this
is
alhamdulillah peace be unto you thank
you for tuning in to the dean show where
we're helping deliver the message of
peace to you into your home and if
you're watching now you're getting to
sit with some Muslims not just one today
but we got one two three four five of us
oh my God five
Muslims what are these Muslims about
what are they thinking about what do
they talk about what we're letting you
in to our lives so if you're not yet
Muslim you don't know nothing about
Islam you're just tuning in don't go
nowhere we're going to be talking about
some serious issues and for the Muslims
who are tuning in we know when we leave
this life all the money stays behind and
the family and what follows you to the
grave of those things stays back but
your actions what you did in this life
did you worship the Creator not his
creation did you submit and surrender to
all the things that the Creator told us
to do did you just have fun dance party
and now you expect to get paid with
Paradise no all the messengers came
taught and brought that same message and
they warned the people about the
Hellfire did you qualify to go to the
Hellfire or Paradise so we know that one
of the most important things is to leave
off so many good actions one continuous
charity that you gave now people are
benefiting from knowledge you taught
somebody how to submit to God to you you
someone's making wo someone's praying
someone's worshiping the Creator not his
creation you gave him daah and you're
benefiting from that without reducing
anything from your good deeds so you did
so many good
actions and that follows you to the
grave and then a righteous child making
supplicating for you so that opens up
the door for our topic today here on the
dean show H School Islamic school public
school when you send that child you
don't give him any kind of good
education and then what you bankrupt cuz
then that child's not making doour for
for you when you leave this
life so we're going to be right back
here on the dean show to discuss this
very important topic and then let you be
the judge at the end we'll be right back
peace this is the is
the this is the D
this is the dean show this is the dean
show peace be unto
youum okay we're going to set up a
little format this first time we got
Crossfire you guys know Crossfire on The
Dean show we got opposing views some
that are arguing or presenting the case
for Islamic school for public school for
preschool no okay so let's get a let a
short introdu
so we want to go ahead and pass the mic
around just start off with yourself
please introduce yourself briefly and
then just pass the the mic around and
we'll come back to myself what's your
name and what uh position are you uh
arguing
for uh my name is brother Yousef Jamber
um I've been working uh with Islamic
schools for 5 years and on top of that
I've been dealing with the youth for 20
years is both Muslims and non-muslim and
of course I have to argue uh for the
Islamic
schools alaykum my name is S Patel I
serve as a commissioner on the board of
education in the city of Pake um in
addition to that specific role um we do
homeschool my daughter um and my wife at
the same time teaches at an Islamic
school in in the town that we live in so
I kind of touch all three different
areas and I'm not making an argument but
rather I'll speak to my specific
experiences and insights as to what I
feel are the strengths and weaknesses of
each of those
methods alikum I'm brother Ahmed kandil
I'm a public school teacher a business
education teacher in Paran New Jersey um
I'm also a boy soccer coach I'm a fbl
adviser future Business Leaders of
America and also uh as of this year
became the Muslim Student Association
adviser as well um again like brother
Saleem said not necessarily am I in
favor of public school but again I'll
talk to my experiences uh my daughters
do attend uh Islamic private school
so everyone my name is Shaquille hu by
profession I'm an entrepreneur and uh
with this disc question what's relative
is that I'm the founder and the CEO of
Wellspring Elementary a unique School
model uh that we recently opened up a
couple of years ago at Hollis Queens I'm
going to be inshallah sharing a lot
about the Wellspring model itself um I
personally don't like calling it Islamic
schools I like to call it a school uh we
don't usually say that I'm going to have
my Islamic burger and then put on my my
Islamic clothes and get my Islamic phone
so I'll just call it a private it's a
private school I'm going to call a
private school Psy tell us now so
consensus so we got a private school
it's everybody's on the same page mashah
but look we have a lot of not yet
Muslims so look you know they they cat
this Channel and now they see uh four
five Muslims on the stage and they're
like what are these guys plotting now
you know and planning so before we get
into the main topic what do you I I
really like to just get this off the
minds of the people let them know that
because it might be have a Muslim friend
and the guy's like you know called his
his uh non-muslim neighbor not yet
Muslim neighbor and he's sitting there
through this and and he's like come on
come on and now we're talking about uh
this topic but on the back of his mind
he's thinking you know uh Al-Qaeda he's
thinking you know somebody just blew up
something and then Islam and all these
other things so what do you think let's
start with you and we'll pass it around
when you see Islam malign the way it is
you know on the on the news media and
you see all these negative things being
associated with Islam and people
associating Muslims with terrorism what
goes to your
mind um
alhamdulillah I'm basically um I'm an
individual that's pretty uh void of
media um because we know the negative
impact U of media and also that media
the purpose of it is to get a story
right because they they also a business
they have to function and they have to
have um viewers in order to survive so
uh we have to uh remove ourselves from
this um this media because it's only
going to cause us to react in a negative
way however but you know we forget about
the the day-to-day Affairs and
interactions that we have with our
neighbors um just taking our families
you know to to the park um some of my
our families attend you know various
schools and public schools and are very
involved in associations like the parent
teacher Association you know so we have
to you know uh remove this negative uh
uh uh image from the media by getting
involved and being seen in our
communities so that our neighbors in our
communities at large can be aware of the
positive impact of the Muslims on
society or being proactive in the
community exactly showing that we're out
to make a good change no okay goad
next can you repeat that how do you feel
now when you hear this beautiful way of
life this way that when when the
peacemakers the people of Peace have
been made by the media to look like the
people of War when you turn on Fox News
you see radical Islam what are your
feelings on that well I think more than
anything else we have to just learn how
