This article initiates a discussion on incorporating "religious literacy" into Saudi secondary education. It provides a preliminary understanding of the religious education context and emphasizes that religious literacy is not religious education. It examines the arguments for and against the incorporation of religious literacy in the…

This article discusses how Islamic religious education (IRE) can complement citizenship education by nurturing shared values and norms. The article first discusses the ideal of transformative citizenship in the context of Western liberal democracies as the dynamic interplay of four core dimensions: identity, legal status, participation, and…

Much attention has been given to interreligious dialogue in recent decades. However, less attention has been devoted to models that support citizenship through Islamic religious education in secondary education. Based on Lipman's Philosophy for Children, Hashim developed the Hikmah model. This model contributes to cognitive, social, and affective…

The spread of Islam to the nomadic Kazakh community that lived in the steppes of Asia has followed a difficult historical path over many centuries. In recent centuries, a system of Islamic religious education in the regions where Islam was the main religion gradually began to generalize and spread. This process continued until the more recent…

Sacred teaching takes many forms across religious traditions, focusing on creation and sacramentality in Christianity, God's nature and creation of human beings in Judaism, and spiritual and social practices in both. At the heart of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions are accents on the sacredness of life, creation in the image of God, and…

In many religious communities, children encounter rigorous and continuous processes of religious socialization and education that impact their cognitive development. However, little research has been conducted on children's perceptions of religion and religious concepts. This research explores perceptions of Heaven as a core concept in Islamic…

This article aims to demonstrate how one American Islamic school community grapples with external and internal demands on religion, and how this process impacts notions of what is religious. At 'Ilm High School, an Islamic high school on America's West Coast, school administrators and teachers must accommodate students' and parents' diverse and…

In a society transitioning from a social order largely defined by strict adherence to religious doctrine to one opening up to the forces of a global economy, knowledge of the sources of norms of "proper conduct" (religious rules, cultural traditions or both) is particularly important in determining conformity to or dismissal of such…

This article explores and analyzes private Muslim schooling in France using ethnographic research performed in 2013-2014 in Lille-, Lyon-, and Paris-based Muslim schools. The article discusses the course content and the interpretations of Islam that are taught, demonstrating how French republican values are fused together with Islam to promote a…

Interfaith dialogue can encourage learning between members of different religions. Facilitators of interfaith dialogue must support, encourage, and challenge participants to engage with others in dialogue on a difficult and sensitive topic. I present findings from a qualitative case study conducted with an interfaith dialogue group located in the…

With more investigation into the reception of evolution in non-Christian majority cultures, and the increased awareness that anti-evolution sentiment is a global phenomenon, new educational resources are being developed to meet newly understood needs. This article explores the situation in Israel regarding conceptions of the compatibility of…

Pope Francis incarnates a praxis of encounter in an age of polarization. For Francis, encounter entails displacement, dialog, and discernment. Relational pedagogy illuminates the fecundity of relationships between the teacher and student at the heart of education. Nel Noddings, preeminent proponent of relational pedagogy, grounds an ethics of care…

Discussions about past experiences in learning in encounter can lead to eliciting their implications for new educational experiences. There is a serious need to revisit some of these historical critiques and historical conversations. It may not seem easy to knock on the door of the historical. For some people this practice provokes fear. However,…

Young people living in conflict-ridden areas in the southern part of the Philippines, Mindanao, experience hostility from communities motivated by religious ideologies and political beliefs. With this premise, this study will uncover emerging themes on the way students form their views towards people who have a different faith based on three…

The struggle for mutual respect of difference may be the most paradigmatic form of public conflict in the United States and elsewhere today. In recent years, a movement and broad community of practice has burgeoned in the United States and beyond, which brings people together across deep divides to engage in dialogue aimed to reduce conflict and…