Teaching Islam within a Diverse Society Taaruf

“This book is a gift to the field of interreligious education, and an invitation to its teachers to teach from their hearts and minds. Prof. Selcuk’s work is like that of a pentimento artist who carefully and meticulously reveals original elements of a painting that have undergone changes through the ages. With skillful and respectful academic rigor, she not only restores and amplifies the brilliance and beauty of ancient Islamic wisdom, she paints with fresh brushstrokes from a wide palette of her own teaching experience and that of others thus making its tenets accessible and relevant to present day perils of colliding worlds. Her melding of theological scholarship and educational practice gives us hope by affirming the wisdom that ‘…when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart’ (Tagore). It takes teachers like her who are theological and educational artists to help make this happen, and Dr. Selcuk beautifully shows us how.”

Gloria Durka

Professor emerita Fordham University President, ISREV International Seminar on Religious Education and Values.