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Can We Raise ‘Good Muslim' Children in the West?
Posted By Hakim Abdullah hakim.abdullah19@gmail.com Today, I went to my favorite local deli
near the hospital where I work in Brooklyn, NY. I often go to
this deli because, 1) the brothers are Muslims and I pray with
them every Friday at our local masjid;
2) the deli is halal -
thank God that some Muslim business owners are still concerned
about the conditions of their products and services with
respect to our religious beliefs - and 3) its healthy to break
out of the office monotony to go and speak a different
language and joke around with nice people after the noon
prayer. This visit however, was in the morning and
not at noon. After I got my morning coffee and made a few
salutations of good-will, a brother named ‘Abdullah and I
began a conversation about foosha Arabic grammar. He
is helping me to find a private Arabic teacher for my wife and
children. ‘Abdullah is a very pious and hard-working Muslim
from Yemen. And he shares with me one of his worrisome
concerns about Muslims in this country saying, "You know brother, when Muslims come to
this country and have kids, our children start to speak
English and forget all about the Arabic language." He goes on to tell me that its not only the
language but Islam that is often forgotten or even rejected by
our children. And I agree with ‘Abdullah, which is why I am
working so vehemently to have my children learn firstly, about
their religion and secondly, about the Arabic language.
Consequently, the Qur'an the central authority of the global
Muslim community, is incomplete without the Arabic language,
so there must be a certain level of competence in speaking,
reading and especially comprehension of Arabic. Conversely, some argue that Arabic is not
needed as long as you have the translations. Its true that the
translations of the Qur'an to English and other languages
make comprehension easier for those whom are not native Arabic
speakers. However, the translations leave so much room for
things to get - as the saying goes - ‘lost in
translation', not to mention the confusion that may occur
during congregational prayers. I think it is our job as parents to ensure that our children receive a proper Islamic education despite being enrolled in secular public or private schools. The consequences of neglecting this duty are severe, particularly in the West. For example, Andrea Useem of Religion News Service reports that, "Sixteen percent of Americans have
switched their religious identities at some point in their
lives, according to the 2001 American Religious
Identification Survey" Though it is probably true that converts to
Islam make up a large portion of this number, there is no
proof that this condition is particular to Islam. In fact, a
reasonable consideration is that the religious conversion rate
in this country is the result of our society in flux as
suggested by Peter Berger, professor of Sociology and Theology
at Boston University, "People are making more choices in
everything, from lifestyle to sexual identity. It's not
surprising if they are making more choices in religion," This brings me back to ‘Abdullah's
concern, which was that the children of Muslim parents
particularly those of immigrants have no interest in learning
the Arabic language and incidentally Islamic teachings because
they exist as an off branch subculture in this society as
opposed to a mainstream identity. Could it be that for Muslim
children, the Western lifestyle, a condition in constant flux,
is overwhelming? My children are very small - five years;
three years and 5 months old - and it still to early too see
if they are more interested in non-Islamic culture. Right now
they embrace their Islamic culture and heritage, so much that
my son keeps asking me to come speak to his class about Islam.
Apparently his teacher - who often discusses god and gods,
with the children, in terms of ancient mythologies - has
suggested that she would like me to do this, though I have yet
to find the time. Since my children are so young I am
inexperienced in this area and all I can go on are suggestions
from text and traditions. Therefore, I would like to begin a
discussion on raising children to be good Muslims in the West.
I think this topic could develop into a very insightful and
inspiring resource for a number young families. So let me just
go ahead and put the question out there: do any of you
parents have thoughts or concerns on how to raise good Muslims
in the West?
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