to be be Muslim I think that's something
that a lot of us has forgotten in our
day-to-day lives it's just how to be
normal human beings that care about one
another um and it doesn't have to be
just to other Muslims and I think that's
something that we've forgotten espe es
in the public space so like uh brother
Yousef said we need authentic engagement
with the public sector he said we have
parents that are involved in the PTA how
many parents in here are involved with
their PTA can I get a show of
hands so very few and so PT and again
any statistic that you see about school
performance School measure whether it's
in a private school whether it's in a
public school you'll see
that it only happens if you have an
active parent if you have parents that
are engaged in the process that care
about their children's upbringing and
many of you that have chosen even
Islamic or private school you there's a
select group of parents that get
involved there in private school at the
end of the day the child needs to have
parents that care but beyond that in the
public sector we
need we need community members to show
up um there's a lot of issues that
impact not only your kids even if you
don't have like I said my child does not
attend the public schools but I'm still
part of the board of education does that
disqualify me from serving no because I
have a vested interest in the success of
our community that our community will
not uh Thrive unless we have concerned
actors in the community wanting to give
back wanting to bring positive change
for all community members because you
know if if we all don't get involved
then as far as your neighbor goes or as
far as your neighborhood goes and the
success of that neighborhood it will it
will be very limited if we all don't
come together and say okay we have to
lift each other up together and it
doesn't matter about race or Creed it
really makes no difference and then
since the the title of the topic is NJ
dawa I mean part of that is actually
getting involved right wanting to
benefit your neighbor wanting to benefit
your community so um you know to answer
your question is that there's
stereotypes of course does the media
portray us in a certain way obviously it
does there's a certain portrayal however
if you and I just be ourselves and act
according to what our faith tradition
says in the manner that we should
conduct ourselves people will see it I
mean even myself naturally I have all of
my colleagues I'm the only Muslim on the
board um
and there isn't the large Muslim
population where I live but what we work
on are issues that are common to all of
us and we work to uh successfully
Implement programs and ideas and
initiatives that are going to benefit
all the students and if that's not part
of my faith then I don't know what
is I mean we would like to think that
the media and and all these you know
things that our students are exposed to
and society's exposed to doesn't have an
impact but
unfortunately you got to you got to
believe that somewhere in the back of
their head uh the kids are thinking
about it you know because this is what
they see that's all they know um from
the standpoint of being a Muslim I I
think that you know we really have to
pose as an ambassador we are an
ambassador of Islam um and as as was
said here I mean in a public school
setting you are probably the only Muslim
adult that these students know um so I
mean it's just like getting involved in
all these things um for what Islam
stands for and Islam a Muslim should be
viewed as a value added you know
positive contributor to society and
really giving back to the community to
the best of their ability and you know
giving excellence in everything they do
um we We should strive for excellence
and strive to be and remember always
keep that in the back of our heads that
we are an ambassador to Islam and we
shouldn't shy away from it you know we
should be proud of our Islamic identity
and you know the things that we see that
we can make a positive impact for
example I mean as I said I'm a coach um
many times you know I there are student
there are players who maybe aren't fit
to be on the team but you know what you
get them on the team because you get
them off the streets and you know that
you can be a um you can be an impact you
can do something positive that they'll
value they'll know and they'll always
attribute it to you you know that you
made you made a difference in my life
you know so for for students to feel
that you know and and know that you know
you are a Muslim I think it's it's it's
impactful it's effective um so from that
standpoint I think it's very important
um just recently we had a um Project
Graduation you know uh after graduation
they have like a midnight madness and
the purpose of that is to keep kids off
the street they could be doing so many
other things on during graduation night
so I mean to be able to have that type
of a venue um where you're keeping you
know students off the street and keeping
them in an environment that is
islamically you know is is is what we
should be advocating for you know and
anything where you can get involved in
that Islam is behind and supports you
know like their programs or anything
else where um you know you can bring a
positive aspect to humanity and be a
positive contributor Shake Shaquille go
ahead and we'll finish it off with you
great I mean just to add what was said I
think we as Muslims in America need to
speak more to non-muslims we're so
locked up into our Mass into our
institutions we need to come out and
speak more we need to engage a lot more
and I believe we should have a presence
in the media we should be engaged in the
media we should be on CNN we should be
on Fox News you know why is it when they
call someone to speak about the Muslim
point of view number one it's not a
Muslim and at times when it is a Muslim
it's a person who's struggling to speak
English so we need a cultural change
like so if someone says hey Mom hey Dad
I want to be a journalist what kind of
push back do they get right so if he
doesn't want to be a doctor if he
doesn't want to be a lawyer uh the other
professions are not regarded as as
highly as the as the the first two I
mentioned so I think we need to have a
cultural change change we need to
realize that we need a lot more people
in the media we should train people to
get into journalism they should be in
the media we should have our presence
regular presence understand what the
media how the media works and have a
regular presence and engage the media we
need people on CNN we need people on Fox
News we need someone to go on Fox News
and take down pat O'Reilly we need that
so let's go on we're going to go ahead
and set up because we have four
panelists I've never had this many on
the alhamdulillah so let's try to keep
the I want to get as many questions as
possible out to you guys so the more
questions the more we can have answers
that will benefit the the people the
viewers watching so try to keep them
short and
sweet I'm going to start with you we
started from here make it fair tell us
