Framework for Islamic education in Muslim minority countries: experiences from Finland

Finland has garnered considerable global attention for having one of the world’s best education systems. As a secular Nordic country, Finland has seen the number of Muslim students interested in Islamic education (IE) almost triple over the past few decades. This article examines IE within the Finnish National Education System (FNES), focusing on the construction of IE in Finland and its curriculum. Examining IE as a form of minority education, this study also explores Finnish IE teachers’ perceptions of religious moderation in heterogeneous Muslim classrooms. The findings show that IE is allocated the same curricular weight as majority religious education; designing such curricula—with varying emphases on “introduction” and “understanding” content across different levels of comprehensive schooling—requires close collaboration with religious communities and municipal governments. Furthermore, teachers addressed debates over Islamic denominational differences among students by fostering a consensus-based, non-denominational approach to Islam. These findings carry theoretical implications for developing a representative model of IE. The study further contributes to IE policy discussions by emphasizing student development over administrative concerns.