Islamic Education and Youth Well-Being in Muslim Countries, with a Specific Reference to Algeria

Abstract

This chapter raised a number of issues related to Islamic Education and the well-being of children and youth in Islamic countries. Its first part discussed how the religion of Islam construed the status of children, their wellbeing and the roles of families and the society in general. The second part depicted how education developed over the centuries to meet the needs of the evolving multi-ethnic Muslim society. The final part looked at the clashes between this Islamic ‘traditional’ model and the Modern ‘secular’ one in the colonial era, through the particular case of Algeria. It also discussed the post-colonial educational systems of Islamic countries and how they could integrate Moral/Religious education in their schools’ curricula.

It concluded that Islam succeeded to revolutionise the views held regarding the status of children, their rights, education and well-being. Gradually, Muslim societies could meet the expressed needs through instituting a well-adapted educational system in which Qur’anic schools, Medersas, and Jami’as became respectively the equivalents of Primary, Intermediate and Higher education. This was accompanied with the development of a genuine theory and diversified pedagogical practices. However, a painful transition had taken place towards modernising education as illustrated through the case of Algeria. ‘Modern Education’ was refused because it formed an integrated part of a wide colonial project which aimed to jeopardise the Islamic identity and deprive people from their lands and resources. In the post- colonial era, Islamic Education took the status of a curriculum subject, an equivalent of ‘Moral Education’. Nonetheless, a large part of this Traditional Education has been taken in charge by the community as a whole in a parallel system teaching the Qur’an and religious sciences to pre-schooled children and to schooled ones during their free time and holidays. The paper concluded with a synthesis and some recommendations.