By Education Forum Committee

July/August 2022

 The ISNA Education Forum (EdForum), hosted by ISNA in collaboration with the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) and the Aldeen Foundation, was held in Chicago on May 13-15. The organizers brought school board members, teachers and administrators together to offer professional development and guidance to advance the mission of Islamic schools. 

The program committee, chaired by Dr. Azra Naqvi (principal, Hadi School of Excellence), selected the theme of “Elevating Education in a Changing World.” Educators must respond to society’s needs, especially during times when lives have been disrupted. Attendees welcomed the opportunity to learn and exchange ideas with colleagues and experts. 

The EdForum featured three tracks: Arabic/Quran, Curriculum and Instruction, and Leadership. Islamic studies was integrated into all topics, just as Islamic values are integrated into every aspect of an Islamic school. Over 350 participants attended the event.

This year’s EdForum included two networking sessions and one general session. The morning networking session, conducted by Ibrahim Yousuf, featured participants sitting with their colleagues from the same grade levels so they could collaborate on the  many topics relevant to what they teach. 

CISNA hosted Saturday’s Leaders Networking session (Chocolate and Conversations). Attendance was more than expected, as school leaders, board members and just about anyone interested in leadership decided to show up — and it wasn’t just for the delicious chocolate! It had been a long day, but they were happy to meet in person and learn from each other informally. They left with valuable resources and insights. 

The Arabic Track 

The Friday sessions started with Dr. Talaat Pasha’s (director, Arabic Language Institute, American Islamic College, Chicago) full-day preconference on “Planning for Teaching.” Pasha presented key concepts and strategies essential to the teaching/learning process to the 28 participants. The workshop was full of hands-on activities — aligning individual lesson plans with long-term planning, outlining learning objectives, developing warm-up and introduction activities, planning specific learning activities, aligning with lesson objectives, developing activities to check understanding, developing a conclusion and a preview, creating assessment activities and creating a realistic timeline. 

Saturday started with Alice Saba’s (senior teacher, College Preparatory School of America; CPS) assessment session. Featured were hands-on activities and practical tips to train the attendees on Understanding by Design and backward design of assessment. The session’s 55+ Arabic and Islamic studies teachers were introduced to test validity, reliability, summative and formative types of assessments and using assessment for effective learning. The attendees shared their positive feedback.

ISNA vice president Magda El-Kadi Saleh (principal, Bayan-Texas) engaged the attendees with her talk on integration across the curricula. She spoke about how integrating curriculum in Islamic schools can help Islamic schools realize their visions. The attendees expressed their admiration of her knowledge and methods. 

In the afternoon, Samar Dalalti Ghannoum (University of Redlands) gave two sessions. In the first one, she trained participants how to use standard-based to teach language communicatively. She covered the ACTFL 5 Cs, around which teaching a foreign language teaching revolves: Communication, Culture, Comparison, Connection and Communities. In addition to explaining and giving several examples of the types of communication (interpretative, presentational and interpersonal), she introduced McCarthy’s 4Mat system, which helps teachers differentiate teaching language content to reach all of the students. 

In the second session, she trained the attendees on vocabulary teaching and assessment. She was joined by Fadi Abo-Goush (CPS), who has introduced several drills and interesting techniques on teaching vocabulary. 

The Curriculum and Instruction Track

This track was rich in presentations on topics that both engaged and increased the attendees’ depth of knowledge and skill sets. Presenters came from schools located around the world.

This track started with Ibrahim Yousef’s (principal, Nashville International Academy) very well-received “Positive Discipline” presentations. The following day featured Habeeb Quadri’s (superintendent, MCC Academy) “Raising Complete Children”; Saad Quadri’s (MCC Academy) double-session on “Islamic Integration in Curriculum”; and Yahya Van Rooy (elementary school principal, Next Generation School, Dubai), Qur’an Shakir’s (Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality) and Beth Garrido (academic regional supervisor, English Immersion Program, The Dominican Republic) presented a session on “Differentiated Instruction.”

Each session was attended by 50+ educators, all of whom left with renewed energy and new ideas and strategies to implement in their schools.

Leadership Track

Leila Shatara (president, CISNA) opened this track with a Friday night session on “School Administration.” The biggest complaint, which was made of all sessions, was that there wasn’t enough time for this very important topic. Nevertheless, participants felt that the session was “informative, interactive, and relevant.” 