why is important you heard when I opened
up I said that when you leave this life
you don't take all that money you made
do you you take the money you don't take
the money do you no you don't all all
all the billions trillions you don't
take that with you absolutely not okay
but you do take your actions is that
right correct so I talked about and this
is from the last and final messenger
sent to mankind Prophet Muhammad peace
be upon him who was sent as a mercy to
the whole of humanity that if anyone
looks at his life sincerely we'll see
that he was indeed a messenger of God
just like Moses Jesus
Abraham he was sent by God so he told us
that a righteous child is one that
supplicates for you and helps you in the
the next SL is that true corre so talk
to us how do we make a decision that our
children don't get corrupted and we lose
them and then don't we don't we don't
have them supplicating for us when we
pass in this life so how do we make this
decision between these three so I think
the first thing is to understand that
when we have children it's a gift from
Allah subhana wa taala it's a gift from
Allah subhah wa ta'ala but the gift that
we get comes with a certain nature the
prophet muhammmad Ali was said
there isn't a single child that's born
except that it's born the State of the
State of Islam so if Allah has given us
a child that is Muslim it's a Muslim how
are we going to return this child after
we raise this child to Allah subhana wa
tala are we going to send this child to
an educational experience that will turn
the child into an atheist turn the child
into someone that will disobey Allah
subhana wa ta'ala that's our respon
responsibility number two the Hadith
that the brother
quoted that's something that will help
us in the next life when we have a
righteous
it's not any child a righteous child
that makes Dua for this individual and
Dua in the Islamic terminology has two
meanings there
and is the Dua when you supplicate so if
he supplicates for you you'll get the
benefit and
is that if he does acts of worship you
get the reward so imagine he's making
you're in your grade you get you're in
your grave you get the reward for that
he's fasting you're in the grave you get
the reward for that he just gave
$100,000 in sod you get the reward for
that so every single Good Deed that a
child does you get the reward for that
how can someone miss out on that
opportunity tell us when you send okay
public school you're a teacher there
correct so we we want we know the
environment has a great impact on us
especially our children so when you go
to some of the I know in Chicago I I I
don't know about New Jersey I I take
that as the same when you go through
some of these schools you got metal
detectors you know you're greeted with a
lot of uh bullying by other kids you got
promiscuity you got all sorts of um
corruption drugs you got some good but
you when you see that a lot of times you
know the the bad outweighs the good so
if somebody uh is thinking about sending
their children they don't know right
they came from overseas and and and the
public school is next door would you
encourage them to send them in this
environment that's a tough question um
the tough question is on a de real
question um it is a tough question and
and and shot absolutely it is a culture
shock is Right absolutely I'm not it's
culture shock but shot oh
shot they got shootings right absolutely
gang violence sure and again that that
depends obviously on whether you're in
the inner city or you're in Suburban
areas or wherever the school is located
um and and generally based on your local
that's that's you know the type of
school you'll be attending um but
regardless irrespective of the fact I
mean you do see you're you're exposed to
a lot of fitan you know a lot of trials
and tribulations as you said um and that
it is a challenge it is challenging but
in reality
um it's basically you know a a look into
the real world I mean this is the
society around us I mean that's what we
are exposed to um so from that
standpoint I mean if we think that we
can
shelter our children to be exposed I
mean to not be exposed to that type of
uh CH those types of challenges we can't
do it I mean we we can try to limit it
or mitigate it as much as possible and
try to you know deal with some of the
issues but you know uh realistically
speaking if we shelter for for too long
what happens is I mean there has to be a
balance what happens is they they get
into some type of a uh I guess you could
say some type of shock you know they're
shocked when they go out into the real
world and they have to you know interact
and yes you are going to see promiscuity
and you're going to see uh vulgar talk
and you will see you know all types of
things that yes inside are going to make
you feel
uncomfortable but in essence you can't
escape it you can't escape it I mean uh
for the majority of the careers that you
will get
into that is prevalent I mean you
that'll be all around you and you know I
I think you just have to establish the
foundation and really work on
strengthening yourself and supplementing
you know you really have to supplement
the Islamic aspect and really you know
inculcate that into um your your
children homeschooling you you me you
mentioned uh that you homeschool your
children one yeah one of them how's that
going for you um and if somebody wanted
to do homeschooling where do they start
how did they start well I think there's
several things so you know when my
daughter became of age of going to
school and we do have a prek in my
school and I was on the board of
education um we chose not to send her in
and she uh last year my wife and I um we
had a small disagreement about
potentially sending her to a private
school which I consider to be one of the
best um uh Islamic schools in the state
Noble Leadership Academy and it's a few
blocks from our home and my wife said
maybe let's try it out for a year um and
I spoke with the principal and I said
you know I think we're going to hold off
on enrolling her the principal was very
disappointed however a few months ago
I'm s I'm speaking with the principal
and I said what do you think about our
decision of not sending our daughter to
school to to your to your school I know
you wanted her here in Noble Academy and
she said it's the best decision you ever
made and I said why do you say that she
said that whatever you're doing in the
home you're doing a phenomenal
phenomenal job your daughter said the
principal of the school of best decision
yes by not sending her there and I'm not
saying my daughter's you know a genius
she's you know she's a regular
six-year-old child however um
what I am trying to convey is that for
every family there's a different reality
there's a reality for each and every one
of you with how you um raise your child
and everyone has an option and otherwise
some families don't have that option you
have some families where both parents
are working and they have to send their
kid to and they they're not of means and
they might have to send their CH
children to a public school some have
