Arab Educational Information Network

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the Islamic education textbooks in Saudi Arabia and the UAE included topics that tackle love of the Prophet Mohammad. To achieve this goal, the study adopted the descriptive approach that is based on the analysis of the content of the Islamic education textbooks for grades 2, 4, and 6 for the academic year (2017/2018). A list of 7 categories of the most prominent topics related to loving the prophet was prepared. These are: religious motive for loving the prophet, his lofty place, introducing his life, loving his family and companions, examples of his mercy and sympathy, examples of the companion’s love of the prophet, and the outcomes of loving him. The results of the study indicated that the Islamic education textbooks in Saudi Arabia included a total of 330 out of 2767 paragraphs, this formed (11.92%) of the whole content under study, as compared to 106 topics out of 1237 paragraphs identified in the textbooks of Islamic education in the United Arab Emirates. This formed (8.56%) of the whole content under study. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences that can be attributed to the grade variable in favor of the higher grade in the textbooks of Islamic education in Saudi Arabia while it was in favor of grade 2 as compared to the two upper grades 4 and 6 in the textbooks of Islamic education in the UAE. Moreover, the results showed statistically significant differences between the categories related to the topics of loving the Prophet Mohammad included in the textbooks of Islamic education in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in favor of the textbooks of Islamic education in Saudi Arabia compared to the textbooks of Islamic education in the UAE. In light of these results, the study recommends including more topics related to loving the Prophet Mohammad in the Islamic education textbooks, as well as conducting more studies that investigate the inclusion levels of loving the prophet in the textbooks. (Published abstract)