Editorial

Abstract

With the publication of this issue (Vol. 14, no. 4), AJISS becomes fourteen
years old. Though many years have passed, we still look forward
with much optimism and determination to realizing the Journal’s original
goals as stated in its first issue: “to serve as an effective bridge of
intellectual communication between various Muslim intellectuals in the
country (USA) and beyond,. . . to serve as a medium of communication
between Muslims in the United States and their fellow countrymen of
diverse faiths, . . . [and to] facilitate the ongoing dialogue and cooperation
between “old world” Muslims and their brethren living in the West.”
However, with the passage of time these goals have become focused
into one principle: to provide a comprehensive Islamic vision that relates
Islamic principles to issues of contemporary thought and social realities.
To achieve this through a genuine process of ijtihad, Muslim scholars,
academicians, and professionals are required to excel in their own fields
of specialization, to have a thorough understanding of Islamic sources,
and to have a sound knowledge and acquaintance of the changing social
realities and circumstances.
The field of education, to which this issue of AJISS is dedicated, offers
us a compelling challenge to our professed goals. From the beginning,
we realized its importance. In the second issue of AJISS, it was pointed
out that “close examination of both current and past trends in American
Muslim communities show the disruptive impact of public schooling on
Islamic culture. Research designed to initiate an educational alternative
for Muslim communities is vital and long overdue.”
What is clear now is that various alternatives should be developed at
the same time. During the last fifteen years tens of full-time Islamic
schools have been established in the USA and Europe. Hundreds of
evening and weekend schools have also been established. Alternative
curricula and textbooks are needed. This is not to neglect the public
school system where the majority of Muslim children will continue to
have their education and where stereotyped and false images of Islam
and Muslims in various textbooks and library collections continue to
bombard the minds of students, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Efforts
to approach local school authorities, teachers, and textbook publishers to ...