Islamic/Muslim schools

[Salman Al-Farsi]

What do you guys think?

[Ibrahim70]

What do you guys think?

Well if the school was able to teach my children in the core subjects as well as Arabic, Quran, Hadith etc then yes, I would gladly send my child to an Islamic primary school..............but would also sit on a board of governors who would look at introducing the little Brothers and Sisters to other schools through sports days and day trips etc :D

[insomniac]

^^ good point bro :up:

there's gota be some standards - it can't be a dud school run by a committee of elders who may have the potential to mess up things ...

[the_middle_road]

I've only ever been to Islamic schools. Although some things could be better, it beats being in a non-Islamic school IMO.

[Ibrahim70]

^^ good point bro :up:

there's gota be some standards - it can't be a dud school run by a committee of elders who may have the potential to mess up things ...

exactly cause at the end of the day they will be going out, gettig a job one day and mixing with non-Muslims so they have to interact with them, but also learn the core subjects and Islamic values in an environment that isnt too...............un-Islamic? Is that the word Im looking for?

[Salman Al-Farsi]

I think some parents sending their children to Muslim schools feel they've done their bit, ie its a way of getting their parental responsibility of teaching them Islam out the way. People want these Muslim schools to teach thier children everything from Quran to mathematics, adhab, akhlaq, and everything else. So what are the parents going to do?

[insomniac]

I think some parents sending their children to Muslim schools feel they've done their bit, ie its a way of getting their parental responsibility of teaching them Islam out the way. People want these Muslim schools to teach thier children everything from Quran to mathematics, adhab, akhlaq, and everything else. So what are the parents going to do?

parents could reinforce their child's learning and compliment it with further studies outside of the school insha'Allaah - schools never and hardly ever cover everything....learning can go on outside of the school....I guess parents need to know this too..

[Unique1]

asalamualaikum i went to an islamic school:) and i'm glad my parents sent me to one because it has changed the way i think i cant even imagine what i wud have been like if i didnt attend an islamic school
even if u get on to the wrong path after u hav attended an islamic shool atleast u know the path that goes bak home.But i do believe parents need to contribute aswell i.e give prayer reminders.
I have seen parents who feel they are not responsible for teaching their kids how to pray but the school is if they(the parents) themselves teach their 11 yr kids how to pray wats the purpose of sending them to islamic shool.that sort of statements make me want to:banghead:

[Zesty]

I think some parents sending their children to Muslim schools feel they've done their bit, ie its a way of getting their parental responsibility of teaching them Islam out the way. People want these Muslim schools to teach thier children everything from Quran to mathematics, adhab, akhlaq, and everything else. So what are the parents going to do?

Excellent point! Alot of people just want the easy option and think that aslong as their child is sent to an Islamic school then apparently their duty is dont because the child will be taught everything under the sun! Its a shame that they realise how very little children may actually learn (depending on other factors too) and parents rarely take a look at the curriculum to see what their child is being taught.

Im sure it has many benefits too but i think there is a lack of focus in certain aspects that say a madressa may focus on more extensively.

[ibn Iyaaz]

Sadly from what I've seen in the Islamic schools that are in my area, is that while they touch on Islam its all more theoretical, and yes they are taught to pray Quraan and Salaat, there just isn't enough emphasis on it.

Somehow the effect of mixing the two over here seems to have an effect of it not being the right environment for the youths Islam and Imaan to be nourished and to grow.

[insomniac]

Excellent point! Alot of people just want the easy option and think that aslong as their child is sent to an Islamic school then apparently their duty is dont because the child will be taught everything under the sun! Its a shame that they realise how very little children may actually learn (depending on other factors too) and parents rarely take a look at the curriculum to see what their child is being taught.

Im sure it has many benefits too but i think there is a lack of focus in certain aspects that say a madressa may focus on more extensively.

but doesn't this issue also exist where kids are sent to state school, wouldn't it be better for the child to receive some Islaamic education as opposed to none?

[umee]

Where i live we have no choice, there is'nt even one Islamic school, just ALL mixed state schools, you should be grateful to have them they are essential for every muslim girl/boy if we had a Islamic school i would'nt hesitate in taking my children there.

