How much Islam in Australian Islamic schools? part 1

In many “Islamic” schools within Australia, the only Islam in the school is in the title.

If, by merely placing Islam in the title of any enterprise, one could confer purity of religious purpose, why not an “Islamic” pub, or an “Islamic” piggery? This axiom, however, seems to be the mantra for a new generation of “Islamic” schools.

In 2000, the City Circle in London, hosted a lecture by the principal of Islamia school. The theme of the talk was the challenge of Islamic education in a Western country, but he spoke rather of the difficulties and shortcomings of his school. For me, it was it was heartening to see such candor and thoughtfulness. It was his silent tribute to the depth and caliber of his audience. Thereafter I was not surprised to hear that as a school, it was HIGHLY sought after and produced dramatic scholastic and spiritual results. If there was a good model of an Islamic school then that is it.

The Australian situation is profoundly different and inferior. Australian government funding rules have made independent schooling a cash crop for small communities and large ethnic families. “Islamic” schools have mushroomed in this climate. They have been run with the same skill, acumen and purity of purpose as community masjids (mosques), which is to say, none at all. Many outer suburban McMansions, large European cars and diabetic lifestyles are built on the back of these golden geese. There are, however, few spiritual dividends, either for the owner or the pupil.

There are obviously important exceptions to this general trend.

Like most industrialized countries,there is a government sanctioned curriculum that is compulsory in all schools, government or independent. This fills the daily 6 to 7 hour school day and is periodically examined by the state. To the extent that other subjects are taught, they are subservient and marginal. Thus there is an inherent bias against all faith schools and religious groups. “Islamic” schools have developed education strategies to counter this problem.

They do one of three things:

1. Stick to the government curriculum with religious and linguistic embroidery, imagery and rhetoric;
2. They ignore any deep pursuit of the government curriculum and concentrate on an “Islamic education”. These schools invariably have a model of religious education that strongly resembles the failed education model from the country from which they come, or from where the money comes. It bears no semblance to a classical Islamic education;
3. They teach the government curriculum solely and hope to convey a religious idea of a good person via an as yet undetermined means of communication (telepathy or via the ether). Islam is never mentioned, so as not to offend sensibilities in a nation on the other side of the world. Readers will, I am sure, know which particular schools have this type of existential spiritual mentoring.

The first and third strategies are copied wholly or in part from Christian independent schools where, over 200 years, they have failed so completely, that they seem to fundamentally undermine religion rather than to teach it. Indeed, over the last 100 years, the teaching of Christian morality has been so completely removed from the practice of it, so as to render the former an exercise in the pure abstract.

In 1996, the Catholic Church’s Life Survey revealed that only 18% of Catholics attended mass regularly, and that of those only 63% (aged 15-39) believed in “there is only one god; father, son and holy ghost”. (Which suggests that 37% attend despite accepting the central article of faith of Christianity to be a fraud.)

Of more consequence for Muslims is that the outcome of 50 years of separate dedicated Catholic school education was to DIMINISH Catholic belief and practice. As is typical of the modern Muslim community, this was sufficient reason to copy it whole.