Teaching Islam: textbooks and religion in the Middle East

TLDR: Teaching Islam as discussed by the authors explores the political and social priorities behind religious education in nine Middle Eastern countries, revealing dramatic differences in the way that Islam is presented in textbooks across the range of countries, reflecting local histories and the policy interests of the state.

Abstract: Much has been made of the role that Saudi Arabia's education system played in fostering the hatred that fueled the September 11 terror attacks. But do Saudi textbooks deserve to be faulted for fostering violence? And have Wahhabi ideas infiltrated the Islamic textbooks used in public schools throughout the Middle East? Confronting these questions, "Teaching Islam" explores the political and social priorities behind religious education in nine Middle Eastern countries. The authors reveal dramatic differences in the way that Islam is presented in textbooks across the range of countries, reflecting local histories and the policy interests of the state. They also illustrate the perhaps surprising adaptability of Islam as leaders strive to reconcile Muslim identity with both state citizenship and the modern reality of an interdependent, globalized world.