Islamic school leadership: advancing a framework for critical spirituality

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand how an Islamic school leader’s critical spirituality informed and shaped leadership practice. This qualitative case study explored the role of critical spirituality as it relates to social justice, gender justice, and pluralism in a progressive American Islamic school. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, documents, and school site observations. Findings identified three components of critical spirituality essential to her work as a school leader; specifically, critical consciousness; critical resistance; and critical love. The paper contributes to the literature on school leadership and critical spirituality through its introduction of an empirically based critical spirituality in leadership framework.

Keywords:

• Critical spirituality
• school leadership
• Islam
• critical consciousness
• resistance
• love
• social justice
• gender justice
• pluralism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See Ahmed, 1993; Rahemtulla, 2017; Safi, 2003; Wadud, 2006, 1999

2 Gender in the Qur’an is nonlinear, complex, shifting, and discursive (Rahmaan, 2016). “Gender indicators belonging to a specific gender discourse does not necessarily limit its indication to that particular discourse. For example, the use of a proposition with linguistic indicators belonging to the masculine gender cannot restrict the meaning of that proposition to the same gender, but it can be generalised to both men and women” as well as be “egalitarian (gender inclusive)” (Ghasem et al., 2021, p. 10, 1).

3 All names are pseudonyms.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melanie C. Brooks

Melanie C. Brooks is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She is a J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar grant recipient to the Philippines and has conducted research in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, the United States, Australia, and Egypt. Her areas of expertise include educational leadership, Islamic schooling, and education in contexts of conflict.

Miriam D. Ezzani

Miriam D. Ezzani is an assistant professor in educational leadership in the College of Education at Texas Christian University. Her research foci are culturally responsive leadership as it relates to race and faith, and leadership preparation aimed at developing ethically and socially just educational leaders.