Council On Islamic Education
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The Council on Islamic Education is a research institute and resource organization in
Fountain Valley, California Fountain Valley is a suburban city in Orange County, California. The population was 57,047 at the 2020 census. History The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. European settlement of the area b ...
. 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."


Criticism

According to
Diane Ravitch Diane Silvers Ravitch (born July 1, 1938) is a historian of education, an educational policy analyst, and a research professor at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Previously, she was a U.S. ...
, 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" Gilbert Sewall, former education editor of
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
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.” 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." A report of the American Textbook Council 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.


Reception

Others praise the Council for publishing "new materials have recently appeared to enable educators to teach more effectively."Education: Ramadan: A Teachable Moment
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References

{{authority control Political advocacy groups in the United States Islamic organizations based in the United States Islamic political organizations Islam in California