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ASSOCIATIONASSOCIATION OF OF MUSLIM MUSLIM SOCIALSOCIAL SCIENTISTS SCIENTISTS (UK) (UK) NEWSLETTER issue no.7 • 2006 Islam in Higher Education Conference Highlights Issue of Teaching Islam in Higher Education Long Before Government Orders a Report on the Subject Established orientalist notions of what consti- Significantly, this jointly organised tutes Islamic scholarship have largely remained Conference by AMSS and its part- ners was held more than a year unchallenged. The emergence of neo-orientalism before the government and MP Bill and phenomenological approaches are two ways Rammell’s, Minister of Education, call for a review of the teaching of in which exciting ideas are being adapted, and university Islamic courses. The government has commissioned a in some cases, challenged. Abdul-Rehman Malik report on this issue to ensure that religious oriented courses are not organised by amss (uk), the centre restricted to narrow interpreta- for the study of islam and chris- tions. Although the conference tian-muslim relations (birming- sought to highlight and examine ham university) and the higher education academy subject centre the complexities of the teaching of for philosophical and religious Islam and other related issues, invi- studies, 29-30 january 2005, at the tations to the civil service, govern- university of birmingham. ment departments and key person- nel to attend the conference met Since 11 September 2001 there has with no response. Subsequent trag- been a remarkable growth in the ic events triggered interest in the study of Islam in Higher Education. area! It is only hoped that the Whereas a decade earlier, many uni- inquiry does not start from zero versities were eager to close down but builds upon the outcome of or at best amalgamate Islamic this Conference. Studies programmes into larger departments, there is now an The Conference was attended by urgency on the part of academic lecturers, academics, and experts administrators on many campuses to begin teaching about and on the subject from leading UK, encourage research on Islam. Not US and European universities and only is there demand from students, departments. but there is an understanding that Islam as a religion and social force Cont’d on page 2 1 Cont’d from page 1 will continue to have an impact on undergraduate course offered in ing in-depth some of the issues that global and domestic realities for the 1990. Islamic studies in particular, the conference could only begin to foreseeable future. However, there and the study of religion and theol- address. The period since 11 has been little discussion about how ogy in general, form an essential September has been underscored by to approach the study of Islam given part of the intellectual tapestry of increased conflict, but also increased the current political climate. Birmingham University. Prof. Clarke dialogue; awareness and engage- Established orientalist notions of added that with over 140 000 ment with the other is critical to what constitutes Islamic scholarship have largely remain unchallenged. Muslims residing in the city, dispelling ignorance. Those who The emergence of neo-orientalism Birmingham was set to become the advocate potential civilizational and phenomenological approaches first majority non-white city in the conflict and interpret Islam as a are two ways in which exiting ideas United Kingdom and that the city green threat engender global insta- are being adapted, and in some itself could not be understood with- bility. However, he also noted that cases, challenged. The Islam in out reference to its faith communi- the Islamic camp must take its fair Higher Education conference, ties. share of responsibility, namely the organised by the Association of University of Birmingham’s Prof. rise in a cynical interpretation of Muslim Social Scientists UK Shearer West of the School of religion. It is time, Dr. Al Shaikh-Ali (AMSS) in conjunction with the Historical Studies which houses said, to separate faith from its prac- Centre for the Study of Islam and CSIC spoke about the interdiscipli- titioners. Christian-Muslim Relations (CSIC) nary interest in Islam and how the When history is misinterpreted at the University of Birmingham and the Higher Education Academy coming together of the theology and research methodology manipu- Subject Centre for Philosophical and religious studies within the lated by some segments of academe, and Religious Studies, was held on School of Historical Studies allowed the challenge to promote under- 29th – 30th January 2005. This con- for an exploration of global reli- standing between Islamic and ference brought together a diverse gious cultures borrowing on anth- Western civilisations grows. He cross section of individuals and ropology, sociology and theology. linked this self-fulfilling dark organisations concerned with the Dr. Gary Bunt Subject Coordin- prophecy to education and high- challenges facing Islam in higher ator, Higher Education Academy level academic studies. education. It