[Hayaa']

Islamic school all the way inshaAllah. I think nowadays a lot of people have this generalisation of islamic schools and how the children who are sent there are just like those who are sent to state schools (the 'bad' ones e.g dunya driven/free mixing etc) we come to these conclusions by seeing examples of others. I always hear the odd "Oh she went to madrassah and look at how she turned out" etc etc

But a lot of that depends on how the parents have raised them up at home, at the school they might not learn about manners, how to carry yourself in public, daily etiquettes, good/bad habits etc and this is where the parents go wrong. Like a lot of other posts have mentioned above, parents think they have done their job by just sending them there and at home they can do whatever and they don't need to teach them anything extra.

Similar to those, who send their children to the masjid to learn Qur'an in the evenings they think that should be their only dose of islamic studies for the day. May we refrain from this, and gain the knowledge and understanding of Islam to teach our children and bring them up to be pious believers,aameen.

I also definitely agree with getting involved with the governing body, and if not that then at least keeping up to date with what they should be learning.

[UkhtAlMuslimeen]

I think some parents sending their children to Muslim schools feel they've done their bit, ie its a way of getting their parental responsibility of teaching them Islam out the way. People want these Muslim schools to teach thier children everything from Quran to mathematics, adhab, akhlaq, and everything else. So what are the parents going to do?
:salams
i soo agree, just cause a child goes to an islamic school that does not mean that the parents have done their bit...
i know a sister who went to an islamic school, and she kinda went off the rails when she got to college..like she took off her hiajb and stuff..which is really sad :( cause her parents didnt actually teach her islam...it was all at school.
i went to a normal state school..and my primary school was actually church of england. i remember the days ..sitting there in assembly, listening to thier bible stories. but my mum, made sure i knew what was islam and what was not... i stronlgy believe that a childs first school is the home..thats where they are taught adhab and akhlaq and what islam really is.
alhmadulilah, attending a C of E school has only helped me understand my deen better.

[Cartman]

IF they don't suck, I'll send my children there

but I've been inside some of these Islamic schools, and they such..It was so pathetic that I could read quran better than arabic kids who speak it on a daily basis, and most of them know barely anything about Islam itself and IT was a shame ...They were like middle schoolers, and they were barely learning little stories like the people of the cave...Sad

[Umm 'Umarah]

I say Islamic school, with private/grammer school standards. Problem is, not all Muslim schools are up to scratch but that's due to the lack of money and resources, and the standard of teaching. If our well educated Muslims were working in Muslim schools rather than state schools, Islamic schools will soon be as good as private/grammer schools.

I don't think the fees are too high, fees are much higher in private schools, islamic schools do need to establish and improve their standards and even with the fees they're charging most are still struggling, just about keeping their heads above water.

Not all parents have the time to teach their children so they have no choice but to rely on the school, because they themselves are too busy working trying to maintain a mortgage, bills, school fees and everything else or some are maybe not educated or confident enough to teach their children themselves.

I'm not really a fan of state schools, I'd really like to see islamic schools improving. I don't know how that would affect da'wah and social cohesion and whatnot I haven't really thought about it. But if catholics and christians have their own faith schools, why shouldn't Muslims. There will always be people who are more devout than others and people who have no choice but to send their children to state schools, so either way both are needed.

[Mace]

But if catholics and christians have their own faith schools, why shouldn't Muslims.

Here in the US Catholic schools depend a lot on donations from the community and funds from the Church and other fundraising, especially for major capital expenditures. The tuition is barely enough to pay the salaries generally. Even with that there is usually a shortfall (at least with the 3 schools where I have access to the budget.)

So our local Islamic school is actually pretty good, but it gets a fair amount of funding from the Saudi royal family and other endowments. And that's why they are able to invest in good facilities, a very nice campus, and good training and materials for the teachers.

Maybe that's the model that needs to be applied elsewhere to get these schools off to a good start and allow them to really provide the highest standards of education.

[perfectpearl]

its better than anywhere else...

[Cartman]

Although the Saudis are as corrupt as my heater during winter time (we had to move to a hotel for a day oen time), they do spend some money on islamic projects


But what about the UAE?

[mizfissy815]

I've spent all of my school life at Islamic 'International' schools in the ME ...and frankly, they were amazing.

Having Quran(Tafseers and all), Arabic, Islamic Education, Islamiyah( I.E in Arabic- Tawheed, Fiqh, Hadeeths) and Islamic History as compulsory parts of the curriculum along with everything else (you name it, it was taught...) was fantastic and they were all taught at an excellent standard. Frankly, if I end up living in Saudi again, I'd want my children to attend that school (assuming it doesn't change much).

