International Islamic College

The Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik · Dawrah

The Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik · Dawrah — programme logo

سماعُ الموطأِ كاملًا، ودورةٌ علميةٌ مكثفةٌ في ستةِ كتبٍ، على كبارِ المشايخ

A complete samāʿ of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, and an intensive dawrah in six texts, with senior mashāyikh

  • Dates16 – 27 December 2026 · Rajab 1448
  • VenueMasjid At-Taqwa, Leicester
  • WhoBrothers and sisters, 16 and over
  • EnrolmentOpen now · in person or online
  • FormatSamāʿ in person only · Dawrah in person or online
Enrol nowThe programme

  • 5

    mashāyikh

  • 6

    texts read

  • 35

    teaching hours

  • 12

    days in Leicester

  • 6

    public gatherings

The mashāyikh and the texts

Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿĀṣim al-QaryūtīShaykh Prof. Dr Zainul Abideen BilafreejShaykh Prof. Dr ʿAbdullāh al-ShuraykahShaykh Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-ZāhidīShaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānīal-Ilmāʿ (principles of transmission and samāʿ)The creed of Ibn Abī Zayd al-QayrawānīTalkhīṣ al-UṣūlThe introduction to al-TamhīdKashf al-Mughaṭṭā (the merit of the Muwaṭṭaʾ)al-Fuṣūl fī Muṣṭalaḥ Ḥadīth al-Rasūl

Three strands

A samāʿ, a dawrah, and open gatherings

One programme across twelve days: the hearing of a complete book before the mashāyikh, intensive lessons in six texts, and public gatherings that open the masjid to Leicester and beyond. The samāʿ and the dawrah are open to brothers and sisters on the same terms.

First strand

The complete samāʿ of the Muwaṭṭaʾ

The Muwaṭṭaʾ, in the riwāyah of Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī, is read in full before the mashāyikh over two weekends: Friday 18 to Sunday 20 December, then Saturday 26 and Sunday 27, when the book is completed and the ijāzah announced. Whoever hears the whole book in person, on the samāʿ register, receives the ijāzah to narrate it. Samāʿ students are encouraged to attend the al-Ilmāʿ lessons on the evenings of Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17: they concern the principles of transmission and the ijāzah, and attendance is open to all.

  • 18–20 and 26–27 December
  • In person only at Masjid At-Taqwa; no stream, no samāʿ online
  • Friday 18: opens after Maghrib, 16:15–22:00
  • Ijāzah for those who complete the samāʿ in person

Second strand

An intensive dawrah in six texts

Six texts in the principles of transmission, creed, legal theory, ḥadīth methodology, ḥadīth terminology and the sciences of the Muwaṭṭaʾ; each shaykh reads his text in a daily sitting from Monday 21 to Thursday 24 December, preceded by al-Ilmāʿ on the evenings of Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17. Examinations are on Friday 25 December, and those who pass receive the College certificate.

  • 16–17 and 21–24 December
  • In person at the masjid or online by live stream, at the same price
  • Lifetime access to the lessons on the student portal
  • Examinations on Friday 25 December

Third strand

The gatherings: “From Madīnah to Leicester”

Six public gatherings, open to everyone, at which all the mashāyikh speak — twenty minutes each — followed by questions, then food. No enrolment and no fee; bring your family and neighbours.

  • Six gatherings, 17–27 December
  • No enrolment, no fee

The mashāyikh

Five senior scholars, from five countries

The mashāyikh sit every day at Masjid At-Taqwa: reading, hearing and answering. These are their days in Leicester.

Portrait of Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿĀṣim al-Qaryūtī

Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿĀṣim al-Qaryūtī

Professor of the Sunnah and its sciences; student of Shaykh al-Albānī

In Leicester16–21 Dec

Portrait of Shaykh Prof. Dr Zainul Abideen Bilafreej

Shaykh Prof. Dr Zainul Abideen Bilafreej

Muḥaddith; member of the College's advisory council

In Leicester17–27 Dec

Portrait of Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿAbdullāh al-Shuraykah

Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿAbdullāh al-Shuraykah

Imām of Masjid Zayed al-Duwaylah; director of the Wasaṭiyyah Centre

In Leicester17–27 Dec

Portrait of Shaykh Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-Zāhidī

Shaykh Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-Zāhidī

Rector of al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyyah, Sadiqabad; uṣūlī and muḥaddith, author of Talkhīṣ al-Uṣūl

In Leicester17–27 Dec

Portrait of Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī

Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī

Academic director of the College

In Leicester16–27 Dec

The texts of the dawrah

Six texts, five mashāyikh, a daily sitting for each

Each text has its shaykh and its fixed hour in the day. The booklets are printed and handed to dawrah students, and the examinations on them are held on Friday 25 December.

