The Rise of Islamic Schools in the United States

Abstract

This study is an attempt to understand the nature and the growth of Islamic schools from the perspective of Muslim administrators, teachers, parents, and graduates. The burgeoning of Islamic schools in the United States is a recent phenomenon. The In-depth Study of Islamic Schools (1989)records a total of fifty Islamic schools in North America. Another data set in 1992 counted 165 Islamic schools of which 92 were full-time schools (Numan, 1992). However, Keyworth (2011) noted that there are approximately 235 full-time Islamic schools. Despite the efforts to understand Muslims and Islam, Americans in general know little about Islam and what may help or hinder the development of an Islamic religious identity. Accordingly, this research examines two questions: (a) what is the nature of an Islamic school today? and (b) how do graduates transition to a non-Islamic environment?