The Ijtihadi Framework: Deconstructing Muslims’ Use of Computer Technology in Islamic Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 100
  In Roundtable Session: International Perspectives on Religion and Education

Abstract

Informed by the implementation of computers in American public schools as well as research on the historical and current interaction of Muslims with technology in general, this case study seeks to deconstruct the various responses to computer technology by Muslim educators in Sunni American Islamic schools. Teachers’ holistic interpretation of Islam as Dīn motivates them to see themselves as a murabbī rather than as just a teacher. Thus, issues of ḥalāl and ḥarām become important factors in the implementation of computer technology. Teachers views on technology are also shaped by the context of living in the Muslim Diaspora within the United States. A framework that explains the various responses of Muslim educators in Islamic schools to computer technology is proposed.

Authors

• Mohammed Mustafa Saleem, West Texas A&M University

• Michael K. Thomas, St. John's University