4 and sustainable target 4.7 which seeks to ensure the promotion of sustainable development and solutions. lifestyles through education by 2030. She defined global citizenship education as “education that gives us a profound understanding that we are tied together as citizens of the global community, and the challenges are interconnected” and that GCE represents belonging to a broader community and humanity. According to Lei, GCE will equip individuals with relevant ‘soft’ twenty-first century skills to empower citizens to be responsible, creative, inclusive, and peaceful.

Dr. Stephen Heyneman: Professor Emeritus of International Education Policy, Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations, Vanderbilt University, USA presentation on “Religion, Education, and Development” and highlighted issues specific to regions where a single religious tradition is dominant as well as those

* Dr. Sudipta Roy is currently a research associate at WFDD as of June 2020.

8 specific to Bangladesh. He outlined the principles underlying the creation and foundation of public education and its benefits for social cohesion. The lack of opportunities to learn about interfaith attitudes and behaviors in Bangladesh can lead to a deterioration of a national sense of social cohesion and could lead some schools to be used as tools of propaganda. He gave different examples from other regions in the world where schools and texts taught different versions of history during times of conflict (Ireland and former Yugoslavia). Dr. Heyneman recommended the mandated registration of all students and madrassas to ensure that accurate numbers of enrollment are recorded in order to ensure proper governmental oversight. He also recommended the licensing of non-governmental schools and national objectives for educators and schools to ensure that students are being taught the values of civil society. Dr. Heyneman argued that schools can be used to solve social tensions, but they can also be used as a weapon to spread propaganda that leads to social unrest. In order to accomplish the positive ends, public schools should require that students learn about all major world faiths. He suggested a look towards the Singapore education model for inspiration.

Dr. Jamhari Makruf: Lecturer and Deputy Rector of the Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatlluh, Indonesia Dr. Jamhari talked on “Nurturing Faith: Creating a Pious Person as a Citizen.” His presentation began with a snapshot of the political and religious landscape in Indonesia, noting how conservatism there has the propensity to turn into extremism. He then highlighted the differences between public and religious education and how drastically they differed. Dr. Jamhari argued that public schools benefited from very limited coordination among the ministries involved. Further, many texts reflect conservative and extremist and intolerance to other major religions, and do not show respect to Indonesia as a nation. In religious schools, there was no overall control over curriculum as they are mostly private, but extremist ideology was limited, and they tended to split allegiance between Islam and Indonesia. He highlighted the importance of introducing new subjects on comparative religion in schools to foster a deeper understanding between ethnic and religious groups.

Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury: Executive Director, Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) and Cofounder of Global Campaign for Education (GCE) saw the diversity of the participants and panels at the forum as proof of the collective desire to listen and be a part of the important topic at hand. She addressed the complexity of the current global landscape where religion is often abused and there is a growing lack of genuine interest in religious topics. She mentioned Bangladesh’s occasional promotion of hatred against other religions and called for textbooks and national curriculums to teach about other world faiths. There is an urgent need to counter violent extremism in the name of religion and religious freedom. The national education policy of 2010 needed to be reformed but most faith leaders lacked a desire to reform it. Lastly, Bangladeshi religious textbooks should incorporate more

9 respectful content regarding other world religions. In order to reform the curriculum, civil society must step forward to provide oversight. As a human advocate, she felt the need for public oversight in government agencies to ensure that textbooks, educators, and schools are operating at the highest level.

In the afternoon session, representatives from the Islamic Foundation, Caritas, ISKCON, Rama Krishna Mission, and the Buddhist Religion Trust shared short presentations that centered on an overall goal of reuniting Bangladesh, upholding diversity and the steps needed to fulfill those goals, in line with their distinct organizational ethos. However, the quality of presentations from the floor varied and some could have made a more substantial and relevant contribution to the discussion if there had been some prior review and clear guidelines on what to present. There was a consensus that education is crucial for ridding society of ills like terrorism, corruption, and political turmoil and violence and the upholding the dignity of people, especially the poor and marginalized and other generally excluded groups. It was mentioned that there was a need for a holistic approach to education, enhancing sensitivity, motivation and self-confidence and reviving the individual’s bond to nature. There was some spirited discussion in the afternoon session which helped bring forward important issues.

The presentation by Dr. Sudipta Roy based on empirical research might have provided more if it had been discussed in workshop groups. For example, the increasing impact of religion on youth but with a conservative understanding. It would have been useful to have a workshop with all stakeholders in the production of religious textbooks due to a concern about the portrayal of Islam in textbooks a way that does not contribute to social cohesion, emphasizes ritual, gives an idea of moral superiority, does not include the diversity of opinion and shows urban life as superior.

After Dr. Roy’s presentation, there was a vibrant question and answer session that addressed several current debates and discussions around curriculum review and revision in Bangladesh. Dr. Roy received questions about the meaning and use of the analytical concepts such as “social cohesion,” “active learning,” and “pluralism” in the context of the Bangladeshi textbooks. Several participants were curious about the analytical framework and methodology of the study. Discussions also addressed some of the structural barriers of curriculum change in Bangladesh that might not be participatory and suffer from bureaucracy. One participant took issue with one of the study’s findings that recommended the Quomi textbooks to be more learner friendly by including visual companions to lessons. The participant argued that Quomi madrasas uphold orthodox Islamic values and beliefs that discourage them to use visuals, especially of animated objects. Countering this value with “modern” pedagogical approaches might create backlash.

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