One of the most sincere Muslimahs I have ever met, may Allah raise her and her family to the highest level of Jannah, Ameen, has two daughters of similar age (high school), one of which goes to Islamic school and one of which goes to a non-Islamic school. She recently said to me, “You know, most of the time I am more worried about sending daughter1 to Islamic school than I am sending daughter2 to public school.”

This mother’s tone was one of heartbreak, wallahi. When one reflects on her words and their meaning, we should all ask ourselves - how have we gone so wrong?

The problems with Islamic schools are multifaceted. The answers are not easy. However, getting to the root of the problem and finding practical solutions that work should be incumbent on each and every Muslim community. Without proper Islamic schools, our children are going astray. Some of them are turning into kuffar in front of our very eyes. May Allah protect all of our children and raise them as righteous Muslims, AMEEN.

There are two main challenges of Islamic schools. These are the two questions that so many administrations are left to find the answers to:

1) How can we be financially secure and independent?

and

 2) How do we create a balance between Islamic and secular education?

There are many problems with Islamic schools, but in general they all fall into one of these two categories, which are inter-related in and of themselves. These challenges are an everyday struggle for the majority of Islamic schools in the States.

Now, to proceed. We must examine these questions more thoroughly and the inherant problems that lie therein.

1) How can we be financially secure and independent?

Everything in Islamic schools goes back to money. It is sad, but true. It is the single most important issue that every Islamic school has to worry about. Problems that arise from not being financially secure and independent:

  1. High tuition. For most schools, tuition is the single biggest source of income. It is used to pay for the majority of operational expenses of the school. (By operational expenses, we mean money to pay teachers, money to buy books, money to pay bills [electricity, gas, phone, etc. etc.], and many other things that, without them, the school would not function).
    • The problem with low tuition: Low tuition does not mean more people will come to the school because they will be able to afford it. In fact, low tuition will often result in a drop in enrollment. Why? Because if, as we said, tuition is the main source of income for a school, low tuition will result in a smaller budget. A smaller budget will result in many things being cut from the school: quality teachers, resources (books, computers, etc.), sports, after-school clubs, etc. When things begin to get cut from the budget, many parents will pull their child out of Islamic school. Because even though they want their child in the Islamic school, they also want their child to be educated not miss out on everything.
    • The problem with high tuition: The problem with high tuition is that many good Muslim families who want to send their kids to Islamic school can not afford to pay the tuition. The problem becomes more complex when those same good Muslim families agree to send their kids to the school knowing they can’t afford to pay the tuition, then the school makes the budget with their enrollment included assuming they will pay because they agreed to that and never indicated they could not pay, and then they don’t pay. Besides the fact that this is as hug sin on the families who do this, many other things result. Bills may not be paid, salaries may not be paid on time, and things that were promised to be bought or covered can not be, because the money the school was expecting to come in has not.
    • The solution: So what, you ask, is the solution to the tuition problem? The real, permanent solution is to make the school financially independent so that tuition is not the school’s only income. There are many ways that this can be done, but that will be saved for another time inshaaAllah. Tuition is a must, but it should be kept at a moderate level. Also, if the school is financially independent, donations to the school can be used from scholarships for student’s whose families have financial need, but should also require that the student receiving the scholarship not violate school rules AND have a certain level or performance in his/her classes.
  2. Power struggles. When an Islamic school is not financially independent, it leaves the door open for continuous power struggles. Why? Because if the school is dependent on tuition to keep the school running, those people who pay the tuition (student’s parents) are basically holding the power as to what does or does not happen in the school. Because without the parents sending their children to the school, the school would simply cease to exist. If the school is dependent on donations and a said donor is known to donate a lot to the school and then that said donor hears of an issue in the school that they don’t like, they can (non-verbally or verbally) threaten with not donating by trying to convince the administration not to go counter to their opinion. Some examples of this are below. One can see that these types of examples make implementing rules and policies and sticking to them problematic.
    • An administrator or teacher tries to punish a child for breaking a rule. The parent comes in and thinks they have a right to tell the administrator or teacher that they can not punish their child. (This happens more often than people think.)
    •  A parent doesn’t agree with a rule or some rules that the school has made. They get a group of parents together that think like them, and they go to the administration and pressure them to change the rule or ‘they’ll just have to consider withdrawal’.
  3.  Not having good faculty and administration. When a school is not financially independent, they will not have the resources to pay teachers well. It is extremely rare to find teachers who are willing to go the extra mile and give our children the best when they are not getting adequate compensation. May Allah (swt) reward those teachers who do, Ameen. However, generally, when teachers are not paid well they will either:
    1. Not teach at the school, period. (If they’re highly qualified)
    2. Teach, but can we really call it teaching? (i.e. They are the “teacher” but they dont really give a hoot about their job and the kids aren’t learning anything, either.)
    3. Teach, but they’re not qualified at all. Maybe they do an o.k. job, but they’re more there to push their agenda than anything else.

