There are different types of globalization, and hence this chapter uses the plural form of the term. Two principal types of globalization relevant to this chapter are Islamic globalization and Western globalization each with its variety of forces. The Islamic globalization includes features such as the extension of ummah, the spread of Islamic messages via ICT and migration. The Western globalization carries various forces such as market principles and neo-liberalism, human rights, and universal educational models.

Today, Muslims are in a majority or form important minorities of the population in some forty countries; conversion to Islam takes place in many places in the world. In fact, Islam and certain branches within Protestantism have been the most expansive – in terms of new adherents – during the past two decades. At least nonformal Islamic educational institutions exist practically everywhere on the globe. Where minorities of Muslims have settled as immigrants, there also tends to be Qur’ānic educational activities.

Among Muslims, there are different views of what globalizations are, and one may distinguish the followings: (a) Islam as threatened by globalization; (b) Islam as marginalized from globalization; (c) Islam itself as a globalizing force; and (d) Islam as a potential globalizing force. Muslim educational perspectives tend to correspond to one or several of these four views.

From the Western perspective, globalization has resulted in intensive encounters between and mutal penetration of world religions, such as Islam and Christianity, that more than ever before compete and challenge one another. The relativization implicit in or resulting from globalization threatens the Muslim way of life and makes Muslims defend their values and belief systems.

Educational world models are propagated by international organizations such as the World Bank, UNESCO, OECD, and others and tend to make it necessary for Islamic educational arrangements to adapt or go through revitalization.

This chapter makes an overview of the different globalizing forces as a context to the changes that take place in Western type as well as Islamic education.