The Quran does not encourage Terrorism!

I was sitting at recess time, drinking my cup of green tea, when a student approached me and said, " Mrs. Ferdjani, does the Qur'an encourages terrorism?" 

I wasn't surprised by this question at all! After the tragic 9/11 attack of al-Qaeda on America and the war in Afghanistan, many students associate Muslims with terrorists. 

I told my student and then later on, I repeated the same answer to the whole class: The Qur'an condemns terrorism! I told them that "Jihad" has several meanings: one of these, combative jihad, is justified only in self-defense and never as vengeance toward non-Muslims.

The Qur'an condemns religious extremism and calls on Muslims to be responsible citizens and co-exist peacefully with people of other faiths. 

Terrorists have never read the Qur'an themselves! They have only listened to an interpretation of the Qur'an!

I always tell my students that we live in an interdependent and interconnected world, where peaceful and interfaith and intra-faith dialogue, is imperative. 

Terrorism is a terrible injustice because it targets innocent people! Muslims are bound by the Qur'anic prohibitions of taking an innocent life (Qur'an: 5:32; 17:33), considered as one of the gravest sins in Islam. Furthermore, the Qur'an clearly demands that Muslims act justly and impartially, even when dealing with an enemy (4:135, 5:8). 

No verse in the Qur'an, when placed in its proper textual and historical context, permits fighting others on the basis of their faith, ethnicity, or nationality.

"Islam is not the problem," Reuven Firestone , a rabbi and scholar writes. "Terrorism is the problem, and terrorists have hijacked both Islam and God."

Are Schools Better Off When Many Students Question Authority?

Questioning about a fact or a particular subject is basic human nature. Asking questions makes students extrovert as they do not hesitate in talking to anyone. 

When students ask questions, they clear their doubts about ideas, and provide an indirect help in the upliftment of schools. 

Asking questions is not only the human nature, but it is a human right! It was because of Einstein, who challenged the postulates of Newton's theory, that today scientists have been able to beget the string theory. Also, Galileo could ascertain the fact that the earth was round, because he challenged the orthodox beliefs existing at that time.

Countries like India and America were able to achieve independence, when people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King questioned the high officials and authorites. Despite the ill treatment by the authorities they maintained their calm and composure, and never resorted to misdemeanor.

Indeed, questioning the authority helps in the overall upliftment of schools and societies. 

Questioning and resoning does reflect the acumen of students. That is why I have organized a Socratic Dialogue in the Middle School. Every Tuesday, we have a Socratic Dialogue in our classroom and teenagers understood that it is worth our while to talk about important subjects and about how we ought to live!

A Socratic Dialogue encourages students to reflect and think independently and critically. The Students self-confidence in their own thinking is enhanced and the search for truth in answer to a particular problem is undertaken in common.

The questions are drawn from ethics, politics, epistemology, mathematics, psychology, ....and are of a general nature. The endeavour of the students is to reach consensus as a means to deepen their investigation of the topic.

What is a book talk, and how can it be useful in helping students select literature for themselves?

During a book talk, students discuss with classmates books they have read, heard or discovered. The teacher can have a book talk in her/his classroom every month.

For example, teachers can pair up students for a free choice book and give the students a deadline to finish the book. Then, in class, the students can discuss the book and they will need to name five important things they liked about the book (intriguing setting, changes in setting, intense conflicts, exciting plot events, interesting twist, changes in character, characters they love or hate, how the protagonist and antagonist interact, mood changes, or an ongoing theme). The students will be given a “chat form” to fill in while they are discussing with their partner. 

  

Then, it will be useful for the teacher and the students to follow a rubric. Ann Tanona has created an interesting rubric with her class. I have found very interesting because rubrics are important for providing feedback. Ivey said that “the more specific feedback is, the better” (99). 

Figure 2 BOOK TALK RUBRIC
Criteria	Quality
Did I get my audience's attention?	Creative beginning	Boring beginning	No beginning
Did I tell what kind of book?	Tells exactly what type of book it is	Not sure, not clear	Didn't mention it
Did I tell something about the main character?	Included facts about character	Slid over character	Did not tell anything about main character
Did I mention the setting?	Tells when and where story takes place	Not sure, not clear	Didn't mention setting
Did I tell one interesting part?	Made it sound interesting - I want to buy it!	Told part and skipped on to something else	Forgot to do it
Did I tell who might like this book?	Did tell	kipped over it	Forgot to tell
How did I look?	Hair combed, neat, clean clothes, smiled, looked up, happy	Lazy look	Just-got-out-of-bed look, head down
How did I sound?	Clear, strong, cheerful voice	No expression in voice	Difficult to understand- 6-inch voice or screeching

      

Democracy Now!

Democracy! We are discussing this word every week with the members of our Amnesty club and with the middle school and high school students!

What makes a Democratic classroom??

Charles Dickens published Hard Times in London in 1854, over 150 years ago! In the opening paragraphs, Dickens describes with raging fidelity the following to teachers:

"Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Sticks to Facts, Sir!"...
Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens' description of nineteenth century English schooling sounds resonant, oddly close at hand, a bit like the school-world teachers face here and now in the twenty-first century world!

School leaders even in Apartheid South Africa, Saudi Arabia, fascist Germany, communist Albania, agreed that their students should behave properly in school, stay away from drugs and crime, do their homework, and study hard!...

Well, this the common ground we should find in our Democratic classrooms!

Democracy is a form of associative living in which people make the decisions that affect their lives. "Every human being is of infinite and incalculable value, each a unique intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, moral, and creative force, each born free and equal in dignity and rights, endowed with reason and conscience, and deserving , then, a community of solidarity, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, recognition and respect."

In my Democratic classroom, I want my students to be able to think for themselves, to make judgments based on evidence and argument, to develop minds of their own. I want them to learn to ask essential questions: Who in the world am I? How did I get here and where am I going? What in the world are my choices and my chances? What is my story, and how is it like or unlike other stories? What is my responsiblity to others?

As Democratic teachers, we must keep these questions vital, alive, and fresh as we, ourselves, are searching for answers!

Respect for persons, for teachers and for students and community members, is at the core of good democratic classrooms!

To be continued...
With our discussion with William Ayers who said "We reach toward freedom, we crawl toward love"

Dickens, G. (1990). Hard times. New York: Norton. (Original work published 1854)