This article provides an overview of the discourses on Dutch mosque education. Based on a review of the scholarly debates on mosque education in West, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles containing references to mosque education between 2010 and 2016 (N = 45). The data are sampled from the five largest Dutch…

The present article offers a discussion of the national literacy campaign in Morocco which has been in effect since 2000. I drew on New Literacy Studies (NLS) to offer insights into the large-scale state-endorsed mosque-based literacy programme as a major channel of adult literacy. The aim is to highlight the geopolitical climate, which has given…

This paper focuses on issues of reproduction and the manufacturing of national/ethnic and religious identities in the deterritorialized space of the Moroccan immigrant diaspora. More specifically, this paper examines Moroccan immigrant children's language socialization into pan-Arabic and Islamic identities in relation to the teaching of the…

This article is based on an ethnographic study I conducted in southern Morocco during 2004. I explore the historical, ideological, and cultural background behind educational specialization among Moroccan university students. I describe how French colonial educational policies and postindependence Moroccan national schooling ideologies have created…

For centuries, Morocco has had a dynamic network of Qur'anic schools, serving children from elementary age through adulthood. Qur'anic schools are religious schools that facilitate memorization of the Qur'an through teaching children to pronounce and recite the Qur'an according to an accepted recitational style. Despite 44 years of French…

This issue paper, one in a series that United States Agency for International Development (USAID) produces, provides analytical input to policy makers and practitioners on ways to address the pressing educational challenges in the Muslim world. The paper summarizes the findings and guidance contained in a full report of a three month desk study…

In recent years, the purpose and methods of Islamic schools have received increased scrutiny from non-Muslim and Muslim leaders as well as the Western media, often leading to negative publicity, criticisms, and statements of official concern. The lack of appreciation of the distinction between radical and ordinary Islamic schools is due to a lack…

The chapters in this volume do not represent the whole of the Middle East and North Africa, as such a collection would have been too large for one volume. Rather, the selection here is intended to present different perspectives on a range of educational issues, relevant to a particular focus or country, or common to a number of countries in the…

This article documents patterns of take-up of traditional religious and primary school education in Chefchaouen, one of the most disadvantaged provinces in Morocco located in the impoverished northwestern region of the country. First, the author provides some background on the socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the province of…

By looking at changes in the status and role of the fqih or traditional Islamic teacher in Morocco, it is possible to trace the transformation of the entire learning system from an independent, teacher-centered approach to a government-controlled educational system, of which religious education is only a part. In the traditional system, students…