Focus
Even with the expansion of religious studies in many American universities, Islam has not garnered the same interest as Hinduism, Buddhism, or Chinese religions. This attitude of neglect also was seen in other humanities in which Islam did not have an appropriate place. Nasr briefly traces the development of Islamic studies as a discipline in American academia, and states “that early American scholars of Islam were mostly missionaries with an often open and vocal opposition to, or even disdain for, Islam and its culture.” Despite the facts that several prominent scholars made a positive contribution to the field of Islamic studies and that some of them are still active, the general tendency was an accumulation of miseducation, misunderstanding, and distortion.
The current relevance of this topic goes beyond its being an important source of knowledge and information or misinformation about Islam and Muslims for so many young non-Muslim Americans, for sometimes it is the first or only source. As these course offerings expand, they attract many Muslim students who take them out of interest or in hopes of getting an easy “A.” But then they become trapped by waves of distortion, defamation, and slander. In many cases, they cannot respond appropriately either due to a lack of knowledge or of courage. The results sometimes are devastating to their psyches. As a result, the influence of these departments and scholarships is far more damaging than commonly believed.
The events of 9/11 have been followed by an unprecedented period of rapid demand for more sources of knowledge and learning opportunities about Islam. Chairs and departments for Islamic studies are being established, more courses are being offered, and more students than ever are enrolling in them. This trend has opened more opportunities for young and promising Muslim scholars to enter the field. In fact, a growing number of Muslim students in Islamic studies has been recorded during the last few years. More good news also is coming from the positive attitudes of non-Muslim scholars toward Islam and from mainstream university professors opposing unfair positions and representations of issues related to Islam and Muslims. But the challenges facing Muslim communities will continue: to achieve a better representation, to channel the positive signals to serve their own concerns, and to improve the quality of interactions with other segments of American society.
To plan for a future based on sound knowledge, this area needs a program of academic research based on empirical and field studies. Following are some suggestions:
A general survey of Islamic studies programs in American universities. This survey may be an update of the “manual of the programs of Islamic, Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies in American universities,” which was published by the cultural attache of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington in 1989, and was updated and republished in 1993.
Analyses of Islamic studies programs in certain universities; studying Islam as a religion in universities; Muslim community involvement in university-level Islamic studies programs; chairs in Islamic studies; approaches to university-level Islam studies programs; the study of Sufism in American universities; the place of Islam in university-level comparative religious studies programs; and tracking the number of Muslim scholars in these programs.
These suggestions are neither exhaustive nor conclusive, for each item could be elaborated upon and turned into research proposals as a thesis or dissertation for graduate students. These studies also may be the foci of conferences and seminars organized by Islamic research centers and associations. Seven to 11 research papers in each seminar on a certain topic could be turned into an edited book to enrich the field and make more literature available for further research. Future leaders of Muslims communities will find such literature helpful for making better decisions and accelerated progress.
From “The Future
of Muslim Education in the US” by Fathi Malkawi in AJISS
vol. 20, Fall 2003, pp. 63-65