Embedded Files
Ustadh Ismail I.A.
Ustadh Ismail I.A.
Head of School
Head of School
This is the story of how I learned I wanted to become a teacher. When I was a student at the University of Florida in Gainesville, something crazy happened. I was about to become president of the Muslim Student Association in college. In our town, which was a small college town, there was a pastor named Terry Jones. He was an older, White man with an odd mustache and a southern accent. He was a very weird guy. He decided to put a massive billboard outside his church saying, “Islam is of the devil.” This caused a stir on campus. The next week, Terry Jones put up a diorama of the hanging of a Black person on a tree which said Sharia law under it. It wasn’t affecting me personally just yet, however something started to happen around town. The children in my town were showing up to their schools wearing shirts which said, “Islam is of the devil.” Now, it is very common for people from other religions to walk around and share their religion with others and invite people to convert but this was too much. After that, people from Terry Jones’ church came to our campus also wearing these shirts. Some of us officers of the MSA would try to engage with them and ask them why they were doing what they did. They mentioned that in order to promote their religion, they thought it was better to make other religions look bad. This made me realize that I do not want to be seen in this way. I do not think Muslims are devils at all!
Terry Jones decided to go forward with his plans and burn Qurans on September 11, which is a very sad day for Muslims. This even became international news. So many of us MSA students were literally getting questions and calls from CNN and BBC Europe all because this guy was trying to hurt Muslims. By the way, for us, burning a Quran is not actually a problem. Ironically, the way to dispose of an old Quran according to our law is to burn them. But he didn’t know that and he thought he was being so bad to Muslims. In fact, the Quran is already in the hearts of Muslims. So, to counter that Quran burning event, we held an MSA event on campus spreading peace. So many people showed up to our event to talk about peace and unity, and only 30 people showed up to his event so he canceled his. Eventually, he did hold a Quran burning a little later and it was the most pathetic thing ever! For me, at that time, I really asked myself: who am I as a Muslim? What is my role as a Muslim in the USA? Do people believe I am truly the devil just because I am Muslim? This played into why I wanted to become a teacher and to help other students who face discrimination. Alhamdulillah, Terry Jones later got arrested for tax evasion. So Allah took care of him.
In short, Islam is not of the devil and can demonstrate that by being true to our Muslim values!
As told to Ms. Fatima.
Isa A.
8th Grade
Isa A.
8th Grade
One day, I went to a cat store and saw some very cute cats. I loved these cats so much and decided that I wanted to get a cat for myself. I went home to my mom and asked her if we could get cats. I told her that the cats I saw in the cat store were so cute that I wanted to get one for us too. My mom agreed to give me a cat and I was so excited. I then approached my dad and asked him if I could get a cat. My dad sadly said to me that he was worried about the responsibility of the cats. He asked, “who will feed them, who will clean the poop, who will play with them to make them feel active, who will clean them.” I discussed that we will make sure to take responsibility for the cats but sadly, he declined. I felt sad and really wanted to get cats. After some deep thought, I decided that I will be responsible and can take care of the cats if we get them.
On September 2nd, 2024, only a few weeks later, I approached my dad again along with my family. We all agreed to get a cat but it was just my dad who did not. We all tried to negotiate with him and after deep consideration, he finally let us get them! We were ecstatic and happy! Then, only a week later, we finally got them. Their names were Smoky and Ash and they were the cutest cats ever. They were very cuddly and so cute. They also loved to eat. To this day, we have taken full responsibility for the cats by cleaning them and feeding them. I am so happy we got them and now they are a part of our family.
As told to Zayd S.
Ms. Safa R.
2nd Grade Teacher
Ms. Safa R.
2nd Grade Teacher
In the year March 2016, at the Washington International Academy. I was a normal 8th grader. But I had a talent, I was great at spelling! There was a spelling bee coming up and whoever won got to go to the school wide spelling bee! I was so excited, but my classmates thought that I couldn't do it. They thought I couldn’t do it because of my personality. I was very shy, but I wanted to prove them wrong! I wanted to prove that even though I was a shy person I could do everything that they did! I studied hard to make sure that I would win! I wanted to show them that I could do great things!