The text the dawrah turns on

al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik — riwāyat Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī

Imām Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179/795)

The Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179/795) is the earliest surviving ḥadīth work arranged on the chapters of fiqh. In it the author gathered what he held to be sound of the ḥadīth of the Prophet, peace be upon him, the reports of the Companions and the Successors, and the established practice of Madīnah, and joined to these his own juristic positions; it is thus a work of ḥadīth and fiqh together, and the first compilation to combine the two in this way. It is reported that Imām Mālik showed his book to seventy jurists of Madīnah, all of whom agreed with him on it (wāṭaʾahu), whence its name, and that he spent forty years refining it. Accounts of what prompted its composition differ: that he wrote it at the request of the Caliph Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr, at the request of al-Mahdī, or on his own initiative.

Text 1Principles of narration

al-Ilmāʿ (principles of transmission and samāʿ)

الإلماع إلى معرفة أصول الرواية وتقييد السماع

Author: Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (d. 544)

Read by
Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿĀṣim al-Qaryūtī
When
Wed 16 and Thu 17 Dec, after Maghrib
16:20–19:155.5 hours
Text 2Creed

The creed of Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī

مقدمة رسالة ابن أبي زيد القيرواني في العقيدة

Author: Ibn Abī Zayd (d. 386)

Read by
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī
When
Mon 21 – Thu 24 Dec
08:30–10:308 hours
Text 3Legal theory

Talkhīṣ al-Uṣūl

تلخيص الأصول

Author: Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-Zāhidī

Read by
Shaykh Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-Zāhidī
When
Mon 21 – Thu 24 Dec
10:40–12:25 · 13:10–13:258 hours
Text 4Ḥadīth methodology

The introduction to al-Tamhīd

مقدمة التمهيد لما في الموطأ من المعاني والأسانيد

Author: Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463)

Read by
Shaykh Prof. Dr Zainul Abideen Bilafreej
When
Mon 21 – Thu 24 Dec
13:30–14:10 · 14:30–15:508 hours
Text 5The Muwaṭṭaʾ itself

Kashf al-Mughaṭṭā (the merit of the Muwaṭṭaʾ)

كشف المغطى في فضل الموطأ

Author: Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571)

Read by
Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿAbdullāh al-Shuraykah
When
Mon 21 Dec, after Maghrib
16:20–17:401.5 hours
Text 6Ḥadīth terminology

al-Fuṣūl fī Muṣṭalaḥ Ḥadīth al-Rasūl

الفصول في مصطلح حديث الرسول

Author: Shaykh Ḥāfiẓ Thanāʾullāh al-Zāhidī

Read by
Shaykh Prof. Dr ʿAbdullāh al-Shuraykah
When
Tue 22 – Thu 24 Dec, after Maghrib
16:20–17:404 hours

The programme

Twelve days at Masjid At-Taqwa

From the first al-Ilmāʿ sitting on Wednesday 16 December to the khatm of the Muwaṭṭaʾ on Sunday 27: the map of the days, then a full samāʿ day in detail, then the public gatherings.

The map of the days

  1. Wed16al-Ilmāʿ
  2. Thu17al-Ilmāʿ · opening night
  3. Fri18Samāʿ opens
  4. Sat19Samāʿ
  5. Sun20Samāʿ
  6. Mon21Classes
  7. Tue22Classes
  8. Wed23Classes
  9. Thu24Classes
  10. Fri25Exams
  11. Sat26Samāʿ
  12. Sun27Khatm
  • al-Ilmāʿ
  • Samāʿ
  • Classes
  • Exams
  • Khatm

A full samāʿ day

Saturday 19, Sunday 20 and Saturday 26 December: the reading runs around the jamāʿah — more than eight hours of samāʿ in the day, with prayer, food and rest between the sittings.

Fri 18 Dec — opens after Maghrib · 16:15–22:00

  1. 08:00–12:30Reading

    Reading · 4 h 30 min

  2. 12:30–14:15Rest

    Ẓuhr · lunch · rest · 1 h 45 min

  3. 14:15–14:35Prayer

    ʿAṣr · 20 min

  4. 14:35–15:50Reading

    Reading · 1 h 15 min

  5. 15:55–16:50Rest

    Maghrib · tea · rest · 55 min

  6. 16:50–19:30Reading

    Reading · 2 h 40 min

  7. 19:30Close of day

    ʿIshāʾ, then dinner

The public gatherings

From Madīnah to Leicester

All the mashāyikh speak at each gathering, twenty minutes each, followed by questions, then food. Open to all — no enrolment and no fee.

Thu 17

Why do we read the Muwaṭṭaʾ today?

