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6. Religion and Science Education: an Egyptian Perspective

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6. Religion and Science Education: an Egyptian Perspective NASSER MANSOUR 6. RELIGION AND SCIENCE EDUCATION: AN EGYPTIAN PERSPECTIVE INTRODUCTION Egypt is predominantly a Muslim country where 90% of its total population are adherents of Islam. The remaining 10% are followers of Christianity, Judaism or atheists. Almost the entirety of Egypt’s Muslims is Sunnis. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi orders, and there is a minority of Shi’a. Christians are mainly Coptic Orthodox along with fewer numbers of followers of Coptic Catholic and Protestant Churches. Religion in Egypt frames many aspects of social life. Islam is not a religion in the same sense that Christianity or Buddhism is. Islam, for Muslims, is much more than a moral philosophy of life, system of belief, or spiritual order; it is a ‘complete and comprehensive way of life’ (Geertz, 1971). The great increase in trade between Egypt and the West and the growth in communication through travel, books, the press, cinema and more recently through satellite television and internet, have been bringing gradually to the people in Egypt some of the new discoveries in science and new advances in technology made in the West. Also, European colonial expansion into the Muslim world, beginning in the early 19th century, initiated a cultural crisis in the unity and identity of the universal Islamic community (umma) and has since generated a vigorous internal debate as to the situation of the umma in the modern world. The influence of modernity and global-scientific and technological advances has been noted on the political discourse. For example, President Hosni Mubarak, describing his National Project for education, stated: In considering its national policies, Egypt has identified human resource development as a priority. Linking education and development has implied that education is a significant medium for preparing an adult labor force that is literate and skilled… The ‘Global Village’ with its single competitive market, implies that citizens in a particular country will need the necessary skills that would enable them to compete with citizens of other countries. (Arab Republic of Egypt, 1996, pp. 16–18) The influence of Western culture raises a question related to Islam and science in Egyptian society: to what extent can Western culture and technology be assimilated without compromising the integrity of Islam? Toronto (1992) noted that achieving a synthesis between the development needs of a modern world and the moral imperatives of a religious society is the greatest S. BouJaoude and Z.R. Dagher (Eds.), The World of Science Education: Arab States, 107–131. © 2009 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. N. MANSOUR challenge facing politicians, scholars, educators, and policy planners (both Muslim and non-Muslim) in the Islamic world today. Cook (2000) pushed forward awareness regarding the influence of the Western technological and scientific progress on identity of Egyptian society. According to him “The West’s accent on technological development may exact a spiritual and moral cost if not kept in proper perspective. Some Egyptians question whether there might be measures of progress other than the material standards proffered by the West. What some may interpret as material progress, others may consider degenerate. Many Egyptian educators draw a direct correlation between an insufficient emphasis on education and the painful and lingering question of identity for Egyptians. If educational policy is not infused with sufficient religio-cultural instruction, they argue, Egypt risks losing a collective self-definition” (Cook, 2000, p. 487). For a genuinely integrated pattern of educational development to occur, educational policy should reflect the shared goals expressed through the local community. The value of any national education system is ultimately contingent upon whether the educational philosophy matches the internal rhythm of society’s socio-cultural value system. Islam remains central to Egyptian identity and practice and an educational system that does not accommodate Islam as interpreted by most Egyptians will do so at the risk of being irrelevant (Cook, 2001). In his book Humum al-Ta’lim al-Masri [Concerns of Egyptian Education], Ali (1989) points out the risks of establishing a system of education based on something other than the national religious ethos. When Muhammad Ali (considered the father of modern Egypt) introduced modern European education in the 19th century, he asserts, Egyptian society began to ‘divide into two distinct halves’. One half retained the traditional system imbued with Islamic teachings, while the other half modeled itself after Europe. He argues that the division was not simply an ideological difference between traditional religious schools and those of ‘modern civilization’, but that it extended far deeper into the Egyptian awareness. ”Both sides”, he writes, “implanted and produced personalities carrying two different cultural styles” (Ali, 1989, p. 97). The Egyptian, he argues, is like a carriage with two horses, “one on the right and one on the left and he is in between with no control over his own destiny” (Ali, 1989, p. 99). The Egyptian national character is “surrounded by global dangers that are trying to destroy it” (Bahwashi, 1994, p. 446). In this respect, Al-Turabi (1983) emphasizes the challenge of modernity to Muslims when he contends An Islamic state cannot be isolated from society because Islam is a comprehensive, integrated way of life … You cannot have an Islamic state except insofar that you have an Islamic society. Any attempt at establishing a political order for the establishment of a genuine Islamic society would be the superimpositions of law over a reluctant society. (Al-Turabi, 1983, p. 241) Thus, with the central role that Islam plays within Egyptian society, can Egypt develop an educational system that adequately reflects and perpetuates the social order in which it functions? The above arguments reflect an ongoing debate between proponents of Western secularization and the Egyptian Islamic culture and how should this debate contribute to Egyptian education. This study focuses on the influence of this debate 108 .
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