Situated at the crossroads of several regional conflicts, the Kingdom of Jordan has a rich history of offering asylum to displaced peoples. Having received nearly one million refugees over the past ten years, Jordan hosts the second greatest ratio of refugees-to-citizens in the world and is home to the second largest refugee population in absolute terms, if counting Palestinian refugees and their descendants (Christophersen 2020). Historically, Jordanian society has accommodated roughly 2.3 million Palestinian refugees who fled Zionist ethnic cleansing following the 1948 Nakba, meaning “catastrophe.” Following the outbreak of the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War in 2011, more than 672,000 Syrians have obtained official refugee status under the United Nations (UNHCR 2021), although government estimates are as high as 1.4 million (Francis 2015). The arrival of Palestinian, Iraqi, and most recently Syrian refugees has left an indelible mark on Jordanian society. 

Additionally, over half of Syrian refugees in Jordan are children and roughly 80% live in host communities outside of refugee camps, placing significant stress on education infrastructure in urban centers (Christophersen 2020). The vast majority of these refugees face the daily challenge of finding sustainable work, affordable housing, and basic education. According to Jordan’s current plan for refugee education,  87 percent of Syrian children are enrolled in primary compulsory education in Jordan. However, a detailed survey conducted during the 2017-2018 school year of 18,000 Syrian refugee children in Jordan found that only 15 percent of Syrian 16-year-olds and 21 percent of 17-year-olds were enrolled in secondary school, as compared to more than 80 percent of Jordanian children of both ages. This study, which was conducted by Human Rights Watch, clearly illustrates the trend that barriers to refugee children’s education in Jordan only grow more acute as they get older, and are exacerbated by chronic conditions of poverty (Stauffer 2020). 

FRAMING ISLAMIC CHARITY AND NORMATIVE HUMANITARIANISM  IN JORDAN 

In response to the dire conditions of refugees in Jordan, a confluence of state and non-state actors have emerged to address the specific educational needs of refugee children, oftentimes addressing unique and disparate challenges. These actors range from secular, international nongovernmental organizations (iNGOs) to Islamic faith-based charity groups, whose activities are each informed by their respective ideological framework and traditions of alleviating human suffering. In examining the context of refugee education in Jordan, two distinct, yet sometimes overlapping, categories of humanitarian educational actors emerge – those who fit neatly within the category of normative humanitarianism and those who are affiliated with Islamic charity organizations. 

Normative humanitarianism is the hegemonic and discursive form of humanitarian aid present in Jordan and around the world today, and is associated with traditions of European thought such as the Enlightenment concept of universalism and an individual rights-based approach. Examples of normative humanitarianism actors include iNGOs like the International Rescue Committee, government agencies like the United States Agency for International Development, multilateral international efforts coordinated by the United Nations, as well as partnerships between these organizations. In Jordan, these normative humanitarian efforts are concentrated within major refugee camps, such as Za'atari. In contrast, Islamic charity groups in Jordan provide local assistance that is often delegitimized and overlooked within the broader discourse of humanitarianism (Fiddian‐Qasmiyeh 1970). This form of faith-based humanitarianism is rooted in local cultural and religious ideas, which grants these groups a unique capacity to fulfill the needs of refugees in ways normative humanitarianism may not. Examples of Islamic charity include more traditional Islamist organizations like the Islamic Center Charity Society (ICCS) and more progressive Muslim organizations like Al-Farouq Society. It is also worth noting that, despite these differences in approach, Islamic charity groups and normative humanitarian actors have reluctantly formed an increasing number of partnerships in an effort to better serve the needs of refugees in Jordan (Hasselbarth 2014). In analyzing the existing educational programming offered to refugees in Jordan, this project aims to elucidate the efficacy of normative humanitarian education compared to that of Islamic charity groups in Jordan, ultimately revealing that more effort should be placed on building progressive Islamic programs to best meet the educational needs of refugees.