Without qualified teachers and quality administration, many parents who would consider Islamic schools will not, because they want their children to have both a secular AND an Islamic education. So we see this is a circular problem. Without qualified staff, many won’t come to the school. When many don’t come to the school, tuition rises. When tuition rises, many won’t pay or pull out. And when many don’t pay or pull out, teachers and administration that are there don’t get paid enough or regularly, and pull out. And when parents start seeing the power their tuition money has, they realize they can shape the school according to whatever agenda they have.

 So inshaaAllah you see that not being financially independent opens the door to all kinds of fitnah for an Islamic school.

Now to problem 2, which is just as complex as problem 1, but generally is a result of problem 1 and not a problem in and of itself.

2) How do we create a balance between Islamic and secular education?

Creating a balance between Islamic and secular education is a huge challenge. You have many differents types of parents who send their children to Islamic school. Some of these types are :

  • The sincere family. They want their children to be in a wholesome, Islamic environment, to learn proper Islamic knowledge, and to complete their secular education with as little fitnah and distractions as possible so their child can move forward in their life as a good, decent, Muslim.
  • The fix-my-child family. This is the family that has tried public schools. They have seen their child (or children) becoming like the kuffar. Their child may have been in and out of trouble in school, with the law, and may have had improper relationships with the opposite sex, been into alcohol, drugs, and many other things. The family decides to send their children to Islamic school to “fix them”.
  • The ‘Islam is nice, but I really don’t care, I just don’t want my child going to public school’ family. These families aren’t really interested in their children getting an Islamic education. They don’t really care that much if their son listens to music or their daughter wears hijaab - they just don’t want them to become like the kuffar and get a bad reputation in the community or to do anything TOO haraam - so they don’t want them in public schools. Islamic education is not that big of a deal. Anyways, they have their own views of what is and is not allowed in Islam.
  • The community family. They’re the family that is involved in everything related to the Muslim community. Sunday school? Check. Halaqas? Check. Masjid board? Check. Dinners and Fundraisers? Check. Check. Knowing everything there is to know about the community and community members. Check. Double check. They’re involved in everything and they’re around everyday anyways. The mother is probably a teacher or a helper at the Islamic school. Or one (or both) sits on the school board. They’re involved in everything, so it’s just natural that they’re also involved in the school. The kids go there reluctantly. They’re a little tired of all this stuff. They may be very religious, or they may just be active. Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
  • The ‘I don’t want my children around the kuffar - or most other Muslims - family.’ This can be a positive (whereas I would categorize them as a “sincere family”) or it can be a negative (this category). They are the family that will make all their fiqh opinions known (loudly), expect them to be followed, and chastise [or perhaps even label a kaafir] anyone, adult or child, who dares have a different opinion than them. Their friends are those that have the same fiqh opinions as them. They don’t get along with or like most members of the community - and the feeling is generally mutual.
  • The FOB family. They’re just that. Fresh off the boat. The parents speak little or no English. The kids speak little or no English. Parents enroll kids who speak no English in Islamic school which has no ESL program. They wonder - through an interpretor- after the first quarter why their child is flunking out of school. They don’t know much about America, let alone schools in America, but hey - some of the things y’all do are wacky. 

When you examine these different family types, you can see how people are bound to clash and butt heads. How will students who have been secularized at public schools interact with those raised in Islamic schools and homes? How is it possible to create a balance between Islamic and secular education when you have so many different views on what is proper Islamic education in the first place? Are students going to learn Hanafi or Shafi’ee fiqh or the Salafi way? Will Qur’an class be cut out to make the school day shorter?

Furthermore, how can rules be established when some people think wearing salwar kameez is cool, others are down with sisters wearing tight jeans (hey, as long as the shirt covers their butt!), while still others say girls must wear abayas, while still others prefer segregated classrooms. How we will punish students who violate Islamic guidelines and school rules without alienating them from Islam all together?

Who wins in this power struggle? Generally, the ones that have influence and money. (The school needs your tution money Laughing )

At the end of the day, the Islamic school is there for the whole community and ALL types of Muslims. It has to be a place where ALL Muslims can send their children without fear of fitnah and with the security that their child is getting a sound Islamic and secular education from educators who display proper Islamic character and behavior themselves. This is not and idealistic view, but it is rather what must happen if people continue to raise children in this country. The future of the Muslims in this country is at stake. The first step to realizing this dream is for Islamic schools to become financially independent so that they can make sound decisions and rules based on what is correct and in the school and children’s best interest and not have to sway whichever way the parental tide takes them.

May Allah (subhanhu wa ta’ala) grant our children fiqh ad-deen, our schools independence and success based on the Qur’an and Sunnah, and our teachers and administrators patience and tawfiq, Ameen.