U.K.: UNIVERSITIES ARE NOT DOING A GOOD JOB AT PROMOTING ISLAM

Academics to promote understanding of Islam
KEVIN SCHOFIELD EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

UNIVERSITIES offering Islamic studies are failing to meet the needs of Britain's multi-cultural society, according to a report by Scots-based academics.

Experts at the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Dundee looked at 55 higher-education departments in the UK, including six in Scotland, and concluded that they were not doing enough to promote understanding of Islam. They say that in the wake of the London bombings in July 2005, there is "an urgent need" to look for better ways of understanding religious differences.

The Time For Change report, published in London yesterday, says: "There must be better education at university level on Islam and Muslims in today's world, which reflects the needs of our contemporary multicultural society."

The report, which followed a two-year-study, also identifies Muslim institutions south of the Border with strong links to Middle Eastern ethnic groups.

"It is only through multi- cultural education that we can work to eliminate extremism and fundamentalism," the report stresses.

Professor Abd al-Fattah El-Awaisi, one of the authors, said: "The call for a new agenda is timely and necessary to prevent the misguided and narrow interpretation of Islam which is the source of so many problems in our multicultural society."

The report claims that Muslim schools and colleges run by Muslims for Muslims are not the answer. It states: "Multi-culturalism is not about separatism, ghettoisation or balkanisation; it is, instead, recognition of diversity, the need for common ground, mutual respect and cultural engagement."

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