The relation between Islam and the West is the topic of an ongoing debate. The debate often leaves us with a choice between two mutually exclusive worlds: the modern West with its enlightenment and science and accompanying secular education, or else Islam and Islamic education, characterised by orthodoxy and tradition. In the hope of promoting dialogue instead of polarisation, the author, a philosopher of education trained in the West, searches for the ideas and ideals of education, schooling and learning within Islam. Wherever knowledge and learning have blossomed, education, schooling and teaching must have flourished, too. Which educational culture was part of the highly developed intellectual culture of classical Islam? Current-day modernist Muslim intellectuals take inspiration from this rich intellectual tradition of Islam. The perspective on the future of Islamic education in the modern context, in which the book results, utilizes their ideas. Hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, is applied to the rereading and reinterpretation of the source texts of Islam. Hermeneutics also offers an inspiring perspective on an education that strikes the balance between tradition and enlightenment.

The Al-Azhar University remains the top destination for Southeast Asian students pursuing an Islamic studies degree. The university, built in the last millennium, has been able to withstand competition from modern universities across the globe and continues to produce influential Islamic studies graduates. What are the motivations of students pursuing a degree at Al-Azhar? What are the challenges they face? Are they certain of their future and career opportunities upon their return to Singapore? This book combines both qualitative and quantitative analysis of former and current students at the Al-Azhar University. It not only hopes to develop more critical analysis of returning Al-Azhar graduates but also attempts to understand the deeper connections between Muslims in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, and the Middle East.

Since the Taliban seized Kabul in 1996, the public has grappled with the relationship between Islamic education and radical Islam. Media reports tend to paint madrasas--religious schools dedicated to Islamic learning--as medieval institutions opposed to all that is Western and as breeding grounds for terrorists. Others have claimed that without reforms, Islam and the West are doomed to a clash of civilizations. Robert Hefner and Muhammad Qasim Zaman bring together eleven internationally renowned scholars to examine the varieties of modern Muslim education and their implications for national and global politics. The contributors provide new insights into Muslim culture and politics in countries as different as Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. They demonstrate that Islamic education is neither timelessly traditional nor medieval, but rather complex, evolving, and diverse in its institutions and practices. They reveal that a struggle for hearts and minds in Muslim lands started long before the Western media discovered madrasas, and that Islamic schools remain on its front line. Schooling Islam is the most comprehensive work available in any language on madrasas and Islamic education.

The Al-Azhar University remains the top destination for Southeast Asian students pursuing an Islamic studies degree. The university, built in the last millennium, has been able to withstand competition from modern universities across the globe and continues to produce influential Islamic studies graduates. What are the motivations of students pursuing a degree at Al-Azhar? What are the challenges they face? Are they certain of their future and career opportunities upon their return to Singapore? This book combines both qualitative and quantitative analysis of former and current students at the Al-Azhar University. It not only hopes to develop more critical analysis of returning Al-Azhar graduates but also attempts to understand the deeper connections between Muslims in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, and the Middle East.