Assalaamu Alaikum and Bismillah,

Last week the Jr. High team and I had a chance to discuss the transcendental values of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in order to understand their impact on education better. I was extremely impressed that our students understood these complex concepts and were able to make connections between these values and Imam Ghazali's perspective on the purpose of education.

We live during a particularly challenging moment for schools and educational institutions, at time marked by a hostility to long-standing traditional value and a skepticism about the worth of the intellectual life. It is all too common to hear that science, scholarship, and expertise dismissed as the trends of radical skepticism and loss of objective truth increase.

What is one school to do in the face of such challenges? How are we to meet them?

We meet them first and foremost but creating a community based on the principles and a foundation of truth as revealed by Allah subanahu wa'tala and practiced by the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings upon him. A community that teaches our students to stand firm in their faith and put ethics before worldly success.

We meet these challenges by choosing a curriculum and planning lessons that not only teach our students the tools for learning but also deep and logical thinking, so that when our students are challenged, and challenged they will be, they are able to rise to the occasion with accuracy and precision to defend their principles.

We meet them with continuing to learn ourselves, as parents, teachers, and community members in order to expand our knowledge and pass on the wisdom of generations before us to generations that will come after us.

We have a long legacy of learning traditions that need to be passed along. I invite you all to join us for our Ad Fontes monthly gatherings and conversations. It is necessary for us all to go back to the beginning to rediscover our traditional path.

With Duas,

Homaira