The Egyptian schooling system consists of two main streams: one is the general educational system managed by the Ministry of Education and the other is Islamic educational system supervised by comprehensive Islamic institution “al-Azhar.” The purpose of this study is to reveal the reason why the al-Azhar educational system has managed to expand their primary and secondary institutions, “Ma‘had,” to more rural areas, and to investigate the factors that Egyptian people contribute to establishing their own Ma‘had in their communities from two perspectives, educationally and administratively.

  The first section of this paper investigates the reform of Islamic educational policy after the Nasser regime (1956−1970) using the analysis of the legal framework enforced by the government and articles published in local newspapers in the 1970s. In the second section, this study examines the background in which the people are establishing Ma‘had schools as their new Islamic educational style for their home villages. It further elucidates people’s motivations, which allow them to launch “self-effort” movements to build such schools with villagers’ endowment and service, based on a case study on the establishment of Ma‘had in Village A.

  The number of Ma‘had schools reached around 40 in the late 1950s, and the expansion of Ma‘had continued through the second half of the 20th century, although some people have criticized the drawbacks of the dual educational system or the backwardness of religious education. The expansion of the number of Islamic schools became more evident in the 1970s; this increase was bolstered by the educational reform of al-Azhar and their official campaign to open new Islamic primary and secondary schools in various spheres around Egypt. The movement was popularly supported by citizens, as the people donated money and participated in the establishment of the school buildings for the Ma’had. This trend evokes the Islamic revivalism, denoted by previous researchers, who have discussed the effects of a new Islamic movement rising up with religious enthusiasm, whether politically or socially, throughout the 20th century.

  When Free Officers succeeded in overthrowing the constitutional monarchy, it is said that the ex-minister of Education, Taha Hussein, attempted to eliminate al-Azhar’s educational system. In addition the abolishment of the Ma‘had, al-Azhar graduates suffered from difficulties of unemployment because there was a lack of opportunity to utilize their specialty of Islamic knowledge. In the end, the abolition of such schools failed, but the government demanded that the al-Azhar system be transformed and enforced Law No. 103 in 1961 (the 1961 Law). The reform not only oversaw religious authority but also the educational policy of al-Azhar. The law stipulates articles to promise students that they will have the same opportunity to gain knowledge to proceed to the next stage of education as graduates of general schools. Additionally, the new curriculum added more general contents to Ma‘had. The 1961 Law established general departments in al-Azhar University, which had traditionally only held departments of religious sciences. At the same time, al-Azhar started Ma‘had elementary schools and Ma‘had girls’ schools. The enrichment of the education contents and new general departments let the students who do not work for religious professions enroll in the Ma‘had. The new concepts of Ma‘had extended opportunities for students who had not been accepted under the previous system.

  In parallel with the educational reform, Abdelhareem Mahmoud, the rector of al-Azhar (1973−1978), expanded the number of Ma‘had and called for contributions from their domestic and overseas supporters. According to the articles from the local newspapers, inhabitants and influential people exhibited (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

This article elucidates the initial formation process of a Sufi order through a certain saint’s relation with his devotees. This saint is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad. His devotees think that he has knowledge of Islam, special power by which he can even kill people, and personal magnetism. I consider that the community that is formed around the saint is one in which devotees share the original Islamic view of the world, and which represents the initial state of Sufi orders before systematization. Before the 19th century, when the institutionalization and systematization of Sufi orders by the state started, there were religious groups centering on a certain charismatic person in Egypt.

Feature films are fictional. Even if the film is realistic, we cannot accept it uncritically as the film reflects reality. However, it is inevitable that the temporality and regionality where the film is produced and released are reflected on the feature film (especially commercial films). For this reason, we explore the stories that society has entrusted to local films by deciphering them. This article discusses family styles through films in Malaysia and Indonesia. Both countries are multiethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual, and the majority religion, Islam, has a major impact on society, while Islam is positioned in society as one of several religions. In Malaysia, characterized by ethnic ranks and Islamic authority, love and companionship across ethnic and religious differences becomes an issue. However, Yasmin Ahmad’s films appeal that the problem to be solved is not the difference in ethnicity or religion but the power relationship between parent and child or between married couple. There have been more Indonesian films featuring polygamy with women playing a leading role in foreign countries, which can be understood as an attempt to create a family based on the value of Islam. We interpret it as showing that women who are trying to live away from the interference of their parents and the community are finding it difficult to balance their career with a good mother.