Majid and Hina, who cannot afford private Islamic school for Husain, their 6-year-old son, send him to the Islamic weekend school at their local mosque. The young parents are distressed that their son’s teacher lacks teaching skills. Every Sunday, Husain throws a tantrum when getting ready for school because he says the mosque is not "fun."

Sameera is a college student who volunteers her time to teach Arabic at the Sunday school. Although the kids love her, Sameera is perplexed at the poor attendance rate and lack of parent involvement in their children’s studies.

Many Muslim families who live in the US and who do not send their children to Islamic full time schools rely on weekend schools to help their kids learn how to read the Qur’an, and learn Arabic and Islamic Studies. As Islamic weekend schools gain in number and popularity across the country, many are concerned how these schools can play an effective role in empowering the Muslim American-born generations with the Islamic teachings and skills they need. Among the challenges Islamic weekend schools are facing start from the shortage of resources to the lack of community support.

Parents admit that weekend schools go beyond giving students an Islamic education—they help them meet other Muslims and spend time in an Islamic environment.

"It provides them with a small Muslim society that will link Muslim families with each other, and that will produce a better and stronger community," said Misaa Sbini, a Quran and Arabic teacher at Amannah Montessori School and a principal for Al-Nada Saturday school.

But parents forget that these schools can only play an additional or secondary role in teaching their children about Islam.

"Islamic weekend schools should be one source of Islamic education and not the only source," said Mahmoud Harmoush, imam at the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley (ICTV) and principal of its weekend school. "Parents are responsible for their children’s religious education at large."

Harmoush, whose weekend school has been operating since ICTV opened in 1999, pointed out the apathetic role of many parents. "They drop their children at the Islamic Center’s door and go for their shopping, coffee break or whatever and come back after three hours and think that their children have learned all what they need to know about Islam," he said. "The parents themselves know so little and some of them do not even come in for prayers!"

Sbini agreed. Teaching children Islam and Qur’an is a house and community’s responsibility. "Neither will weekend school, nor regular Islamic school be enough to teach our kids the Islamic and Arabic teachings that they need. Islam is a way of life, and it is every Muslim’s responsibility to be a role model in teaching Islam, so the house and the Muslim community should also be role models for the children," she said.

Harmoush underscored the need for parents to reinforce what is learnt at the schools, whether helping the children do homework or practicing what is taught in other ways.

"The children lack an Islamic or Arabic environment even when the parents can speak Arabic. Adults speak to children in English, and if they pray, they go for prayers and forget about the children," said Harmoush, adding that these types of attitudes needed to change.

Many parents who do take an active part in their children’s Islamic education have concerns about their Islamic weekend schools, particularly about the quality of the teachers.

Dalia Fahmy, who had registered her three children from 9 to 11 years old at an Islamic Sunday school in the area removed her kids from that school because they started to hate their Muslim teachers and subsequently refused to go to the mosque. "They would have to be forced to go to Islamic school because their teachers were neither academically nor psychologically qualified to teach. They were unintentionally misguiding them and the result was that I had to spend my time correcting the misinformation my kids were getting over there," said Fahmy, who lives in Northern California. "One teacher taught them a wrong wudoo and another one informed them that Prophet Ayoub was seeing worms all over his body and under his skin when he got sick. They returned home confused and were asking what Prophet Ayoub had committed to deserve this severe punishment. "It took me weeks to help them forget this story of worms, and this is only one example of the misinformation they were getting there. Is that what our kids need to learn about prophets?" asked Fahmy angrily.

Fahmy added that the other serious problem was the teacher’s behavior towards the kids. "They were punishing them, shouting at them, and treating them in a very tough way," said Fahmy, who admitted that her experience should not be used to judge all Islamic weekend schools.

Emphasizing the seriousness of the matter, Intisar Hasoon, a Californian mother of four, said, "When you teach Islam or Qur’an especially to kids, you need to remember that you will either encourage them to love their religion or discourage them from learning Islam."

Hasoon removed her eldest kids from Sunday school years ago because she was dissatisfied with the teachers.

"The teachers should be nice and kind and should also select their words with our kids to encourage them to love their deen (religion) and to love the masjid. Kids need to see their Muslim teachers smiling to them, treating them kindly and teaching them with love," Hasoon advised.

But Harmoush was quick to point out that this problem did not exist at all weekend schools. He did acknowledge, however, that getting qualified teachers is an ongoing challenge.

"Even when we pay the teachers a salary, it is not enough to attract great teachers, if there are any in the community! On the other hand the teachers we have are good, but they don’t have the time to be trained more, and it seemed they are the best ones who come forward to serve. If parents are complaining, I ask the one who thinks he/she is better to come forward and help," pleaded Harmoush.

Sbini said that her school always relies on qualified and well-trained teachers, but these teachers face daily challenges. "The teachers need to teach students a full week’s load about Islam in a full school day, causing burdens on the students and the teachers. Also, students tend to forget what is learned at school if they do not practice, making it an even more challenging job for the teachers and the students. Younger students will take a longer time to build the teacher-student bond that helps the children learn faster and trust the teacher."

Fahmy also said another reason she pulled her children out of the Sunday school was because it did not have an age appropriate curriculum for her kids. "At my kids’ Sunday school, they were teaching them very hard hadiths (Prophetic sayings). Why don’t they select the easy and useful hadiths and the simple Qur’anic verses? Our kids need to learn Islam in a simple way."

For the most part, this problem seems to be solved. Most schools now have a standardized curriculum based on the many published books available specifically for weekend schools.

Harmoush, whose school uses the popular IQRA curriculum for Arabic, Qur’an, and Islamic studies, said that sometimes placing children in the wrong level might aggravate the problem. Due to the differing level of knowledge in the class, "the make up of the class gets skewed one way or the other."

Despite critics and complaints that mostly aim to improve Islamic weekend schools’ performance, most of the Muslim families consider these schools a necessity in their kids’ life that connect them to the masjid and Muslim community, and hope that as the community matures, the weekend schools become better.

Hasoon recently registered her two young kids at Reseda Mosque’s Sunday classes directed by Muslim American Society (MAS). She is very satisfied by the teachers’ performance. "I have two kids, Sahar, 8, and Youssef, 4," said Hasoon. "They are so excited about their Sunday school. I am so glad because the kids like their teachers and like their school. Besides learning about Islam, they also socialize with other Muslim kids from their same age group. I like them to meet with other Muslim kids in a healthy and friendly environment, and when they grow up together in the masjid, they will have good companions in the future."

Fahmy, who is now tutoring her children at home, said that she is not against Islamic weekend schools and that she appreciates their role in serving the community. "I wish that no one takes my comments the wrong way because we need these criticisms to improve ourselves."

After getting positive feedback from friends about the weekend schools, Fahmy does plan to enroll her kids again. "I hate to see my kids excluded from their Islamic community, and I will be very happy the day they return to their school among their Muslim friends and teachers who encourage them to love their religion," she said.

Harmoush encouraged all parents to bring their children to Islamic weekend schools. "This is a first step to learn as much as possible and to have them associate with the Muslim community and relate to other Muslim students," said Harmoush.