Education for Muslim Children
Written by Rahmania Radjadi san (http://www.rahmaniaradjadi.com)
This article is part 4 of the ‘What is it Like For A Muslim to Live in Japan’ series. Previously in Part 1, 2, and 3, I wrote about prayer, mosque, Ramadhan, Eid Mubarak, Eid ul Adha and animal sacrifice. In expectation that the series will help Muslim people who are willing to move to Japan in the matter of work and study.
As we know, Japan becomes one of the top destination countries for travel, work, and study. No exception for Muslims. The rising numbers of Muslims in Japan have increased from the last century and there are a lot of Muslims starts a family in Japan and raises their offspring.
If you were born as a Muslim and grown up in a Muslim family, you must be understood that the lessons about the religion become important for children to embed the Islamic foundation deep within their hearts so that they understand about Islam and loving the religion.
Growing up learning and trying to memorize the Quran and Hadists, understanding the five pillars of Islam and the six pillars of faith of Islam, and hearing and reading the stories of the Prophets, makes me wants to have the same kind of experience for my children in the future.
When I’m doing some research for this article, I found a paper about educational issues for Muslims in Japan, it was written by a Japanese Ph.D. student who interviewed 50 Muslim parents in Tokyo about education for Muslims. The paper concludes that most of the parents prefer to sent their children to their home country to school and get the more better education about Islam rather than put them in Japan public schools and/or international schools. The parents do realize and worry as we can see a huge gap between Islamic principals and Japanese culture, this becomes one of the biggest reasons why they would do that.
Of course, it’s now up to you to decide if you want your kids to school in Japan or in your home country because you know best about your own situation. Just make sure to do a lot of research about Japanese school before signing up.
In Tokyo, there is a private school that teaches balance education between Islam and the IHES and Cambridge curriculum. You can see the information here at yuaischool.com. Also, luckily for Indonesian children, we have a school with Indonesian curriculum, that we already familiar with.
How about there is no private school like one I mentioned?
This is where your part as a parent to put your best teaching your children about Islam, the religion we love. Find a way to make them learning in a fun way at home with you. You can always research and find some great trustworthy resources on the internet and Islam communities in Japan. Buy great books (online or from stores) that teach about great stories of out Prophets and stories in the Quran. Never feel that you are not religious enough to introduce Islam to your kids because family is the best resource that our kids have for learning. Other than that, we always could ask for help to the nearest mosque we have to improve the Islamic learning.
Conclusion
There are a good side and bad side for been living in a country that the Muslim is count as a minority, which one of the bad sides is the educational issues for Muslims children to learn more about Islam. The good news is you have the solution for that whether is you have to send you kids back to go to the school that provides better Islamic education in your home country or you teach them yourself with the help of local Islam communities, local mosques, and research on the Internet.
Next part of this series I will share about how my family and friends raising our children in a Muslim minority country that most probably has a very different culture in any level of social interaction. Thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoy it!
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