Music Education and Muslims

Abstract

Diana Harris presents her research on teaching music to Muslim students inthe United Kingdom. She argues that music educators have to take intoaccount that music is a sensitive issue formanyMuslims. The fact that musiceducation is compulsory for British pupils until the age of fourteen presentsan ethical dilemma for those who, for religious reasons, do not feel comfortableparticipating in music classes.With this book, the author intends to help state schoolteachers understand the history and position of music in Islamandhelp teachers in state and independent Islamic schools provide music classesthat their students might find more acceptable.Harris has drawn upon her extensive experience as a music educator inthe United Kingdom at schools where the pupils have been predominantlyMuslim. Her other sources include interviews conducted between 1999-2005; participant-observation fieldwork undertaken at schools in the UnitedKingdom, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey; and scholarly sources concerningmusic and Islam. Harris stresses that she has tried to approach this topic asdelicately as possible, and that in her capacity as a music teacher, she wouldnever force her pupils to participate in activities that run counter to their personalbeliefs. How the musical components of the national curriculum (performing,composing, listening, and appraising) are to be achieved dependsupon the individual teacher, who can, therefore, tailor classes to the needs ofspecific pupils ...