This essay is about how islam is illustrated in textbooks of History in Sweden during 1980-s and first decade in 2000.  This study does not aim to give all answers about those tendencies, but it will lift up and discuss this issues.The essay has two questions to answers. They are:1-      How does textbooks from 1980-s and 2000-s illustrate Islam?2-      Do we see any tendencies of Orientalism in textbooks?The most focus in this study will be in first question, because this question is more open and need more empirical material to answer. The second question is more specific and has to do with first questions results. The first part of off essays investigation has to do with description of what textbooks writtes about Islam. After this I will compare and analyze what differences they are between textbooks from 1980-s and first decade of 2000-s.

The interest in providing a post 9/11 image of Islam to contrast the media?s frequent focus on its practitioners? alleged tendencies toward hostility and violence has in Sweden manifested itself (among other things) in an increased range of courses on Islam given by denominational Muslim organizations. In this paper I examine the construction of Islam by two Muslim organizations that offer education in Islam to non-Muslims in the context of the management?s stated goals of the education. My aim is to illustrate how discourses within these organizations are a result of the combination of local and global conditions..

This paper investigates the presentation of Islam in textbooks used in the study of religion in high schools. The papers focus on two main questions concerning the ways in which Islam is presented in the analysed textbooks, and how the new curriculum has influenced the portrayal of Islam in the materials. Here, the paper utilizes a method of critical discourse analysis with Faircloughs three-dimensional analysis. The paper then concludes that the presentation of Islam is negative in nature, with the content and view of Islam having been simplified and stereotyped. Often the textbooks studied frame Islam as being an aggressive and oppressive religion, especially in matters con-cerning women.

The role of Islam in integrative work in Swedish societyThe main purpose of this report was to describe the role of Islam in integrative work in Swedish society. Questions connected to the purpose were: Is Islam a possibility or an obstacle to integration? Which arguments are used to describe Islam as a possibility or an obstacle? How are the different views on Islam expressed in integrative work? Which are the consequenses of such views?A qualitative method with an empirical research and a thematic analysis has been applied to the material. The empirical research consists of interviews.The results of this report describe Islam neither as a possibility nor as an obstacle from a political view. By muslims and researchers Islam can be regarded both as a possibility and as an obstacle in integrative work.

With this essay I have tried to give an image of some Swedish teenagers opinions about Islam. I have also done research on how the Swedish school depicts Islam and how the media in Sweden and other western countries describe Islam and Muslims. I have come to the conclusion that the media do not give a positive image of Muslims and their religion. One the contrary, Muslims are talked about in relation to negative subjects. This is an image that seems to have influenced how young people in Sweden look at Muslims.I have handed out a questionnaire at schools in Kalmar and Jönköping, Sweden.

A study about how six teachers teach about the veil in the teaching of islam.

Mitt syfte med denna uppsats är att försöka ge läsaren en inblick i vad Koranen och andra skrivna källor säger om kvinnans ställning i islam. D.v.s. om det utifrån västerländska värderingar (som dock inte på något vis är universella eller gäller som de rätta) finns ett kvinnoförtryck inom islam..

Skolan ska förmedla lika undervisning för alla, oavsett kön, ursprung, sexuell läggning eller religionstillhörighet. Frågan är dock om den likvärdiga undervisningen ger en likvärdig bild av alla religioner och kulturer? Hur ser det ut i läromedlen och vilken bild ger undervisningen?Islam är en religion som växer, både i Sverige och i världen. I takt med att den muslimska befolkningen blir allt större ökar även fördomarna mot muslimerna och den så kallade islamofobin får ett starkare fäste hos många människor. Hur bör skolan göra för att minska fördomarna och den utsatthet som många av de muslimska ungdomarna känner?Denna litteraturstudie försöker besvara dessa två problem tillsammans.

