Exploring the(in)commensurability between the lived experiences of Muslim women and cosmopolitanism : implications for democratic citizenship education and Islamic education
Date
2012-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Impressions and perceptions about Islām, particularly in a world where much of
what is known about Islām has emerged from after the tragic devastation of the
Twin Towers in New York, are creating huge challenges for Muslims wherever
they may find themselves. Women as the more visible believers in Islām are, what I
believe, at the forefront of the growing skepticism surrounding Islām. And central to the
modern day debates and suspicious regard meted out to Muslim women today is her hijāb
(head-scarf). Ironically, it would appear that the same amount of detail and attention that
Islamic scholars have devoted to the role of women in Islām and how they are expected
to conduct themselves is now at the centre of the modern day debates and suspicious
regard. Yet, the debates seldom move beyond what is obviously visible, and so little is
known about what has given shape to Muslim women’s being, and how their
understanding of Islām has led them to practise their religion in a particular way.
This dissertation is premised on the assertion that in order to understand the role of
Muslim women in a cosmopolitan society, you need to understand Islām and Islamic
education. It sets out to examine and explore as to whether there is commensurability or
not between Muslim women and the notion of cosmopolitanism, and what then the
implications would be for democratic citizenship education and Islamic education. One
of the main findings of the dissertation is that the intent to understand Muslim women’s
education and the rationales of their educational contexts and practices opens itself to a
plurality of interpretations that reflects the pluralism of understanding constitutive of the
practices of Islam both within and outside of cosmopolitanism. Another is that
inasmusch as Muslim women have been influenced by living and interacting in a
cosmopolitan society, cosmopolitanism has been shaped and shifted by Muslim women.
By examining the concepts of knowledge and education in Islām, and exploring the gaps
between interpretations of Islam and Qur’anic exegesis, I hope to demystify many of the (mis)perceptions associated with Muslim women, and ultimately with Islām. And finally,
by examining how Islamic education can inform a renewed cosmopolitanism, and by
looking at how democratic citizenship education can shape a renewed Islamic education,
the eventual purpose of this dissertation is to find a way towards peaceful co-existence.
Description
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
Includes bibliography
Includes bibliography
Keywords
Islamic education -- South Africa, Muslim women in a cosmopolitan environment, Democratic citizenship education, Muslim women -- Education -- South Africa, Theses -- Education, Dissertations -- Education