From “Islamic” values to “religio-secular” values in Muslim contexts: Educational implications of a conceptual shift

This chapter has two parts. In the first part, I argue for the reconceptualisation of the nature of values attributed to Muslim people in the educational narratives in various European settings. The current tendency is to regard Muslims primarily as religious people with their worldview and values - referred to as Islamic values - shaped mainly by religious symbols, traditions and concepts. An attempt will be made to show that, in modern times, our theoretical understanding of the nature of values and evidence from Muslim societies forces us to rethink such formulation and move towards a “religio-secular” conception of values in Muslim contexts. In the second part, I will suggest some educational implications of the re-conceptualisation argued for in the first part. The role of literature teaching will be examined in this regard.