ISLAMIC EDUCATION AND THE EVOLVEMENT OF MUSLIM WOMEN IDENTITY IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Islamic education is important in instilling religious identity for every Muslim. In this case, Islamic schools play the role of moulding and strengthening Muslim women’s identity which has been wrongly interpreted as being marginalized, passive, weak, and uneducated by the western society. The goal of educational institutions is to form faith, good practice, and values among Muslim women. Therefore, this research is aimed to illustrate the role of Islamic schools and education in forming the Muslim women’s identity among Malaysians. The data was collected from documentation and media resources such as books, journals, unpublished thesis and dissertations, conference and seminar papers, magazines, blogs and websites. The findings of this research showed that Islamic education has given a significant impact to the formation of Muslim identity as well as changed the perception of Muslim parents and society towards the importance of seeking knowledge. In addition, this research found that the formation of Muslim women’s identity is a continuous process which is closely related to Islamic schools, culture, and the social environments of a society. To sum up, all the issues involving Muslim women identity require the Muslim institutions and community to show commitment to their values, and support is required from the state to ensure that the Muslim women identity are suitable to the contemporary modern society.