Tunisia is famously the most secular Arab country, even more so then Lebanon. While the latter does not have civil marriage, Tunisia established the practice in 1956. It is also the only Arab country with an Islamic Ministry [though it does have a Minister of Religious Affairs].

And, by and large, Tunisians themselves are not only outwardly secular, as in they believe faith is a private matter, but many of them are not even practicing Muslims. Whether that is good or bad is a question of judgment.

But in recent years, religion has risen as a recognizable force in both the individual lives of Tunisians and in the public square. Take the fast of Ramadan, while the generation of parents did not strictly abide by the fast. Today, not fasting during Ramadan is seen as nearly beyond the pale. In recent years, Tunisia has seen the launch of the first ever Islamic radio and television network. And the secular government [dictatorship] has been much more lenient in allowing for public displays of Islam.

By way of anecdotal evidence, I can personal attest to mosques going from 1/3 full to now packing all the way to the end of the hall. More and more women are wearing the hijab. A few years back, I would estimate that no more than 15% of women wore the hair covering, now it is around 30%. Tunisians are clearly becoming more religious; a reflecting a regionally tide toward piousness.

And as parents turn to Islam, they want their children’s upbringing to be rooted in the faith as well. Private Islamic schools are flourishing in this Mediterranean nation.

According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the number of Islamic schools has tripled since 1987, with a 400% increase in enrolment. Under the current plan, there will be 1,000 such institutions in Tunisia by year’s end.

Islamic schools in Tunisia are also seeing resurgence in affluent areas, where they had fallen out of favour.

Mokhtarben Bechir, who runs a religious school, told Magharebia that the number of students at his school is increasing daily.

Besides learning the Qur’an, some Tunisian parents put their children in Islamic schools because their children will receiving a strong grounding in the Arabic language.

The great increase of students is another illustration that Tunisian society is becoming more religious. That is a good thing, though authorities should make sure that the Islam being taught is the true Islam of peace and tolerance and note the Wahhabi-Salafi variety.

As education official Tawfik Mdini put it, “We have to be careful and we need to continuously monitor what’s going on behind the walls of these schools so that they may not turn into incubators for producing intolerant people whom we don’t need.” Well said.

And although Tunisians are becoming more religious, that does not mean that their understanding of the secular nature of their government has changed. A comment placed under the above cited store illustrates the views of most Tunisians, pious or not: “If the Tunisian parents are paying to send their children to these schools, then I see no problem with this phenomenon, but I refuse to have taxpayers’ money help finance religious schools: education must be secular.”