Naturally, it was segregated. Although the 'boys section' was by far better than the girls' both in Islamic environment and studies...both were alot better than most of the schools I've seen in the UK.

Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips taught at that school too before the start of the Gulf war. All our primary school I.E text books were written by him as well.

Islamic school all the way.

[Saudi Prince]

I've spent all of my school life at Islamic 'International' schools in the ME (towards the end)...and frankly, they were amazing.

Having Quran(Tafseers and all), Arabic, Islamic Education, Islamiyah( I.E in Arabic- Tawheed, Fiqh, Hadeeths) and Islamic History as compulsory parts of the curriculum along with everything else (you name it, it was taught...) was fantastic and they were all taught at an excellent standard. Frankly, if I end up living in Saudi again, I'd want my children to attend that school (assuming it doesn't change much).

Naturally, it was segregated. Although the 'boys section' was by far better than the girls' both in Islamic environment and studies...both were alot better than most of the schools I've seen in the UK.

Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips taught at that school too before the start of the Gulf war. All our primary school I.E text books were written by him as well.

Islamic school all the way.


Where is this school? in Saudi? What's it called?

[mizfissy815]

Where is this school? in Saudi? What's it called?

Riyadh.

Manarat al-Riyadh School (MARS).

[Saudi Prince]

Riyadh.

Manarat al-Riyadh School (MARS).

In which 7aye? Were the majority of students Saudis or foreigners?

[Salman Al-Farsi]

sorry, I should have explained this properly.

My question was not about the idea of Islamic schooling, rather primary/nursery schools run by Muslims popping up everywhere in the UK usually in some house converted into school.

[mizfissy815]

In which 7aye? Were the majority of students Saudis or foreigners?

Umm...the new campus (well it's over 8 yrs old now...) is in the Izdihaar area (exist 8).

The Arabic section was generally mostly Saudi/Gulf nationals, but the English section was a mix of everything...majority foreign nationals. Pretty diverse.

[Medievalist]

If it was a legit one then yeh. But ideally I'd send my sons abroad to study - imo the back home madaaris are :inlove: :inlove:

[Brother Noor]

I also attended an islamic school but only for my primary years, down here in South London.....
At the time i went, i was one of the first students that the school had opened and i had joined, it was private then and alhamdulillah, it was cool..i did all my basic learning of how to read quran, pray and arabic, maths english science blablabla...
But then by the time i got to year seven i.e. secondary school, like many parents do and all the parents in my family have, they take us out of primary and put us into a normal grammer or private school so that we can learn how to interact with others rather then being secluded amoungst muslims and spending all our imes with them.. which is a good thing..

Alhamdulillah,.. i think i turned out ok :)
but the same school i went to for primary isnt the same today, some cases its gotten better, some cases gotten worse.

Alhamdulillah, a few years back, Al Risaala i.e. my islamic school.. got state funding and now alhamdulillah is a state funded school which was a really good thing, it still is.

The primary school have now got a brand new buliding with loads of facilities, really cool playground, and everything mA.. its really top notch.. dont know if you guys know what a smart board is, but its an interactive white board that links to the comp and you can use that board as the comp for example, f you touch the board you can do stuff on it, i.e. draw aswell as flick through pages that the teacher has prepared blablaba.. off topic, but yea every class has one now and i was like wicckeedd thats soo cool, we never had that in our day..
they even have a swimming pool
now for an islamic school to have their own swimming facilities is like super wow.
then come the secondary kids that decide to stay on for eductation for whatever reason, usually because their parents cant afford to take them out or they think itll be better for them.. But iv seen the state of the secondary islamic school and i must say it aint too good, to some extent it could be even worse..
because its islamic and they do all the right things and the boys and girls are kept seperate and have different class times and break times blablabla.. and finish and start school at different times, yet they are in the same building, these kids are more inclined to mess around once they get out..
I have heard alot of stories, of how things are there currently and they arnt good,
the islamic teaching is all their but when they get out they find this sence of freedom and then tend to intermingle and do really silly stuff. Allahu Alam..

