Community Highlights: Meet AlSajdah Academy of AlSajdah Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to AlSajdah Academy.

Hi AlSajdah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When my daughter turned five, I founded a learning center with a very deliberate purpose: to protect a young and impressionable mind from influences that I believe are misaligned with both academic rigor and moral clarity.

My concerns were straightforward—declining educational standards and a growing disconnect from faith and values. In many cases, the public schooling system falls short of providing the balance that families seek—families who want a meaningful say in what is taught and how it is taught. This gap is real, and it needed to be addressed.

Our children are our investment and our legacy. It is difficult to accept bringing them into the world, only to hand them over for six to eight hours each day to a system that may not reflect our values or expectations.

I had the means to arrange private tutoring for my daughter at home. However, as a software engineer, I am wired to build systems that are shared, scalable, and reusable. That principle—along with encouragement from several mentors—led me to establish a foundation for our community, where like-minded parents could work together to raise a generation we can be proud of. From the outset, I had no interest in turning this into a profit-driven venture. I wanted it to remain accessible and affordable, and so, in 2013, I established it as a non-profit.

When God wills something to happen, He also creates the means for it. In August 2014, we began in a small rented hall in Torrance with one teacher and three children. Each year, we added a grade and a small group of students. We outgrew one hall, then two. And in 2025, we finally moved into a place of our own.

Eleven years of my life, and my wife’s, passed in what feels like an instant. But in that time, we built something meaningful—something lasting—something that few people have the opportunity to create in their lifetime.

If I were asked whether I would do it again—for my daughter, in the blink of an eye. And for the children of my community, whom I consider my own—I would do it again, without hesitation.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When you do something for a community, it is never a smooth road—especially when you are dealing with community members, people you know and people you don’t. While there were some minor road bumps when dealing with families, for the most part it has been positive, with strong support from across the community.

The biggest challenge—and at times the ugliest road—has been the system itself, which is not designed for small organizations and does not support or protect minorities the way it should.

Especially in the state of California, large corporations are often able to navigate or benefit from loopholes, while small organizations find themselves tangled in endless requirements and restrictions. Where being a religious organization may be legal, but it is not always welcomed in practice. Where you often run into city officials who are biased—whether against religious communities in general or specifically against the Muslim faith—and who try their best to create extra roadblocks, even for simple things like obtaining a business license. Where charter schools will suddenly stop working with you simply because the word “Islamic” is in your organization’s name. Where their teachers cross professional boundaries to find ways not to do business with you.

None of the aforementioned is an exaggeration—it is a reality we have dealt with, and more, over the past 13 years. In what is considered a free country, we ultimately made the difficult decision last year to remove the word “Islamic” from our organization’s name, simply to avoid the additional scrutiny that would begin the moment we submitted any application.

The second biggest challenge was the neighbors, where I found little acceptance and harmony, and more hatred and prejudice. For 11 years, I sent annual gifts, stayed in touch with all of them, and was always ready to accommodate their just and unjust demands. The interactions with these neighbors left a trail of sad incidents and memories behind—phrases like “The Muslims are doing this, the Muslims are doing that,” “Their children are walking or playing outside,” and “Go back to where you came from.”

One moment that captured it all was when a neighbor, who himself belonged to a minority background, said to us, “You guys are too many.” That was not just a complaint—it revealed a mindset. I realized I was trying to build a relationship on a foundation that did not exist—their hearts and minds were not open to embrace us. The biggest relief came after we moved out of that neighborhood last year, into a deserted building in the corner of nowhere.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about AlSajdah Academy?
AlSajdah Academy is a private tutoring center serving students of all ages. We provide a high standard of education to communities that may not otherwise have access to this level of academic support.

We specialize in activity-based, hands-on learning in small group settings, where social interaction is valued as much as academic progress. Alongside this, we place a strong emphasis on developing moral character and building a solid foundation from an early age.

We focus on who the student becomes, not just the grades they achieve.

At its core, AlSajdah is not just about tutoring—it is about creating an environment where education, character, and values come together. What sets us apart is our commitment to instilling a love for learning, not just the transfer of knowledge, making them life-long learners.

How do you define success?
Our success is measured by the success of what we produce.

→ When each student who graduates from AlSajdah becomes a confident, well-educated individual with strong character, clear values, and a sense of purpose—that is one bar raised for our success.

→ When the community truly gets involved in this center, considering it their own rather than a place where they simply send their children—that is success.

→ And when this becomes an umbrella organization for others who seek the same solution in their own local communities—that is success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alsajdahacademy.com
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ahmedshakil