Founder and Director of Iqra Educational Centre, Aesha Khidir Adam has admonished Muslim students in missionary schools not to give up on their spirituality.

According to her, the continuous act of praying and fasting, although it might not change the schools’ regulations, will help them to accept and tolerate other religions.

The director who spoke on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning indicated that it is a necessity for all students to develop their spiritual foundation because it firms up their social and emotional skills.

“It’s about accommodation, and the fact that they pray five times a day or fast wouldn’t really change the school to make it an Islamic school; it would rather teach them tolerance and acceptance,” she said.

Using herself as an example, she narrated how she never gave up her religious belief even though she was deprived of the privilege to pray while in high school, leading to her nearly diverting her religion.

“One of the areas that I would say I didn’t get much was with regards to my spiritual development because I was in a school that was not in sync with my religion. So, I got more exposed to other areas or religion. Because I was a Muslim, I didn’t get that support with regards to my religion,” she narrated.

Although she had the opportunity to practice her beliefs, the school’s timetable did not favour her, as she needed to participate in class and church activities.

Her participation in church activities conflicted with her time for prayers as a young Muslim, but she manoeuvred her way out of high school without changing her religion.

“When you’re young, you’re still going through the process of self-awareness, so right from that confusion, sometimes you may be tempted to want to belong. Because in my class, for instance, in Achimota School, we were just about two or three Muslims out of a class of almost forty, so sometimes you just want to settle in and be part of it, but you have something within that tells you, no, this is actually not where you should go. It was pretty rough for me; I think at a point I even changed my name to Naomi.”

Based on her experience, she encouraged Muslim students to “walk the truth” regardless of the circumstances they encounter in establishing themselves spiritually, emotionally, and physically.