PROBLEMS FACING THE MUSLIM FAMILY
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How to educate the children regarding Islam and its principles and religious traditions
How to raise Muslim children as a minority in a Western society that does not understand Islam or its values
How to form a Muslim community that provides identity and support
How to be good Americans involved in our community and interacting and working with friends who do not share our faith, or how to function in a diverse society
The relationship with Muslims in other parts of the world, whether our families or those not related to us
How to educate our children
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Raising our children in a Western society aware of their Islam is not an easy task, and requires planning and hard work.
The problems that our children will face include the following:
How to educate them in the basic teachings of Islam?
What is the role of the Islamic center and home
What vision should the children strive at ? a progressive form of Islam compatible with Western democracy or a more rigid traditional view of Islam
How to teach Arabic and what kind of Arabic ?
Should we enroll our children in an “ Islamic school “ or in a public or private school ?
Teaching morals and noble character
Safeguarding not only the faith of Islam, but also Islamic culture and tradition
Should the children visit the country of origin of the parents and how often ?
Education regarding the basic teachings of Islam
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This is well explained in the Hadeeth ( saying ) of prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) when he was asked : what is Eiman; what is Islam and what is Ihsan? He answered:
( Eiman ( Faith or conviction ) is to believe in Allah ( as the One and only God ); and in His Angels; and in His Books; and in His Messengers; and in the Last Day ( accountability ) and in Fate ( God’s will ) its good and its bad )
( Islam is to bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger; and to establish regular prayers; and to give Zakat ( obligatory charity ); and to fast the month of Ramadan; and to perform Hajj ( pilgrimage ) if you have a way and means to do that )
( Ihsan ( goodness, piety, righteousness ) is to worship and serve Allah as if you see Him; realizing that if you do not see Him, surely He sees you )
Bokhari & Muslim
Faith or conviction is not words that are uttered but it is confirmed by our actions. Character and the way we live our life. That is why the Qur’an refers to believers as those “ who believe and do good deeds “. Our convictions and faith is not constant, it increases when we do good and turn to Allah, seeking His forgiveness and guidance. It also decreases when we forget our accountability to Allah, follow our vain desires and get preoccupied with the material things in life.
How can children believe in a God that they have not seen ? This requires teaching our faith with logic and answering questions, and not by stating “ this is the way I was told “ or by blind faith in something abstract. The children may accept the parent or teacher’s authority, but will question that later on. There is nothing wrong in saying “ I do not know, let us study this together “ . The answer that the Qur’an gives is :
God created you and provided for you. Were you created out of nothing
Think about God as He described Himself in attributes of perfection
Think of God’s power and His creation, both in the universe as well as within yourselves
Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators?
At-Tur 52 : 35
The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in His names: for what they do, they will soon be requited.
Al-Ara’f 7 : 180
Soon will We show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the earth), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?
Fusselat 41 : 53
As human beings we are not able to comprehend the nature of God. That is why Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) told us :
( Do not think of the innate nature of God, but think of His creation )
The Qur’an states :
No vision can grasp Him. But His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.
Al-An’am 6 : 103
Our Children must understand that religion is not just rituals like prayer and fasting, but how we conduct ourselves every day of our lives, and how we exhibit our faith in our character by being honest, truthful, kind, forgiving and merciful. The goal of any religion is to make us better human beings willing and able to reach out and help others.
The role of the Islamic center versus the home
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It is important to provide educational programs in Islamic centers about Islam, its guidelines and practices, as well as Islamic history, tradition and culture. This effort supplements the role of the home in teaching religion. Parents cannot ignore their primary responsibility of educating their children or serving as role models for them. They cannot expect the Islamic center to do all the work in their children’s education. Even if it did, such an effort will be lost unless the parents stress and emphasize its value and application.
How Islam is taught at the Islamic center needs careful consideration. The old method of memorizing Surahs ( chapters ) of the Qur’an without understanding the meaning of the words or significance is of limited value. The only use for such memorization would be recitation during prayers. What good will this do if we do not understand the meaning of what we say or how to benefit from God’s revelation or how to apply His guidance in our life. It is more appropriate to stress the meaning than to memorize words like a parrot.
When teaching the Qur’an and Hadeeth we should strive to teach concepts rather than literal words. This way students can relate to such topics like the meaning of goodness, piety, forgiveness, mercy, honest hard work and sincerity.
In studying the Prophet’s life it is more important to extract lessons and what we can learn and apply in our lives today. Otherwise, historical facts become dull and dry and irrelevant to our times.
We should stress that the Qur’an is not a book of science, medicine, history or philosophy. Rather it fills our heart with faith and explains our goal and objective in life. It gives parables, relates stories and contrasts people and positions, in order to teach a lesson and guide to the truth. There should be no contradiction or conflict between the Qur’an and science. The Qur’an clearly challenges mankind to use logic and to think and consider.
