Statement From the Principal of an Islamic School

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem 

Asalaam u alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wabaraktuhu, 

I am the founder of a weekend Islamic school on the East Coast of the United States. I designed the school’s curriculum, taught children of all ages, and was its principal for its entire 25-year duration.

Over the years, I had the blessing to be able to engage with our Muslim children as they grew into adulthood, but it was a challenge to try and impart the fruits of our 1400 year scholarly tradition to children 3 hours on a Saturday morning, while they received their conventional schooling 40 hours a week. Neither I, nor any of our volunteer teachers, were equipped for the job – but we tried our best to teach our children our deen.

Over the years, I witnessed this challenge become harder. In the beginning, we would rarely hear questions regarding the very foundations of our Iman, but in the past few years, things began to change. I could see that our children were grappling with the relevancy of their religion in the world they were growing up in, and were beginning to question certain beliefs. I became very concerned. We were able to teach our children the basics of how to pray, what to believe, and how to have a relationship with Allah – but we were not equipped as a school to guide these students on how to be strong in their iman in the face of the all-encompassing secular education they were receiving all day at school, and now, all afternoon and evening through screens. 

Then we learned about Basira Education. I immediately recognized the caliber of scholarship and how well their courses were crafted to address the issues our children were facing. It was just what our children needed. We wanted to enable our students to take their courses, so we provided a scholarship for those students who were interested. 

The immense benefit these courses brought to the students became apparent very quickly. I would like to share just a few of the comments that some of them made after taking some Basira courses. 

One student noted that Basira’s course “Why Islam is True” reminded him of his high school English class in that, in his own words, it “enabled me to think logically and rationally before reaching a conclusion.” He described his experience with Basira as “extremely beneficial”, and that the knowledge he gained was “absolutely crucial in combating false atheist ideologies.”

Another one said the knowledge he gained at Basira…

“…has changed my view of the world entirely. During my school classes, I can make

connections between what has been taught at Basira and what is being taught in the class. They have allowed me to progress through my studies with greater ease and have given me a more profound Islamic view on the world. Furthermore, I am now confident in my arguments for the veracity of Islam against the growing trend of Atheism, which has allowed me to maintain my faith in Allah SWT in the secular-based societies of the western world.

It has been the most beneficial Islamic course I have taken in the last ten years.”

I am clearly seeing the effect of Shaykh Hamza Karamali’s efforts, and of others teaching at Basira. They are fulfilling a need that has existed for some time, and one that we – and undoubtedly Islamic schools around the country – are not able to handle. Alhamdulillah, I am seeing the fruits of Basira’s efforts almost immediately.

Please support this vital project that Shaykh Hamza Karamali and Basira Education are working on – it fulfills the most crucial need of the day: to give our children a robust and deep faith with which they can face the modern world’s challenges, and insha Allah, be lights for the Ummah going forward.