Finally, the day of the spelling bee came and I was prepared! I was shaking in my seat anxiously waiting for my turn to come. Round after round I kept going and going. Till the last round. This was it, if I won this round I would get to move on to the school spelling bee! The last word came and I was ready. Once I heard the word, I knew that this was my chance. I spelled the word out loud. Then my teacher said with pride that I was the first place winner of our class spelling bee! I was so excited! This meant that I would move on to the school wide spelling bee! I studied more than I ever had before.
The day of the school wide spelling bee came. It was tough, some of the words were very hard! But I kept pushing through knowing that my hard work would pay off. The final round came and I was head to head with a 5th grader. We were the final two. I came all this way and I would not let all my hard work go to waste right now. The way it worked was whoever got the most words right would go onto the county wide spelling bee! The 5th grader went first. She gave the 5th grader the word, and she got it wrong. Then my turn came. She told me that if I got this word right, I would go on to the county spelling bee where one kid from each school in the county would compete for first place. She gave me the word, I didn’t know how to spell it but I tried my best. The principal looked at me with a smile on her face! Then she announced that I was the winner! I got to go to the Fairfax county spelling bee! Then the principal came to me and hugged me! I was never this happy before. I not only showed my class that I could do great things but I showed the whole school! When I walked into the classroom my classmates congratulated me! Now when my classmates looked at me they would finally see more than a shy girl.
That day, I proved that no matter what kind of personality you had, anyone could do anything they put their mind to.
As told to Zareena R.
Ms. Afeefa S.
Founder of AFA & Culture Coordinator
Ms. Afeefa S.
Founder of AFA & Culture Coordinator
In 2004, at our old school, we were trying to think of different ways to help the community and be more helpful. There was a parent, Ms. Faiza, who came from Indonesia. It turned out that a huge tsunami had recently struck there. She was very sad and didn't know how to help the people in Indonesia. Coincidentally, at the same time, we were trying to figure out what we could do to help with events happening around the world that we had no control over. Ms. Faiza had an idea: a few of us could go to Indonesia and see what they needed help with. A kind person, who liked how we were trying to help the community, brought us the flight tickets to Indonesia. I, Ms. Faiza, a parent, and three other teachers went. We told our students that we were going to Indonesia and asked if they had any questions. The students were quite curious about how people were living because the tsunami was the largest recorded tsunami in the Indian Ocean and had destroyed many parts of Indonesia.
When we arrived in Indonesia, the place where the tsunami hit was far from where we landed, so we rented two rickety old vans to drive there. On the way, some of the teachers got really sick, and we began to wonder if this was a good idea after all. When we finally arrived in Banda Aceh, it was pretty sad—there was nothing there; everything was wiped out. But then we met this old lady. She was probably 80 years old, standing at the spot where her house used to be. We asked her what she was doing, and she said, “This is where my house used to be, and I’m going to rebuild it.” We asked her how she was going to rebuild it, and she replied, “I have the ‘niyah’ of rebuilding my house.” There was a masjid in front of where she was standing. She was determined to rebuild it because she loved seeing the masjid whenever she looked out the window. There were people collecting materials around the area to rebuild their houses as well, so I started picking up things. I picked up small items like broken pieces of tiles, plates, bowls, and seashells. Then we met some other people who lived there. After that, we visited a boarding school. We asked the head leader if they needed any help, and they said they needed money because the children there were orphans or people who didn't have homes and lived there full-time. They had to pay for a lot more necessities. These students were also sad because they had lost their houses in the tsunami, and some had even lost family members. We thought it would be great for our students to send letters to theirs and become pen pals. They thought that was a wonderful idea, so they became our sister school.
When we returned from Indonesia, I had a lot of small pieces of things I had collected. I didn’t know what to do with them, so I asked Ms. Calima, the art teacher, for advice. She told me we were doing a lesson in art called mosaics, which is when you put things together to create something big and beautiful that tells a story. So we made a mosaic about the story of what happened in Indonesia, and we still have it even after 20 years.
As told to Musa C.
Mr. George W.
