Preserving identity and empowering women. How do Canadian Muslim schools affect their students?

In this interview, Dr. Jasmin Zine talks about Muslim schools in Canada and their impact on their students’ identity development and integration in the society. Having served for decades as a tool to preserve a particular religious identity, Islamic schooling also plays a crucial role in empowering female students. In some cases, Muslim schools have become a safe haven, especially for women, “a place where their identity is not in question, where they can feel safe and comfortable”. Also, Dr. Jasmin Zine describes to Mariia Alekseevskaia the challenges which Canadian Muslim schools face today, including a difficulty to promote critical thinking and “the spirit of debate” while teaching about religion as well as maintaining patriarchal religious cultures. Lastly, professor Zine discusses academic colonialism and shares her personal story of what it means to be a Muslim woman in academia.