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 ethics in Islamic thought, a workshop for selected madrasa delegates for a conversation on Science and Islam, 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 principles 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 Muslims and non-Muslims in Bangladesh. The impact of fundamentalism and the lack of clarity on the role of ethics, justice and human dignity 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 madrasas) 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. 3 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