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Muslim College Opens in US With Hopes and Suspicions美文欣賞
Muslim College Opens in US With Hopes and Suspicions
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Zaytuna College is a new four-year college in Berkeley, California. Zaytuna is seeking to become the first accredited Muslim college in the United States. The name comes from the Arabic word for olives.
The process of full accreditation could take several years. That will make it easier for students to get financial aid, and to have their education recognized by employers and other schools.
Zaytuna held its first classes this summer -- intensive study of Arabic to prepare for classes in the fall.
Zaytuna currently offers two majors, a choice of Islamic law and religion or Arabic language. General education classes include American history, anthropology, philosophy, literature and political science.
Imam Zaid Shakir is a professor and co-founder of Zaytuna. He was born in Berkeley. The college website says he accepted Islam in nineteen seventy-seven while serving in the United States Air Force.
Imam Shakir says he wants teachers who are trained and educated in the United States and who understand American society.
ZAID SHAKIR: "And who also are comfortable with their Americanness on the one hand and comfortable with Islam on the other hand."
There are millions of American Muslims. But the imam says most of the teachers of Islam in America received their training in other countries. He says Islam has never become rooted in any land until that land had its own Islamic scholars.
Michael Higgins studies the relationship between religion and higher education. The United States has many different religious colleges. But he says he fears there could be protests if Zaytuna College is seen as teaching students not to accept other religions.
MICHAEL HIGGINS: "I think there will be a lot of fear or apprehension around the establishment of a college that adheres to Islam. If it becomes a madrasa or a college of inculcation only, that could be hugely problematic."
This September eleventh will be nine years since the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States. Imam Shakir recognizes that those attacks and other plots since then have fed public suspicions about Islam.
But he says opponents of the college represent a minority opinion in the United States. He says they are reacting to a small group of extremists -- a "lunatic fringe" -- in the Islamic community.
ZAID SHAKIR: "And I think this is why Zaytuna College is so important. If we prove ourselves, even those more vocal critics will be silenced. It's up to us; the ball is in our court."
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, with reporting by Lonny Shavelson. I'm Steve Ember.
這里是VOA特別英語教育報道。
栽突那學(xué)院(Zaytuna College) 是加利福尼亞州伯克利新成立的四年制學(xué)院。栽突那尋求成為美國首個獲得認(rèn)證的穆斯林學(xué)院。這所學(xué)校的名字來自橄欖色的阿拉伯語說法。
全面認(rèn)證的過程需要幾年的時間。這將使學(xué)生更容易獲得經(jīng)濟援助，使他們的教育更容易獲得雇主和其他學(xué)校的認(rèn)可。
栽突那今年夏天首次開設(shè)課程——集中地學(xué)習(xí)阿拉伯語，為秋季的課程做準(zhǔn)備。
栽突那提供兩門主修課程，一門選修課程，伊斯蘭法律和宗教或阿拉伯語。普通的教育課程包括美國歷史，人類學(xué)，哲學(xué)，文學(xué)和政治科學(xué)。
伊瑪目Zaid Shakir是栽突那的教授和聯(lián)合創(chuàng)建人。他出生在伯克利。該學(xué)院網(wǎng)站表示，1977年在美國空軍服役時他接受了伊斯蘭文明。
伊瑪目Shakir說，他希望在美國接受過訓(xùn)練和教育，理解美國社會的教師前來任教。
ZAID SHAKIR：“而且他們必須一方面為自己的美國人身份感到舒適，另一方面也必須欣然接受伊斯蘭文明�！�
美國有數(shù)百萬名穆斯林。但是伊瑪目表示，美國大部分伊斯蘭教師都在其他國家接受培訓(xùn)。他表示，伊斯蘭教永遠沒有在一片土地上扎根，除非這片土地有了自己的伊斯蘭學(xué)者。
Michael Higgins研究了宗教和高等教育之間的關(guān)系。美國擁有許多宗教學(xué)院。但是他擔(dān)心，如果栽突那學(xué)院被認(rèn)為教給學(xué)生不接受其他宗教，他們會遭到抗議。
MICHAEL HIGGINS：“我認(rèn)為，針對建立遵守伊斯蘭文明的學(xué)院，會遭遇許多擔(dān)憂或理解。如果成為伊斯蘭學(xué)�；騼H僅是諄諄教誨的學(xué)院，都會有許多問題�！�
9月11日將是基XXX襲擊美國九周年紀(jì)念日。伊瑪目Shakir認(rèn)為，自那以后的襲擊和其他陰謀已經(jīng)引起公眾對伊斯蘭教的懷疑。
但是他表示，穆斯林學(xué)院的反對者僅僅代表美國民意的少部分。他表示，他們已經(jīng)對少部分極端分子作出了回應(yīng)，用伊斯蘭教的說法就是“l(fā)unatic fringe”。
ZAID SHAKIR：“我認(rèn)為這就是栽突那學(xué)院如此重要的原因。如果我們能夠證明自己，那些直言不諱的批評家就會安靜下來。這完全取決于我們。主動權(quán)在我們手中。”
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