لماذا نقرأ الموطأ اليوم؟

Masjid At-Taqwa19:50–21:20

Mon 21

Learn adab before you learn knowledge

تعلَّم الأدب قبل أن تتعلَّم العلم

Masjid At-Taqwa19:50–21:10

Tue 22

The Sunnah is the Ark of Nūḥ

السنة سفينة نوح، من ركبها نجا

Masjid At-Taqwa19:50–21:10

Wed 23

Knowing Allah as Madīnah knew Him

الاستواء معلوم، والكيف مجهول، والإيمان به واجب

Masjid At-Taqwa19:50–21:10

Thu 24

What set the first generation right

لا يصلح آخر هذه الأمة إلا ما أصلح أولها

Masjid At-Taqwa19:50–21:10

Sun 27

The khatm and the ijāzah

ختم الموطأ وإعلان الإجازة

Masjid At-Taqwa13:15–15:30

All six gatherings are at Masjid At-Taqwa; doors open to everyone, no registration.

What is free, what is paid

No fee for the teaching; the masjid is open for the samāʿ; register only for the ijāzah or the certificate

Five things before you register

  1. 1No fee is taken for the teaching: the mashāyikh teach for the sake of Allah, and the College charges nothing for knowledge.
  2. 2The masjid is open to everyone for the samāʿ: sit, listen and ask, with no registration and no fee.
  3. 3Registration is only for those who want the ijāzah in the Muwaṭṭaʾ or the dawrah certificate.
  4. 4The stay at Masjid Fida and breakfast are free for every in-person registrant.
  5. 5Brothers and sisters register on the same terms. The Muwaṭṭaʾ samāʿ is in person only; the dawrah is in person or online, at the same price.

What the price is made of

  • Registration and platform: your seat on the register, the attendance card, your student-portal account and the running of the programme.
  • The books that are read: the approved copy of the Muwaṭṭaʾ for samāʿ students, and the six texts printed for dawrah students.
  • Meals on the days you attend, served at the masjid, at cost.
  • The framed certificate or ijāzah, at cost. The package is one whole: no part of it can be removed.

Your portal account

  • Every registrant receives a College portal account at registration: updates about the dawrah and the samāʿ, your receipts, and the remaining instalments to pay.
  • Dawrah students, in person and online, find each day's lessons in the portal for revision, with lifetime access.
  • Online students have the six texts and the certificate posted to them; postage is charged separately, at cost, by destination.

Conditions

  • Age: sixteen or over on 18 December 2026.
  • A foundation in Arabic sufficient to follow the reading and the lessons.
  • The price is non-refundable; the place may be transferred to another named person until 10 December 2026.
  • The ijāzah is for those who register and hear the whole book in person; there is no ijāzah online.
  • In-person registration closes on 6 December, and online registration on 13 December 2026.

The four packages

Pay in full, or in three parts: the first at registration, the second on 1 November and the last on 1 December 2026. From 25 October there are two parts; from 20 November, full payment only.

Muwaṭṭaʾ samāʿ — register

In person only

£122.50

Pay in 3 instalments

Or in 3 instalments: £40.84 now · £40.83 on 1 Nov · £40.83 on 1 Dec

What the price is made of

  • Registration and platform£20
  • Your Muwaṭṭaʾ copy£20
  • Framed ijāzah£15
  • Nine meals: Friday dinner, Saturday and Sunday on both weekends (lunch only on the khatm Sunday)£67.50

Stay at Masjid Fida and breakfast are free

Dawrah — six texts, in person

In person

£204.50

Pay in 3 instalments

Or in 3 instalments: £68.18 now · £68.16 on 1 Nov · £68.16 on 1 Dec

What the price is made of

  • Registration and platform£60
  • The six texts£62
  • Framed certificate£15
  • Nine meals, Monday to Friday (lunch only on Friday)£67.50

Stay at Masjid Fida and breakfast are free

Both — samāʿ register and the dawrah

In person only

£327

Pay in 3 instalments

Or in 3 instalments: £109 now · £109 on 1 Nov · £109 on 1 Dec

What the price is made of

  • Registration and platform£80
  • Seven books£82
  • Two framed certificates£30
  • Eighteen meals£135

Stay at Masjid Fida and breakfast are free

Dawrah — six texts, online

Online

£204.50

Pay in 3 instalments

Or in 3 instalments: £68.18 now · £68.16 on 1 Nov · £68.16 on 1 Dec

What the price is made of

  • Registration and platform£60
  • The six texts, posted£62
  • Framed certificate, posted£15
  • Live stream and lifetime access to the daily lessons on the portal£67.50

The texts and the certificate are posted to you — postage is charged separately, at cost

In-person registration closes on 6 December, and online registration on 13 December 2026.

Register nowEnrolment terms

Questions and answers

What people usually ask

Do I need to register to attend?

