why muslims dont like jews? i am a moroccan musician and i like muslims.
Answer
Muslims should have no problem relating to Jews as individuals or even communities as they are people of the book. However, Muslims don't like Zionists because Zionism is unjust. Allah says in the Quran "Do not take the Jews and the Christians as your protecting friends." And the Zionist state is an exmaple of how historically the Jews and the Christians have not been good at being just and fair to the people in their sphere of power, whereas in general the Muslim states have historically protected the minority communities under their rule.
Name
sonja
-
Profession
Question
Hello! would you know if there are at present any Islamic or Muslim schools in France which the girls could attend, since they are not allowed to wear the hijab to school? how many schools are there, would you happen to know? thank you!
Answer
I am sorry France is a complete mystery to me and i don't have any information about Muslim schools there.
Name
Fathia
- Australia
Profession
Question
Home schooling or not ? An ever-growing issue, you as a specialist what do you think given the situation that not all parents can afford islamic schools.
Answer
I am very much in favour of home-schooling and I have four children who began their education at home. The most effective Muslim schools have often emerged from home schooling situations.
Name
Sameera
- Bulgaria
Profession
Question
We have heard that establishing Islamic schools in the UK is not as easy as it was before, why?
Is it due to the lack of having professional Muslim teachers, or due to legal considerations, or due to financial difficulties?
Answer
The rules for establishing independent schools changed in September 2003 because the British education authorities were concerned with the great number of Muslim schools that were opening up. They were concerned that many of these projects were not properly resourced in terms of proper buildings, properly trained teachers and on going financial support. In reality their criticisms had some truth in them but what had always happened was that the Muslim schools that started up either became well established quickly or went out of existence. The mature Muslim schools are doing very well in every aspect of education.
Name
Soma
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Profession
Question
What about the curriculums of the islamic schools. Is it the same as the official with addition of some islamic studies or totally different?
Answer
There are various kinds of Muslim schools. There are some schools which concentrate on Islamic studies and others which concentrate on the general curriculum and add Islamic studies. All schools however have to meet the criteria of inspection for the Office of Standards in Education (OFSTED). Which means they have to demonstrate that their pupils are achieving the relevant standards in numeracy,literacy, citizenship etc.
Name
Hoda
- Egypt
Profession
Question
I am a mother with 2 pre-schoolers, who is going to stay for a long period in the UK.
What are your recommendations to facilitate the adaptation period my little sons will have to go through when beginning their school experience.
Answer
There are many Islamic nurseries as well as Islamic primary schools and your children will adapt better in the environment of these institutions rather than the state schools. Please contact me on idris@ams-uk.org and I can send you a list of schools in the area where you are going to be based.
Name
Ismail
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Profession
Question
You mean Saturday Islamic School or full time islamic school?? I Feel that many of the teachers in Islamic Schools do not have qualifications or knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning.
Answer
AMSUK only deals with full-time Muslim schools. The standard of teaching in the full-time Muslim schools is continually improving and so the results of the schools are continually improving. Muslim secondary schools in particular are out performing the equivalent state schools in their areas for GCSE by atleast 20 percentage points.
AMSUK has a very successful scheme to help teachers in Muslim schools get their Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) which is the qualification that teachers must have in the state sector.
Name
Mona
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Profession
Question
In Islamic Schools there is a communication gap between many of the teachers and the children, mainly because of the language barriers but more importantly in terms of the teaching methods and styles.
Answer
I don't think this is true. In fact, this communication gap exists in the state schools. I think that many of the Muslim schools are working very hard at the ongoing professional development of their teachers.
Name
mounir
- United Kingdom
Profession
administration
Question
Assalamou alaikoum.
I have opened an account, a bank account, for my 2 years old daugther,just small amount a month,and they are giving her interest on it ,please is she allowed to take it or not,
jazzakoum allah khaiiraa.
Answer
I am not a Mufti. Please referr to the section that is specialized in answering questions of a shar'i nature (islamic jurisprudence).
Here is the link:
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwaapplication/english/browse.asp
Or you may use the Live fatwa sessions to submit your question and a respectable scholar will answer it, here is the link :
http://www.islamonline.net/livefatwa/english/select.asp
Name
Ethar
-
Profession
Question
Young children are very eager to learn about their true identity, they have an innate craving for Islamic education BUT the Islamic schools are unable to meet their needs, and provide Islamic education, that is stimulating and challenging. Children's achievement in terms of Islamic knowledge after attending such Islamic schools for a number of years is often negligible.
Answer
I don't know which Muslim schools you are talking about as in my experience the Muslim schools are giving their pupils a good background in Islamic knowledge and identity.
Name
aishah
-
Profession
Question
assalamu alaikum.
I think the problem facing islamic schools is to get competent teachers.what do u think?
Answer
I think the real problem is that most of the schools are under-resourced and therefore do not pay their teachers enough. That is why we need more Muslim state schools and more waqf support for the independent schools.
Name
Umm Mustafa
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Profession
editor
Question
As-Salamu `alaykum.
I taught in two Muslim schools in the United States some years ago, and was very disappointed in the quality of the schools. I've heard similar complaints about a few other Muslim schools there. We have the problem there that private schools cannot receive government funding.
My question is: Your work is in the UK, but do you have connections with any similar organizations in the US? Do you know of any efforts there to improve Islamic education?
Answer
I don't have too much contact with the schoos in the USA but our ex-chairman, Yusuf Islam, has set up an organisation to help raise teaching and curriculum standards in all the English-medium Muslim schools worldwide.The organisation is called IBERR and its website is iberr.homepage.com
Name
Okasa
- United States
Profession
Question
Salams.
Can you tell me just what IS Islamic education? From my experience in Muslim schools in the US, I don't think the teachers or administration had a very clear picture of just what it means, or what their goals should be. The schools seemed to believe in corporal punishment, but the quality of the teaching was very low and the teachers were usually unqualified.
What should be the goal of Islamic education other than teaching the kids Qur'an and religion on top of the 3 Rs (reading, writing and 'rithmatic)?
Answer
The real issue is not about schools but about who is teaching and what is being taught. In my experience the Muslim teacher is more important than the Muslim school or the so-called Islamisized curriculum. A Muslim is somebody whose behaviour and world-view is based on Quran and Sunnah and they transmit this behaviour and world-view in everything they do and teach. The real task is to train effective Muslim teachers. In UK we are concentrating in raising teacher standards in the Muslim schools.
Corporal punnishment is illegal in UK and Muslims must obey the laws of the land as long as they don't mean leaving the Limits of Islam. Corporal is definitely not a fard in Islam.
Name
saimah
-
Profession
Question
salaam
do you think Muslim children do better in Muslim schools?
I find sometimes the level of education is very low compared to state schools; how can we change this?
your comments please.
Answer
The results of the Muslim schools, particularly the secondary schools would indicate that Muslim children are definetly doing better in Muslim schools but this is sometimes because they concentrate on the academic studies and do not offer a wide range of experiences. The problem is really about resources and the answer is for the Muslim schools to be properly resourced and financed.
Name
Yusuf
-
Profession
Question
My question is:
why don't Arabic people study Persian or Malaysian or Indonesian culture including its language very hard? I'm sure it is very important to strengthen their lateral relations in terms of Muslim states.
Thank you in advance
Answer
Yes, it is very important for Muslims to have a knowledge of the various parts of the Ummah and more importantly to have an awareness of how Islam has transformed different societies and cultures across the world. This is particularly relevant here in the U.K. because Islam is transforming British society and the english language.
Name
huzema
-
Profession
Question
My children go to missionery schools and they have to say the prayers and hymns after every class is this a bad influence on our children.
Answer
I do not think that saying prayers or singing hymns is the worst aspect of your children attending the missionary school as at least it is connected to worshipping god. I am more worried about the general indoctrination that takes place in the school which makes the children see the world not through the quranic world view.
Name
selma
- Australia
Profession
editor
Question
Assalam alaikum, and thanks for your time. You mentioned something about an integration program for the youth. could you please tell us more about that. thanks
Answer
I have designed a program for the young muslims in the British isles that looks at being British as not a issue connected to politics and citizenship or to culture but rather to place.
I think it is part of the fitra identity of every human being that they have a sense of their people, their belief and their place. I feel many of the muslim immigrants do not connect in real way to the enviroment of the Bbritish isles and therefore because they feel like strangers they are looked on as strangers. The program is called fitra and is based on the life of Sayyiduna Ibrahim who is the model for the fitra. He ived in three enviroments, the city, the agrarian hinterland and the wild places. Th city is really a market place a place of authority and a place of worship, the countryside is connected to the plants and animals we eat, the wild places are places for reflection and empty spaces to be crossed either by animal or boat.
