[Dean's World] Aziz P: Egyptian textbooks

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Posted by Aziz P:
Egyptian textbooks
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1156858408.shtml


   In the previous thread, some argued that selected passages in
   [1]children's textbooks in Egypt support Donald Sensing's contention
   that "any muslim" is bound to consider the forced conversions of the
   FOX journalists valid. I respect the work done by the CMIP to try and
   translate textbooks but I think that their work lends itself to
   others' polemical agendas rather readily.

   I think that it's self-evident why a [2]court ruling that forced
   conversions are not valid carries more weight than a textbook for
   grade schoolers. But the issue is worth addressing because the
   chidlren's textbooks used in Egypt are actually a sign of increasing
   tolerance, not less.

   In my elementary school in suburban Chicago, I was taught Manifest
   Destiny of the United States and that the Native Americans were savage
   but noble people who are now protected citizens and have embraced
   modernity. I think that there are few people in my generation who
   still subscribe to this view, despite having been "indoctrinated" as
   impressionable youth. And certainly my grade school textbooks have no
   relevance to many court rulings in favor of the Indian Nations that
   say that the treaties they signed with the US were continually and
   habitually broken.

   But let's look a little more closely at the textbooks in question. The
   translation seems pretty poor to me, but here's the whole paragraph:

     If a Protected Person [Dhimmi] is forced to convert to Islam, his
     conversion is valid. If a Harbi [non-Muslim alien] is fought
     against and converts to Islam - it is valid... If the [same] Dhimmi
     returns [to his former religion], he is not killed [like an
     ordinary apostate], but imprisoned until he converts to Islam
     [again], because there is doubt regarding his belief [when he was
     forced to convert]. There is a possibility that it [i.e., his
     forced conversion] was sincere, so he is to be killed as an
     apostate. It is [also] possible that he did not believe [in Islam
     while having been forced to convert] and then he [should] be a
     Dhimmi and shall not be killed...

   The reason I say the translation is poor is because the first sentence
   is an absolute one, that is directly contradicted by later ones. In
   actuality the assertions were probably more nuanced - Arabic is not a
   language that lends itself to machine or brute force translation.

   Also it is worth noting that textbooks are often a vehicle for social
   activists to push their social agendas. Their value in this is beyond
   dispute; look at the turf war over textbooks being fought in the
   Evolution/Intelligent Design debate. The specific textbook in question
   is one issued by Al Azhar university, which is not a monolithic entity
   but actually has numerous factions ranging from liberal modern to
   islamist medieval. The CMIP notes that textbooks issued by the
   Ministry of Education are much more reasonable, and that in general
   the textbooks used by school children are much more tolerant than they
   were in the past. [3]If you read the entire report you get a much more
   nuanced picture. Also keep in mind that the passage above is from
   2002.

   Are children's textbooks in Egypt still intolerant by our standards?
   Well, if by "our standards" you mean the United States circa 2006,
   then yes, absolutely. If you mean 1956, then no. Given that the trends
   are pointing in the right direction I think that it's pretty
   disingenious to try and use these textbooks as evidence of how the
   precepts of Islam dictate that "any muslim" (Sensing's words, not
   mine) would consider a forced conversion valid.

   The bottom line is that a textbook is just a textbook. It's not the
   Qur'an, which I quoted in my earlier post. And the fact that there are
   jurist rulings on how forced conversions are not valid pretty much
   overrules any textbook-derived analysis.

References

   1. http://www.edume.org/reports/13/62.htm
   2. http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20328&sec=59&cont=3
   3. http://www.edume.org/reports/13/62.htm