Islamic Schooling in the Western World – Part 2

Having attempted to explore the concept of Islamic schooling and the various existing viewpoints of our communities in Part 1 of this blog series, we shall now do a deep dive into Al Manarat Islamic School’s endeavors to rekindle that perfect balance of worldly education built upon the foundations of sacred Islamic knowledge.  We believe that every Muslim child growing up anywhere in the world should have the option of a holistic conventional + Islamic education. This belief is tad bit more applicable to the Western world, where a lot of the mainstream culture and heritage is viewed in stark contrast with the Islamic way of life. To advance this idea, at Al Manarat Islamic Schools, we have worked hard over the past decade to provide the Muslim students of Mississauga and Brampton a high-quality Islamic...

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Islamic Schooling in the Western World – Part 1

In this 2-part blog series, we have decided to ponder upon the assumed existential crisis of Islamic schools in the West while also highlighting the intentions behind Al Manarat Islamic Schools. We’d also like to take this opportunity to renew our intentions with regards to our vision as well as our commitments to the Muslim community of the Greater Toronto Area.  Islamic schooling and the attempts to balance Islamic education with conventional education are not new to us in the West. However, when we look for the basic definition of it in the communities, we are still able to elicit a diverse range of thoughts and explanations for it. In this part 1 of the blog, we shall attempt to candidly explore all the diverse thoughts on the topic of Islamic schooling from the existing viewpoints...

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Grade 9 and Grade 10 at Al Manarat High School

Grade 9 and Grade 10 at Al Manarat High School Note: This blog is a continuation of the themes discussed in an earlier blog post (A Vision Turned to Reality, published on 15th Nov). If you haven’t read our previous blog yet, we’d recommend that you proceed to read that one first and then come back to this one, to get a better understanding of our overall journey and vision. We can all agree that high school is an exceptional time in our teenage children’s lives. It is around this time in their lives that they undergo puberty and go through hundreds of changes in their bodies: physically, mentally, and emotionally. In other words, it is when they begin their one-way transition from being young boys and girls to becoming adult men and women. It is also...

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A Vision Turned to Reality

Everything starts with a vision, followed by a defined mission, that is generally coupled with a vivid imagination. But what comes even before all that is the intention to simply act, or in our case, the act of ‘teaching’. Having gained the knowledge and education of the Islamic deen, our Founder and President Mrs. Nasreen Ali thought that the best way to act on her newly gained knowledge was to pay it forward. She did so by teaching the deen to the adults and the children of her community. She wanted to illuminate and enlighten the young hearts and minds with the miracles of the Quran and imbue the true awe of our Creator, Allah (SWT). One thing led to another and that simple act of teaching others in the community propelled our Founder on a...

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