Karen Keyworth Was a pillar of the Muslim educational community in the United States. She was a pioneer in Islamic education for nearly 30 years, founding an Islamic school in East Lansing, MI, and co-founding the Islamic Schools League of America (ISLA). One of the pinnacles of her educational efforts occurred in 2015, when she was awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement in Islamic Education Award by ISNA.

Feeling the lack of options for Islamic Schooling in her hometown of East Lansing, MI, Keyworth founded the Greater Lansing Islamic School (1996), which today has l63 K-8 students. In addition to being the founding principal, she taught English as a Second Language and Language Arts (1-3), implemented the writing process (K-8), integrated reading and writing across the curriculum and was responsible for assessment. Her administrative duties included curriculum design and supervision, teacher and staff hiring, serving on the school board, budgeting, fundraising, student recruitment and community and parent/school liaison.

The Muslim educational community lost a giant this past April. Dr. Abidullah Ghazi devoted his life to Islamic education and Was a co-founder of IQRA Publications, amongst many other accomplishments. ISLA IS reposting this article about Dr. Abidullah Ghazi’s extraordinary and purpose-driven life from Islamic Horizons with permission from the publisher. Read Islamic Horizons online at http://issuu.com/isnacreative/docs

May we all continue to carry the torch he lit and move Islamic education forward by supporting lQRA and our efforts to educate the next generation of Muslims in our Islamic schools.

Dr. Ann Paxton El-Moslimany, Ph.D., who along with her (now late) husband Dr. Mohammad E- Moslimany (1924-2003) founded the Islamic School of Seattle in the late 1980s which she led for forty years, passed away on January 25, 2021, after a prolonged illness.

Dr. E-Moslimany was a cornerstone of the early Muslim community in Seattle. The Islamic School of Seattle in the early ’80s put into reality her vision of what a truly modern Islamic School wOuld look like, infused with elements of Montessori learning and holistic education. She made the Islamic School of Seattle her life mission such that children of all faiths, racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds could have access to quality education.

After accepting Islam as her ultimate way of life on Ramadan 19, 1400 (July 31, 1980), Dr. Jamilah Linda Kay Kolocotronis Jitmoud dedicated her services to Islamic education and authored Islamic novels that have touched Muslims and non-Muslims all around the world, A-Hamdulillah.

Dr. Jamilah Linda’s Contribution towards Islamic education began in the summer of 1986. She was looking for a school for her oldest son, who was four years old at the time. Ahmad Was the type of boy who had a mind like a sponge and absorbed everything quickly. Dr. Jamilah Linda didn’t feel that simply any American preschool would be an option. She asked Allah for guidance to help her find a proper alternative for her son’s education.

The history of Islamic education in America will record Br. Dawud as a brilliant thinker and dedicated Muslim who created the Tarbiyah Project, arguably the most dynamic, innovative movement in Islamic education in centuries. The Tarbiyah Project has inspired and encouraged many other Muslim educators in the US who are now forging ahead with their own ideas – a movement that will change Islamic education for the better.

This is for the father of our community who died in a car accident. He was coming back from a lecture in Norman Oklahoma. He was fasting at the time of the accident.

(2006) Wichita’s Muslim community is dealing the tragic loss of one of their leaders. Seyam was leader of the Islamic Society of Wichita. Thousands in the Muslim faith know him and his family. Seyam was also principal of the Annoor School. He helped it grow from its first 30 students to nearly 130 today.

Sharifa AIkhateeb, an advocate for Muslim culture in the United States who helped place courses in Middle Eastern cultures and Arabic in public schools, died on Oct. 21 at her home in Ashburn, Va. She was 58. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said her daughter Nasreen. Ms. Aikhateeb, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, spent much of her life interpreting Islam.

Mohammad El-Moslimany, a pioneer, leader and unifying voice among the area’s Muslims, died Monday of a rare brain disease. He was 79. When Mr. El-Moslinmany moved to Seattle in the early 1960s, his was one of a handful of Muslim families in the area. He helped found some of the institutions that are central to the lives of many local Muslims today including the Islamic Center of Seattle and the Islamic School of Seattle.

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date=20030702&slug=moslimanyobit02m