Why Homeschool? | The Islamic Perspective

These notes are taken from a lecture The Freedom of Homeschooling by Ustadh Muhammad Tim Humble.

How this will benefit you

This sharing is for ALL muslim parents to consider the benefits of homeschooling
Even if we don’t homeschool fully, we can still use the tools of homeschooling to teach our children Islam at home
Ultimately, we are all responsible for our children’s education

The Dangers of School

Dangers of curriculum
- They may propagate Atheism
- Other religious concepts against Islamic teachings
- Rebellion against authority
- They may be made by non-Muslims who do not take into consideration of Islam or by shayteen who wants to misguide us deliberately
School activities
- encouraging unislamic activities
Teachers
- Their Aqedah (beliefs) will come out even if they are teaching us language or maths etc.
Peer influence
- Bad Influences
- Children from backgrounds that have different values and standards of Islam

Will homeschooling protect our children?

The things listed above will exist in homeschooling but the exposure is less
Not the same as in school
The control is more at home.

The flexibility of homeschooling

1- Flexible schedule

It is not about copying school at home
We have many options
- part-time homeschooling – sending our children to worldly lessons while we supplement with homeschooling
- arranging the homeschooling according to parents’ working schedule

2- Prioritizing important aspects of education

Flexibility does not mean a lack of discipline
Prioritize manners and work ethics
Take the example of the sittings of Imam Ahmad- 5000 attendees, 500 of which wrote hadith while the rest used to learn manners

3- Integration of Islamic education and worldly academics

Abandon the idea of secular education (the exclusion or separation of Islam in education)
We should rather fuse Islamic education to worldly academics
Some examples;
- Taking the culture of memorisation (from Islam)
- Finding ways to develop a strong Islamic identity while learning math, history etc.
- Choosing to focus more on Islamic sciences

4-Flexibility in accommodating to the conditions of the family

We can follow the child’s pace or level of learning
We can adopt different methods of learning
We can adjust our schedule according to the different times of the year
As long as we maintain a degree of discipline

What if I find my children playful and do not have the discipline to study at home?

It is not ideal for children to see the home without any limits
Adjust our ways of tarbiyyah
Emphasize on manners and allow mistakes like the hadith of Anas

Anas ibn Malik reported: I served the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, for ten years. By Allah, he never even said to me, “Uff!” He never said harshly, “Why did you do that?” or, “Why did you not do that?”

[Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5691, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2309]

Stimulate homeschool as something specific
For example, encourage the etiquettes of learning by asking them to wear Islamic clothes or nice clothes, bringing out the tables, putting the toys away
Just because you homeschool now, doesn’t mean they won’t attend school
Allow them to attend classes, workshops, study circles, tahfidz (classes for the memorization of the Qur’an)

Al-Qadi ‘Iyad reported: Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “My mother would dress me up and say to me: Go to Shaykh Rabi’ah and learn from his manners before his knowledge.”

[Source: Tartīb al-Madārik 1/13]

“Homeschooling causes your child to be underdeveloped socially”

This is falsehood because the salaf us salih (pious predecessors) did not send their children to learn manners from other children
Rather they sent their children to the ulama to learn manners which are from the social skills
Children can also learn social skills from coops with other homeschool families, and other social gatherings in general
We have the ability and control to choose the types of social gatherings for our children
With that, homeschool children are far more able to develop social skills