A free online course for new Muslims: what to look for, and one you can start today

What a good first course should cover

Most material online for new Muslims is either too much at once or too little in the wrong order. A first course has one job: to get you believing rightly and praying correctly, then to build out from there. In practice that means:

• Belief first, briefly. What the Shahadah means, who Allah is, what worship is, and the pillars of faith. Enough to know what you have said yes to; not a theology degree.
• Purity and prayer next, in full. Ghusl, Wudu, the prayer times, and the prayer itself step by step, with the words and their meanings. This is where a first course earns its keep.
• Then the rest of the pillars: fasting Ramadan, Zakah and Hajj, in plain terms, before each one becomes due.
• Daily life last. Food, dress, family, marriage: the questions that come once the prayer is settled.
• A person, not just videos. Someone who hears you recite and tells you kindly what to fix, and somewhere to ask the question the lesson did not cover.
• Sources you can trust. A course should be able to tell you which books it is built from, who wrote them, and who checked them.

How Tayseer works

Tayseer is the International Islamic College's free course for adult new Muslims and anyone starting to practise from the beginning. It is built in exactly the order above.

• Four levels, 41 lessons, under six hours of video in all. Most lessons are under ten minutes; the longest is nine. Level 1 takes you from the Shahadah to praying all five prayers on your own.
• Six subjects: Belief, Purity, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah and Hajj, with a welcome lesson at the start and a short set of “living as a Muslim” lessons at the end.
• Every lesson has five parts: watch a short video, read a short page in plain English, remember three points, check yourself with a few easy questions, and practise one small thing today.
• A memorisation tool for the words of the prayer and the short chapters of the Qur'an, in English letters with meanings, a few lines at a time.
• A teacher who hears you. Record the required recitations on your phone and send them. A teacher listens and replies with kind help on any words to practise. Only your teachers hear your recordings.
• Level checks you cannot fail out of. Twelve questions at the end of each level, no timer, 80% to pass, as many tries as you like. Already know some of it? Take a level's check straight away and skip ahead.
• A certificate of completion when you pass all four level checks and have your recitations approved. It carries its own number that anyone can check on the College's website.
• Private by design. Your account is private, and the course's emails never mention religion in the subject line.

Built from three trusted books

Every ruling in the course comes from one of three books, each written by scholars and then reviewed by other scholars. The belief lessons follow Usul al-Iman (The Foundations of Faith), by three scholars and reviewed by two more. The purity, prayer, fasting, Zakah and Hajj lessons follow al-Fiqh al-Muyassar (Fiqh Made Easy), written by four professors of fiqh and reviewed by a committee of specialists. The words of the prayer and the daily remembrances come from al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a (Remembrance and Supplication), which includes only what is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Where a question new Muslims often ask is not in those books, the course answers it from a named scholar or fatwa body and says so. Where a question needs a scholar rather than a lesson, it tells you to ask one. You can read how the course was made and the full written syllabus before you sign up.

Who it is for

Adults, eighteen or over, who have become Muslim, or who grew up Muslim and never learned the basics properly, or who are simply starting to practise. You need a phone or a computer, an email address, and about ten minutes a day. You do not need Arabic, a teacher nearby, or any previous study.

It is also useful for someone who is thinking seriously about Islam and wants to see what a Muslim actually does each day. The lessons do not pressure anyone; they explain.

What it costs

Nothing, and there is no paid tier behind it. The College runs on donations and made this course free because the people who need it most are often the least able to pay, and because teaching a new Muslim how to pray should never have a price on it.

The honest limits

• The certificate is the College's own. It is a certificate of completion, not a formal qualification, and the College is not an accredited awarding body. It shows that you finished the course and that a teacher approved your recitations; nothing more.
• The College is new. It was founded in October 2025. It is honest about that, and it has put its effort into the quality of the sources rather than into claims about itself.
• Six hours of video does not make a scholar. The course teaches what every Muslim must know and practise. It tells you, lesson by lesson, where the questions begin that need a scholar.
• It is not a substitute for people. You still need a masjid, a teacher you can sit with, and Muslims around you. The course's last lesson is about how to find them and keep learning.
• The lessons open soon. Sign-up is open now, and you will be told the moment the first level opens. The written syllabus and a preview are available to read today.

How to sign up

Go to the course page, read the overview, and sign up with your email address. It takes a minute. If you would rather read first, start with what to do in your first week or how to pray for beginners, both written from the course's own syllabus.