World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies Editar

Barcelona, July 19th - 24th 2010

· NOT_DEFINED date: TUE 20, 2.30-4.30 pm

· NOT_DEFINED institution: Al-Azhar University and American University in Cairo

· NOT_DEFINED organizer: Sanaa Makhlouf

· NOT_DEFINED sponsor: The World Association for Al-Azhar Graduates

· NOT_DEFINED language: in English

· NOT_DEFINED description: Islam, the fastest growing religion, is coming to play a central role in today’s world not only in countries which have been traditionally described as Islamic, but also in countries where it is a minority faith. And many Muslims of those that are living both in Muslim and non-Muslim countries are searching for ways of living their faith in this increasingly changing globalized world. Many of them look towards the traditional institutions of Islamic learning hoping to gain a better and credible understanding of their religion and answers to today’s most pressing questions. In response to this need Al-Azhar roundtable on Education and pedagogy examines issues related to questions that arise within a digitally ''hyper'' connected learning environment where learners are empowered - and perhaps disadvantaged by these technologies- like: what is the future role of traditional institutions of learning as al-Azhar University and the madrasah, the role of Islamic centres, teacher and imam training pedagogies, and curricula design. How to have coherence in a highly fragmented learning environment which seems to separate knowledge production from a moral framework.

Chair: Prof. Abdel Dayem Nusear (Al-Azhar University and Associate Director of the World Association for al-Azhar Graduates), “Al-Azhar remains one of the few bastions of moderation and traditional learning; how to adapt and remain true to its foundational spirit is the main challenge ahead of it”.

Presenter: Khaled Abou El-Fadl (University of California, Los Angeles), “Understanding how to teach Islam and which Islam to teach has become an absolute imperative because achieving such an understanding will determine the type of people we are and the place we will have in world civilization”.

Presenter: Steffen Stelzer (The American University in Cairo), “The teaching of Islam to the Western world must be centered in simplicity and not in complex constructions of dogma, that locates religion in the ordinary and not the extraordinary”.

Presenter: Mohammed Abdel Fadil M. Abdel Aziz (Al-Azhar University), “Hujjat al-Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali's treatise ''O my beloved son''affords us valuable insights on what to teach and how to teach today''s Muslim youth;It is imperative to revive scholarship in Imam al-Ghazzali's works”.

Presenter: Abd el Nasser Shabaan (Head of the Central Department of the National Library and Archives of Egypt), “Changing Paradigms Changing Pedagogies”
Modern educationalists assume wrongly that building of the Islamic person is done primarily by teaching the formal Islamic sciences. However, this may actually lead to distortions in personality structures. In order to achieve knowledge of who we are and where we need to go and how to reach it we need to revive the teachings of other human sciences like literature, history, ethics and standards of innovation. With this Islamic pedagogy we can in short construct the Muslim renaissance person.