Security Guard
Mr. George W.
Security Guard
When I was in first grade, it was another normal day at school. My classmates made fun of me for being a person of color. They laughed at my clothes and sometimes even beat me up. It was Valentine's Day, and when I entered the class, everyone was giving each other gifts, chocolates, and candy, except for me. I stood around feeling left out, and my teacher remarked and had to force the kids to give me a present because no one liked me. When I got home feeling sad, my mom noticed and asked me what’s wrong so I told her what happened at school. She told me, “don’t believe the negativity around you, regardless of how much there is.” Even though her words motivated me, still every day at school was a burden. Every time I entered class, Charles Prophet and Terrance Williams would bully me. The next day, our teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I responded, “I want to join law enforcement.” But they all doubted me. This continued until I was in high school. After school, when I was walking through the hallway, and I saw a poster for an art competition. The next day, I decided to join the art competition, but when I told my friends, they all laughed at me. Their laughter motivated me to win the competition. After that, I submitted my artwork and waited for several days. I thought I lost but then I got the news that I won! All of my friends were surprised that I won. Even Charles Prophet and Terrance Williams congratulated me. Furthermore, after many years of hard work, I entered a tech school and then pursued a career in law enforcement, and that taught me to never doubt my abilities even if everyone is against me.
As told to Ziyad D.
Ms. Zainub A.
School Secretary
Ms. Zainub A.
School Secretary
“When I was younger, I lived in Murree, a city in Pakistan, and if you ever saw me, I always had a big smile. When I was younger, my dad was in the army. This caused us to move around a lot. Since constantly moving became normal for us, it was hard for me to make friends at new schools. I couldn't even fully decorate my room to my liking or get comfortable. I guess you could say it wasn't quite easy to fit in. One day, I went to a nice, private school called Convent of Jesus and Mary. The school was taught and maintained by nuns that kept you in discipline and manner. I entered the school with my dad to take a test for admission into 1st grade. I was nervous, but I also felt confident at the same time, weirdly enough. As I entered the school me and my dad were taken to the principal's office where she asked me a few questions andbefore answering to whatever she asked i would giggle or smile and then answer, after a little while I was taken to the classroom for my written test, my dad stayed in the principal office. After only a few minutes, I received my test. It was a simple paper test, and didn’t seem as difficult as I’d expected, before I knew it, I had already finished the last question and was walking toward the principal's office to my dad. When I entered the office, my dad had a huge smile all over his face, even bigger than mine. He then got up, thanked the principal for her time, grabbed my hand, and exited the office. On our way out of the building, my dad told me what the principal had said to him that made him so joyful. He told him that regardless of my test grade, perfect or horrible, she would love to have me in her school. And it was all because of my smile.
Years later, I took another Admission test/interview. This time it was for a college. Right when I walked in the building, I did the same thing I did in 1st grade; I smiled. I smiled at every person who passed or to someone across the hall. I got seated and began my exam. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I soon finished my exam ,went for the interview and left the building, confident about my attitude and test that if it comes to this i can get into this college but i also knew my score were not the exceptionally high . A few days later, I got the results back. I carefully opened the envelope with caution and excitement. I took a deep breath and unfolded the results. My smile faded when I saw I was rejected. My heart sank to my toes. After some time of thinking about it, I realized if I had studied more, the results would have been different, I surely would have gotten it. My father then told me something that sticks with me even to this day: “If you want something, you must really work hard for it.” Not everything in life is as easy as a "Smile", and you must accept it." Alhumdolillah I am really very happy and content where I am today and I Strongly believe that one should always keep smiling (it's a Sunnah) and pass it along if you see someone without it.
As told to Maryam A.
Zimal C.
8th Grade
Zimal C.
