This insightful text challenges popular belief that faith-based Islamic schools isolate Muslim learners, impose dogmatic religious views, and disregard academic excellence. This book attempts to paint a starkly different picture. Grounded in the premise that not all Islamic schools are the same, the historical narratives illustrate varied visions and approaches to Islamic schooling that showcase a richness of educational thought and aspiration. A History of Islamic Schooling in North America traces the growth and evolution of elementary and secondary private Islamic schools in Canada and the United States. Intersecting narratives between schools established by indigenous African American Muslims as early as the 1930s with those established by immigrant Muslim communities in the 1970s demonstrate how and why Islamic Education is in a constant, ongoing process of evolution, renewal, and adaptation. Drawing on the voices, perspectives, and narratives of pioneers and visionaries who established the earliest Islamic schools, chapters articulate why Islamic schools were established, what distinguishes them from one another, and why they continue to be important. This book will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, teaching professionals in the fields of Islamic education, religious studies, multicultural education curriculum studies, and faith-based teacher education.

This work attempts to achieve two overarching objectives: firstly to trace the historical growth of Islamic schools in North America and secondly, to explore the ideological and philosophical values that have shaped the vision of these schools. The historical growth of Islamic schools in North America has been led by two distinct communities among Sunni Muslims: the indigenous and the immigrant. Specific to the North American Muslim diaspora "indigenous" represents the African American Muslim community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (1933--2008), and "immigrant" refers to the generation of Sunni Muslims who settled in North America in the 1960s and 1970s. Through oral history, this study attempts to capture the voices, sentiments, and aspirations of those that struggled to establish the earliest full-time Islamic schools. The study examines these voices for the ways Islamic education is defined differently based on generational, contextual, and ideological perspectives. Recognizing the diverse lived experiences of Muslim communities in North America, the findings are organized in four distinct, yet often overlapping historical phases that map the growth and development of Islamic schooling. The four phases of Protest, Preservation, Pedagogy, and Praxis also represent how the aims of Islamic education have evolved over time. From the Nation of Islam and their inherent vision of equality through resistance, the earliest attempt at establishing schools for Muslim children began in the 1930s. The transition of the Nation of Islam into a community redefined by the teachings of mainstream Islam coupled with the settlement of substantial immigrant Muslim communities altered the discourse from protest to identity preservation in the 1980s. Collaboration between the "indigenous" and "immigrant" communities defined a concerted effort to improve the quality of Islamic schools in the 1990s. And post 9/11, the discourse of inward-looking school improvement shifted once again to outward praxis. The historical mapping of the vision of Islamic schooling between communities also allows for the exploration of how interpretations of the Islamic tradition inform the pedagogy of schools. Through separate histories and religious perspectives, this study seeks to explore the complexities of the aims of Islamic schools, both between communities and within them.

This insightful text challenges popular belief that faith-based Islamic schools isolate Muslim learners, impose dogmatic religious views, and disregard academic excellence. This book attempts to paint a starkly different picture. Grounded in the premise that not all Islamic schools are the same, the historical narratives illustrate varied visions and approaches to Islamic schooling that showcase a richness of educational thought and aspiration. A History of Islamic Schooling in North America traces the growth and evolution of elementary and secondary private Islamic schools in Canada and the United States. Intersecting narratives between schools established by indigenous African American Muslims as early as the 1930s with those established by immigrant Muslim communities in the 1970s demonstrate how and why Islamic Education is in a constant, ongoing process of evolution, renewal, and adaptation. Drawing on the voices, perspectives, and narratives of pioneers and visionaries who established the earliest Islamic schools, chapters articulate why Islamic schools were established, what distinguishes them from one another, and why they continue to be important. This book will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, teaching professionals in the fields of Islamic education, religious studies, multicultural education curriculum studies, and faith-based teacher education.

