MUSLIM SCHOOL PLANNING IN THE UNITED STATES: AN ANALYSIS OF ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE APPROACHES

This is a study that analyzes the planning and the operation of full-time, alternative Muslim schooling in the United States. It begins by establishing the historical background of the Muslim school environment. An historical overview traces significant events in Islam relative to the development of the American Muslim orthodoxy. The overview describes the origins of Islam in Mecca, its subsequent spread through Africa, the arrival of Muslim slaves to the New World and, finally, the origins and activities of pseudo- Islamic cults which preceded the ascension of the indigenous Muslim orthodoxy. The characteristics and the theoretical implications of Islamic Law to Muslim educational development are examind as an introduction to the analysis of three Muslim schools selected for case study. The schools are: Madrassah tush-Shaheedain, 1204 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11216. Islamic Institute, 1560 St. John\u27s Place, Brooklyn, New York 11231. Islamic Community Center School, 325 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19107. Each of these schools is a full-time alternative to traditional public school education and, in each case, the educational plan is to merge western and classical Islamic school goals. Achievement of an educational synthesis that is derived from combining western and Islamic approaches is seen as the overarching goal of the Muslim school movement in America. Accordingly, the implications of educational synthesis to school planning and function in the areas of academic programming, school organization and administration, school finances, and school-community relations, are examined in detail. Analysis of the practical issues relating to emerging planning problems, constraints and needs in the three cases forms the basis for suggested planning approaches aimed at supplying remedies for specific problem areas. An agenda for continued research in Muslim education is included in the closing remarks of the study