Volunteering in Madison

The vision of the Islamic Summer School is to promote proper Islamic behavior, enrich religious knowledge, expose our Muslim children to Islamic heritage and provide an opportunity and setting for social interaction. Most of the Muslim children in the area attend various schools so this summer school program provides the children with the opportunity to socialize with each other in an Islamic setting, al-hamdu lillah. Both of my children have attended the school for the past two years and have made strong friendships with other Muslim children they might not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet. These friendships have lasted beyond the summer and into the school year. In fact, I have also had the opportunity to build friendships with the mothers of my children’s new friends, , al-hamdu lillah.

Last summer I was a volunteer in the summer school. I helped to organize extra curricular activities and I helped in teaching the girls class (ages 11 – 15). I taught some seerah (the life of the Prophet), adab (practical good behavior of a Muslim) and akhlaq (good character). It was a great experience and a lot of hard work! I think most people do not realize the amount of time and effort it takes to teach. Subhan Allah there is a lot of preparation and planning time involved. One of the things I liked most about the experience was developing a mentoring relationship with the Muslim girls (teenagers) I was teaching. Really, I became more than a teacher to them. After the end of summer school last year I invited all of my Muslimah students to my home for a small party. We had a lot of fun and I think they appreciate knowing they have an older Muslim sister they can turn to, in sha’ Allah.

As a mother I also appreciated my daughter’s teacher at the summer school this year and last year. These sisters have become mentors for my daughter too. I feel confident in knowing my daughter has other older sisters in the community she can turn to when she needs them, , al-hamdu lillah. All of these nurturing relationships were given the chance to develop because of the hard work and efforts of the organizers of the school, the teachers and the parents, , al-hamdu lillah.

Another huge project to benefit the youth in our community is the establishment of a full-time Islamic school. We hope to open the Madinah Academy of Madison, in sha’ Allah in September. I have had the honor of being on the curriculum committee for this project. We have a brother on this committee who just completed his Doctorate in Curriculum from the University of Wisconsin here in Madison. We just had a successful fundraising dinner and, al-hamdu lillah many Muslims here are offering to volunteer to get the school running. A brother who owns a flooring company offered to donate a special floor for the gym. Another brother who is a systems engineer has offered to wire the whole school building for internet access. Ma sha’ Allah these are only two examples of volunteer efforts for this school and there are countless others. The brothers and sisters who serve on the executive committee have volunteered an incredible amount of time to this project – the time they offer is priceless. It is priceless because the benefits for our Muslim youth here in Madison will in sha’ Allah be immeasurable. Only Allah the Most High can justly reward them for their efforts.