Islamic religious education in Poland – curricula and textbooks
published in: "Islamic textbooks and curricula in Europe" ed. by Ednan Aslan. Peter Lang: Franfurt/M, 181-196.
this text is partially based on the results of the project “Islamic religious education in Poland” conducted in 2009 by the author together with students and Ph.D. students: Miłosława Fijałkowska, Patrycja Przybyłowicz, Martyna Kałka, Nina Mocior and Joanna Mackiewicz
In Poland, pursuant to Article 53, paragraph 4 of the Constitution, every religious organization with a regulated... more
In Poland, pursuant to Article 53, paragraph 4 of the Constitution, every religious organization with a regulated legal status has the right to teach its religion in schools. In practice, however, religious education classes can be organized when there are at least seven students of a particular denomination in one school. All religious organizations have the right to organize after-school religious education and to establish denominational schools.
The number of Muslims in Poland is estimated at 25-30 thousand, which amounts to 0.05-0.08 percent of the total population of Poland. Because of this fact, Islam is taught in schools only in Bialystok and Warsaw, places where Muslims are more numerous. These classes are organized by two Muslim religious organizations officially recognized by the state: the Muslim Religious Union (the MZR) and the Muslim League. Both of them have their own curricula and textbooks, the latter are rather outdated (and not numerous. The Ministry of Education approved a school curriculum for Muslim religious instruction in 2004 (prepared by the MZR).
The paper discusses the existing curricula and textbooks used in classes, taking into consideration the legal framework for conducting Muslim religious instruction, methods of curriculum preparation and the lack of suitable textbooks for several stages of education.
Relations between Islam and the state in Poland: the legal position of Polish Muslims
co-authored with Paweł Borecki (Department of Confessional Law,, University of Warsaw),
published in "Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations", 22:3, 2011, 343-359.
Relations between the Polish state and Muslims living in its territory have a long history dating back to the... more Relations between the Polish state and Muslims living in its territory have a long history dating back to the fourteenth century, when a Muslim presence was first established in the area. The first Muslims to arrive in Poland were Tatars from the Golden Horde. Their influx continued for a few centuries and they were granted land in exchange for military service. The nature of mutual relations changed with time, along with changes in the structure of the state. Initially, there was a Polish-Lithuanian monarchy, but after 1795 the area inhabited by the Tatars fell under the rule of the Russian Empire. In 1918–1939, the reborn Polish state granted its inhabitants religious freedom and, even though Catholicism was privileged, Islam was officially recognized in 1936. The socialist state, in existence between 1944 and 1989, took an ideological stance against all religions. Since 1989, Poland has been a democratic state under the rule of law characterized by separation of state and religion. Thanks to the centuries-long presence of Tatars in Poland, Islam is an officially recognized denomination and the position of Muslims is much better than that of other religious minorities. This article details the historical development of relations between the Polish state and Muslims. The section on the twentieth century provides an analysis of relations between the state and religion and a description of Islam-related legislation in the Constitution and religious law, focusing on regulations concerning religious practices including marriage, dress code, ritual slaughter and religious instruction in school.