Council on Islamic Education

The Council on Islamic Education is a research institute and resource organization in Fountain Valley California. The "Muslim academic scholars of religion, history, political science" at the Council seek to "support and strengthen American public education" by drawing upon "civic, ethical, and educational principles in Islam." [1]

Criticism

According to Diane Ravitch, major textbook publishers allow the Council to review material before publication, a practice which "may account for... their omission of anything that would enable students to understand conflicts between Islamic fundamentalism and Western liberalism" [2]

Gilbert Sewall, former education editor of Newsweek and author of “Islam and the Textbooks” has criticized textbook publishers because they have “allowed Islamic organizations — notably the Council on Islamic Education — to strong-arm them and in effect act as censors.”[3]

The Council has been accused of "pressuring American textbook publishers to revise their respective curricula to promote an extremist and revisionist view of Islam." [4]

Critics have called the Council "a content gatekeeper with virtually unchecked power over publishers" and allege that "as a result, history textbooks accommodate Islam on terms that Islamists demand." [5]

A report of the American Textbook Council[6] calls the Council "an agent of contemporary censorship," and accuses it of being "in fact a political advocacy organization" that seeks to present an "Islamist" version of history.[7]

Praise

Others praise the Council for publishing "new materials have recently appeared to enable educators to teach more effectively." [8]

References

  1. ↑ "CIE - Our Mission, Philosophy and Approach". Council on Islamic Education. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  2. ↑ Ravitch, Diane, How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn (2003), New York, p. 147
  3. ↑ The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California
  4. ↑ FrontPage Magazine
  5. ↑ Islam and the Textbooks, by Gilbert T. Sewall, Family Security Matters, October 23, 2007
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Islam and the Textbooks; A Report of the American Textbook Council,Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2003
  8. ↑ Education: Ramadan: A Teachable Moment
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