Much Remains to Be Done

By Betsy Barlow

With the instant assumption by the media and the public that the Oklahoma bombing must have been connected to Muslim terrorists, those of us who have been trying for years to improve the teaching about Islam felt the need to reassess how we have been operating. How could it be that Americans have such a distorted view of world history that we so easily identify Islam with terrorism?

One could, after all, argue that the process of state formation was much more bloody and violent in Europe than in the Middle East. One could point out that, in all fairness, we usually do not claim that Christians are innately violent just because Christians instigated the Crusades, and forcibly converted, burned at the stake, or drove out Muslims and Jews when Christians conquered Andalusian Spain, or that in our own century people of Christian heritage committed the Holocaust in Europe, for many years killed one another in Northern Ireland, and are now guilty of monstrous human rights violations in the former Yugoslavia.

Atrocities committed by the "Christian" West when it colonized Africa and Asia are generally interpreted as political acts, rather than as having any inherent connection with Christianity. Why is it, then, that Americans persist in connecting violence and terrorism with Islam?

As one who has been working in the field of Middle East outreach for some 13 years, it is hard to admit that we have really not had much impact yet. My experience has been that younger children and less educated adults have fewer of the false images about Islam that one finds among the "well educated" who are not Middle Eastern specialists or who have not lived abroad. The errors and stereotypes do not all originate with inside-the-beltway pundits and talk show hosts. They seem imbedded also in many (but not all) American textbooks, supplementary schoolbooks, news magazines, church training manuals, movies and videos, comic books, cartoons, beltway pundits, and talk show hosts. So the more one tries to learn, the more distortion one absorbs.

Good Sources on Islam

The one hopeful sign is that there sre now some excellent sources of help, though clearly we all need to redouble our efforts to ensure that the next generation receives an accurate and realistic portrayal of Islam. One of the best ways of learning about Islam, obviously, is to talk to some Muslims. Teachers who live near Muslims have been able to invite speakers in to describe their beliefs, holidays, and family life. Such person-to-person contact helps to cut through layers of false images of "the other." Of course, teachers need to be careful about putting an individual on the spot. Just as there are many Christians who would feel uncomfortable if suddenly asked to speak for all Christianity, many Muslims would find this a difficult assignment.

Teachers who want to find a qualified speaker in their geographic area, or appropriate material, can contact either the Council on Islamic Education or the Islamic Society of North America. The director of the Council, Shabbir Mansuri, can be reached at 9300 Gardenia Street, #B-3, Fountain Valley, CA 92708; phone (714) 839-2929; fax (714) 839-2714.

The Council also offers critiques of textbooks, conducts in-service workshops for teachers and has produced several books. Of special interest to educators is the $5 manual Teaching About Islam and Muslims in the Public School Classroom: Handbook for Educators, which contains information about the needs of Muslim students, handouts and activity sheets for students, and annotated lists of recommended books and videos.

The Introduction to Islamic History is a resource book for teachers of grades 7-12 with lesson plans for a four-week unit on Islam, including reading assignments for units on trade, exploration, the Crusades, science, and Muslim Spain, all for $49.95.

How could it be that Americans so easily identify Islam with terrorism?

A new addition is Strategies and Structures for Presenting World History, With Islam and Muslim History as a Case Study, available for $10. This book is designed for textbook writers and publishers, as well as curriculum coordinators. It ties in well with the California History-Social Science Framework and the National Standards for World History. The Council also offers, for $1.00 each, teacher notes on Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr and also on the hajj and Eid al-Adha. Quantity discounts are available.

Shaker El-Sayed is the educational director of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), P.O. Box 38, Plainfield, IN 46168; phone (317) 839-8157. He is also willing to help educators find speakers for their conferences. ISNA also has videos available on the Islamic pilgrimage, and recommends books which have been developed for Muslim students (K-6 grade) on celebrations, Muslim communities throughout the world, Muslim cities, and Muslim civilization, which are available from the Kendall-Hunt Publishing Company, phone (800) 228-0810.

Programs for Teaching About Islam

Audrey Shabbas at AWAIR is offering a two-week summer program on "Islam: the Qur'an and Hadith." It is becoming an annual event, and in the summer of 1996 there may be two institutes on this topic. AWAIR's catalog also offers several resources for teaching about Islam. AWAIR's address is: 1400 Shattuck Ave., Suite 9, Berkeley, CA 94709; phone (510) 704-0517. There will be more on teaching materials and upcoming training seminars and programs in the July/August issue of the Washington Report.

Betsy Barlow is the outreach coordinator of the University of Michigan's Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies.