A project for schools about the Czech Muslim
community and Islam which a local group tried to derail
A Today we speak to Šádí Shanaáh – one of the founders of
Muslims – about a concise handbook and course for secondary school students
aimed at providing information about the country’s Muslim community and the
history of Islam.
B “First though, I asked
about the survey in schools which served as a foundation for the
handbook and course.” “In our study we learned something which wasn’t
altogether surprising, which is that very little space is given to Islam or the
Muslim world. In Czech education, much time is devoted to pre-history or the
origin of ancient civilizations but Islam is only dealt with marginally, which
means in the 7th century Arab expansion or the period of the Ottoman
Empire. There is also not much time devoted to the 20th century,
either.”
C “Is it fair to say that
one aspect of the whole project is to fight xenophobia, racism, and for
students to learn more about their Muslim neighbours who are practically
invisible, a very tiny community in the Czech Republic?” “The motivation is
also that there is an overreach,
that the skills learned or applied are not just limited to this one
issue. As you rightly said, Muslims are a tiny minority here. Of course, we
wanted to respond to what we see as growing anti-Muslim attitudes but the
ambition is to show that issues are often not black and white, that students
can develop a critical approach or reading of contemporary problems.”
D “At the same time, when we
talk about what is going on today with terrorism and radical Islam, do the
students get any sense of that?” “As I said we are flexible and aside from the
three core subjects we also organize panel discussions or invite a
Muslim guest.”
E “Many Czechs don’t know any Muslims so they get to
hear from a person themselves. More and more we are organizing things outside
the classroom as well, so we are changing the name of the project and the logo
because there is a demand from
governmental institutions, communal level leadership, social services,
the judiciary, the police to have a better understanding. The information meets
the needs of the different institutions.”
overreach – přecenit, přehánět
demand – požadavek
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to
a paragraph.
1 Muslim
guests are invited
2 Interview
with Shanáah
3 Many
people are involved in the project
4 Muslim
world is described very briefly in our textbooks
5 Students
should learn about today’s issues and take a critical approach
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 Who is Šádí
Shanaáh? What does he think?
2 What kind
of project does he introduce? Why?
3 What do
students learn about Muslim world at school?
4 What activities
are organized?
5 Who
participates on the project?
3) Explain the following words and phrases.
1 survey
2 skills
3 critical
approach
4 panel
discussions
5 social
services
4) Answer the following questions.
What are differences between Czech and Moslem culture?
What is islamophobia? What are reasons for anti-Muslim prejudice? What is a
multicultural centre? How does our school cooperate with this facility?
Video:
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