means and don't want to send their child
to a public school so they send them to
an Islamic school even if it may not be
the best Islamic school soda school
private school I know you don't want to
say private but in this context we kind
of understand uh that it's going to be
specifically an Islamic school so I
think we have different realities that
everyone has to sort of accept in terms
of homeschooling what I find most is
that there's a psychological barrier for
most parents that right when they hear
it they say well I don't have a college
degree or I don't know all the subjects
or it's just going to be too much and so
we have these psychological barriers as
to um accepting that as a reasonable
alternative to either public school and
or private school and I think once you
know what I would say is um you have to
know your child you have to know
yourself you have to know the
relationship with your spouse um and
then also the extended family members
and once you kind of understand those
relationships you you should start
asking the questions what is the best
most viable alternative or option for my
child um specific Ally for my child I we
just knew that public school and private
school the current Alternatives that
were available to us would be stifling
her growth we felt and we felt that with
we we didn't want to stifle her progress
Her Imagination and everything else we
wanted her to go out and explore the
world and that's what we're doing with
her letting her experience the world
rather than experience a class room
let's keep it going public school or
Over My Dead Body
what do you think well
the uh the issue of Public School uh
versus Islamic school and homeschooling
it pretty much um is based on social
interaction um usually a student that um
that is homeschooled um they are far
removed from society and then when they
exposed to society then um they are
immature or they're naive uh meaning
that they never experienced these type
of things or never seen these type of
things so uh they when they do see these
things then they become vulnerable right
and may fall into these stps now when we
talking about um public school um of
course there's you know a lot of social
interaction uh uh uh intermingling
between the gender uh negative exposure
right and you know it's a lot of you
know fitting or challenges in homeschool
um however when we talking about um
Islamic schools uh most people right
remove their children from this negative
exposure and they put them in Islamic
schools so that they can learn some type
of morals and manners and even you know
if it's Islamic private school or even
uh a Catholic Private School uh even
non-muslims they will send their
children to uh Catholic schools or
Christian schools because of the the
moral factor and this is you know the
fine line that kind of you know uh uh
that we're dealing with here that
America um it is you know uh considered
you know immoral you know Society
there's a lot of things that are going
on you know in the streets um in public
you know uh facilities as well as you
know um uh you know schools and so forth
and so on so now how do we balance this
you know with the means that we have
because you know public schools are free
uh uh Islamic schools are very very
expensive you know and homeschooling you
know they're you know pretty much you
know affordable uh um so it's you know
it's very hard to to kind of balance you
know between between the three um Public
School uh my daughter alhamdulillah
she's been you know in in in um private
school this is her first year I'm
actually a pro a product of uh Public
Schools uh I went to Public Schools all
of my life um I went to a school where
you know the the girls were knocking out
the guys you know and you know uh the
guys were beating up families you know
that's that's how bad you know it was
you guys were what beating up families
you know so they get in the fight with
each other then the family comes and
then they the family fight you know so
you know it was it was very rough you
know but one thing that I did was stay
involved right I got involved I was
involved in several programs uh the
College Bound uh program where it kind
of put me in the in the group of people
that had their minds they had you know
their minds um set for college um I was
involved in sports uh I played three
Sports um and also you know um other you
know activities on the weekend right so
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
he said that there uh are uh two
blessings that many people neglect they
don't take advantage of um and these two
blessings is is good health and free
time so a lot of times you know our
children are are given too much free
time time and because of this free time
you know they they hang out with the
wrong crowds you know they on the wrong
sites you know on the internet but if we
keep them active into uh extracurricular
activities um get doing allowing them to
do you know um all types of activities
family activities and events on the
weekend then I think that this will help
out a little bit you know um inshallah
in in the Journey For Education thank
you very much made the creator of the
heavens and earth reward you let's keep
it going we know that this beautiful way
of life that was set from the beginning
of time with the first man Adam
submission to the will of God Islam what
we're liveing is the organic way
everybody you guys got Whole Foods over
here you know Whole Foods everybody's
going back to organic so the way of life
that we live is this pure organic good
wholesome life that we raise our
children not to utter profanity to
recognize to be God conscious to be
morally sound have the best characters
respecting those those who are not yet
Muslims Muslims all of humanity to be
the best that they can be so how does
someone who's not in a predicament that
they don't have the money to send them
to a private school for example what
should they do and they know they've
heard from a famous uh
uh Christian who accepted he was a
Christian usest his from Texas he
accepted Islam and he he grew up in this
environment he knows you know the the
culture and he said sending your
children this is his words to a private
to a public school is like flushing your
kids down a toilet I said what he said I
put my son in American public
school I said why don't you put him in
the
toilet he looked at me like
huh he said no no brother you don't
understand maybe it's my English uh I'm
saying I put my son in American public
school
I said your English is fine how's your
Arabic why don't you put him in the
hamam because at least when you take him
out you can wash it off strong but it
still had an impact on me I still
remember that so now they heard this
they don't want to they don't know where
to begin with homeschool does a place
like your private school have uh a
backing where now you financial aid to
get in what do they do
Sher I think there are there are a
couple of issues
um one is I think with with education we
first need to it's a problem every
Muslim parent thinks about it and we
