Cette thèse porte sur les représentations des droits de l’homme dans les manuels scolaires religieux en Syrie. Elle interroge la perception islamique des droits humains, notamment au regard de leur origine séculière. Elle analyse aussi la place de l’enseignement religieux dans la conception et la promotion des libertés fondamentales, ainsi que les difficultés occasionnées par la confrontation aux enjeux d’ordre politique, philosophique, juridique et théologique. Une approche comparative est développée dans ce but avec d’une part les textes internationaux portant sur les droits de l'homme, de la Déclaration universelle aux conventions islamiques, et de l’autre, avec les travaux portés par le courant de la réforme et le renouvellement de la pensée islamique. En tenant compte du fait que le contenu des manuels s'inscrit dans un cadre temporel donné, il importe de discuter du positionnement quelque peu paradoxal de ces ouvrages au sein d’un enseignement religieux organisé par un État laïque. Il apparaît que, malgré l’existence de doctrines islamiques élaborées en accord avec l’esprit de la Déclaration universelle, dans la mesure où elles avancent une relecture des textes qui font l’objet de la polémique, les manuels restent fidèles à un courant de pensée traditionnel pour ne pas dire archaïque. Les éditions les plus récentes n'ont pas accompli de progrès notables en la matière et se sont au contraire avérées davantage soumises au carcan d'un régime autocratique. Afin de mieux intégrer et faire appliquer les droits de l'homme, l’enseignement religieux syrien doit relever plusieurs défis, dont l'élaboration d'une véritable citoyenneté, le respect de la diversité de la société et la redéfinition de l’État. / This thesis focuses on representations of human rights in Syrian religious textbooks. It analyzes the Islamic perception of human rights, particularly with regard to their secular origin. It also analyzes the role of religious education in the conception and promotion of fundamental freedoms, and the difficulties brought about by the conflict with issues of the political, philosophical, legal and theological order. To achieve this, there implemented a comparative approach to international instruments on human rights, specifically The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Islamic conventions on the one hand, and the work carried out by the school of reform of Islamic thought on the other. Taking into account the fact that the content of textbooks is part of a time frame, it is important to discuss the somewhat paradoxical position of these structures in a religious education that is organized by a secular state. It appears that in spite of the existence of Islamic doctrines developed in accordance with the spirit of the UDHR insofar as these doctrines suggest a rereading of texts that are the subject of controversy, textbooks remain faithful to a traditional, not to say archaic, thinking. The most recent textbooks have not made any significant progress in this area, but are instead subject to the yoke of what proved to be more of an autocratic regime. To better integrate and enforce human rights, religious education in Syria faces several challenges, including the development of effective citizenship, respect for the heterogeneity of society and redefinition of the State.

Cette thèse est une étude socio-anthropologique sur l’islam, la politique, l’enseignement islamique et arabo-islamique au Niger. Elle tente d’une part d’analyser les différents courants religieux qui ont émergé pendant le processus de démocratisation du Niger amorcé à partir des années quatre-vingt-dix. Et d’autre part, elle met en évidence le mouvement de « réislamisation » de la population nigérienne et les mutations que connaissent les pratiques religieuses depuis quelques décennies. La thèse explore de ce fait les dynamiques des acteurs islamiques dans l’espace public et leur collision incessante avec les pouvoirs politiques. Elle tente aussi de mettre en exergue l’instrumentalisation dont fait l’objet l’islam par les hommes politiques qui doivent prendre en compte le caractère laïc de l’Etat nigérien et le fort sentiment de l’appartenance de la majorité des populations nigériennes à l’islam. Notre étude révèle également la manière dont les élites religieuses de toute obédience se livrent une concurrence impitoyable dans le contrôle de la sphère islamique nigérienne. A travers la description des croyances et pratiques quotidiennes des adeptes de trois courants islamiques dominants au Niger (confrérique, malikite non confrérique, et mouvement izala), cette thèse poursuit l’analyse de rapport de force entre ce trois tendances. Le choix de Zinder comme terrain de recherhce a pour but d’appréhender la dynamique de l’islam dans cette ville en montrant comment le mouvement izala connait une expansion et un développement rapides dans cette ville, jadis dominée par les confréries. Les conceptions et la construction des savoirs islamiques sont également présentées dans leur diversité, notamment à travers les écoles coraniques et les medersas communément appelées écoles franco-arabes. / This Thesis is a socio-anthropological study on Islam, politics and Islamic teaching in Niger. On the one hand, it attempts to analyze the different religious groups that emerged in Niger during the democratization process of the 1990s. On the other hand, it highlights the Islamic revival movement by the population of Niger and the changes in the religious in recent decades. Thus the Thesis explores the dynamics of the Islamists in the public sphere and their incessant collision with the political power. It also attempts to highlight the use of Islam by politicians who are caught between the secularism of the state and the strong sense of belonging to Islam of the majority of the population of Niger. Our Study also reveals how the top religious authorities from all faiths are ruthlessly competing for the control of the Islamic sphere in Niger. Through the description of the daily practices and beliefs of the followers of the two main Islamic groups in Niger, this thesis continues the analysis of the competition for power between Izala and Tijaniyya brotherhoods. The thesis continues with a case study on the town of Zinder, which allows us to understand the local dynamics of Islam showing how the reformist movement Izala has rapidly expanded and developed in this city once dominated by the brotherhoods. The different designs and construction of Islamic knowledge in the koranic schools and in the madrassas commonly known as Franco-Arab schools are here explained