8th Grade
My family and I went to a goat farm to sacrifice a goat for Eid Al-Adha. We sacrificed a goat, and later when I was playing with the other goats and my sister and cousins, my uncle asked one of the workers at the goat farm if we could take a couple goats home. The workers went somewhere to check if it was okay, and once they came back they said yes! So, my family and I went to the car and took two baby goats with us. And we got ready for a long one hour drive back home. It was hard to fit my uncle, my aunt, my three cousins, my sister, my two goats and I in our eight seater car so we had to put three seats in the back down just to fit our two goats in it. In the beginning of the car ride, I was sitting in the passenger seat while my uncle, who was sitting in one of the three middle seats, wanted to switch with me. I agreed, and I was stuck in the back with four little kids. Later, during the car ride, the goats (who were sleeping) woke up and started to run around and trash the car. Not long after that, my ten year old cousin started to cry because the goats were running around, and he wanted to switch with me. I was peacefully sitting in the middle while he was stuck in the back with the seats flipped down and two crazy goats. But, of course, I said no. Because who would want to do that? As we got closer to home, The goats started to get closer and closer to my cousin so he started screaming which was so irritating. I couldn't wait any longer to get home and out of this chaos filled car. We eventually reached home and I was so excited to step out of the car and finally stand up after sitting down for over an hour, but there was still a challenge that we all had to face. We had to get the goats out of the car without letting them escape. We ended up successfully getting them out, but we needed ten people to help do it. We carried each goat out of the car one by one very carefully making sure that the goat that was still in the car while we were carrying the other one stayed in the car and so many more complicated steps. Alhamdullillah, we did it without any of them escaping. Every morning after that day, I would wake up early to feed them, play with them, and check in on them which was tiring but worth it. Sometimes, they would try going up our outdoor stairs and into the house, but we had a fence that was partly functional because it wouldn't always work. I had a lot of fun with my goats, playing with them, feeding them, and they were surprisingly fun to hangout with. Unfortunately, we had to return our goats back to the goat farm because school was going to start soon at Al Fatih Academy. Even though we didn't give them names, we still miss them very much. Inshallah, we can see them again next Eid.
As told to Leena H.
Ms. Bakala A.
Pre Kindergarten
Ms. Bakala A.
Pre Kindergarten
Each morning, when I entered my old school, I’m filled with the smell of freshness and coffee as the kitchen was next to my classroom, and greeted with warm smiles spread across every student’s face. One concept in my old school was having breakfast with your class every day.
One day, with Ramadan approaching, I was explaining to my students what Ramadan is, so I brought dates to explain to my students that this is what we eat to break the fast. I also taught my students how important Ramadan is to us Muslims. All the students’ eyes rose up in curiosity and asked, “Ms.Bakala, what’s Ramadan, tell us more!” They were so happy and eager to learn about Ramadan and all the traditions tied to it. I was telling them about Eid after Ramadan and how we don’t eat or drink anything all day. One student rose up and said, “Ms.Bakala, you don’t eat or drink anything all day?!” I responded, “Yes, we have to fast all day.” After that, all the students shouted, “Ms.Bakala, why don’t we host a small iftar, come on Ms.Bakala, let’s do it!” It didn’t take me long to say, “Yes! Let’s do it!” The classroom was then filled with celebration and joy.
I sent an email out to the parents asking if they were able to attend the small iftar my class and I were hosting. All the parents were so happy and eagerly said yes! They were all so happy to spend their Ramadan with me! Everyone brought dishes from their cultures, dressed in their cultural clothes, and everything they brought was so flavorful and traditional! We made dhikr, prayed together, and the children shared stories about their families and Ramadan traditions.
When it was time for iftar, I watched my students gather along a long table, their faces gleaming with excitement. I felt a profound sense of belonging and joy, so I said Alhamdulilah I joined this school, taught my students about Ramadan, and that it is not just about fasting, but all the Muslims coming together. Everyone was excitedly thanking me for this iftar and told me that it has helped them get to know each other more and it has made that Ramadan extremely special and memorable for every person with all the jokes,stories, and questions which introduced to everyone their identities. Everyone was so happy and the whole thing was just so peaceful which made me so happy to see all the parents and students! After prayer, the same boy who had the idea for the iftar came up to me and told me, “Ms.Bakala, I really appreciated this!” I then knelt down and responded, “Absolutely, I am also so happy we got to celebrate our diversity and build our community!” In that moment, I happily realized that my classroom wasn’t just a place for learning, but joined in community; that is a memory I will never forget and cherish forever!