need to come up with a solution but
unfortunately almost every family is
fighting this battle by themselves and
that has to change as Muslims we need to
come up with a solution that will be a
solution to the masses that will be a
universal solution now I also went to
Public Schools all right and I'm a
product of public school but one of the
things that I'm sure we did all of us
here did as well but one of the things
we need to remember is that when we went
to Public Schools it's not as how public
schools are today with their cell phones
Facebook communication is so easy which
opens up the routes and avenues for
promiscuity it's different it's a whole
different ball game they never taught
homosexuality in any of my schools when
I was in public school in elementary
junior high or high school right things
are different today so the dangers of of
our children losing their Dean is very
high that's number one number two with
what my respected brother said I'm I'm
going to have to differ a little bit
where he said that private schools are
expensive I disagree I believe our
private schools are very very cheap and
they need to charge more and the reason
for that is if you look throughout the
United States of America the average
Jewish school charges $155,000 a year
there's that's the average there are
actually private schools that charge $40
to $100,000 a year the average Jewish
school charges $155,000 a year the
average Catholic School charges $5,000 a
year well guess we we don't have to you
know reinvent the wheel we don't have to
become a statistic the statistics are
there look at the Catholic schools
they're all shutting down it's not going
to work $5,000 a year uh uh private
school that are charging $6,000 a year
you're talking about $200 a month it's
not going to work you end up getting
underqualified teachers you end up not
having proper resources in the classroom
the parents get frustrated my children
are not learning they're better off in
the public school system we put them
between a rock and a hard place to
choose between public school where they
learn some academics but risk losing
their Dean and learn a lot of
immoralities or risk risk putting them
in private school schools where it's not
funded properly and they're not going to
get strong academics they will never get
into Colombia they will not get into
Harvard they will not get into Yale it's
a problem so to stop this problem we
need to look at the Jewish schools their
financial model they charge $15,000 a
year I'm saying that there shouldn't be
any school run by Muslims right I didn't
say Islamic school any school run by
Muslims there shouldn't be any school
that's run by m that's run by a Muslim
in the New York New Jersey area that
should charge less than10 ,000 a year
because with my financial analysis it's
almost impossible to run a proper school
with the proper Resources with certified
teachers that with less than $10,000 a
year well then the IDE is well then it's
only for the rich well it's not we're
going to have to run this way to get
critical mass the problem is we sent
them to the $200 $300 a month of school
they get this education which is not
great they're not qualify to go to
better colleges they end up with low
paying jobs and now they do the exact
same thing to their children send them
to the same school system and our and
they graduate they end up in community
colleges why is it that when we go to
community colleges you see a lot of
Muslims when you go to IV league
universities you can barely find Muslims
there that this cycle has to be broken
it has to change and there will be pain
in the beginning but we have to
sacrifice we need to call on our
entrepreneurs we need to call on our
businessmen to fund education Harvard
and Yale in Colombia they charge High
tuition but yet they still get funding
in the millions of dollars because no
matter how much money you throw at
education it's not enough so if the the
Jewish people as a community can pay
$115,000 a year and get their children
we see their results they get highp
paying jobs they get into good colleges
why can't we a Jewish family was asked
how do you pay $15,000 a year the answer
was simple we don't go on vacations
anymore
you don't need a Mercedes you don't have
to go to go on vacations the wife can
get a part-time job there's today if you
have a laptop and a internet connection
you can make money and if you can't
there's something wrong you get a laptop
the wife can work from home you can make
some money add extra income a couple
of100 a month $1,000 a month can help
pay the tuition so I think we need to
change the way we think free is
expensive discounts is the first thing
we ask for that has to change we should
say say how we should say that how much
more can we give to education and until
unless this doesn't change we're going
to continue to suffer now the other side
is these private schools the results the
results because the resources not there
alhamdulillah at Wellspring Elementary
we've changed that there are zero
discounts zero discounts anyone that
asks for a discount we say no and we
have a waiting list of people trying to
get into the school this is at Well
Spring Elementary this is only our
second year and but and this second year
we performed our children performed
better than 91% of America so it's
possible if we create a proper financial
model we have a unique education model
that's different from private schools uh
other private schools and public schools
homeschooling uh like the brother said
every family has a different reality
there are many challenges to
homeschooling not every parent can be
with their child all day and then the
dad has to come home and the mom says
all right you take the kids I'm done
I've had it I've kids all day and then
the dad after a day's work got to come
and take it I commend any any any family
that's doing homeschooling it's great
but there are challenges and it's
important that in today's day and time
there's so much new information coming
out it's faster than it was before and
it's it's very difficult for a mom to be
an expert in science to be an expert in
math to be an expert in literacy and
then keep up with the latest res
research in every single subject you're
going to compromise education with your
children and then sitting in a classroom
you're missing the social interactions
yes we can have homeschooling Network
take them out and stuff but that's a lot
of work but what you're real you're also
missing is the experience in the
classroom yes I know the answer is
correct but another student asks a
question that I never thought of I never
thought of that question and that
question is interesting and it allows us
to to go deeper in the subject in the
classroom right how many moms are
trained in developing higher ordered
thinking skills for their
children is not just teaching what 2
plus 2 equals homeschooling how many
parents are trained in properly
assessing their child what I trade my
teachers I tell them just because the
child got the right answer doesn't mean
it's a proper it's a good assessment you