There is no conflict between being Muslims and being
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loyal Americans
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We should tell our children to be proud of being Americans living in a free society, and at the same time be proud of their Islam and their Muslim heritage and tradition. There is nothing in the American constitution that runs contrary to Islamic teachings. Actually the constitution safeguards freedom of religion, and that is the reason that people of different faiths can practice their faith in America with no oppression. The diversity of American society is obvious and enriches the culture and life for everyone. As Muslims we are part of this diversity and should bring on a Muslim prospective to our community.
At the same time, we should respect the freedom of others to differ with us and to respect their rights to their own beliefs, and not force our opinions on others. Freedom of faith and expression is expressed in the Qur’an:
“ Let him who will believe, and let him who would reject faith “
Al-Kahf 18 : 29
“ Let there be no compulsion in religion, truth stands clear from error “
Al-Baqara 2 : 256
Islam is compatible with Western democracy
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Democracy at its basic root is the free will of people and the ability to express yourself with no oppression; the free will of people to govern themselves through their elective representatives and to resolve their disputes with justice and fairness. Islam believes in all these concepts.
Islam did not specify any certain form of government because each society has its own specific needs, and the form of government therefore changes according to what best will address the needs of each society. What is important in Islam is adequate consultation and justice. This way people have a voice in choosing their government and can correct any wrong-doing, and the ruler cannot become a tyrant.
We need a form of progressive Islam suitable for a
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Western democracy
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An Islam that is faithful to the basic teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, yet able to address the needs of a pleural society. An Islam that can be applied in America and understand and safeguards the rights of non-Muslims. An Islam that can coexist with a non-Muslim majority. An Islam that understands that to be a true Muslim you do not have to eat or dress in a certain way, but you must be faithful to God and understand your accountability to Him by serving the needs of others. An Islam that safeguards prayer and fasting but realizes that these rituals of worship are a means to a bigger end and that is to be better human beings and that our faith must be reflected in our character and behavior. An Islam that stresses work ethics, honesty, reaching out to help others regardless of their faith.
How to teach Arabic ?
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The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic. Therefore, if we need to refer to the main source that Muslims use for guidance, we need to have some understanding of the Arabic language. True the Qur’an has been translated into many languages, but no translation is perfect and human errors can creep into Divine scripture.
Arabic is a difficult language to learn with complex grammer and many idioms.
At the Islamic school in Cincinnati Arabic is taught in two tracks. A rapid track for children whose parents speak Arabic at home, and a more slow track for children whose native language is not Arabic.
Qur’anic Arabic is emphasized. The goal is for the child to be able to read the Arabic Qur’an and understand the verses. In contrast to someone who can read but does not know what he is reading.
Should we enroll our children in an Islamic school or in
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another school ?
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It is a blessing to have an Islamic school that teaches our children Islam, Arabic and morals. Whether to enroll our children in a such a school or not must be an individual decision made by each family. There are many factors to consider. Some parents may wish to expose their children to Western ideology and interaction with Christian and Jewish children in a school that does not teach religion, rather emphasize education and extra-curricular activities. They may feel comfortable that learning Islam can be achieved either at home, or in the Week-end Islamic school. Others want their children to be exposed to more formal Islamic education.
Currently there are no Christian or Jewish children in the Islamic school. As the school demonstrates its viability and achieve results, it will become more accepted in the West Chester community, and hopefully attract non-Muslim students as well.
Teaching morals and noble character
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It is not enough to teach a traditional curriculum in languages, art and science. It is equally important to instill in the children Islamic values and morals. After all Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH ) summarized his mission by stating ( I have been sent to complement the best of morals and character ).
Values such as truthfulness, kindness and mercy; justice and cooperation; always learning and applying suck knowledge and reaching out to help others.
Islamic culture and history
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Our children should understand their heritage and culture. They should be proud of their Islamic history and be aware of important events and their significance. They need to know how many countries accepted Islam and the diversity of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and how each nation contributes its tradition, yet they are united by the same faith. Dress, customs and language may be different, but they all believe in the same basic Islamic teachings.
Visiting their parent’s country of origin
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When the children go back to visit the home country where their parents were born and raised, they begin to understand their heritage and ancestors. They may still have relatives there. Forming ties and relationship and visiting other countries make the children more understanding and accommodating of diversity. They begin to realize their rots and heritage.
We should not expect them to conform to traditions that we as parents grew up with. Our children are different from us. They share the same basic values, but their prespective is new and different from our own, and this is healthy and to be expected. We do not want them to be copies of what we are, rather we want them to have their own identity and views that they project to their children.