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The Challenge of Educating "Troubled" Muslim Youth in America: The Taqwa Gayong Academy
By Abdul-Lateef Abdullah
26/07/2001
The Ritalin Reality
There is an education crisis in America. Last year's presidential election attests to this fact, as both Al Gore and George W. Bush made educational reform one of their top priorities throughout the campaign year. Statistics on America's public education system, particularly in urban areas, are alarming. For example, in 1990, high schools in Baltimore, Maryland were graduating less than 50% of their students (The Heritage Foundation, 1990). In other urban centers like Cincinnati, Ohio, on any given day last year at Western Hills High School, about one-quarter of the school's students were absent. Fewer than half of the freshmen graduate from the school in four years, and last Fall, the school had 829 freshmen and just 252 seniors (Education Week on the Web, 2001).
Statistics like this provide a shocking glimpse into the state of the American public education system. However, the problems with education in America cannot be adequately expressed without touching on the subject of behavioral "disorders," such as children diagnosed with ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Because of their diagnoses, many children in the U.S. receive behavior-altering drugs such as
Ritalin. This drug has become so common that many in the medical and education professions not only believe that it is being over-prescribed, but are saying that it is reaching alarming rates. In the past five years alone, the number of prescriptions for
Ritalin in the United States has jumped from 4.5 million to 11.4 million, according to IMS America, a health care information company. Furthermore, since 1990, the rate of
Ritalin use has increased by 150% (The Detroit News, 2001). The United States now uses five times as much
Ritalin as the rest of the world.
Dr. Peter Breggin, a Maryland psychiatrist and critic of psychiatric medications such as
Prozac, describes the Ritalin phenomenon as "an incredible commentary on our society. Instead of addressing the basic needs of kids, we drug them." Breggin goes on to say, "Better family life, educational facilities, spiritual direction, a safer environment, better television and videos - forget about it. Just drug 'em."
The Ritalin phenomenon is evidence that America is raising a nation of drug addicts. Children as young as seven years old have been using
Ritalin for as long as they can remember and will probably continue to take it for the rest of their lives. In response to the behavioral needs of our children, America is opting to embrace a pharmacological "fix" for its children's ailments, rather than relying on responses that focus on prevention, development, and balance between physical and spiritual needs.
Holistic Islamic Education
Not everyone believes that drugs are the answer to the current dilemmas in education. There are many people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, who believe in a better way of addressing children's behavioral problems. Taqwa Gayong Academy (TGA) in Paulsboro, NJ (USA) is one such example. As a full-boarding school for Muslim youth that focuses on orphans and young people from troubled backgrounds, TGA specializes in working with young people who have been diagnosed with ADHD, mental retardation, and other behavioral problems. In public school settings, these "troubled" youth are often placed in special education and/or subscribed medications such as
Ritalin to sedate them and make them easier to control.
TGA welcomes these forgotten children - orphans, "troublemakers" and those with behavioral problems - which include many inner city youth. Today's Muslim population in the U.S. is comprised of many low-income, African-Americans who often struggle with the difficulties of living in America's violent inner cities. Many of these brave souls who embrace Islam must learn and practice the Islamic lifestyle in an environment that is hardly conducive to a peaceful, God-focused existence. Unfortunately, the ones who suffer the most are the Muslim children, who become easy prey to the evils and
fitnah (chaos) of the American urban environment. In doing so, many of these children "fall through the cracks" and if they survive, end up living a life far removed from Islam. Teaching young people from America's inner cities requires a unique brand of knowledge and an understanding of how to remain obedient to Allah (SWT), despite the challenges posed by growing up in such settings.
Having spent five years in East Los Angeles and West Philadelphia, the rough urban lifestyle is well-understood by the co-directors of the Taqwa Gayong Academy - Sulaiman Sharif and Nurliza Khalid. Upon coming to the U.S. eleven years ago, the husband and wife team first settled in the predominantly Latino area of East Los Angeles. After spending two years there, they moved to the east coast and settled in West Philadelphia, notorious for being one of the most violent areas of that city. There, they independently bought and operated two restaurants, in addition to Sulaiman teaching the Malay martial art of Silat Gayong out of his basement. These experiences in L.A. and West Philadelphia, according to Sulaiman, gave them their first inside look at life in American's inner cities and what many African-American Muslims must go through in order to practice their religion.
The Taqwa Gayong Academy Formula
Sulaiman and Nurliza started Taqwa Gayong Academy in 1998 with the goal of providing a family-style educational environment comprised of a full-time, nurturing - yet highly disciplined - curriculum. At TGA, they attempt to create an Islamic environment by placing high expectations on their students in regard to proper Islamic
adab and akhlaq (etiquette and morals).
The Academy offers its students a religion-intensive curriculum that includes activities from
fajr prayer in the morning to isha' prayer at night. With only 20 students housed at the Academy's full-time boarding facility in Paulsboro, New Jersey, children receive the kind of individualized attention that education experts tout, but rarely are able to implement in a majority of American public schools.
