Humanities and Islamic studies

Humanities and Islamic studies

Explaining the Reflection of the Cultural Components of Islamic Governance in the Primary School Textbooks

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Social sciences group - College of literature - PhD student, Department of Social Sciences, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran
2 Ph.D. Department of History, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
Islamic governance as an idea seeks to provide an efficient and effective model of governance by linking governance with the religious identity that builds civilization. In the life of the Prophet and then during the reign of Imam Ali (AS), the first examples of the idea of religious governance can be seen. In the contemporary history of Iran, the discussion of governance in relation to religious identity has been noticed during the period of the Constitution and then with the establishment of the Islamic Republic. As with all social and political ideas, the concept of Islamic government has cultural elements. The present research tries to answer the question which cultural components of Islamic governance are most used in primary school textbooks by using qualitative method and content analysis method based on a non-selective list of primary school textbooks (Gifts of Heaven and Social Studies textbooks).  Moreover, in order to make the narratives of these books effective in the process of socialization of students, which axes need to be reviewed? This research aims to evaluate the extent to which cultural components are redefined in primary textbooks. As a result, Islamic and Iranian identities, internal causes of decline of Islamic civilization, introduction of model of previous structural elements from early history of Islam, and introduction of concept of jihad, among others, need to be revised and paid attention in primary school curricula.
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