have to ask how and why I could be a
child that looked at 2 plus 2 * 2 I said
the answer is four because I added the
two numbers I didn't multiply the two
numbers so not getting at the so getting
at the right answer doesn't necessarily
mean you understand it so the assessment
I know a family that does
homeschooling the they're in middle
school they get their courses
online these kids they got their parents
login they log in with their parents ID
they get the answers to the exam they
punch them in and the parent thinks my
children are doing great right so I
think there are a lot of challenges with
homeschooling it's not a solution that's
Universal it can work for some families
but we as a Muslim Community as our
history showed us we always came up with
Solutions drawing pictures was Haram we
didn't say art was Haram we came up with
geometric art we came up with beautiful
art so when there we come up with
challenges we need to come up with a
solution it doesn't solve a few families
problems but it has to solve the problem
all the Muslims in America and that's
what we're doing at w Spring Elementary
okay so let's agree now we're going to
we're going to change the the whole
topic we're going to we're going to
promote or we're going to want to agree
that we want to send our children to
Creator conscious schools huh how's that
character development schools right so
how do we avoid the
fies sorry I put you on the spot that's
two tough ones
right
um how do you avoid them uh um Let me
let me make it let me make it easier
because some some parents are naive
right they they grow up here and they
don't know the culture really so they
might just go from from work home mid
they don't really know they don't really
watch much TV so they don't know really
what's that there's there's they're not
just learning you know uh French and I'm
not talking about you know the French
language you know they're they're
learning you know a whole new language
that when they go to the public schools
you know a whole new um Behavior the
whole culture is being embeded Darwinism
is that right that's being promoted you
know uh all sort of things that conflict
with a person who's trying to live a
good morally wholesome organic life a
god conscious life right so what what
what can someone expect if they send
their per their children to to
environment that's promoting the
opposite where it's cool to be bad it's
cool to curse the teacher isn't it yeah
yeah it is
um like you said I mean it's advocated
and and people look highly upon you know
students and their peers they look
highly upon those students that act up
it's not cool to get good grades in the
public school you know so I mean those
it's not cool to get good grades in the
public schools go ahead continue that's
a fact right absolutely I mean you know
you know the kid that's acting up as the
class clown he gets the high fives and
everything else but you know it is a
chall it really is a challenge um and we
have to realize you know as Muslims that
as you going back to what you said
before we don't want to flush flush our
children down the toilets you know and
that's really what you're doing when
you're putting them in that situation
and not befriending your child you have
to be there for your child you have to
connect with your child you have to be
able to communicate and know what's
going on you know it's not just in in
any type of school whether it's Islamic
school or anything else you can't think
to yourself you know and just assume
that I'll drop off my kids and the
school will take care of the upbringing
of my child you know it it's an aspect
and when you think about it it's the
time that the child spends probably more
than anything else they do is in school
so that that's an important and it's
it's a large chunk of time for within
the day um and you know in certain
aspects it's it's almost difficult to
Rectify you know these immoral behaviors
that they're learning you know where we
grew up and you know you you knew how to
talk back to a teacher you had respect
and I I always said I said you know as a
high school teacher uh I think there
should be a requirement that we have ad
and 101 you know where we go into
mannerisms and we don't we go into you
know these types of things because if
the students don't come in with an
attitude that is you know receptive um
and willing to accept what you have to
teach them it becomes more challenging
for the teacher But the teacher
obviously has to you know pick up
different you know ideas and strategies
to be able to reach a child in a day and
age where we're talking about you know
all this technology that they have now
where a kid is is used to being
distracted by video games and this you
know technology and and and latest
technology as a teacher you have to be
able to put on you know the ability to
you know engage those children in a way
giving you know teaching them what they
need in a way that you know they like it
you know and and that's something that
is um you know it's challenging and and
um how many times have you been given to
bird in
school you guys make the bird
want to explain for the people who don't
know what the bird is it's a gesture
Gest very the middle finger um it's been
it happens a lot to the teachers yeah I
mean they used to bring back back back
when they used to bring Apples to the
teacher right anymore what from apples
to Birds um from apples to birds but
you're you're absolutely right I mean it
it happens you know teachers have been
cursed at you know um there are
different things that you know different
behaviors that students demonstrate and
you know as a teacher one of the things
you really just have to um you have to
you have to demonstrate patience and
exercise patience and and dealing with
you know a new generation it's a new
generation of of students that are you
know as as we said you know you know
they have no problem flipping the but
you know what the streets are the same
way yeah if you've ever been to New in
New Jersey and you driven the road rage
in New Jersey is unlike anywhere else
and that's you know it's the reality
people people act that way go go ahead
so I I mean I'm hearing a lot of you
know it seems like we want to keep our
children in a bubble we want to isolate
them and I understand where that comes
from I understand where that sentiment
comes from but if we and can I keep it
real can I talk you know about the
reality okay so then if we're going to
keep it real like if you sent your child
or anyone that has grown up in New
Jersey New York and you didn't hear
about promis uh drugs or what you
promiscuity in our private Muslim run
Islamic schools whatever you want to
call it then you really didn't grow up
here because they exist Even in our
private schools sorry to break that kind
of is that true I Wells I don't think
but it happens it happens he's right
happens some not as much it happens it
happens and as long as long as they're
engaged with digital technology as uh
humay said
right that there's there's they're
flirting with each other in the
classroom it's all happening it's