The TGA's daily schedule promotes a well-balanced lifestyle that includes the martial art of Silat Gayong. Silat represents the physical component of the curriculum, which also includes daily academic lessons in math, science, English, reading, and social studies as well as the Islamic disciplines. As an Islamic school, the objectives of TGA's Islamic curriculum are:
1) To shape the a'qidah and the foundation of
fard 'ain;
2) To instill the application of fard 'ain and fard kifayah that is commanded by the Shari'a;
3) To teach and enforce adab for the development of Islamic akhlaq.
Being a full boarding home school, the Academy allows Sulaiman and Nurliza to enjoy the great deal of freedom their work allows. They are able to dedicate all their attention to the children, and do not have to deal with outside interferences like regulatory bodies or school boards. However, parents can be obstacles when major reforms in a child's behavior are required. Many parents send their children to TGA because of behavioral difficulties. The lifestyle changes enforced at TGA however, can be unsettling to those who are not accustomed to a great deal of structure and discipline in their children's lives. Dealing with this change causes some parents to initially reconsider keeping their children at the school. However, once they have a better understanding of why the initial adjustment is difficult, most parents let their children stay and are often elated by the results.
Being a full-boarding school allows for continuity in learning in a positive Islamic environment, as opposed to the negative,
fitnah-filled surroundings of the American inner cities. At Taqwa Gayong Academy, the students are miles away from the pressures and lures of the streets and the dangers that come with them. Instead, they are protected by Allah in a 24-hour Islamic environment that is enforced by nothing more than a husband and wife team.
Sulaiman and Nurliza approach their work with students "as if they were their own children." Being from Malaysia, traditional Malay culture views teaching as one of the greatest
"amana," or trusts, that Allah can provide. This extends the role of the teacher to be the parent of the student when the parent is not around. Thus, instilling the entire Islamic way of life is their central focus. According to Sulaiman, the opportunity to live at the Academy and learn experientially by carrying-out everyday responsibilities in a variety of different situations gives the students first-hand knowledge of how a community should function, how to problem-solve and think critically, and how each person is responsible for his role within a community.
Discipline is a major theme at TGA. Many of the young people who attend the school come from families where the father is either absent or living outside of the home. For young African-American children living in precarious inner city environments, not having the structure and discipline that a Muslim father brings can have negative consequences in the child's development. Having a caring Muslim male adult in a child's life is critical to his or her successful overall development. For many of the children at TGA, Sulaiman is the lone male adult figure in their lives. Knowing this, he tries to instill in his students reliance on Allah (SWT) through self-discipline, hard work, and the Islamic religion, which includes developing oneself according to the conduct and character of the Prophet Mohammad (SAW).
The type of impact that TGA has had on students varies, but in several cases changes have been quite dramatic. One current student named Isaiah, 11 years old, was Christian when he entered TGA in September of last year. Because his mother feared for his safety and felt she could no longer control him, she resorted to sending him to a Muslim school (TGA) that was far away from the streets of Philadelphia. She, like many of the other Taqwa Gayong mothers, did not want him to become "another statistic". After only a few months, Isaiah, who (by his own choice) reverted to Islam soon after joining the Academy, has changed so much that his mother and family members have commented that "he is so well behaved they don't recognize him" when he goes home to visit. In addition, he receives straight A's in his Qur'anic classes and is one of the highest-ranking students in
Gayong.
Challenges
Despite its successes, TGA is not without its challenges. Not all children at TGA have made such dramatic improvements within a matter of months like Isaiah. As Sulaiman and Nurliza have learned, it takes a major commitment to rid children of the negative effects caused by growing up in unhealthy inner city environments and by years of inadequate public schooling. It is due to this reason that Sulaiman believes that any lasting impact on students cannot take place before a (minimum) 3-year continuous enrollment at the school. Only an intensive and ongoing effort with the children can provide them with the tools they need to succeed and bring them to the point where they can survive - and flourish - in any environment. He says that for some children, more than three years is required to accomplish this, especially the ones who enter TGA as early adolescents.
Furthermore, as a private school that focuses on at-risk, low-income youth, funding is always an issue. Because Sulaiman and Nurliza believe in providing quality education for this group of young people, they keep costs low for the families at only $400 per month. Despite the low fee, many parents are unable to meet their expenses, so the directors are constantly forced to run the school below budget. In the end, however, TGA survives and the directors attribute it to "their reliance on Allah SWT in striving to build a full-Islamic educational environment for young Muslims."
Remembering the Importance of Islamic Education
If we reflect on the many sayings of the Prophet (SAW) on the importance of education, (e.g., "Seek knowledge even if you have to go all the way to China") we will understand why the struggle of establishing Islamic schools and providing our youth with comprehensive Islamic education are two of the most important services we can provide for our fellow Muslims. If we remember, Prophet Mohammad (SAW) in the earliest days of Islam began spreading the teachings of the Qur'an in secret to his young
sahabah (companions) out of someone's home and thus formed the very first Islamic home school.
For too many Muslim youth growing up in America's inner cities, experiencing the peace and beauty of the Islamic way of life is not a viable reality. However, by the grace of Allah (SWT), there are many examples of Muslims striving to provide our youth with opportunities to receive high-quality Islamic-based education. Let's all do our best to support them, and make sure they are not forgotten.
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