Combining Islamic Knowledge with Western Education
First Islamic Educational Foundation (FIEF), Academy
Opened shop 25 years ago to provide Islamic religious knowledge alongside western education for Muslim youths.
According to the school’s founder, Sheik Mohammed Al-Mansur Williams said FIEF came into being when he realized that as Muslim children acquire western education, they were left spiritually empty. “The contemporary educational system is devoid of moral values and this is why our school places emphasis on the academic and spiritual development of our pupils and students.”
He pointed out that in the past, the various missionary schools played a great role in moulding pupils character, but today, “not enforcing moral training alongside academic of upbringing is the gravest undoing of our education system.”
In line with this belief, FIEF emphases the teaching of religious subjects like Islamic Religious Knowledge, Islamic Jurisprudence, Quranic memorization and Arabic Language.
FIEF also organizes weekend classes in Arabic and Islamic jurisprudence for adults. Williams, who is a prince of Lagos said, “This spiritual knowledge which ordinary strikes the grown-up as a sermon is essentially an orientation for the innocent children who are taught how to dress, eat, sleep and conduct themselves in public.”
At FIEF, great importance is attached to quality teaching blended with strict moral upbringing according to Islamic tenets. The school which has nursery, primary and secondary and advanced arms is co-educational, there are points of departure for both male and female students. For instance, in the classroom, male students sit on one side while their female counterparts sit at the other side. Ablution points within the upscale premises are also separated for male and female and the same goes for the 40 toilets facilities available in the school.
Explaining further, Williams declared: “There is no classroom where you will find more than 20 students. The ratio is usually about 20 to a classroom.
The school won the 2008 and 2009 National Quality School Award instituted by the Quality Management Development Institute, Lagos ,among others. The award is an annual honour given to schools, educational organizations and individuals adjudged to have contributed to quality education and have excelled when measured against the framework of excellence in the country.
