Colonialism, Postcolonialism, Islam, and Education

Abstract

This chapter provides a critical overview of Western colonialism and its impact on Islam and Islamic education from the nineteenth century. The colonization of Muslim countries has left lasting and indelible marks on Islam and Islamic education. Not only did colonialism call into question the domination of the Islamic discourse in Muslim countries, it also imposed on these countries secular laws, modern state apparatuses and Western-type education. Consequently, these changes generated a number of dilemmas and challenges for the Muslims during and after the colonial period. In the case of Islamic education, the key debates and controversies center on the place and mission of Islamic schools against a backdrop of independence, state-building, and modernization; the relationship between and integration of ``secular'' subjects and religious subjects; and the ``right'' way to reform the Islamic schools. This chapter explains how various and competing social imaginaries of Islam and Islamic education such as ``Orientalism'' and ``reformist Islam'' were constructed and promoted by both the colonial powers and Muslims. To illustrate the existence of and resulting dilemmas and challenges from the social imaginaries, appropriate examples drawn from former colonized countries such as Egypt and Singapore will be given.