| The unrealistic struggle associated with the ethnocentric thinking that is steering the relationship between the Muslim World and the West has, to a large extent, distorted Islam and the ideals of the West along with its version of democracy. This action research study was conducted to determine if a Social Understanding Program (SUP) has impacted Muslim students' attitudes towards non-Muslims in four domains: perception about other religions, maintaining interaction with non-Muslims, Muslims obligations towards non-Muslims, and tolerance toward non-Muslims. Another goal was to obtain teachers' opinions about the challenges, and strengths of planning and implementing the program, plus obtains their recommendations for improving the program. Pre- and post-test surveys were used to assess students' attitude before and after implementing the Social Understanding Program in a Muslim school in the Middle East region for grades 8 to 10 students. Focus group interviews were conducted to engage teachers in the development of the program contents and teaching strategies, and to provide a forum to discuss improvements. A paradigm shift in students' thinking was achieved as a result of the SUP. Results from the surveys showed considerable increases on most of the 43 Likert scores, reflecting more favourable understanding of the non-Muslims. This study suggests that Muslim students who critically study Islamic teachings have a more realistic understanding of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims than do those Muslims who superficially explore Islam. |
