Paper short abstract:

In Tanzania Islamic institutions of learning are reshaping dynamics between the rural and the urban. The paper shows on the micro- and meso-level how new educational, business and living environments are enabled and practiced through those institutions and alternative models of society are promoted.

Paper long abstract:

Islamic Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) are stressing the importance of religious and secular education in Tanzania. In these contexts local and international FBOs run educational institutions covering preprimary, primary and secondary schools as well as universities. Frequently one can observe the clustering of a set of theses and additional institutions promoted as so called 'centers' or 'villages'. While following the national, secular curricula they offer a learning environment that caries specifically Islamic attributes and encourages Islamic values.

In Tanzania Islamic institutions of learning are situated in urban but also rural environments which are commonly perceived as backward and less attractive. Especially in the latter they impact through a new visibility of the locations to a broader public, infrastructure and an influx of people, ideas and business-opportunities. Through giving out scholarships to students, they foster a highly qualified and loyal workforce since some of them enter their sponsoring institutions after completing their studies. Offering rural people access to education, job opportunities and exposure and motivating educated Muslim (even from abroad) to locate in rural environments, they transgress the urban-rural divide.

Based on empirical data from Tanzania the paper highlights characteristics of Islamic educational institutions. It sketches their impact on the individual level and on the wider society in reference to a commonly perceived rural-urban divide. Thus the paper shows that through new educational, business and living environments FBOs are reshaping differences between urban and rural while alternative models of society are promoted.