Traditional Islamic Education Program
TRADITIONAL ISLAMIC EDUCATION (‘ALIMA) PROGRAM
The Five-Year Traditional Islamic Education (‘Alima) Program is based on the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum that was first introduced in traditional institutes of Islamic learning in India in the 18th century. This curriculum gained immense acceptance and has since its inception been taught throughout South Asia and all over the world, educating millions of seekers of knowledge in the traditional Islamic sciences.
Our five-year Traditional Islamic Education program is a shorter version of the Dars-e-Nizami curriculum, tailored to suit the needs of women today. We offer this course online, in English and Urdu.
The course can be done full-time in five years. Students may opt to pursue it part-time; part-time students take some subjects instead of the full load in any given year, and then re-enroll in the same level the following year to complete the remaining subjects. This means that they cover one level’s worth of subjects in two years and then move on to the next level. A student may start full-time but then switch to part-time, or vice versa, at any point during the course.
Sessions can be attended live via the Google Meet app or followed completely or partially through recordings.
Course Details
| Semester One | Semester Two |
| August to December (With a one-week mid-semester break in between) | January to June (With a five-week Ramadan and Eid break in between) |
| Classes are Monday to Thursday from 8.00 to 11.30 am Makkah Time, with a half hour break between lesson two and three. On Sunday, there is a one-hour mandatory tarbiyah session. | Classes are Monday to Thursday from 8.00 to 11.30 am Makkah Time, with a half hour break between lesson two and three. On Sunday, there is a one-hour mandatory tarbiyah session. |
| 3 to 5 subjects per semester | 3 to 5 subjects per semester |
| Final exams in December, followed by a 3 to 4 week holiday | Final exams in June, followed by a 6 to 7 week holiday |
Course Curriculum
| Qur’an | Tajweed, (Rules of Qur’an Recitation) Memorization of last ten surahs of the Qur’an Tafsir (explanation) of the entire Qur’an Sciences of the Qur’an, from Mufti Taqi Usmani (db)’s book “Ulum al-Qur’an“ |
| Hadith (Prophetic Sayings) | Hadith Terminology Selections from Zad al-Talibeen Selections from Riyad al-Saliheen Selections from Mishkat al-Masabeeh Selections from Sahih al-Bukhari Selections from Sahih al-Muslim Selections from Jami’ al-Tirmidhi Complete Shama’il al-Tirmidhi Selections from Sunan Abi Da’ud |
| Seerah (Biography of the Prophet ﷺ) | Complete Makki and Madani periods |
| Sunnahs & Masnun Du’as + Al-Asma al-Husna | Selected every-day Sunnahs. Memorization and explanation of selected Prophetic du’as and the 99 names of Allah ﷻ. |
| Aqeedah (Islamic Creed) | Complete Al-Aqeedah al-Tahawiyyah with explanation Matan al-Sanusiyah with explanation |
| Arabic | Qur’anic Arabic (consisting mostly of Ilm al-Sarf / Morphology) Ilm al-Nahw (Syntax) Qur’anic Sarf (Sarf-based analysis of verses of the Qur’an ) Ijra (Practice of placing airab (diacritics) and tarkib (grammatical analysis)) ‘Ibarat (Arabic text) Reading Balaghah (Rhetoric) |
| Fiqh (Islamic Legal Rulings) Detailed rulings concerning Taharah (Purification), Salah (Prayer), Sawm (Fasting), Zakat, Hajj, Buyu’ (Commercial Transactions), Nikah (Marriage), Talaq (Divorce), Meerath (Inheritance) | Hanafi Ascent to Felicity (English translation of Maraqi al-Falah) Material prepared by Siddeeqa Institute teachers Mukhtasar al-Qudduri Al-Hidayah Shafi’i Ship of Salvation (English translation of Safinat al-Najah) The Ultimate Conspectus (English translation of Matan Abi Shuja’a) Maliki Al-Akhdari Al-Risalah |
| Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) | Hanafi Mabadi al-Usul Shafi’i Al-Waraqaat |
| Tarbiyah | Weekly tarbiyah sessions to practically discuss ways to implement spiritual ideals in everyday life, and to encourage students to live a goal-oriented, Allah-centered life. |
Basic Expectations from Students
- 13 hours of class time per week
- Assignments on weekends requiring 2 to 3 hours
- Occasional quizzes over the semester
- Final exams at the end of every semester