As told to Zoya S.
Ms. Mariam K.
4th Grade
Ms. Mariam K.
4th Grade
From the first day that I started school, which was in first grade, I came here from London, England and I remember setting foot into the classroom and I somehow knew immediately that I wanted to be a teacher. I think it had something to do with the teacher, her high heels, just like the sound of the click click click on the floor. I remember telling my mom that first day that I'm gonna do this when I grow up, so alhamdulillah that my family supported that dream. My mother went to some vintage antique store and bought me this huge chalkboard that just took up the entire hallway and I would play school every day. So I just was blessed that I knew that this was something I wanted to do, and it didn't change over time. So let's completely fast forward all the way to the year 2016. I have been living in Philadelphia for 14 years. My children were born there. They went to school there and my husband who had been talking about moving here and there and I was like no. It became really real that we might need to make a move because the Islamic schools were not working for us so we decided that we would have to move to Virginia.
Obviously, I knew I wanted to work. I knew that there were good Islamic schools. It was between Al Fatih and King Abdullah so I tried for both. Surprisingly, I thought they'd get back to me immediately. They did not. I heard back from Al Fatih almost immediately and was interviewed. So we ended up making the move in the summer of 2017 and I remember my children and I getting in the car and it was really emotional. It was really difficult because this had been their life and I remember the pictures we took right outside of our house like standing next to things that my kids grew up playing around or you know just it was just part of their everyday life. And then we got in the car, and I'm so grateful that I did this. I made my children make an intention before we actually start the car. Let's make our intention and I know this isn't like the Hijra we've read about, but this is our Hijra we are traveling and it is mainly for the sake of Allah because it was for their school. We wanted them to be in a good Islamic environment. My husband was familiar with Adams community. We know people that lived here and so I told my children to make that intention because whatever you intend that is what Allah will reward you for and then will give you. So I remember my intention being, “Ya Allah, please make me benefit this community.”
My happiness is when students know me and when students love me. That's when I'm happy. If I'm in with the kids, I feel like Allah is pleased with me. I remember coming here, and there were a lot of people. Everybody knows each other and I remember being on the playground and everybody knew the other teachers and they'd come running to them. I missed that and I'm thought, Oh my God, they don't know me like they don't know me like that and I knew it would take time but I've always just felt like my connection is when I'm connected with children. I would cry because I feel like they don't know me like that and so obviously as the years went by, I feel so fortunate like Allah has been so merciful to me because nobody heard that a lot except myself. Nobody heard my dua that I didn't even say that loud to my kids. I'm just saying out loud now because it's a story. It shows that in moments where it's just you and Allah, he heard what I was saying and it just proves more that he is listening to everything you say because only Allah knows but I feel like when I'm in al Fatih I feel so loved by the staff. I feel so loved by the students. I mean more than anything I could have imagined and I see that just day-to-day with this like interactions with students I see it from students who are no longer in Al-Fatih, and I feel like Allah is so merciful because he knows like I've always felt like I'm not that person who's going to make this huge difference. I know people are just doing incredible things and I'm always thinking, oh my God, I wish I could be like that but I realized Allah is so merciful to me that even just in the small things that I'm doing he's made me feel like I have a purpose in it. Especially for somebody like me who's not like the smartest person in the world. Allah was like you know what I'm gonna even let you know that you are important to me.
For me, coming to Al Fatih has changed my life. It changed my life in the kind of teacher I am and the kind of person that I am, and in just the kind of mother I am. I think he knew so much more of what I needed. He knew that I needed to feel that connection to him and to the community and that's been happening around the lessons I've got here.
As told to Maha N.
Musa R.
8th Grade
Musa R.
8th Grade
It was the summer of 2023, and I was twelve years old. I was at a muslim convention called ICNA. I signed up for the DMV speech. I had to talk about Dawah, or calling to Allah, and stewardship. I found a lot of research on my topics. I spent two months practicing, and researching stewardship and dawah. The speech was held at Pearls Academy, a masjid in Northern Virginia.