encouraged partici- Subject Centre for Philosophical The conference was arguing pants to engage in critical analysis Studies and Lecturer in Islamic against the isolationist mindset and and dialogue on a broad range of Studies, University of Wales, was based on a conviction that issues including: the status of the Lampeter stressed that the confer- higher education had an impact on study of Islam in higher education; employability and recruitment; aca- ence was a culmination of a series of the wider policy discourse. One par- demic standards & pedagogy; the efforts including a workshop spon- ticular area of concern that Dr. Al depiction of Islam and Muslims in sored by the Higher Education Shaikh-Ali noted was issues of higher education; and comparative Academy. He noted that the Higher translation. A sophisticated international approaches to Islam in Education Academy was particularly approach was needed to promote higher education. interested in looking at recruitment standards and excellence in transla- In opening the conference, CSIC’s and employability issues facing tion as poor translation of Islamic Dr. Bustami Khir, Senior Lecturer in Islamic studies graduates. They are language texts was central to prob- Islamic Studies, spoke of the impor- producing an Islam faith guide for lems of poor scholarship. tance of the conference and the crit- institutions. He added that the work He hoped that the Islam and ical role that the discussions could here would feed into an existing Higher Education conference would play in shaping the future of the website (www.islaminhighereduca- be a catalyst for the serious study of study of Islam and Muslims in the tion.net) and a 2007 conference on the way in which Islam is taught United Kingdom. religious studies tentatively titled and would open up interaction In welcoming participants, Beyond Beliefs. between scholars, across disciplines, Professor Michael Clarke, Vice Dr. Anas Al Shaikh-Ali, Chair of who were involved in the field. Principal of the University of the AMSS and lead organiser of the Birmingham spoke of the city as a conference, welcomed participants Abdul-Rehman Malik historical space of interaction and looked forward to the begin- Abdul-Rehman Malik has a Masters between religion and modernity in ning of a fruitful, multidisciplinary from the LSE, is Contributing Editor an industrialising world. dialogue on Islam and higher edu- of Q-News magazine, Freelance Birmingham University itself was cation. He looked on the conference Consultant to various media organi- the site of a major debate on the as the first of its kind in the broader sations, and member of the AMSS usefulness of the study of theology field of religious studies and under- Executive Committee. and religion. Islamic studies began scored that it would lead to a series as early as the 1930s with the first of workshops and seminars explor- 2 Fiqh Today: Muslims as Minorities 5th annual amss (uk) conference 20-21 February 2004, University of Westminster, London Fiqh Today: Muslims as Minorities: Muslim College and Q-News Media The AMSS (UK) 5th Annual convened “Fiqh Today: Muslims as Conference (21-22 February 2004). Minorities” its 5th annual conference at the University of Westminster in The practice of fiqh has always been London from 21st – 22nd February, characterised by dynamism and flexi- 2004. bility. Instead of being an ossified Dr. Anas Al Shaikh-Ali, Chair of body of legal rulings the discipline of the AMSS (UK) Executive fiqh engages the lives of Muslims Committee set out the vision of the providing a means for sacred expres- conference in his opening remarks sion that is at once personal and suggesting that a genuine fiqh for communal. Understanding the minority Muslims required a collec- underlying values of the sacred law tive engagement between social sci- and how it is derived enables Muslim entists and shariah scholars “in the communities to continuously make wider public arena” moving the Islam relevant to their unique con- debate and discussion out of closed texts and particular environments. doors. He challenged participants – The growing Muslim presence in who came from Europe, North Europe and North America and the America, the Middle East and rising discourse on the nature of citi- Southeast Asia – to work towards the zenship and identity makes the ques- development of a “comprehensive tion of relevance significant. Will methodology of minority fiqh” Muslims in the West, given the chal- drawing on the past, but not being lenges of discrimination and sys- afraid to be innovative. temic disadvantage, be able to find It was appropriate then that the to fulfill their religious obligations an expression of Islam that is both keynote address to the conference than Muslims elsewhere. He con- connected to their rich heritage, yet was presented by Reis-ul-Ulema, the vincingly posited a vision of Muslims addresses the exigencies of their con- Grand Mufti of Bosnia- in Europe that recognized their temporary circumstances in a mean- Herzegovina, Dr. Mustafa Ceric.