Haifaa Jawad

Multiple voices: improving participation of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport

This study reports on data from a larger-scale research project in one city in the West Midlands, England. The study was commissioned by the local education authority because of the rising incidence of parental withdrawal of Muslim girls from physical education. The aim was to provide evidence-based guidance to schools on improving the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport. In-depth interviews in eight case study schools provided a thick description of the lived realities for 19 head teachers and teachers, 109 young people and 32 of their parents. Four additional focus group interviews were held with 36 Muslim young people in community/supplementary schools. Questionnaires were sent to 402 city schools and 12 supplementary schools (50 of which were returned). Methods focused on capturing views on experiences and concerns regarding the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education. Content analysis and inductive and deductive analyses of data procedures were used. Responses indicated a diversity of positive and negative experiences across the community, with the majority of young people enjoying their school-based physical education lessons. Parental influences were strong across the age phases. Body and religious consciousness increased during adolescence. Common concerns centred on the need to improve recognition of religious requirements in schooling processes, policies and practices to provide inclusive learning environments for some Muslim young people. Problems such as poor communication, inflexible dress codes—particularly concerning wearing of the hijab (headscarf)—gender organisation and use of public swimming pools were identified. Patterns of good practice also emerged from across schools. Flexibility of approach, shared decision-making and situation-specific policies were most successful for supporting the inclusion of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport. Findings informed policy-orientated guidance for city schools.

Islamic Feminism: Leadership Roles and Public Representation

Islamic feminism is a worldwide movement housed within the broader, contemporary reform movement operating in the Muslim world. This feminist subdivision consists of scholars and activists who are working to achieve gender equality and social justice within an explicitly religious, Islamic framework. Although a relatively recent phenomenon, the roots of this trend can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century, when women in several Muslim countries voiced concerns regarding patriarchal traditions and practices in their societies and formulated principles about womens rights in explicitly Islamic terms. Yet these early feminist expressions were kept at the periphery and were not allowed to influence mainstream Islamic thought or to be implemented into political, social, legal and other rights. They remained marginal and isolated, chiefly due to hostile political and religious establishments.

Islam and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century

The relationship between Islam and democracy is a very complicated subject and has always been fraught with difficulties, primarily because there is no particular consensus among Muslim scholars on the form of democratic system that can be acceptable from the Islamic perspective.1 Both the Quran and the Sunnah say little with regard to the exact shape or form that an Islamic polity ought to be, giving only some general principles that can be used as guidance for a political system that should ensure justice, equity, and respect for human dignity. This has opened up the door for different interpretations: some are rigid and dogmatic and do not take into consideration either the egalitarian spirit of the faith or the conditions of the Modern age2; while others tend to be rhetorical and superficial intended mainly to specific audiences.3 This has led to confusion, among Muslims and non-Muslims alike, exacerbated by two factors: the reality of contemporary Muslim politics that tend to be generally either secular or religious based authoritarianisms,4 and secondly, the prevailing essentialist thought, especially in the West, about the perceived inability of Islam to reconcile itself with democratic principles.5

The Role of Islam in the Lives of Girls and Women in Physical Education and Sport

This chapter addresses the relative exclusion of Muslim girls and women from physical education and sport arenas. It makes an interesting contribution because, although deemed a fundamental right as part of an education for all children, the subject of physical education and sport focuses on the body and its physicality as a medium for participation. This has led to some tensions at the interface of gender, religion and education in Europe and beyond. The subject is contentious in relation to Islamic cultural practices, for example, body modesty and gender segregation, as is illustrated with previous research presented here from England and Denmark. Wider dilemmas in the secular but Muslim-majority country of Turkey and an Islamic, recently emerging, country of Oman are also presented. The importance of situational context on the intersection of gender, Islam and physicality are foregrounded in these examples. Ways of understanding such diversity are then explored through historical, sociocultural and theological perspectives of Islam, gender and physicality through examining processes of change leading to the differences found in the realities presented. International efforts to build more conducive learning environments that respect Islamic requirements, where preferred, are discussed as a way of developing more inclusive education systems for Muslim girls and women.

Islamic Spirituality and the Feminine Dimension

As a social, economic, and political system, Islam is not monolithic. Hence, the religion in these contexts tends to be susceptible to different interpretations and different readings; some could be dogmatic and authoritarian, others could be liberal, and still others could be spiritual, depending on the social, political, and economic settings. But also one has to take into consideration the personal backgrounds of the individual readers. For instance, a Muhadith (someone who is specialist in Hadith literature) could read Islam in a more conservative way, and a Faqih (someone who is specialist in Islamic jurispudence) could understand it in a more legalistic form, while a Sufi saint could comprehend and present it in a more spiritual and mystical way. This is a fact that needs to be borne in mind, especially when considering the position of women in Islam and their relationship to the Divine. Historically, the conservative patriarchal readings of the position of women in Islam have been the dominant ones, while other readings, especially the spiritual/mystical have been left in the shadow. This is mainly due to the historical rivalries between the legalists and the Sufis and the eventual triumphal of the legalists over the Sufis.