The way it worked was there were two rounds. The first round was about dawah and the second round was about stewardship. The judges would pick five people to move to the next round. I remember, in the first round, I did very well and placed in the top five! In the second round, one of the judges was a sheikh and I was against a lot of 15 year olds. I was so scared that I might lose since everybody was older.
Once everyone was done the judges announced that I got first place! I was so happy and so proud of myself! I got a big trophy for winning the speech!
As told to Zain K.
Emaan R.
8th Grade
Emaan R.
8th Grade
I am in eighth grade and I love basketball. I joined a basketball team and I noticed that the maghrib prayer was during my practice time. I quickly realized that I should tell my coach that I will be needing to step out of practice to pray but I felt a bit embarrassed. I ask my dad if he could ask my coach but he just tells me to tell my coach myself. I told my coach about my situation and he was completely ok with my stepping out to pray maghrib. Every time I had to pray while practice was going on, I would just tell my coach and just go to pray. Eventually, when that season was over, I joined a new team and I had a new coach. My coach was a girl this time, so I felt a bit more comfortable with asking her. I asked my new coach and she was also really chill with it. She didn’t mind at all. The important thing about this is that I prioritize my deen before dunya, and that prayer always comes before anything else.
As told to Hena K.
Ms. Salma E.
MS Math
Ms. Salma E.
MS Math
It was the summer of 2006. I was fifteen years old and in the ninth grade. I grew up in a Muslim household in Pennsylvania, and went to a public school with about 3,000 students; however, in the whole school, there were only two or three hijabis. One day during summer break, I came across convert videos. I became completely absorbed in them. I would watch YouTube after YouTube on Convert stories. This was the first time that I had heard the reasons why people chose Islam rather than being born Muslim. These convert videos made me see Islam in a whole different light. Eventually, one thing led to another and I started coming across hijab stories, and people explaining why they wore hijab. At that time, I didn't wear a hijab. The only time I would wear a hijab was when I would go to the masjid on Sundays to teach Sunday School. . These videos made me fall in love with hijab,so eventually, I decided to practice wearing the hijab for the rest of the day on Sundays. One day, I called my friend who went to Egypt in the summer. I called her and I told her about my thoughts on becoming a hijabi.
After a few days, I called her again and told her that I would become hijabi after we came back from winter break, and she responded by saying, “ You keep moving up the date and I have a feeling the next time we talk, you’re going to say you’re officially hijabi.” My only setback to becoming hijabi at that time was that I was worried about being judged at school by my non-Muslim friends. So, like I said, I decided to wear a hijab every Sunday. One Sunday however, I made a plan to go to the mall after I went to the masjid. When I went, I felt like all eyes were on me. Although it felt odd, I kept practicing wearing the hijab. One day, I had made a plan to go to the amusement park with one of my friends that I had not seen in a while, and I had decided to wear a hijab on that day. Since she was one of my non-Muslim friends, I was nervous about how she would react. . However, when we met up, she didn't acknowledge the fact that I was wearing a hijab at all! She acted like nothing had changed and we had a blast! That day felt like a sign and that’s when I decided to start wearing a hijab officially from that day forward. I later called my friend and told her that I had decided to start wearing a hijab, and she said “I knew it! I told you the next time you called me you were going to say you’re hijabi!”
I realized that I wanted to wear a hijab because I wanted to love Allah more than anything else around me in society, no matter what people think of me. And if this is the faith I choose, then true friends will stand by me no matter what.
In two years, It will be my twentieth year wearing a hijab!
As told to Raya S.
Mustafa L.
8th Grade
Mustafa L.
8th Grade
One bright sunny day, my mother, brother, and I went riding our bikes on hills. At first, we were having a great time spending time with each other. We had gone to an area that was very rough and had a lot of scattered rocks and sticks everywhere. It was a bit difficult to navigate ourselves around each of the rocks and sticks. I wanted to ask my brother for something, but when he turned his head to answer, he did not notice that there was a rock right in front of him on the floor. So, he had flipped his bike and had gotten injured very badly on the head. As soon as he fell, I rushed to my father so he could take him to the hospital. He ended up having to get stitches because he had gotten very injured near his eye and it was bleeding a lot. Now, it is much better but he still has a scar on his face. But until this day, I still look back to this incident and blame myself and think, “what would have happened if I had not distracted my brother, would he have not gotten hurt very badly?”
