Interview with Siddique Abdullah (Part I)
December 24, 2012 2023-08-06 4:08
Interview with Siddique Abdullah (Part I)
Brother Siddique has over 12 years of teaching experience. He has taught Arabic at Zaytuna Institute and Tajweed classes at Ilm Tree. He was also a homeroom, Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies teacher at Al-Huda School in College Park, Maryland. Brother Siddique is one of the first graduates from Zaytuna Institute’s Seminary Program with a Bachelor in Islamic Sciences. He has also completed the Imam training program from Abu Nour Institute in Damascus.
1) What is your name?
My name is Siddique Abdullah and I am a graduate of Zaytuna Institute.
2) Where do you work and what is your position?
I work at North Star school. I’m the vice principle and the director of the Arabic and Islamic studies program here. And have been teaching here now for 5 years.
3) Do you teach anywhere else?
I also teach at Averroes, the new Muslim high school in Fremont, California.
4) What do you teach at Averroes?
I teach Arabic and Islamic studies as well.
5) What motivated you to learn the Arabic Language?
MashaAllah, I remember as a new Muslim praying salat al- taraweeh next to Dr. Sulayman Nyang and a few others. And I remember in that taraweeh, people were crying and I was inspired to figure out what was making them cry. That’s what started the journey.
6) Please tell me about your background before you became Muslim.
Before I became Muslim, I was an AME (African Methodist Episcopal) who went to a catholic school from 4th grade to 8th grade. After that I went into High school and became an athlete. I ran track and field… Got to college on scholarship and it was in college that I got into contact with Muslims. I first came into contact with people who were involved in the Nation of Islam before I came into contact with those who were practicing orthodox Islam.
7) How has Arabic helped you understand Islam, the Quran and the deen overall?
Tremendous improvement, tremendous depth and range of understanding the religion and taking it to a whole other level. It strengthened my desire to deepen my knowledge of the religion. As a matter of fact, the very idea was to understand the religion from its authentic sources. So the key to that was learning the language.
