City of Residence:
Fridley, MN
Occupation:
School Principal
Excerpt:
“When I had finished my teaching degree at Macalester College, I worked at a school called Muslim Community School and a year after I started there it had some financial issues and it stopped being a school. My two younger sons were little, one was coming up to about pre-school and my husband and I were talking, you know, what could we do?. We lived in Saint Paul, West side; and we had a big house, so we started with twelve students; and my husband taught Arabic and Islamic studies and I taught the English subjects, and we did that for that year. The next year there were 29 students and there is no way that I could do that myself; so there were a couple of mothers who are now both in education; one was a principal in Morocco, and the other one is a leading speaker in Houston, Texas. We got it together and we taught 29 children in our house; the house was full, the only place that was left that was not school, and blackboards and desks, was our bedrooms.
The next year we had fifty-four and that was just way too much; and it was infringing on our privacy too much; so, we came to the Islamic Center and we begged them. We said, “You have this beautiful school throughout the week empty, completely empty. We would really like it if you could rent us rooms” on the old building side on the right and on the left, that first hallway; and alhamdulillah we convinced them and the school’s been here ever since.
What I’m proud of at school is that it has continued and become a very good school; a new building, so the community has come together and supported it.
One of the things that I’ve learned through my experience in life is that faith-based institutions are extremely the same. We’re teaching values to our kids; and if we get into relationships with those faith-based communities, we’ll make a bigger community. Whether it’s a Christian issue, or a Jewish issue, or a Muslim issue, it’s really when we stick together we have more power.”
Podcast Preview:
Podcast: Play in new window
Podcast (full length):