As told to Jergees K.
Layla S.
AFA Alumni - College
Layla S.
AFA Alumni - College
I met one of my best friends, Anaya, when I was in second grade. I was in green, and she was in purple. Our classes had a feud and were always competing against each other, which lasted until fourth grade when one of their teachers was leaving. They had a party for her, and my class wanted to be part of the celebration, even though she was not our teacher. Her class got annoyed at my class. We were not friends at that time, but everything changed in fifth grade when green and purple were combined. We formed a friend group with Ayah, and we did everything together. That’s when Anaya became one of my best friends. However, she left after that year, and I didn’t see her for about two years.
Then, I received a message from her: “Hey, my mom is getting married. Can you come?” I was so surprised and happy! I went to the wedding, and we reconnected over all of our old AFA memories and shared experiences. Anaya and I are still friends to this day, which shows that the friendships we make in AFA truly last forever.
As told to Hakim S.
Ms. Roua D.
Arabic/Quran Teacher
Ms. Roua D.
Arabic/Quran Teacher
One time there were two girls, and they needed a carpool. For some reason their parents were not able to drive them to school. So I volunteered to take them to school and bring them back home. They were two girls, one was younger than the other. Every day in the morning, their dad would drop them off next to my home, then I would pick them up and take them to school. Then, I would bring them back to the place where their dad dropped them off. So one day, their dad was late in the afternoon. So I asked the girls to enter my house and join us for dinner. So as she was entering, the little girl, who was in preschool, became shocked, because she thought that I was only a teacher in Al Fatih Academy. So the first sentence she said as she entered the house was, “you’re a mom too!” In her mind, she thought that a teacher is only a teacher, and she thought that I lived in school. She was surprised that the teacher was a mom too. It was funny to me and my kids that she thought that.
As told to Abdelrahman M.
Camron R.
8th Grade
Camron R.
8th Grade
One day, I was playing basketball with my friends, well pretty much everyday and I was one of the worst players in the friend group. Then, all of a sudden, my friend pulled me over to the side and asked me, “Bro, why are you so bad?” Then I said, “Well, I don’t practice at home.” Then he said, “Bro, if you wanna be good, you have to practice at home and have discipline.” Then I replied with, “Alright bro, I’ll practice more and have more discipline so I can be better.” I still had many issues to overcome for example, I'm short and not as strong as the others but this doesn't have to be a problem. I could use these traits as an advantage towards basketball skills. I started to train everyday and eat more healthy. I also started to play against my brother one on one in basketball to train more; it made me feel great, because he's really bad and I can easily beat him. I started to drink more milk and eat more salads. I was getting much better at basketball so I decided to play against my friend one on one. Once the one versus one started, he got a ten point lead. Then, I quickly caught back up with six points. I was four points behind and we were doing first to twenty. My friend started to actually try and he destroyed me twenty one to thirteen. I started to lose motivation after that loss but my uncle who had a similar experience started to give me motivation so I started to try again harder. After I started to try harder, I started beating my brother twice as hard than the last time. I felt really good and I was once again motivated to keep trying. I started with playing with my whole friend group to practice. I lost but I was getting better at basketball. I was pretty sure I could beat my friend now so I re-challenged him to a one versus one in basketball.
During the one versus one, I scored the first three points! After scoring three points, he scored two points back but right after that I got a seven point lead; it was nine to two. I was really happy I was only eleven points away from winning the game. The game finished twenty to eleven. I WON! I was really happy so I asked my mother to join a basketball team and she said, “yes.” First day, I played on the team, I got bullied for being short but that didn’t matter to me. The first game I played was really bad because I didn’t practice playing on a team. I wasn't at all good at teamwork. So I decided to train more with the friend I beat to get better at basketball. We started to do two versus two’s to practice. We weren't that good at first,but I got the hang of it. I got way better at passing and trusting my teammates. My next game was in one day. I practiced really hard that last day. Shooting drills, dribble drills, passing and trusting my teammates. The day came for the basketball game. I was ready to play. I did pretty well the first half of the game as a point guard; I scored fourteen points. The score was fifty three to forty three we were winning by ten points. The second half I was really tired and exhausted but I still went strong scoring thirteen more points. The game was getting close at seventy eight to seventy four. They tied up the game and there were only 20 seconds left. My friend passed me the ball and, if I scored this, we would win the game. I shot the ball and I scored a three pointer and we won the game because of me and my teammates. The moral of the story is try harder and you will eventually accomplish your goal.