No. No fee is taken for the teaching, and the masjid is open to everyone for the samāʿ and the lessons: sit, listen and ask. Registration is only for those who want the ijāzah in the Muwaṭṭaʾ or the dawrah certificate; it is the registrant whose name is entered on the register and whose sittings are counted.

Who can register?

Anyone aged sixteen or over on 18 December 2026, brothers and sisters, with a foundation in Arabic sufficient to follow the reading and the lessons.

What language is the dawrah in?

Arabic. The samāʿ and the lessons are entirely in Arabic, in the manner of the scholars, so you need a foundation that lets you follow. The public gatherings are open to everyone.

What does the price include?

None of it is a fee for the teaching. The price is the registration and platform fee, plus the books that are read, the meals on the days you attend at the masjid, and the framed certificate or ijāzah, each at cost; every package shows its breakdown in the fees section. The package is one whole and no part of it can be removed. The stay at the masjid and breakfast are free.

Can I pay in parts?

Yes. Pay in full, or in three parts: the first at registration, the second on 1 November and the last on 1 December 2026. Your card is saved at checkout and charged on each date, and you can pay the remaining parts early from the student portal. From 25 October there are two parts; from 20 November, full payment only. All parts are due: a missed part is retried and, if it is still unpaid, the lessons and the certificate are withheld until it is paid.

How do I receive the ijāzah in the Muwaṭṭaʾ?

The ijāzah is for those who register for the samāʿ and attend the whole samāʿ at Masjid At-Taqwa, with attendance recorded on the attendance card at every sitting. The ijāzahs are announced at the khatm on Sunday 27 December. No ijāzah is granted to those who hear online, to anyone who misses part of the book, or to anyone who attends without registering.

What is the dawrah certificate, and is it a recognised qualification?

It is the International Islamic College's own certificate, written to the Level 4 descriptors of the UK Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ Level 4) as an internal standard of the College. It is not a regulated qualification and is not accredited by any official body, and we do not claim that it is.

Where do I stay?

At Masjid Fida (9 Osmaston Road, LE5 5JN), a short walk from At-Taqwa, free of charge; breakfast is free as well. Tick “I will stay at Masjid Fida” when you register so that bedding and breakfasts can be counted. If you would rather stay elsewhere, arrange it yourself, or message us on WhatsApp and we will help as far as we can.

How do I get to Leicester in Christmas week?

No trains run in Britain on 25 December, and the service on 26 December is very limited. If you are coming from outside Leicester, arrive by the end of Thursday 24 December and book your return after the khatm on Sunday 27. Masjid At-Taqwa, LE5 3LX, is close to the city centre.

Is the price refundable?

No; the price is non-refundable, and so are any instalments already paid. The place may be transferred to another named person until 10 December 2026 by emailing the College at info@theiic.uk. A full refund is made only if the College cancels the dawrah.

Is the dawrah open to sisters?

Yes; sisters register on the same terms for the samāʿ and the dawrah, and a place is set aside for them at the masjid. If you have a question about the arrangements, message us on WhatsApp.

Can I hear the Muwaṭṭaʾ online?

No. The Muwaṭṭaʾ samāʿ is in person only, at Masjid At-Taqwa: it is not streamed, and no ijāzah is given to anyone who was not present. The dawrah in the six texts can be attended at the masjid or followed online by live stream, at the same price. Both the samāʿ and the dawrah are open to brothers and sisters.

What does online registration include?

A live stream of all six texts, each day's lessons on the student portal for revision with lifetime access — the same as in-person students — the six texts and the framed certificate posted to you, and the online examination. The price is the same as in person. There is no ijāzah online; the samāʿ is in person only. Online registration closes on 13 December.

Where

Masjid At-Taqwa, Leicester

Masjid At-Taqwa

Masjid At-Taqwa, 1 Harewood Street, Leicester LE5 3LX

All the samāʿ sittings and the lessons are held at Masjid At-Taqwa, and the reading runs around the December jamāʿah times. The public gatherings are held there too.

The masjid is a short drive or bus ride from Leicester station. If you come by car, please park in the surrounding streets with consideration for the neighbours.

  • Masjid At-TaqwaAll sittings and classes1 Harewood Street, Leicester LE5 3LX
  • Masjid FidaFree stay and breakfast9 Osmaston Road, Leicester LE5 5JN
Directions on Google Maps

Jamāʿah times in December

Ẓuhr
12:30
ʿAṣr
14:15
Maghrib
15:55
ʿIshāʾ
19:30
Jumuʿah
12:45

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Contact us

For questions about enrolment, accommodation or sponsorship:

سماعُ الموطأِ كاملًا، ودورةٌ علميةٌ مكثفةٌ في ستةِ كتبٍ، على كبارِ المشايخ

16 – 27 December 2026 · Rajab 1448 · Masjid At-Taqwa, Leicester

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