happening in real time even if they
might be in separate classrooms you know
the gender interaction doesn't happen
it's still happening in the hallways um
I'm part of a child a charity called
smile for charity and we we did some
self-image selfit uh self-image um
self-esteem media literacy workshops
specifically with Muslim girls and one
of uh you know I was talking to someone
out of this state that works across the
country doing these types of workshops
media literacy um self-image uh
self-esteem workshops specifically with
Muslim girls adolescent Muslim girls and
I asked her I was like
question when you're dealing in these
workshops a lot of it is therapy I said
you know like not even I wouldn't say
therapy but they're unpacking and
talking to what the issues that they're
facing in school out of school I said
who has more issues
those that are going to private
schools or those that are going to
Public Schools they said by far the
girls in private school they said by far
have more issues and that was a very
interesting um conversation because it
opened up my eyes to a whole new reality
that we're not like if you're going and
sending your child to a private school
for insulation they're still going to be
facing a slew of other issues that they
don't know they can't Rec recile what
they see on TV the values that they
learn from their teacher than the values
that they they learn at home they're not
able to reconcile it they just see all
these different messages coming hitting
them they don't know what to do they
don't know who they are and then next
thing you know they're in the university
and then everything goes out the window
so I prefaced it excuse me right from
the beginning when I was speaking that
um every every family has a different
reality everyone has a different
situation but what the most important
thing is what you're teaching inside the
house the values that you have and that
fact that they have to be congru there
has to be congruity between your actions
and your values and even a lot of times
what's happening in the schools is that
there's just so many different mixed
signals mixed messages that the child
just doesn't know what to do what their
role in society is supposed to be so I'm
not saying that you know you know again
like insulation might protect them from
certain things but it's not the end all
be all it's not the magic pill that's
going to lead your child to successful
conclusion let's go ahead um you wanted
to say something quick he's going to go
next let's just keep these short and
sweet so we're almost out of time let's
engage a little bit more let everybody I
just want to talk I mean I don't agree
with private schools that say don't send
your kids to public school send them to
us because we are holier than thou we
don't do that at w Spring Elementary
that's why we don't call ourselves
Islamic schools because we separate
ourselves from a lot of this the stigma
and stereotypes about Islamic schools
number one that's that's a mistake
number two insulation is wrong do not
shelter your children do not try to
insulate your children that's a mistake
that's wrong we at Wellspring Elementary
want our children to when when they see
evil to mention it in school now the
difference between the private schools
and the public schools is if they see
evil no one's going to correct it cuz
it's not a lot of the evils that we as
Muslims see as evil is not consider are
not considered evil at the public
schools so we
welcome these ideas and these thoughts
that are wrong because then we train
them and teach them how to deal with
these evils so the problem is not with
the private school the problems with the
staff at the private school and that's a
whole separate discussion the proper
Staffing at the private school
unfortunately a lot of our private
schools if you can speak English you get
hired right and that's a mistake and
that's a huge mistake if you're the wife
of the the person on the board you're a
head teacher and that's a mistake and
these things have to stop right so it
it's not the problem with the private
school model it's a problem the Staffing
I'll give you one example at our school
Wellspring Elementary what he's
mentioning about girls having problems
in our private school it's correct it's
a problem why because we've created a
fictitious atmosphere in our
schools as if it's Mecca or medina
thousand years ago right well in our
school at Wellspring Elementary we have
staff that are non-muslim because we
live in America our children will be
dealing with non-muslims so they learned
how to deal with non-muslims they
learned that there are other people who
don't worship Allah subhana wa tala so
what's the end result we have our
five-year-olds having discussion
discussions with our gym teacher she's
not a Muslim a 5-year-old having
discussion with her and he's giving her
dawa to Islam why don't you come to
Islam why don't you be Muslim why don't
you wear hijab so on so forth right so
they're getting this at a very early age
number two a lot of private a lot of our
private schools and I guarantee if you
check it out hijab is is part of the
uniform if she's not wearing hijab she's
not allowed in the school Guess what at
Wellspring Elementary hijab is not part
of the
uniform it's not part of the uniform
hijab
is more sacred than to bring it down to
a level and make it as a uniform of a
school and when you do that the
psychological problem the psychological
teria that you're giving that child is
you put this on when you go to school as
soon as you step out you take it off
we don't tell our girls to wear hijab we
create the love for Allah and the love
for the prophet Muhammad and they pick
up the hijab and put it on themselves
I'll give you one example we had a
5-year-old
girl who forgot her hijab at home in
kindergarten she came to the doors of
well of Wellspring she refused to enter
the school and we said why and we didn't
notice cuz hijab is not a uniform she
said I forgot my hijab at home and I
don't want to pass by the morning
assembly cuz boys will be there we said
it's okay for today you can pass by
5-year-old girl no big deal she says no
I don't want to pass by so we said you
have to come down you can't your parents
you you have to come down so she took a
school bag she covered her face walked
down passed by all the boys and she was
tearing and went straight to her teacher
to get an extra hijab
this girl when she grows
up is not going to have that messed up
problem because she chose to wear hijab
she loves to wear hijab she sees others
and asks them why don't you wear hijab
so in our private institutions we can't
create that ficti fictitious environment
we can't shelter them from Evil that's
the wrong
method said
said the people used to ask the
messenger of Allah s about the good I
would ask him about the evil fearing
that it would catch up with me so evil
don't shelter them from Evil minimize
the evil the evil in private schools can
be dealt with because there's no the
peer pressure is much less the peer
pressure as the brother mentioned in
