On the Representation of Religious Identity in Arabic Textbooks in Iran

Learning Arabic starts with three books under the title of: Arabic the language of Quran. These books has a direct connection with the official religion of Islamic republic of Iran’s official constitution. Considering that all religions are recognized in Iran’s constitution and Arabic textbooks are taught all over Iran, this study attempts at dealing with criticizing how religious identities were represented in these textbooks. Therefore, after reviewing the macro level official documents in Iran and ‘the Fundamental Reform Document’ of the Ministry of Education’, the researchers determined the relevant elements of religious identity. The elements include ‘religious places and cities’, ‘religious rituals’, ‘religious figures’, ‘religious symbols’ and ‘religious sects’. The study enjoyed a critical analysis and a descriptive method of research. The units of analysis were lexical items, illustrations and pictures of the textbooks. The results indicated that some items like ‘religious figures’ representing Islam have been the focus of attention, while minority religions were underestimated. This may be interpreted as deviation from the contents of macro level official documents, which are expected to actualize the national unity among the Iranian communities.