On Saturday morning, the forum held two double sessions on “The Leadership Challenge” with William White (board member, CISNA) and Sufia Azmat (executive director, CISNA). Even though it took three hours, attendees felt there was not enough time! Some comments were: Well done and valuable. Excellent and eye opening. Insightful! Very well presented and informative. One attendee commented, “It provided me an opportunity to self-reflect as a leader (a director and board member) and the impact I have on our staff and the rest of the board in a new way.” Another said, “I have learned so much from this session. It was engaging and interactive, and so much learning occurred in such a short time.”

Jenay Morrisey (Management and Program Analyst, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Non-Public Education) discussed“Federal Education Programs and Benefits for Private School Students and Teachers.” She was joined by Ziad Abdulla (board member, CISNA). Both of them provided guidance to school leaders on the available Title funds and how to access them. 

The forum was a wonderful opportunity to meet in person after three years of virtual education forums. Attendees left energized and excited to implement what they had learned, as well as with new connections nationwide — connections that we hope will continue and grow. 

As we move into 2023, we will consider the attendees’ recommendations: add more preconferences, repeat key sessions at different times so more people can attend them and livestream the sessions so educators who could not attend in person can benefit from them. 

Recognition 

Dr. Patricia Salahuddin, facilitator of the Clara Mohammed Schools Network received the ISNA Education Forum Lifetime Service Award in recognition of her distinguished service for Islamic education in North America. She has served on boards of the Clara Muhammad Schools, Council of Islamic Schools in South Florida, Florida Islamic Schools, and board vice-chairperson of Islamic Schools League of America, and PACT team/network member.

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By Jasser Auda

January/February 2022

One commonly asked question is who is eligible to receive zakat? Among the many options available there is waqf (endowments), where the return on investment goes to an Islamic education program or college. In other words, can the zakat fund become a waqf fund?

Quran 9:60 (trans. Muhammad Asad) states: “The offerings given for the sake of God are [meant] only for the poor and the needy, and those who are in charge thereof, and those whose hearts are to be won over, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage, and [for] those who are overburdened with debts, and [for every struggle] in God’s cause, and [for] the wayfarer: [this is] an ordinance from God — and God is all-knowing, wise.”

Thus, spending zakat funds on buildings, books, teachers, students, computers and related expenses also comes under the category of legitimate zakat receivers, specifically under the category of “In God’s cause.” There is no significant difference of opinion about this among contemporary scholars, even if the students receiving the scholarship or the books aren’t poor or if the teachers who receive compensation or computers aren’t needy. It is a condition, however, that the college receiving it be trustworthy and have a mission of advancing true Islamic education and knowledge.

On the other hand, setting up an endowment is a highly rewarded charitable act, and especially important when it comes to supporting Islamic education. Abu Hurayra narrated that the Prophet (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “When a man dies, his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, and righteous offspring who will pray for him” (Muslim).

Commenting on this hadith, Imam An-Nawawi said, “The scholars said, the meaning of this hadith is that the deeds of the deceased come to an end as soon as he or she dies, and the renewal of reward ceases for him or her, except in these three cases because he or she is the cause of them: his or her offspring is counted among his or her earnings; the knowledge that he or she leaves behind through teaching or writing; ongoing charity, i.e., a waqf (Islamic endowment).”

In my view, establishing such endowments is required (wajib) because these are the only means we have to protect another wajib (obligation), namely, academic freedom.

Such an endowment supports the academic activities of an Islamic education institute, and its board of directors (or equivalent body) will make sincere and independent decisions on how to spend its return on this type of education.

Without such an endowment, with support coming only from individuals, organizations or governments, the recipients will normally be subject to stated or unstated conditions and constraints, meaning to the donors’ interests. We see this today in many Islamic institutions, especially in Muslim-majority countries where many historically renowned Islamic institutes no longer enjoy academic freedom and scholarly integrity due to sponsor-imposed conditions and government pressure, even to extent of issuing certain fatwas.

But if the funds go to a truly independent endowment and the boards’ decision is also independent, then the educational process can be sincere only to God, Islam and the umma’s best interests. As only endowments can guarantee such freedom, donating to one that funds Islamic education becomes obligatory (wajib) or, more accurately, a collective obligation (wajib kifaya). In other words, several believers must fulfil this obligation or else all believers will be called to account.