The aim of this study is to analyze how two different education books produce christianity and islam. The analyzed books is from 2003 and 2008 and the books are adapted for the last years of primary school. The meaning and translation of words is often a problem and can get the reader wrong understaning of the religion. The analyze include the perspective of this meaning and how the sacred things are described in each religion.The textanalyze is made with different criterias; the context, the pre- understanding and if the text is objectiv is some of the most important. The language is important too.

I denna uppsats ska jag titta närmare på religionskunskapsämnet och avsnittet islam. Syftet med undersökningen är att se hur undervisningen bedrivs på skolor med olika förutsättningar när det gäller klassammansättningen. Med detta menar jag klassernas etniska och religiösa bakgrunder. Huvudsyftet med uppsatsen är att försöka utröna om det finns skillnader i arbetssättet vid skolor med få eller inga alls med invandrarbakgrund och skolor med en stor andel med muslimsk bakgrund. Vilka läromedel använder skolorna och hur presenterar de islam? Görs jämförelser med kristendomen och i så fall hur ser de ut? Hur arbetar läraren konkret och vad är det eleverna ska kunna om islam? Vad är målet med undervisningen? Jag kommer även att titta på tidsramarna, intresset och attityden kring islam från både lärare och elevers synvinklar.

The purpose of this paper is to study the subject Islam and Democracy and see whatcommonalities exist between the two ideas and traditions of thoughts. The subject is topicaland often highlighted by the media in the West. The Islamic voices that we hear today iscertainly not democratic, given the violence and hatred carried out by Islamic extremistsagainst the West. The investigation of this paper have shown a different direction when thereare other voices such as those investigated reformist thinkers who argue that Islam has manydemocratic elements, and even that Islam is more suitable than democracy. According to thereformists ismodel of an Islamic state is democratic and legitimate.

With this thesis I have sought to do a critical review on how Islam is perceived and articulated by secondary school students in a school in a larger Swedish city. The aim is to analyse how some secondary students in Sweden talk about Islam, as a religion and as a school subject. To achieve this aim, seven focus group interviews with 36 students aged 15-16 have been conducted. These focus groups have discussed the general picture of Islam depicted by the society, media and through the school. But also how, and in what way that depiction has influenced their personal view of Islam.

Syfte med undersökningen är att studera hur vissa läromedelsförfattare använder bilder i kapitlen om islam i läromedel för grundskolans tidigare år. Jag genomför en analys av första bilden i kapitlet och en kartläggning av resterande bilder i tre utvalda läroböcker. I min undersökning gör jag en semiologisk analys och jämförelse mellan läroböcker från 1980-, 90- och 2000-talet. I min studie av bilderna använder jag mig av semiologisk analys. Jag redogör för bildens funktion i läromedel och gör en historisk överblick av läromedelsbilden. Analysen visar på vikten av att skilja på religöst utövande och politisk Islam i bild.

This thesis is dedicated to analysing the relationship between Islam and democracy and the role played by Civil Society in a process towards democracy. This theme is further elaborated through a comprehensive study of three modern Muslim intellectuals: Abdolkarim Soroush (Iran), Hasan Hanafi (Egypt), and Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland), and their thoughts about and views on Islam and democracy. Islam has often been portrayed in a stereotype manner where all forms of change are seen as impossible. The aim of this study is to go beyond this vision and instead focus one the role of Islam in processes of development and new forms of interpretation concerning democracy.The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the relationship between Islam and democracy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Islam and Muslims are portrayed a) in results from studies on Swedish teaching materials, and b) in articles in Swedish media newspapers. The study was conducted through two separate studies. In the first study, five previous research reports on how Islam and Muslims are portrayed in Swedish teaching materials were analysed in order to discern the main results regarding the portrayal of Islam and Muslims. In the second study, newspaper articles from 11 Swedish newspapers were analysed in order to discern which central themes emerge in the description of Muslims and Islam in said newspaper articles, as well as which properties and features are attributed to Muslims and Islam in the articles studied. In both studies, the data was analysed inductively through a qualitative content analysis.