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While religious education, Islamic environment, and preserving identity were parents’ top reasons for choosing an Islamic school, there were additional reasons that drove their decisions. Among the most of important of these is protecting their children from the negative influences of non-Islamic schools; for example, drugs, violence, sexual promiscuity, and student behavior and attitudes. For many parents, these dangerous snares pose the threat of dissolving their children into the melting pot in the worst possible way. Other reasons mentioned by parents included Arabic language instruction, the compatibility of values between home and school, strong academics, and safety.
Being an Islamic school means we emphasize an integrated and balanced human development — intellectual, physical, spiritual, moral, emotional and social — based on the Islamic World View anchored on Tawheed (the unity of Allah). This means spiritual and character education is regarded as equally important as intellectual education. We arouse curiosity and wonder in our students, we inculcate important values such as sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, self-reliance, excellence and responsibility. We enhance our students’ spirituality through wonders of the natural phenomena, congregational prayers, Qur’aan recitation and memorization, Qur’aan studies and observe Islamic morals.
… for moral & academic excellence.
Parents also recognize several benefits for themselves! The most important of these is that having their children at an Islamic school supports their parenting. Because the school is reinforcing what they teach at home, their child-rearing efforts are made that much easier. These parents recognize that if their children were in a non-Islamic school, there would be a conflict between home and school values, and they would have to work much harder to instill Islamic values in their children’s hearts and minds.
Another advantage for parents is the peace of mind they feel knowing that their children are safe, knowing who their children are associating with, and knowing that their children can practice their religion freely and comfortably without enduring any teasing or negative attention.
Many parents feel that having their children in an Islamic school has given them the opportunity to learn from and with their children. As their children learn about Islam, they as parents learn along with them. Some parents feel that their children’s knowledge about Islam has exceeded their own, and that reinforcing what the school teaches has helped them practice their religion more fully.
And finally, but certainly not least, one cannot ignore the parents’ beaming narrations of the parental satisfaction they feel when they observe their children learning about and practicing Islam.
One of the primary reasons for parents to send their children to an Islamic school is to provide them with an Islamic environment. While defining precisely what is meant by an Islamic environment can be complicated, and will vary from person to person, there are certain elements that are universally recognized. Parents are looking for a school that supports their children’s learning of Islamic morals, behaviors, and practices. They believe that for their children to be good Muslims, they have to grow up in an environment that models, in a practical sense, what it means to be Muslim. For example, many parents referred to the benefits of having their children perform the dhuhr prayers at school with the other students and staff. Islamic environment is viewed by parents as a critical tool for laying the groundwork for their children’s future as Muslim individuals, and as a means for their children to acquire and deeply internalize Islamic teachings and principles. In the words of one father:
…since an individual is not seen as an island, it needs an environment. So it is precisely this environment that I’m looking at; that the kids will get so they can grow up in a wholesome environment, imbibing Islamic thought and spirit…
Another father elaborates further:
Parents may try to educate their children at home, Islamically. They may send them to public school. But it’s not only what the parents teach or tell their kids to learn or believe in, but it’s also the environment that dictates what kind of children you will be raising…
They will gain not only from what their teachers have to tell them, but also from the environment. When the kids are in an Islamic environment, they will learn more about the way people behave, the way they dress, their attitudes, their way of greetings, and all this will help a lot in raising the kids in an Islamic way.
Another aspect of Islamic environment that parents find valuable is their children’s presence in a setting where they can be around other Muslim children. Not only do Muslim friends provide their children with a sense of belonging, but they can also be a source of positive peer influence. Almost any parent with a child in an Islamic school can testify to this influence when they see their child’s eagerness to fast, memorize Qur’aan, or put on the hijab.
We desire our students to be excellent in whatever they do following the precept of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Thus, the School encourages and train them to think critically,creatively and ethically through the method of philosophical inquiry so that they will be able to make good judgment in their lives. They are also encouraged to excel in their academic and co-curricular activities. What Did the Parents Say? When parents were asked to give the single most important reason for choosing to put their child in an Islamic school, all of their responses had to do with one of the following:
In other not to make some of our young to “dissolve” in the “melting pot” which can take a multitude of forms, ranging from a whimsical heedlessness towards Islamic dictates to an outright rejection of their identity as Muslims. For many of our youth, swimming upstream against peer pressures and the overwhelming social tides is too taxing. And we all know that even the heartiest chunks of meat and potatoes will completely dissolve if they’re left to simmer long enough in “the pot”.
Many Muslim parents recognize this imminent threat to their children’s Islamic identity, which has led some to put their children in Islamic schools.
Muslims trying to hold on to their deen, and to pass it on to their children, know the struggle all too well. A strong Islamic identity is an indispensable survival tool in a society where so many trends and mores are diametrically opposed to Islamic teachings. Thus, many parents view the full-time Islamic school as a haven where their children’s Islamic identity can be established, nurtured, and strengthened. At the very basic level, parents want their children to be Muslim and to stay Muslim:
But beyond the minimum damage control of remaining Muslim, parents have much higher aspirations for their children. Parents hope that when their children are grown and on their own, they will face life’s situations with an Islamic frame of mind, and will make decisions based on the foundation and values that were established during their younger years. One parent describes his hope for his daughter:
That she would have a strong Islamic framework; that that would stick with her through her life. We want that to be inbred in her; in her mind, in her heart, in her body, that that stays with her. That’s not something that you go through for eight years or 10 years or whatever…But I want her to have a strong Islamic framework that she’ll have for the rest of her life, not just while she’s in school.
In summary, the major motivators for parents who choose Islamic schools for their children are religious education, Islamic environment, and protecting their children’s Islamic identity. And while some parents did mention academics as a reason for choosing an Islamic school, it was clearly secondary or tertiary in terms of the parents’ priorities.
By far the most significant motivator for choosing an Islamic school – and one that was overwhelmingly repeated by parents on the surveys, in the interviews, as well as during the focus groups discussions – is religious and moral education. Parents are most strongly driven by their desire to see their children learn about Islam and to learn to live Islam. What is the difference? In learning about Islam, parents want their children to acquire knowledge about the basic principles and teachings of Islam, for example, the five pillars of Islam, the six pillars of Eemaan, stories of the prophets, memorizing Qur’aan, etc. However, parents are not content that their children learn only the theoretical teachings of Islam; they want their children to learn their religion and to apply these teachings in their daily lives.
“…they are learning here about what is Islam about, how we can do it, how we apply it, stuff like that; that’s the most [important]. It’s not the academia; I can teach him at home…I can teach him about Islam too, but here they can live it.”
This important coupling of the children’s knowledge of Islamic teachings with its practice is an essential element of religious education, and one that is difficult to achieve in the absence of day-long exposure and interactions – something that is lacking in public schools or weekend Islamic schools.
Our teaching team is committed to providing our students with a world-class education that is grounded in Islamic values.
We are Committed to the Development of Spiritually Sound, Morally Upright, and Professionally Competent Human Resources for the Prosperity of the Community.
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