Portrait of the Islamic Scholar
With the. growth in the number of departments, institutions, publicationsand scholarships dating to Islam and Muslims, concerns areincreasing over bias and misrepresentation of the Islamic faith and itssubscribers. Muslims tend to attribute this to two factors: Americaninstitutions rely mostly on non-Muslims to provide crucial informationpertaining to Islam; and most institutions are secular, so it is againsttheir policies and regulations to advocate that any religion holds theabsolute truth.Although these factors pose a real threat to the spread of correctIslamic knowledge, they by no means stand alone. While it is naturalfor Muslims to object to the idea of non-Muslims teaching Islambecause they lack familiarity with it, one is emmusly led to believethat the resolution of the. problem is in Muslims taking the task of teachingtheii religion into theii own bands. Two myths must be dispelled:first, that all Muslims a~ qualified to teach their religion; and second,proficiency in Islamic knowledge sufficiently qualifies a Muslim forthe challenging role of accurately transferring this knowledge to thosewhose perception is so different from hidher own.This article shows the diversity of the fields of study in which Islamand Muslims may be involved. either directly or indirectly. It thenexamines the. criteria set forth by many educational institutions fordetermining the qualifications for teaching in these fields. Becausehigher degrees awarded in pehent departments in American institutionsare not sufficiently educating theii recipients in Islamic knowledge,the majority of non-Muslim candidates are unqualified to tacklethe issues that involve Islam and Muslims. In an ever-changing world,the qualifications required to teach about Islam and Muslims must notbe merely based on Islamic knowledge. but must also encompass a proficiencyin global affairs. This immediately disqualifies the typicalMuslim scholar. A presenter of Islam must be capable of responding to the challenges of the time, place, and people, without violating the policiesand secular nature of the institution and without distorting or alteringthe religion.Since a real lasting solution is not presently in sight, some Islamiccommunities, in an attempt to put an end to bias and misrepresentation,have come up with quick fixes. This article describes how Muslimcommunities in Youngstown, Ohio, and Syracuse, New York, havebecome involved in educating their non-Muslim neighbors by responsiblycooperating with various local academic institutions. The authorhopes that this study will prove helpful to other communities ofMuslims and non-Muslims in their attempt to reach out to each other.