Islam as a religion of 'fair go': an important lesson for Australian religious education

Among the many roles enjoyed by religious education, setting the record straight may be its most important. In a world disposed towards division and the inevitable conflicts that go with it, misunderstanding and misrepresentation are rife. When these things occur in relation jo religion and religious matters, a sound and effective religious education will respond with a content and pedagogy aimed at understanding and proper representation. In the case of Islam, misunderstanding and misrepresentation are persistent and put at risk the very fabric of our civilization. The task before religious education of correcting this is therefore particularly urgent. A popular stereotype of Islam is that it is intolerant and harsh in its social relations. In a related understanding, many in the West would regard it as backward in matters of social justice, and especially about the issue of women's equality. In regard to this latter point, the issue of polygamy would rank high as an apparently well-known indicator of this backwardness. In contrast to these views, when one examines the facts based. on its scriptures and its early record, there is no religion less appropriately characterized in this way than Islam. There is no religion that has such strong and explicit tenets towards tolerance in its sacred text, and no religion with such a strong track record of social reform in its origins, including about the issue of women.