But can a zakat fund be transformed into an investment or a waqf fund? Why not? The Shariasays nothing about giving one’s zakat to an endowment that achieves the same objectives and intents (maqasid) of the zakat and benefits the same category of recipients in the best way. However, several objections must be addressed here.

First, zakat must be given to the receivers themselves so they can own it immediately (tamalluk fawri). This rules out its being received by an organization or an investment firm. Several notable contemporary scholars, among them Sheikhs Wahba al-Zuhayli, Abdullah Alwan, Mohammad Taqi Uthmani and others agree with this ruling. However, Sheikhs Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Mustafa al-Zarqa, Abdul-Fattah Abu-Ghuddah, Abdul-Aziz al-Khayyat, Abdussalam al-Abbadi, Mohammad Faruq Nabhan and many other notable contemporary scholars oppose it (Islamic Fiqh Academy, Third Council, Amman, October 1986).  After much debate, the council finally issued an official decision allowing it.

That fatwa contained two conditions: (1) The urgent needs of the poor and the needy must not be compromised and (2) precautions must be taken so that the zakat funds are not lost in the investment process. The first condition only applies only to awqaf and investments for the poor and the needy — the fi sabil Allah category, not the al-fuqara’ wal-masakin category.

On the other hand, the second condition could be achieved when zakat funds are given to educational awqaf institutions with proper planning, investing, accounting and auditing.

Similarly, a waqf’s managers are the delegates (wukala’) of the community, which is the ultimate receiver of these funds in any case. 

Another related question addresses the maqasid (intents) of the above transactions: If the purpose of investing zakat funds is to achieve the funds’ growth and sustainability, then these purposes are achieved in an even better way with a waqf investment — far better than a charitable organization purchasing a small business or an investment property.

If these two conditions are met, then zakat funds can be received, invested and then spent on the same causes and categories for which they were given.

Another objection to investing zakat funds in an endowment is the ruling of many scholars that one of the conditions (shurut) for an endowment is that a specific donor (waqif) must actually own the donated property or fund and then transfer its ownership to a waqf. However, the zakat’s donor doesn’t actually own the fund, nor does the recipient organization – at least so goes the objection. That is why several scholars who allowed zakat to be invested, among them Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, excluded waqf from such investments.

With all due respect to the scholars, I see the question here as: Is the donated property or fund’s pre-ownership a definite condition (shart), or do we have precedents of endowments that were not owned by a specific waqif (donor)? The answer is “Yes, we do.” For example, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (‘alayhum rahmat) transformed some of the “conquered land” into “endowed land” (waqf, habs) by governmental authority and without owning such land themselves. That is why scholars have always considered the Palestinian land endowed by ‘Umar to be awqaf that cannot be sold or changed.

However, jurists differ about whether waqf al-imam (an endowment initiated by a ruler) or waqf al-irsaad (a trust initiated by a governor) is a legitimate waqf. They debated whether an analogy (qiyas) with ‘Umar and ‘Uthman decisions is a correct one. Some jurists ruled that an irsad is not a proper waqf because the governor doesn’t actually own the trust before designating it, while others say that a governor is a legitimate delegate (wakil) for the umma, which is the ultimate owner of the public funds and therefore has the authority to initiate a waqf. I find the latter opinion to be more correct as, along with them, I consider it to be closer to the public interest (maslaha).

Similarly, a waqf’s directors are the delegates (wukala’) of the community, which is the ultimate receiver of these funds in any case. Therefore, they have the authority to initiate awqaf from the zakat funds they manage for the recipients’ best interests.

Zakat can be used to support a trustworthy Islamic education institute and given to a waqf endowment that supports such an institute. Setting up an endowment for Islamic education is a collective obligation (wajib kifa’i) to ensure academic integrity and freedom. However, the following conditions apply: (1) No conditions shall be attached that compromise the integrity and freedom of Islamic education and research; (2) precautions shall be taken to invest the funds efficiently ensure the accuracy of all related planning, accounting and auditing; (3) donors shall be informed of the waqf investment of their zakat and that its managing authority is delegated to act on behalf of the zakat recipients and in their best interest.

(NOTE: * This fatwa is the author’s opinion and does not necessarily represent the opinion of institutions or fatwa academies of which he is a member.)

Jasser Auda is president of Maqasid Institute, www.maqasid.org

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