The Muslimah Ya-ya

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Islamic Schools: Can they produce smart, educated, and good Muslim kids?

Salaam everyone, I am new to this blog, and to satisfy Hijabified's need for someone to post and just to spur discussion, I thought I would ask whether there are any Islamic schools that are both academically rigourous as well as provide a quality Islamic education?

The reason I ask this question is because at Yale, we hold a yearly conference called Critical Islamic Reflections. This year, one of the presenters talked about her study of an all-Muslim girls school and whether it provided both a strong academic background for a college education as well as a strong Islamic background to form well-rounded educated Muslim women. She found that this was not the purpose of the school, but rather, to for parents to shelter their girls from the influences of what they see as a corrupt Western culture. To read an abstract of her paper, go here. This sparked a debate among the people who were attending the conference, whether a school that helps create balanced and informed Muslim children in America (as well as the rest of the world.) So I pose this question to you, and ask whether you know of any schools that not only has a good Islamic education, but also excellent academic standards, and sends their students to the best colleges. If you do not know of any, do you think none exist? If so, why? Or do you think that it is impossible to blend a curriculum that emphasizes not only science, math, and the humanities, but also Islam?

Hope this creates some thoughts...enough thoughts to post! -Zahreen

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

My son, when you pray, do it like a person who is bidding farewell to this world, and don’t assume you will have another chance to pray again. My son, know that a believer dies in between two deeds, one he offers for today, where he will get immediate blessings, and the second deed is what he offers towards the day of resurrection, and that is where he will gain the ultimate benefits
- Muadh Ibn Jabal (radiAllahu anhu)

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come on guys, update. <3

Who We Are

Airyh

Al-Muhajabah - A quiet, bookish, revert niqabi Muslimah. My current mood is