| 
Full
Site Search
To search the entire TransWorld Education Site for both
articles and college details please use the form below.
Warning: Results can be extensive.
|
Studying
Islam in Morocco
Recently, light has been shed on the issue
of Islam, as a religion, a political system and a civilization.
There has been an increasing interest in the study of Islam,
mainly in the US and Europe. This special interest is due
to several factors.
First, American scholars and students draw special
attention to Islamic studies for the increasing number of
Muslims in the US population, as well as the different interpretations
of Islam by Arab Americans, Blank Americans and converters.
The US is interested in Islamic studies because of the strong
link that many of them would make between the religion and
the Muslim terrorist action around the world. After the fall
of the Berlin Wall and the break of the Soviet Union, it has
been a widely held belief that an impending cultural and historic
war would be between Liberalism and Islam as a complete way
of life. In Morocco, coexistence between 'religions of the
book' and the different races of humankind is a fact of life.
The richness of Moroccan history and culture has been the
fruit of the work, in a tolerant environment, between Muslims,
Jews, Arabs, Berbers, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
One of our main principles at Moroccan Universities
is to enhance the culture of tolerance within and outside
Morocco. For this reason, and as an international institution,
increasing numbers of universities are offering their students
an MA in Islamic Studies. Such programs highlight the deep
ties between the different parts of the Muslim world, calling
the student's attention to (and developing their interest
in) the plurality and diversity of Muslim societies, and their
richness and openness to other societies' contributions.
Such courses also analyze the ways in which
different Muslim societies adjust to modern times, and their
contributions to world cultures. Moroccan Liberal Arts Universities
also offer alternative courses to undergraduates and graduates
who are studying other concentrations. The Moorish and Moroccan
Arts and Music course studies the development of Islamic art
and Moroccan music, and its influence in Mediterranean countries.
It examines major artistic development in Europe in music
and visual arts, from circa 1600 to the early twentieth century,
in order to facilitate a better understanding of Western art.
Believing that the causes of historical development of any
civilization will be related to factors that explain its present
day validity, there are also courses looking at 'An Introduction
to Islamic Civilization'. Such courses will introduce students
to the general features of Islamic civilization, using an
approach that takes into account the basis of the civilization,
its sources and components.
Courses entitled 'History of the Arab World'
are also offered, studying the significant political, religious
and socio-economic events in the Arab-speaking countries of
the Muslim world. I find it very relevant to inform readers
that apart from the academic programs and courses offered
in the field of Islamic Studies, universities such as Al Akhawayn
University, are also considered to be a meeting place for
distinguished scholars of religion. Al Akhawayn University
organized the First Conference on Tolerance in October 1999,
followed by 'la Faculté Itinérantes des Religions des Livres'
in April 2000.
Author
Mohammed Rherras
Executive Director Al Akhawayn University |
