Customer Reviews

Teaching Islam: Textbooks And Religion in the Middle East

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Edited by Eleanor Abdella Doumato (visiting fellow, Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University) and Gregory Starrett (professor of anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East is an anthology of scholarly essays by learned authors concerning the political and social priorities underlying religious education in nine Middle Eastern countries. One essay is devoted to Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, The Palestinian National Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey; three additional essays examine the role of Islamic textbook creation and the impact of Islamic teaching methods upon the populace of a given nation state. An invaluable close scrutiny, especially in the wake of the September 11th attacks and accusations that textbooks fostering violence have heavily infiltrated Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world. Highly recommended.

This book is well researched and well written - a must for any university course that looks at education & international relations. You will find that the discussions go beyond the obvious and look at the highly complex nature of education and how that intertwines with national identity & politics. For example, when comparing the religious curricula among the countries, Dr. Doumato discusses the critical impact of both teacher instruction (quality of) and the "weight" each country gives each subject. Dr. Starrett's work is impressive and provides an excellent foundation for future research on Islamic studies in the US. Furthermore, this is a book that every foreign policy maker in the US should read to garner a better understanding of the issues so that the US might develop a more effective foreign policy in this area.