Outdated Islamic teachings must be amended, UAE professor says

The UAE Muslim Council of Elders must revise Islamic textbooks that hold extreme concepts and outdated teachings, Dr Mohamad Habash, associate professor of Islamic studies at Abu Dhabi University, has said.

Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria addresses scholars at the conference. Khaled Desouki / AFP

CAIRO // The UAE Muslim Council of Elders must revise Islamic textbooks that hold extreme concepts and outdated teachings, a scholar has urged.

The problem was raised at a session between Muslim and Christian leaders hosted by the council and Al Azhar, the Sunni Muslim seat of learning, in the Egyptian capital.

Teachings on tolerance and understanding should be incorporated in all lessons, said Dr Mohamad Habash, associate professor of Islamic studies at Abu Dhabi University.

Dr Habash said official curriculums in Egypt and the UAE have mostly been revised, but the problem persists at some private and unofficial schools.

“This beautiful dialogue has not yet entered some curriculums and there are still points of discrimination,” he said.

Dr Habash said he had seen teachings addressing the killing apostates, in material taught at a Sharia college and in a 2014 Al Azhar publication.

“It is not enough to say that this was in a historic context,” he said. “Amendments should be made in writing.

“Al Azhar’s speech is logical and tolerant, but I have personally seen curriculums that require ultimate changes in major issues.

“I believe this is a responsibility, and I would like to pass this recommendation specifically to the Muslim Council of Elders to conduct revisions on academic curriculums.”

Dr Radwan El Sayyed, professor of Islamic Studies at the Lebanese University in Beirut, said there had been dozens of detailed reports issued by Al Azhar to clarify concepts that could be misinterpreted in an extreme manner.

“The important thing now is to follow a developmental approach,” Dr El Sayyed said. “And if there were still some problematic points they could be removed.”

General Bishop Anba Ermia, president of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Centre in Cairo, said his centre had produced books for primary and high school pupils on tolerance and against violence, which were being taught at Al Azhar.

Dr Abbas Al Shouman, undersecretary of Al Azhar, said the institution had many initiatives to address the problem.

Dr Al Shouman said it had created a multilingual cyber system to detect messages from ISIL and other radical groups. The system analysed messages it found and responded to them.

If the material contained threats, Al Azhar issued warnings to the parties concerned.

He said observers also monitored news about Muslims and Islam in all languages, and if there were any inaccurate material or defamatory news, they published responses or sent them directly to the publications or reporters.

Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, formed a committee of 100 experts to revise Islamic studies material in Arab countries including the UAE.

“We do not stop at reforming curriculums,” said Dr Ahmed Abdulkareem, a professor at Al Azhar University. “We work on the level of study material and teachers.”

Teachers receive constant training on moderate Islam, starting from kindergarten and continuing until high school.