And like most children he particularly enjoys recess. But unlike other children in California’s sprawling system of private and public schools, Taha has memorized 13 "juz’" or parts of the Holy Qur’an. If his school has any say in the matter, he will be a certified "Hafidh," someone who has memorized all of the Qur’an, equal to 30 juz, by the time he graduates.
The UMI Learning Center in San Diego, California is a weekend madrasa with tuition much lower than full time private schools and thus affordable for many families. Contrary to the negative connotation that the word "madrasah" has earned in the press, it is simply an Arabic word term used for "school" in Arabic. As a weekend school it concentrates exclusively on teaching Qur’anic text, while attendees get their academics from public or other full-service private institutions. Abdurrahman, 13, has been careful to schedule his basketball games with the neighborhood boys after his Saturday and Sunday sessions. He’s been doing that for five years. "I know one Juz so far, Juz Amma," he said, proudly launching into a reverent recitation of chapter 98.
Across the state, "hifdh," Qur’an memorization, schools like these are flourishing. Still more are cropping up in private homes with little fanfare. Muslim parents are instilling a fresh love and reverence for God’s word in a new generation of American-born Muslim children, bringing to this country the rich, ancient tradition of Qur’anic oral transmission.
The Holy Qur’an without question is the most memorized piece of literature in human history. It was first memorized by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as revealed to him by the Angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years, sometimes in brief verses and other times in longer chapters. Upon receiving revelation, the Prophet taught it to his companions by reciting the words he heard in their exact order. The rhythmic style and sublime expression made it easy to memorize. In the Qur’an itself, Allah describes this as one of its essential attributes for preservation and remembrance, and in a society where writing was scarcely used, memorizing was the norm. Still, it is difficult for many in today’s world, dependent upon cell phones’ address books for retaining even their own phone numbers, to imagine the extraordinary human capacity for memorization that was commonly exercised by earlier societies.
History testifies to the miraculous change which took place in Arabian society after the advent of the Qur’an and its inculcation into the hearts of its people.
Parents of American-born Muslim children may themselves be hoping a similar miracle can protect their children from being swept away in the modern societal ills of drugs, gangs and teenage pregnancy.
"Every time I would perform my Friday prayers or go amongst the people, I would see that the youth had gone astray," said Mufti Saleem Lakhani, principal and founder of the ILM Educational Institute and scholar of Islamic Jurisprudence. "Some were on drugs, others in jail." Mufti Saleem initially started after school classes for Qur’an study and prayer, but he said that wasn’t enough. "There didn’t seem to be much effect on them. "They’d have a different lifestyle all day and then come to us for a half hour or hour of Qur’an. Four hours of Islam a week was not enough for a child to continue on the straight path. My whole goal was not to just educate them, but to give them an Islamic environment."
ILM has 50 fulltime students and 50 part-time after-school students ranging from grades kindergarten to 12, and has nine fulltime teachers and a host of teaching assistants. Located intentionally in an upscale community, it is a full-fledged Islamic school, where generally it takes an average of just five years for a student to fully master the intricacies of proper Qura’nic recitation.
"We wanted to be sure that parents who take their children out of public school to come here don’t feel as though they are ‘settling for less’ in any way," Mufti Saleem explained. The school is pristine in cleanliness, with fine carpets and the ever present Islamic calligraphy adorning walls. Students dressed in traditional thobes (ankle-length garmet), kufis, and hijabs sitting on their knees at tiny floor desks, rocking in time with the cadence of recitation form an interesting contrast with the state-of-the-art computer lab. In an attempt to mimic the Prophetic traditions as much as possible, the principal decided not to have tables and chairs. "Everything has an effect. When Jibreel came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, with the Qur’an, this is how they sat, on the ground, and he taught him," Mufti Saleem explained. "They had chairs in those days, but this was his way. This is how the Prophet learned and we employ the same technique."
Full time schools like ILM operate under the Community Home Education Program and are usually linked to other WASC accredited institutions. Parents want to know that their children can go from ILM to any other public school or university without a learning gap. Oversight by the Western Association of School and Colleges ensures this.
Each day at ILM begins with the Qur’an. First graders and below receive three hours of Qur’an, whereas grades two and up spend an average of 5 hours learning the sacred text in the original Arabic. A common myth is that such schools teach only the pronunciation of the Arabic text with no attention to their corresponding meanings. Not so says Mufti Saleem. "We usually spend 20 minutes each day with the younger children, using many Hadith as well, to explain the meaning of the ayah that are memorized. For the younger children in Kindergarten through second grade a word-for-word translation would be too difficult," he said. "The older students spend time learning actual Arabic grammar. Once the High School students finish the Qur’an memorization, they will spend two to three hours daily learning the English equivalent."