and about the whole parent helping thing.. i do agree.. i think when i attended the school parents used to have more time and did help their kids like my mum did with me, she used to help me alot to learn my kaidah and duas and kalimas and and surah and she would learn them too, but if you look at the parents today.. i dont think it happens.. none the less in general the mums help out more then the dads due to the fact that usually mums are at home and dads are at work, well the was the case when i went so it was cool...
but nowadays who knows..
Also about being on the comittiee and school board etc.. my mum was, which was cool... especially when it came to the school fund raisings every year she helps out and does a stall with something.. before we used to have a sweet and candy stall or sometimes a toy stall, and the last two years, iv had my art stall, which all the x-teachers or x-students when they see me theyd be like :O wow look at this.. i remember you when you were yay high blablabla.. and im like yea.. time goes on..which is cool
like this summer 6th July.. is when they are having their fund raising and iA ill be having a stall again, but wont be able to attend.. mum will do stall for me.. ill be at a wedding.. but yea its really cool to see the old faces and how to see what students went where..after leaving the school..

i think theres only like 4 or 5 of us that maintained our islamic principles as a way of life since I left that i know of, otherwise all the others, with the whole 'YES IV FOUND AND GOT FREEDOM NOW' thing have unfortunately gone astray, with the whole gang vibe cloathing, and music and free mixing and blablabla..

for example, all the kids in my family went to islamic school at my time.. so then thats like around 12 of us, and only 4 of us in my family came out as good practicing muslims, and the rest just keep taking steps further and further away..even till today.. Allahu Alam.. we try our best

so i would say yes to islamic school of course, however, having seen whats happened, i will be a parent iA that will take a role in my kids life and help teach them and etc like my mum did with me, and be involved with the school iA.. i.e. on the board.

[Anikaa]

Bismillaah

I went to an Islamic school for pretty much all of my life and i decided to change in my final year of HS, which was last year. Yes, i am a rebel :P The truth of the matter is that i was not getting the right education at that islamic school, hence why i left to a public one, which was 100 x better, alhumdulillaah. Yes, the enviroment was yucky and so was the one @ the islamic school [quite lesser here though];i wasn't there to socialise but study. Islamic school or not, i would advise any parent to teach their kids the deen @ their home and take them to islamic gatherings etc, so no matter which enviroment they're in, their eemaan will be strong, bi'ithnillaah. Wa'Allahu ta'ala a'lam.

[greenshirt]

islamic school

less fitnah
less drugs
more family events
more caring
islamic classes usually taught

compared to public school

fights
promiscuity
no islamic classes

compared to catholic school

less fitnah
less drugs
more family events
more caring
BUT
not teaching islam
and teaching way of kuffaar


i would definetely pick an islamic school first. then, if absolutely necessary, a catholic school(as many muslims do in france.) then, public school would be my last resort though i would probably home school before that!

[Rosalie-Beauty]

The only thing I would worry about when sending my child to an Islamic school is that when it came time to go out into the real world, they would have no clue how to deal with non-muslims. Its already hard enough dealing with them growing up in a public school, but to have no experience......

[sinoo]

My son will be starting Al Risaala Islamic school in tooting inshalla in september , i have not actually met anyone who studies there and would appreciate if some one has attended or attends the school can tell me what kind of a school it is regarding studies and environment etc. THANX

[love00]

I've only ever been to Islamic schools. Although some things could be better, it beats being in a non-Islamic school IMO.
Lucky

[juventino]

But what about the UAE?

We haven't got Islamic day schools in the UAE, as far as I know. A few in Sharjah that only bear the name but are anything but. A lot of centers in the UAE, however, offer summer camps in the various halaqahs. I volunteer at just such a center teaching Sirah Rasul Allah (PBUH) to grade schoolers. You'd be surprised at the problems these kids have. A lot of parents drop their kids off and think they've done their duty. The kids in turn develop some deep-rooted problems because what they're being taught at summer camps is in total contradiction with what goes on at home :aku_astaghfirullah: Meanwhile, they attend a British private school in the mornings where they're made to wear skirts above their knees and socks below the ankles. And with mothers forcing their little girls to wear the headscarf on top of that doesn't help matters any.

A few sisters have organized an Islamic daycare center for preschoolers in the city, Masha'Allah. I haven't been but from what I hear it's a success.

[juventino]

Having said that, ideally I would want to home school my kids. But that isn't very practical as they should be interacting with other kids on a daily basis. So, a proper Islamic school, that I am actively a part of, would most definitely be my first choice. Bro Ibrahim is right on about inter-school day trips and sports days. :up: