Islamic Schools Priority for US Muslims

Some families moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to enroll their kids in the Peace Academy Islamic school.

"In these schools, they learn what families cannot teach them at home. They learn their religion in a regular and daily basic," Maha Wahab, a Muslim mother of three, told IslamOnline.net.

"I have two sons and one daughter. My old son and daughter attended Al Miraj Islamic School (Los Angeles) for the first 11 years of their life and my youngest son, Mustafa, is in 3rd grade and is attending New Horizon Islamic School at Santa Monica, California."

For some Muslim families, Islamic schools are so important that they are willing to resettle just to secure a place for their kids.

Mona El-Zahed, a mother of four, believes that sending Muslim children in the US to an Islamic school is a priority.

When her oldest daughter reached 4th grade, the family decided to put her in an Islamic school and because there were no Islamic schools in their city they preferred to move to another city with Islamic schools.

"Although my husband received much better job offers in other places, we decided that an Islamic school was a priority, and so we moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma," she said.

"Here, my children can attend Peace Academy, an Islamic school."

El-Zahed's oldest daughter graduated from Peace Academy School and two of her children are still attending the school.

"Once my oldest daughter graduated last May, I knew that our choice to place her in an Islamic school was the right choice. It is essential for our children to get a good Islamic backing in order to live in this society."

The number of Islamic schools in the US has steadily grown over the past twenty years.

They are rapidly shifting from community start-up schools into full-time day schools.

It is estimated currently that there are 220-600 Islamic day schools in the United States serving at least 30,000 full-time students in addition to thousands more part-time students on weekends.

Most of these Islamic schools have been established by Muslim immigrants of Arab and Pakistani descents.

Identity

Muslim students trained on performing hajj. (IOL picture)

For many, the main goal of establishing Islamic schools is to protect the identity of American Muslim children and youths through Islamic education.

"Living in a society that has different values and beliefs and ideologies, Muslim children should be able to find a place to learn their religion," said Nour Habib, who attended the Peace Academy Islamic school for eight years.

"They need a strong Islamic education in order to be able to live in this society and not be negatively influenced."

In American public schools, students are much more exposed to negative challenges, such as drugs, premarital sex, early pregnancy and peer pressure.

"I’m not saying that American society is necessarily a bad influence, because these children are Americans, but they just have to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad of this culture, because every culture has good and bad," said Habib, now a freshman at Oklahoma State University.

"I don’t want to go so far as to say that Islamic schools are the only option, but they should be given strong consideration."

For Nour, it was the family environment that attracted her more towards Islamic schools.

"What I loved about Peace was the environment," said the 17-year-old girl.

"Everyone knew each other. It was like a huge family. It creates a kind of bond between everyone, especially between classmates."

Rana Wahab, who spent the first eleven years of her life at Al Miraj Islamic School, also believes her family made the right choice.

"I feel like the fact that I was in an Islamic school for the most crucial part of my childhood was a huge priority for me.

"I'm so happy my parents were able to send me to a school that would set a strong foundation for me when it comes to practicing Islam, including everything from being able to read the Qur'an to knowing the history of Islam."

Wahab moved to the public school in the 8th grade.

"When I first moved to the public school I was scared but excited at the same time. I didn't feel strange at all because I felt like it was the perfect time to make the transition."

In the public school she got the chance to make more friends.

"At my Islamic school I knew all the teachers, whereas at the public school it was an adventure every year to meet a new teacher," she added.

"I don't feel like I missed anything by not attending a public school but I am happy I made the transition at the exact time that I did."

Challenges

Although Islamic schools are struggling with developing quality programs, the many challenges they still face prove they have a long way to achieve their goals

Many schools are struggling with the lack of financial resources, qualified teachers, developed curriculums as well as low parental support and small classroom size.

Also most of the Islamic schools cannot afford the infrastructure to better serve students with special needs simply because they cannot afford special needs teachers, counselors, or school psychologists.

"The only way to improve the financial performance of our Islamic schools is to put our hands in the hands of our fellow American citizens who feel that public schools befell them not only in character but academically as well," Noureldeen Giyashi, an expert in the field of Islamic education, told IOL.

He added that the two parties should work together to gain more support for the voucher program.

"This will solve lot of our problems."

Muslim parents recognize some of the shortcomings of Islamic schools.

"Academically, Al Miraj School was a very good school, but they don’t teach Arabic. My children were reading and memorizing Qur’an, but without understanding it," said Maha.

"The way they teach Islamic studies need lot of change," she added. "Also, there was neither computer lab nor gymnasium."

For Giyashi, the real challenges that face Islamic schools are neither the lack of financial resources nor the absence of gymnasiums or well cooking cafeterias or even high-tech computer labs.

"Our real challenges are the lack of sincerity, lack of unity, lack of sense of mission, lack of professionalism and hard work, lack of planning and lack of trust in our abilities and skills."

Effective

Despite the challenges, many Muslim families believe that the kind of education their kids get in Islamic schools is adequate.

"They are equal to their public school counterparts academically," said El-Zahed, the mother of four.

"I noticed that a lot of Islamic schools are lacking in the elementary school levels, with lower standards and expectations. However, once the student gets to middle school, I believe that things improve."

Being on lower budgets, the schools have a lower number of electives to offer, and extracurricular activities are rare, she recognizes.

"However, you can always catch them up on these things outside school, by enrolling them into extra classes or sports teams. But the things that they gain in an Islamic school cannot be made up elsewhere" El-Zahed believes.

"There is nowhere else that can give them a good knowledge in Islam and a good Muslim character. The confidence they gain in themselves and in their religion is indispensable."

Muslim students who attended Islamic schools concur.

"Of course, there are things that we didn’t have in our Islamic school," admits Habib, now a freshman at Oklahoma State University.

"The school was small, and had a lower budget than public schools. We did not have a choice of electives, because we couldn’t afford so many teachers," she recalled the situation in the Peace Academy where she spent eight years.

"But overall, I don’t think this affected us negatively.

"We met all the requirements we needed to graduate, and were on the same level academically, if not better, as every other school."