public schools you got to do the evil
otherwise you're not cool whereas in
private schools if you set the right
environment and you mitigate and you
minimize the evil and you lick it to
exist and you deal with it and you train
them how to deal with it you're
preparing them for the real world we got
to get our let our brother in in this
Creator conscious Academy are the not
yet Muslims because every human being
has the potential to submit to the
Creator are they allow Jews Christians
people from other religions are they
allowed to come it's open it's open for
all open for all and the effect we have
this a non-muslim gym teacher her she
comes from 10:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. and she
leaves at 1:00 p.m. 1:15 the school
makes Salah
every day she stays longer than her work
hours and when questioned she said I
want to see this
Salah when the kid say Subhan Allah
alhamdulillah allahar make after Salah I
feel peace in my heart and you know why
she feels that is because when she was
pulled out of
Adam and Allah said am I not your Lord
she said yes this is the spiritual DNA
this is the spiritual memory when she
sees Muslims make Salah when she see
Muslims make make that spiritual memory
is awakened so yes we need to engage
with non-muslims we need to speak to
them and we can't live being a complete
separate Community that's not going to
work go ahead brother you wanted to get
in on this yes
um um actually my uh my major is uh is
business and I have her uh Ms and bus
business
administration and so I look at these
things from a business uh perspective
and one thing uh to the Muslims is that
we have to be begin to work together and
pull our resources together um and we
have to establish an Islamic Board of
Education and when we are able to
establish an Islamic board education it
allows us to do many things um and
number two um is that it allows us to uh
uh look for other type of Financial
Resources uh amongst the uh our
communities and we forget that we are
sometimes uh that we are citizens of
this particular country and that we pay
um taxes and there are a lot of uh uh
resources out there for us um such as
grants but as well as um vouchers
Financial vouches uh for schools and we
have to begin to apply pressure on the
states uh or particular the state of New
Jersey that there are other states that
uh allow their parents to educate their
children how they please and they
provide them with vouchers right so that
they can um subsidize for their
education so until we you know put
pressure on the state of New Jersey then
we will always have uh a lack of
resources and mainly Financial Resources
in our Islamic schools and it would be
very difficult for us to advance and the
last thing is that we have to raise the
bar we know that the educational system
here in America it is deteriorating and
a lot of times if we are not on the
standards of our states or the American
educational system that we feel that we
are deprived in fact when we look at
Islam and go back to the Golden Ages of
Islam that Islam right we control the
science we develop the Sciences of of
Science and and math and uh and medicine
and so forth and so on and that as
Islamic schools technically we are we
are private schools with Islamic
departments and we have to go from
Islamic schools with uh or private
schools with Islamic departments to four
time Islamic schools meaning that all of
the academic studies
right Islam have to be incorporated
within these subjects that F
healthy history
teacher then and we talk about world
history and we talk about the great um
Empires like Mesopotamia and in Egypt
and so forth and so on and I don't
inform the the the children that ibraim
Alam was born uh um in Mesopotamia you
know that if we look at world history
that all of the the countries that we
did with in world history or it's the
Middle East today and these teachers
right we never connect Islam right to
these academic subjects and we
departmentalize Islam and we put it in a
whole different category right and uh at
the same time that we have to understand
that uh we cannot as parents we we
cannot necessarily push our our kids to
to to memorize the Quran or to memorize
the entire bukari right we have to be
able to uh assess their skills and their
talents right and be able to develop
them you know on based off their talents
right and this is very important um
because a lot of times the uh either the
the parents they send their kids to
Islamic schools number one to push them
to memorize Quran where they may not
have the ability to do so or it's a uh
uh Rehabilitation meaning that they've
been so caught up in public schools that
they put them
in the Islamic schools you know for
their last few years of high school and
think that the Islamic school is going
to fix them so there's things that we
have to do as a community and it has to
be uh something that is practical right
and this practical thing that we have to
do is is establish Islamic you know
Board of Education until then then we
still will be have a lack a lack of
financial resources and we will still
trying to uh uh uh meet the standards
you know of American educ ation where
Islamic education it is uh it includes
uh religious studies as well as academic
studies right and we have to enhance
that right and if we're able to do this
if we're able to um change these
standards where we're graduating
students from high school in the 10th
grade or these students are actually
taking college classes you know when
they're in the 10th grade and they're
gaining uh uh 2 years of credit you know
while they in still in high school we
this is the area that we have to look at
because the education here in America
has to it has to change and we are the
ones that can change it
because Islam is the the religion of
Allah subhana wa taala and we have to
make sure that we apply in all of our
lives and not just isolated to Islamic
Studies Arabic and Quran not just
isolated to the Masid but we have to go
beyond that inshallah tal just
I'd like to thank all of my guests thank
you may the creator of the heavens and
earth reward you we started with peace
we end with peace we're almost out of
time we're going to go ahead thank you
again and hopefully inshallah God
willing we'll meet again and thank you
for tuning in to the dean show and
remember like our guest said it starts
at home it starts at home you teach your
children to be godc conscious to love
their creator to have a consciousness of
their creator to know the purpose of
life from young age connect them with
their lord their maker and put trust in
him call upon him and be assured that
when you trust in your creator you work
to please your Creator and you do all
the wonderful things that he's told us
to do Islam submission to the will of
God that things will be okay inshallah
God willing never fall into despair do
the right thing all the time and we'll
see you next time give us a call if you
like what we had to say and you want to
pick up the verbatim word of God 1 1800
662 Islam we'll see you next time until
then peace be with you