As told to Zackaria W.
Ms. Batul A.
MS Science
Ms. Batul A.
MS Science
I started working at AFA in 2002 as the first PE teacher and 2011, is when I stopped teaching PE. In 2015, my daughter was about to graduate from 8th grade and although I wasn't teaching at AFA, I had been active in volunteer work and I thought to myself that I would not be coming back to AFA for a while since both of my children will have graduated.
But in the summer of 2015, after my daughter graduated, I received a call from Ms. Afeefa and Ms. Pervin. They asked, “would you like to be one of our new science teachers here at AFA?” I was surprised by that because I knew that they had had a science teacher already, but I did not know that the science teacher was leaving. They said that it would not be a fulltime job, just part time.
They told me that they already have a biology teacher for 7th grade but would need a science teacher for 6th and 8th grade. Ms. Afeefa and Ms. Pervin told me that I would not be a homeroom teacher and would only need to come in the afternoon. I said, ”Oh my gosh!” because I had never been a science teacher before. I had never taught students like that before; planning tests, giving homework, I was not familiar with doing all that. So I didn't know how I felt about that idea. Ms. Afeefa and Ms. Pervin were saying that we really want you to do this. They were very confident in my ability to do the job, and they were the ones who gave me the PE job back in 2002.
I have a very strong science background and have worked in several types of science focused jobs in the past, so I thought that this was a way Allah was telling me that I had to take this job. My husband was very encouraging and I tried very hard to come into the building as prepared to teach as possible.
It has been 10 years since I started teaching science here at AFA. During that time, I have become a licensed teacher with the state of Virginia and I feel very comfortable teaching science. I love my students and the AFA community. And I feel that this job is a blessing in my life.
As told to Rayaan U.
Ms. Iman B.
MS Math
Ms. Iman B.
MS Math
I was in my first semester of college and I was undecided about what I was going to major in. I asked around for advice, and the majority of the people I asked told me that if I had a passion for math, I should become a math teacher. However, I knew that being a truly good math teacher was going to be difficult, so I decided that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I took a variety of classes based on what my interests were, such as health and business. I ended up genuinely enjoying business, and integrated it into math, with a concentration in accounting. I found out that I really loved studying accounting. In order to graduate college, I had to do an internship for the summer. I chose to try accounting, but soon realized that working in accounting was much different than studying accounting. I found that working in it was, surprisingly, really dull and uninspiring. There were multiple times when I would go days without seeing my supervisor or talking to a single person; all I did was sit in front of the computer doing my work. I couldn’t work in a field that was so uninteresting, so I decided to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I was sincerely enthusiastic about. I had spent a little while teaching a Sunday school, and that made me recognize that I actually appreciated working with children. Consequently, I decided to apply to Al Fatih Academy to be an assistant teacher, and I was hired to help with the middle school classes. I helped all of the middle school teachers with every subject: social studies, math, English, science, and I even assisted with P.E. It turned out that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it felt so rewarding. After a few months, I made the decision to go back to school and get my master’s degree in education. It took a couple of years to do that, and I did my internship at Fairfax County Public Schools. I had initially thought that I should work at public schools for a few years before bringing my experience to AFA. Although by then, I felt that I had learned enough to go back and work at Al Fatih, and applied for an open fourth grade position. I got it, and started working there in 2010. Soon, I was offered to teach the middle school advanced math classes, because I was teaching fourth graders math so well. I accepted the job, and that’s what brought me to where I am today.
As told to Rabia A.
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