Arabic text / One of the most important objectives of the Islamic Code is the reformation of character so that Divine justice may be achieved in human society. Two things are of paramount importance: -Teaching upcoming generations for being receptive to Islamic teachings so as to live a healthy future; and -Developing a healthy society that provides scope for successful survival of its members. Among numerous scholars that have undertaken this noble task is Shaikh Sa'di, the Persian mystical poet. A reading of his Gulistan confirms the didactic nature of his poetry. The history of human culture attests to the eminent position he occupies in refining morality of people regardless of their race or creed, and regardless of the era in which they live. The primary objective of this dissertation is to probe this literature which offers avenues for acquiring a firm sense of justice and felicity. / Religious Studies & Arabic / M.A. (Arabic)

This thesis presents an argument for the use of dialogic halaqah to develop the personal autonomy of young Muslims in twenty-first century Britain. It begins by developing a theoretical grounding for Islamic conceptualisations of personal autonomy and dialogic pedagogy. In doing so, it aims to generate dialogue between Islamic and ‘western’ educational traditions, and to clarify the theoretical foundation of halaqah, a traditional Islamic oral pedagogy, that has been adapted to meet the educational needs of Muslim children in contemporary Britain. Dialogic halaqah is daily practice in two independent British Muslim faith-schools, providing a safe space for young Muslims to cumulatively explore challenging issues, in order to facilitate the development of selfhood, hybrid identity and personal autonomy, theorised as shakhsiyah Islamiyah. This thesis examines the relationship between thought, language, and the development of personal autonomy in neo-Ghazalian, Vygotskian and Bakhtinian traditions, and suggests the possibility of understanding shakhsiyah Islamiyah as a dialogical Muslim-self. This theoretical work underpins an empirical study of data generated through dialogic halaqah held with groups of schoolchildren and young people. Using established analytic schemes, data from these sessions are subjected to both thematic and dialogue analyses. Emergent themes relating to autonomy and choice, independent and critical thinking, navigating authority, peer pressure, and choosing to be Muslim are explored. Themes related to halaqah as dialogic pedagogy, whether and how it supports the development of agency, resilience and independent thinking, and teacher and learner roles in halaqah, are examined. Moreover, findings from dialogue analysis, which evaluates the quality of educational dialogue generated within halaqah, that is, participants’ capacity to engage in dialogue with each other, as well as with an imagined secular other, are presented. The quality of the dialogic interactions is evaluated, as is evidence of individual participant’s autonomy in their communicative actions.

In this qualitative case study, I investigated the experiences of teachers employed at Muslim schools in the Gauteng Province in South Africa regarding the enabling and constraining factors for the implementation of EE at their schools. The study was inspired by the observation of the ongoing environmental problems in South Africa such as water shortages and environmental degradation with the realisation of the possible contributions that the Muslim schools may make in addressing such problems if they were to implement EE. Although some research has been conducted to indicate the challenging and supporting factors related to the implementation of EE in South African schools, little has been done regarding such factors in Muslim schools in Gauteng Province. Due to my pre-existing knowledge of the principles of the Quraan and Ahaadith (Prophetic traditions) which bears the guidelines for the practices of Muslim communities (including schools) and values regarding the environment, I regarded the limited research on this topic as a serious gap in literature. To contribute knowledge to this gap, a case study of five Muslim schools located in the Gauteng Province was conducted to observe their EE-related practices. These schools were selected through a convenience sampling technique which was followed by the purposive selection of 15 information-rich teachers for semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. These research methods were preceded by the analysis of the Qur’aan and Ahaadith (Prophetic Traditions) as well as the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) as stated in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document. Findings indicated that EE implementation in the participating schools is enabled by factors such as inclusion of EE in the school’s extra-curricular activities and teamwork among teachers to implement EE. Conversely, there are factors such as the lack of time and physical space as well as the lack of teaching resources related to EE which constrain the implementation of EE in these schools. Among the recommendations made was that Muslim school teachers need to participate in in-depth training courses directly related to EE implementation. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Environmental Education)

Arabic text / One of the most important objectives of the Islamic Code is the reformation of character so that Divine justice may be achieved in human society. Two things are of paramount importance: -Teaching upcoming generations for being receptive to Islamic teachings so as to live a healthy future; and -Developing a healthy society that provides scope for successful survival of its members. Among numerous scholars that have undertaken this noble task is Shaikh Sa'di, the Persian mystical poet. A reading of his Gulistan confirms the didactic nature of his poetry. The history of human culture attests to the eminent position he occupies in refining morality of people regardless of their race or creed, and regardless of the era in which they live. The primary objective of this dissertation is to probe this literature which offers avenues for acquiring a firm sense of justice and felicity. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Arabic)