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• 1 2021-12-10T11:46:11-05:00 Islamic Center Charity Society 5 Case Study: Islamic Charity Educational Program plain 2021-12-12T14:22:12-05:00

  CASE STUDY: ISLAMIC CENTER CHARITY SOCIETY 

  Established in 1963, the Islamic Charity Center Society is the largest Islamic charity organization in Jordan and currently operates 65 centers throughout Jordan that specialize in sponsoring orphans, widows, poor families, refugee students, and other charitable works. Most of their funding operates on the zakat system, sourcing from private donations from wealthy Jordanians, although they also receive significant donations from Gulf nations. Founded by leading figures in the Islamist movement of the Muslim Brotherhood, educational programs offered through the ICCS revolve around promoting an “Islamic way of life” as understood by the Brotherhood, and focus on religious education, vocational training, health and wellbeing, as well as childhood developement (Hasselbarth 2014). The educational programs offered through the ICCS range from a variety of local, informal workshops to more formal operations such as kindergartens, primary school, secondary school, and even with community colleges and universities that serve Jordanians and refugees from Palestine and Syria. 
  
  
  Using the 4-A’s framework for effective education, the efficacy of educational programs offered by the ICCS becomes more clear. With over 65 centers operating within the urban host communities where most refugees live, educational services are made widely available to refugees. In terms of accessibility, the ICCS not only makes its educational programming cost-free, but actually pays 50 Jordanian Dinar to families as an incentive for attending and to counteract economic barriers to refugee education (Hasselbarth 2014). There is certainly more research necessary to judge the accessibility of Islamic charity education for refugee children with disabilities. In general, these educational programs seem to be particularly adaptable to various groups in different urban centers, rural villages, and even of various religious affiliations. According to one study, “the majority (96%) of the refugees interviewed stated that there are no conditions such as religious or political affiliation for assistance by the [Islamic] charities, which was again confirmed in the qualitative interviews,” suggesting that these programs are in fact adaptable to non-Muslims (Hasselbarth 2014). 
  
  Despite limited data and research surrounding Islamic charities in general, perhaps it is most difficult to measure the acceptability of ICCS educational programs. This is primarily because standards of acceptable education are inherently subjective, and historically have been defined by western, secular standards within humanitarianism. Many western humanitarians question the acceptability of educational programs that are explicitly Islamist and focus on the cultivation of a “collective Islamic socio-political identity” (Hasselbarth 2014). However, this concern and speculation surrounding Islamic education must be understood within the broader geo-political context that has historically deligitamized Islamic discourses. This trend is inseparable from the western global security apparatus that wages ceaseless so-called “wars on terrorism” and treats Muslim subjectivities as inherently suspicious. Additionally, it is important to recognize that 93 percent of Syrians and 97 percent of Jordanians identify as Muslim, suggesting that the ICCS’s Islamic educational content is culturally relevant and responsive to local needs (Pew Research Center 2020). Essentially, the acceptability of ICCS educational programs remains unclear from the normative perspective of humanitarian education, however it certainly is attuned to the cultural needs of refugees in Jordan. Overall, the various programs offered through the ICCS are generally available, accessible, and adaptable, while also being acceptable in accordance with Islamic values that may conflict with normative standards.