Have you all got your copy of the Qur’an? Rationalisation, ritual and the role of God's word in a Kenyan Islamic educational setting

Abstract

This article concerns the discussions on and use of the Qur'an in the setting of Islamic Religious Education in Kisumu, Kenya. It is based on fieldwork conducted 2003 – 2006. Theoretically it uses a distinction between ritual and cognitive aspects of how the text is addressed. The author finds that the teaching is focused on the latter aspect. Hence, hypothetically the author argues, Islamic Religious Education, through the content and the form of the teaching as well as the position of the subject itself in the overall educational system, promotes a "demystification" of the text, providing it with a character that is quite different from the one dominating in the local Muslim context.