As the U.S. Muslim population continues to grow, Islamic schools are springing up across the American landscape. Especially since the events of 9/11, many have become concerned about what kind of teaching is going on behind the walls of these schools, and whether it might serve to foster the seditious purposes of Islamist extremism. The essays collected in this volume look behind those walls and discover both efforts to provide excellent instruction following national educational standards and attempts to inculcate Islamic values and protect students from what are seen as the dangers of secularism and the compromising values of American culture. Also considered here are other dimensions of American Islamic education, including: new forms of institutions for youth and college-age Muslims; home-schooling; the impact of educational media on young children; and the kind of training being offered by Muslim chaplains in universities, hospitals, prisons, and other such settings. Finally the authors look at the ways in which Muslims are rising to the task of educating the American public about Islam in the face of increasing hostility and prejudice. This timely volume is the first dedicated entirely to the neglected topic of Islamic education.

Political rhetoric and popular concern about the presence in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe of immigrants from predominantly-Muslim societies has remained largely detached from the actual reality of the lives and the contributions of these immigrants and their children. The studies presented here seek to correct this ignorant reaction by presenting objective information from schools that such immigrants have created and sustained. The first looked at seven explicitly-Islamic secondary schools, focusing on the formation of character and American citizenship, while the other studied public charter schools established by immigrants from Turkey, focusing on academic outcomes. Do faith-based schools cause social divisions? Do their students fail to become good citizens who can cooperate with those of other faiths? This familiar accusation against Catholic, and more recently against Evangelical, schools, is now directed against Islamic schools in Western societies. The studies presented here offer objective information from schools established by Muslim immigrants across the United States, with reassuring results. Praise for Muslim Educators in American Communities: "Dr. Charles Glenn takes us inside US Islamic schools and offers a rare insight into the thoughts and emotions of young American Muslims. A must read for Non-Muslims as well as Muslims; his book provides a taste for those curious about what goes on in Islamic schools as well as evidence of the results of an Islamic School education." ~ Sufia Azmat, Executive Director Council of Islamic Schools in North America "Every wave of immigration throughout American history has brought with it an undertow of fear, often centered on the religious schools new immigrants form. In every instance, those fears have proven unfounded and so they are today. Through careful, on-the-ground research, Charles Glenn and colleagues take us into new Islamic secondary schools and discover the important role these faith-based schools are playing in forming virtuous citizens capable and committed to being a positive influence within American civic life. This book is a valuable and timely contribution." ~ James Davison Hunter, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture University of Virginia

Religious schooling in Canada has been a controversial subject since the secularization of the public school system, but there has been little scholarship on Islamic education. In this ethnographic study of four full-time Islamic schools, Jasmin Zine explores the social, pedagogical, and ideological functions of these alternative, and religiously-based educational institutions. Based on eighteen months of fieldwork and interviews with forty-nine participants, Canadian Islamic Schools provides significant insight into the role and function that Islamic schools have in Diasporic, Canadian, educational, and gender-related contexts. Discussing issues of cultural preservation, multiculturalism, secularization, and assimiliation, Zine considers pertinent topics such as the Eurocentricism of Canada's public schools and the social reproduction of Islamic identity. She further examines the politics of piety, veiling, and gender segregation paying particular attention to the ways in which gendered identities are constructed within the practices of Islamic schools and how these narratives shape and inform the negotiation of gender roles among both boys and girls. A fascinating and informative study of religious-based education, Canadian Islamic Schools is essential reading for educators, sociologists, as well as those interested in Immigration and Diaspora Studies.

This book provides the first in-depth look at Muslim life and institutions forming in North America. It considers the range of Islamic life in North America with its different racial-ethnic and cultural identities, customs, and religious orientations. Issues of acculturation, ethnicity, orthodoxy, and the changing roles of women are brought into focus. The authors provide insight into the lives of recent immigrants who are asking what is Islamically appropriate in a non-Muslim environment. Contrasts are drawn between Sunni and Shi'i groups, and attention is given to the activities of some Sufi organizations. The growing Islamic community among African-American Muslims is examined, including the followers of Warith Deen Muhammed and the sectarians identified with black power, such as the Nation of Islam, Darul Islam, and the Five Percenters. The authors document the challenges and issues that American Muslims face, such as prejudice and racism; pressure from overseas Muslims; dress and education; the influence of Islamic revivalism on the development of the community in this country; and the maintenance of Muslim identity amidst the pressure for assimilation.