The social sciences in the formation of Shia scholars in Lebanon -

Abstract

In a turbulent, global and postmodern Middle East, religion stands as a persistent, potent and salient social force. Men of religion, its keepers, propagators and leaders, are pivot figures of its modern reality. This research seeks to shed light on the training of these religious scholars. Religious knowledge in general has not been, historically, on the best of terms with the social sciences. This is especially true of Islamic knowledge where the “Social sciences” are perceived as “Western,” sometimes “Impure.” This paper will investigate the extent to which the social sciences are incorporated into the programs of religious education. It will be based on a triangulation of 1-content analysis of the Curricula of religion schools in Lebanon: Both traditional Hawzas (the Muslim Shia religious establishment responsible for the formation of intellectuals, researchers and preachers) as well as “Islamic universities”; 2- in-depth interviews of 15 of the stakeholders of such an education; 3- fieldwork conducted in Qom, Iran. I suggest that the Shia Islamic Seminary is making steps toward the inclusion of the social sciences within its curricula in the aim of producing scholars engaged with modern forms of social knowledge as well as producing a “more humane model of the social sciences.” This, hypothetically, is meant to alleviate the dichotomy between religious knowledge and the social sciences. A part of a larger process of Modernization-Westernization, the religious educational institution has so far not managed to render these fields of knowledge essential elements in its curricula.