Fouzia Usman, a software engineer who lives in La Palma enrolled her 9-year-old son Mohamed in ILM after leaving the Bay Area. "It was my dream to have my children memorize the Qur’an, even before they were born," said Fouzia, who is married to a pediatrician. "When our children have the capability of singing a song just by listening to it once or twice, don’t they have the capability to memorize the Qur’an? We as parents should use the opportunity and spend three to five years to have them learn the Qur’an. Sometimes parents are not willing to take the extra effort or to spend the money. We strive to get the best for our children in this world but we fail to prepare for the hereafter." Fouzia herself is keen on memorizing Islam’s holy book, and said that through a program on the AlMaghrib institution’s website to memorize two ayahs, verses, a day, she has now completed four large surahs and will now begin to memorize the last juz’.
For Laila, a Thai convert to Islam, the decision to pull out her son Anwar from the public school system in the seventh grade to attend ILM was based on getting him closer to Islam. Laila admits it was hard for Anwar to change schools at such an older age. "I would like him to be a scholar, though he has different ideas. He may not want to come here now, but he will later." As an indication that things are going in the right direction, Laila says that already her son "respects me more and prays five times a day."
During recess, an hour spent eating or playing basketball with a few of the teachers at the nearby park, Anwar agreed with his mom, "I wish I was back in public school. It’s ok here, but I miss my friends." "He just misses his girlfriend," laughed Ibrahim, an ILM fith grader, poking gentle fun. Ibrahim admits to loving video games, especially "Defjam Icon" and pizza, but also loves ILM. "Anwar is just new, but I’ve been her for two years. I’ve learnt half a juz’ so far," he said proudly.
The larger population of ILM students is like Ibrahim; along with their interest in very American hobbies for kids their age, they are enthusiastic about learning the Qur’an and love their school. Haji Abdul-Razak, just 9 years old, is in his second year of study and has mastered four juz’ to date. Omar, 12, is the child of converts and knows four juz and is a green belt in Karate. Hasan, 12, will in two weeks receive his license as a certified Hafiz of Qur’an. "I don’t miss public school at all. I wouldn’t want to go back, given a choice," he said. Hasan aspires one day to be a Mufti like Mufti Saleem. Taha Chaudry, bright eyed and articulate, wants to be either an eye doctor or a brain surgeon, "but I’m trying to figure out how I can build a school and a masjid. That’s what I’d like to do with all of my money."
Omar Lakhani is the head Qur’an teacher at ILM and is the 38th link in a chain of teachers that goes all the way back to Prophet Muhammad. "Parents want to safeguard their children," he said. "We care about the children and they know that this is a righteous effort."
Though the effort is righteous, it is not without a cost. One of the greatest challenges for ILM and other hifdh schools is the cost of operating. "We are always in a financial deficit," Lakhani confided, "It costs us twice as much to run the school as we bring in through tuition. We bring in about $6,000 a month in tuitions, and it costs about $20,000 a month to offer this quality of education. We find ourselves having to turn to private donors."
Other challenges include finding practicing Muslim teachers that can be role models for the young minds as well as teach them.
San Diego’s UMI Learning Center is associated with Masjid Usman. UMI was started in 2002 by the current director and Imam, Ahmed M. Hajji, himself a Hafiz who studied in a Saudi Arabian madrasah. UMI is located in a poorer, predominantly Somali neighborhood and operates on a sliding scale tuition. It is open to 120 part-time students from five years to college level. Though small in comparison with ILM and other full time madrasas, there is a distinct homelike quality.
The ILM Institute and the UMI Learning Center are just few of these centers where sacred knowledge is being transmitted to fresh eager minds. Several other facilities exist and can be located online, but were reluctant to speak to the press due to the stigma that the word "madrasah" has come to symbolize in the western media.
"Madrasah is simply an Arabic word for ‘place of study’," Mufti Saleem stressed, "I attended a madrasah in Pakistan for nine years and no one ever taught me to hate—in fact quite the opposite." He pointed to a sign on a nearby wall, "We’re not here to just learn the words of Qur’an, but the whole lifestyle of the Qur’an. This is what drives our enrollment."
"Children learn all about behavior here. Each part of the Qur’an teaches them something different. The first ten juz, for instance, teach all of the rulings in Islam, The second ten juz tell them about all of the favors of Allah and about Paradise. The last ten juz are warnings." Imam Hajji added that "learning the Qur’an teaches the children that life is more than just amusement, that we are here to do more than just think about the dunya," referring to the Arabic word for "worldly life."
Mufti Lakhani’s face lights up when he speaks about the impact of what his school is having. For him, the teaching of Qur’an is an investment in the children’s future. "There is a hadith that tells us that there are only three things that can benefit you once you’ve died: ongoing charity, knowledge that is passed on to others, and pious children that make du’a for you," he stressed. "This should motivate any parent to think about their child’s education."
