COVER STORY — EDUCATION FORUM PAPER of years, and was well paid for it, had to retire from baseball because of a serious illness. 2. “Wait until Next Year” — a memoir about the interaction between a boy and his father, which consisted totally of talking about baseball. 3. “The Wonder Years” TV script — boyfriend-girlfriend awkward moments 4. “Broken Chain” — short story about a teenage boy who agonizes about what to wear in order to fit in, and is embarrassed by some boys claiming he likes a certain girl. 5. “Barrio Boy” — a pseudo autobiography about a Mexican boy who starts first grade not understanding any English. 6. “Fish Cheeks” — an autobiographical account which begins with “I fell in love with the minister’s son …when I turned 14.” 7. “Rosa Parks” — this is the only acceptable piece for Muslim students. It is culturally important for all Americans to understand the civil rights movement and the people involved. The purpose of these selections is to teach reading skills, not values or character building. Per California law, they reflect some culturally diverse characters — one Chinese, one Mexican, one black, but don’t reflect any Muslim culture. There is nothing special about these selections in terms of teaching reading skills. If anything, they are less than desirable when trying to teach critical reading skills. Muslim teachers should instead substitute more appropriate material.
SUBSTITUTE BETTER MATERIAL For the middle school let’s compare the Glencoe selections with equivalent selections from: “Treasury of Muslim Literature Age: The Golden years: 750-1250 CE,” author Freda Shamma. The “Treasury” is an anthology of Muslim writers who lived 1,000 years ago before the Islamic educational system came under the sway of Western imperialism. Most of the authors began their education with Quran and Islamic sciences and then went on to produce material that educated as well as entertained, that broaden the geographical, historical and cultural understandings of the general populations, that made great strides in the development of many sciences and branches of medicine. These selections reflect the ethnic diversity of Muslims. They are similar genres of writing as the western text, but contain wisdom to guide the readers to think along Islamic lines rather than western. 24
1. “Strong Men Weep” – an essay about a white American Substitute: “Superiority of Blacks to Whites — an essay, by Al Jahiz, the son of black slaves who lived in what is now Iraq. He was known as the foremost writer of prose. 2. “Wait until Next Year” — a memoir Substitute: “Observation on the Crusades” — a memoir “The Book of Reflections” by Usama Ibn Munqedh (1095-1188 CE), who lived in what is now Palestine. 3. “The Wonder Years” TV script — boyfriend-girlfriend awkward moments Substitute: Movie script from “Prince among Slaves” — about a West African prince who maintained his religion and his dignity even though he was forced into slavery in America (a UPF production, not in the “Treasury”) 4 “Broken Chain” — short story about a teenage boy who agonizes about what to wear in order to fit in, and is embarrassed by some boys claiming he likes a certain girl. Substitute: “What the Birds Know” — a short story from Khlila wa Dimna: animal fables spun around two jackals and their dealings in the court of their king — the Lion; about an old Muslim killed on his way to hajj who calls on the birds above to witness to God for justice, by a Persian (Iranian) author. 5. “Barrio Boy” — a pseudo autobiography about a Mexican boy who starts first grade not understanding any English. Substitute: “Autobiography of Ibn Sina” — about the famous polymath Ibn Sina from Afghanistan. 6. “Fish Cheeks” — an autobiographical account of a Chinese American which begins with “I fell in love with the minister’s son … when I turned 14.” Substitute: Interpreting the Self — the autobiography of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Islamic scholar and Sufi, from Afghanistan. The “Treasury of Muslim Literature: The Golden Age 750-1250 CE,” is designed as an integrative text, including religious subjects as well as historical and geographical beside the usual “literary” subjects found in Western anthologies. The middle school teacher can use individual selections, plan to teach the anthology in one year or over three years. Lesson plans are available. Language arts classes should include literature from the West as well as from Muslim countries. This “Treasury” includes only the works of Muslims due to the amount of material that was produced in the Golden Age.
While this is the only integrated Muslim literature text, it can be used as the sole textbook one year, with Western literature taught in other years. But when more books are available, it would be best to include some from both cultures in every year. However, the Western material should be chosen to reflect western classics. What is really needed is more Muslim authored textbooks. In the mean time, teachers should read each selection from a critical Muslim eye before using it in class. They can: Collect appropriate stories and nonfiction from different subjects that can be placed in a Muslim authored text for a particular reading level. Use this material in your classroom and add your lesson plans to your text. Contribute your stories/selections to a joint project, perhaps under the auspices of the Islamic Schools League or CISNA. God willing together we can begin to steer our schools toward a more Islamic worldview.
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Condensed from Dr. Freda Shamma’s paper read at the ISNA Education Conference, Chicago, April 2014, with author’s permission. Shamma is author of “The Treasury of Muslim Literature: The Golden Age 750-1250 CE” (Amana Publications; First Edition, 2013).
ISLAMIC SCHOOL IN SOUTH FLORIDA Seeking a dynamic educational leader to lead our school to next level of excellence for 2014 – 2015 school year.
Qualifications: 1. At least three years experience as a principal 2. Master’s degree in education or related educational field 3. Legal resident of the United States 4. Principal Certification or pursuing certification If you are interested in applying for the principal position, please submit your resume via email to sbarakhaz@yahoo.com.