Introduction

The seventies of the last century were characterized by a dynamism that was unparalleled in the production of a new cognitive and intellectual discourse, as well as by holding a series of international conferences that tackled vital and sensitive issues pertaining to food security, Human Rights, population, and economic and social development, including poverty, human settlements, environment and sustainable development.

Out of these conferences (especially the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development, and the Fourth World Women Conference held in Beijing in 1995), there emerged new issues, concepts, and approaches that had various frames of reference, as well as an ongoing scientific debate. The nature, components and meanings of the issues of reproductive health, adolescent health, the empowerment of women and the ensuing concepts all require further elucidation and a clear Sharia position vis-à-vis these issues, in light of the Holy Qur’an, of the Prophetic Sunnah, and of the civilizational and cultural values of the Islamic society.    

On this basis and in the context of keeping abreast with the new developments and of enriching Islamic educational programs with modern concepts and themes that are directly related to the Muslim’s behavior and life, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund, set out to compile this guide with a view to putting it at the disposal of educators and designers of the teaching materials of Islamic Education. A cognitive and elucidating document, the Guide would help them to grasp the significance of these issues and to interact with them in an efficient way through the subject of Islamic Education which is the only subject matter -from among all other subjects- that is eligible to consolidate and direct behavior and to remold conceptions relating to educational and cognitive issues which some might think have absolutely nothing to do with Islamic Education ; Islam, however, has examined them thoroughly and through a wise and discerning vision characterized by a humanitarian and universal dimension.

The cognitive field of Islamic Education is the natural field for such issues about which the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah have issued enough rulings and directives. What instructors ought to do is to clear up the dimensions of the issues and concepts of reproductive health and social gender to give the learner the opportunity to ponder over their meanings and to instill in him Islamic values which extend to the whole of man’s cultural, economic and social behavior. Therefore, Islamic Education is the compass that guides behavior and regulates individual and group conduct.

In addition to the Islamic cognitive stock and to defining the basic concepts pertaining to the domain of reproductive health, social gender, and the general and specific competencies related to them, this Guide presents instructors with an educational approach upon which they can draw to incorporate the issues included in the concept matrix and in a number of educational measures, as well as in the requirements of implementation, follow-up and evaluation. The purpose is to facilitate the teaching-learning process, and to create all the appropriate conditions for realizing the intended educational goals. This Guide contains consolidation studies and Qur’anic and Sunnah support texts, an annotated bibliography and other specific documents, the purpose of which is to present the teachers of Islamic Education and its curriculum designers with a rich subject matter that would enable them to carry out the theoretical and scientific incorporation task in the best conditions, and to make this Guide an open and up-to-date scientific and educational document.