What is education? Is learning a skill the name of education? Would it be right to call material development education? Is it education to be aware of what the majority of people think is good? No! Not at all. As Muslims traditional education alone is not enough but we need to strive for a good Islamic education as well. Education is what connects you to your Creator by teaching you the difference between good and bad.
What kind of Islamic studies course is required? What do we teach our kids? Who will decide what is good and what is bad? Is what we consider good, also good in reality or not? For example, if it is common in a country, nation, or family not to respect the elders and no one objects to it, can you say that not respecting an elder is a good thing for that country, nation or family? Surely not.
So the answer to the above question is that every good and bad decision will be made by the Creator of good and evil and that is Allah. This is what forms the basis of any Islamic studies course.
Allah Almighty has chosen two paths for us. There is a way of good and a way of evil. And Allah has commanded us to follow the path of goodness and leave the path of evil. This is the test of life.
It is through Islamic education that we can understand these two paths according to the commands of Allah.
One of the things we Muslims miss so much is that we consider the knowledge of the world as “education” and do not consider learning the commands of Allah as the major and fundamental part of “education”. This is the basis on which our schools, colleges and universities prepare their syllabi. The absence of proper Islamic studies courses is one of the root causes of all the issues we are facing today.
How can we expect to be successful in this life and hereafter without the knowledge of Islam? We must know what is expected of us as Muslims and spend life accordingly.
People who have been blessed with the knowledge of Islam are invaluable diamonds in the world. They are the only ones who know best how to convey Allah’s message to the people. The real task regarding the service of Islam is to inculcate the Islamic faith and teachings in the hearts and minds of all generations to come. Unless you can educate your children on the basis of Islamic teachings, your children cannot become a charity for you. Rather, it is possible that your children will become a nuisance to you. Parents’ laziness and silence regarding children’s training according to the teachings of Islam is not only a religious crime but also a loss to the nation and country. You are guilty if you fail to raise your children as per the teachings of Islam. It’s not just up to parents to teach children about Islam but schools also need to make a conscious effort to develop proper Islamic studies curriculums.
Inevitably, many efforts were made regarding this work and a number of Islamic studies books have been published all over the world and have actually proved very beneficial. But we see that in spite of all these efforts, there was still a need to consolidate the basic teachings in a proper grade-wise series.
Given the dire need for Islamic studies, material in schools Darussalam published an Islamic Studies course series in English from grade 1 to 12.
This Islamic studies course series covers all areas of Islamic studies: tafseer, hadeeth, tawheed, fiqh, seerah, and general etiquette relating to different areas and situations. Given the importance of authentic Islamic knowledge, every effort has been made to ensure that the material presented in the series is authentic. Also, given the importance of Arabic Islamic terms, most of the terms are presented in their original Arabic script, along with the transliteration and the translation. This also applies to supplications which have been included in their Arabic form. The aim here is to help the reader read and learn the original Arabic text and understand its meaning.
One striking feature in the series is the colourful artwork used to appeal to children. Each lesson is accompanied with relevant images. This is certainly bound to attract the young readers’ attention, stimulate them, amuse them as well as educate them. Each lesson is followed by exercises covering questions about the lesson. The exercises include crosswords, word searches, fill in the blanks, dot to dot images etc as per the course grade.
This Islamic studies course series aims to acquaint the student with the teachings of Islam in every aspect whether it be basic beliefs, practices or moral conduct. The series, with its unique features, certainly fills a gap in this area which has long been partially neglected.
The work for this series was initiated by an expert in the field of education, Maulvi Abdul Aziz, MA. English literature, who held different posts in the field including that of Senior Administrative Officer in the Department of Private Education, Ministry of Education, Dubai, UAE, from 1982 to 2002.
Read Our Blog Post Written on Dictionary of Islamic Words and Expressions
The current project also owes its existence in its present form to a number of people who made informative suggestions, particularly AI-Arabee Ben Razzouq, College of Languages and Translation, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud University, Riyadh, who undertook the painstaking task of checking the authenticity of the material presented in the series, proofreading the text as well as adding references to certain quotations from the Qur’an and the hadeeth.
Sheikh Abdui-Qawiy Luqman, AL-Madinah University graduate, who also had his interesting suggestions and Mr. Zulfiqar Mahmood who conscientiously applied his expertise in the field of graphic design to produce the series in a superb shape.
Let’s take a look at the table of contents of the first book of the series.
Table of Contents
- Allah is the One
- Allah is the Creator
- Allah is the Giver of Life
- Allah is All Hearing
- Iman-The faith of a Muslim
- The Messengers of Allah
- The Angels
- The Books of Allah
- In the Name of Allah
- The Five Pillars of Islam
- Al-Masjid
- Al-Adhan
- How do I Perform Wudhu?
- The Five Daily Prayers
- Prophet Muhammad SAW (1)
- Prophet Muhammad SAW (2)
- Prophet Muhammad SAW (3)
- Prophet Muhammad SAW (4)
- The Prophets (SAW) Kindness (1)
- The Prophets (SAW) Kindness (2)
- Some Surahs of the Qur’an
- Dhikr and Du’aa
- Using the Right Hand
- Etiquette of Using the Toilet
- Etiquette of Eating and Drinking
- Etiquette of Going out
- Etiquette of Sleeping
- Kindness to Parents
- Everyday Courtesies
- General Manners
For the convenience of readers, we have included some extracts from the first book.
Extract 01: Read to learn about the Muslim Iman
lman is an Arabic word. It means faith. Faith means complete trust in someone. It means if you have faith in someone, you believe in him with all your heart, and you do not have any doubt about it. Remember doubt and faith are two opposite things. If you have doubt in something, you believe that it might not be true. lman is a state in which the heart accepts the truth and lives by it.
The heart believes in the truth. The lips and tongue declare the truth, and the limbs carry out what the truth requires. Faith (lman) is light. Doubt is darkness. A Muslim has faith (lman) in:
1. Allah
2. His Angels
3. His Books
4. His Messengers
5. The Day of Judgement
6. Divine Destiny-in the truth that everything good or bad comes from Allah
Extract 01: Read the extract to learn about the five pillars of Islam.
Islam is based on five pillars. The basic duties of Muslims are known as the five pillars. The five pillars of Islam are:
1 . Ash-Shahaadah: The declaration of faith: Laa ilaaha i/1-A//aah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah ( There is no god worthy of worship but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger )
2. Salah: The compulsory prayer: Muslims pray five times everyday.
3. Zakah: The payment of purifying dues. All rich Muslims must give zakah to the poor and those who are in need.
4. Sawm: Fasting in the month of Ramadan.
5. Hajj :The pilgrimage. A Muslim visits the Ka’bah at least once in his life for performing Hajj , if he is able to do so.
These basic duties are known as the five pillars of Islam. A building which has five pillars will stand firm. If all Muslims do these five things well, Islam will be firm. A Muslim is one who obeys Al lah in everything. He accepts and believes that Allah exists, and that He is One. He also accepts and believes that Muhammad ( SAW) is the Messenger and servant of Allah.
Get a copy of this book for your children today. Available in Darussalam stores and online here.
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