Masjid Fida × International Islamic College · Leicester
at-Taʾṣīl · التأصيلFoundation Diplomain Islamic Studies
وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ
…and those firmly rooted in knowledge. · Āl ʿImrān 3:7
Foundations first.
100
Hours
One full academic year
3 × 1
Evenings × hour
Mon · Tue · Wed, 8–9pm
16+
Ages
Brothers and sisters welcome
- Starts
- Monday 21 September 2026
- ends Friday 16 July 2027
- When
- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8.00–9.00pm
- every week
- Venue
- Masjid Fida
- 9 Osmaston Road, Leicester LE5 5JN
- Fees
- £40 a month
- £490 for the year including the Diploma examination
Taught by Ustādh Emran Ahmed
The idea
Foundations first. Firmly rooted.
Most of us finished madrasah at thirteen able to read the Qur'an, and then stopped. The years that follow — sixth form, university, work, family — are the years in which a Muslim decides who they are, and they are the years we are given the least.
at-Taʾṣīl — the Foundation Diploma in Islamic Studies — is the next step: for sixth-formers, university students, working professionals and anyone sixteen or over who wants to study properly. A cohort of brothers and sisters studies the foundational texts of the Madinah curriculum three evenings a week for a full academic year, learns Arabic from the Islamic University of Madinah's own coursebook to a defined level, and carries real responsibility in the masjid from the first week.
The name is honest about the level. Taʾṣīl is what the scholars call this stage: laying the foundations — the short, sound texts on which everything else is built. The goal is what the Qur'an calls ar-rāsikhūn fil-ʿilm, those firmly rooted in knowledge; a Muslim who has memorised al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah with its proofs, who prays exactly as the ḥadīth describe and knows which ḥadīth each action rests on, is not easily moved — not by doubt, not by extremes, not by the noise on a phone.
And it is a real diploma-sized year, designed to UK higher-study conventions: taught sessions, directed daily study, weekly written work, termly essays and formal examinations — some 380–400 hours of study in all. Every text begun is finished, every skill examined; nothing waits for a second year.
A word from the teacher
I have spent more than ten years in educational leadership, more than eight of them as a head teacher, and over a decade as an imam. I hold ijāzāt from mashāyikh in different parts of the world, including Madinah. What I bring to this programme is the two together: the texts, read the way they were read to me, and the experience of what actually works with teenagers and young adults. The same gap appears every year — a capable young Muslim, at sixth form, at university or in a first job, with nowhere serious to go next. This programme is what I would want for my own children. Bring us a young person who can read the Qur'an and is willing to work. We will do the rest together.
Ustādh Emran Ahmed
Founder, International Islamic College · Programme Lead & Teacher
What the year produces
- Three creed texts and the Forty Ḥadīth memorised in Arabic, with their proofs
- Purification and prayer performed as the evidences describe, and the ability to lead them
- Arabic Level 1 — Foundation — examined and recorded on the certificate
- A five-minute talk delivered with evidences, and a community event run as a team
Short enough to memorise
Every core text is a matn you can carry in memory for life.
Every point with its proof
Belief and ruling are learned with the āyah or ḥadīth behind them — the habit the texts themselves teach.
Something real to carry
A rota, a talk, a service log, an event: responsibility from week one, not a certificate at the end.
At a glance
One year. Six strands. One hundred hours.
- ʿAqīdah
- Fiqh
- Tafsīr
- Ḥadīth
- Arabic
- Leadership
- 100 hours
العقيدة
ʿAqīdah
16 sessionsal-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah · al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ · Nawāqiḍ al-Islām
The creed, learned the Madinah way: three short texts memorised in Arabic, every point paired with its proof.
الفقه
Fiqh
32 sessionsal-Fiqh al-Muyassar — Purification and Prayer complete, Fasting before Ramaḍān, Funerals
Systematic fiqh with every ruling paired with its evidence from the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah — the King Fahd Complex's al-Fiqh al-Muyassar, one session every week: purification and prayer complete, fasting before Ramaḍān, funerals.
التفسير
Tafsīr
14 sessionsMukhtaṣar Ibn Kathīr — al-Fātiḥah and the whole of Juzʾ ʿAmma
All thirty-seven sūrahs of the last juzʾ and al-Fātiḥah, understood through the abridged Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr — tafsīr by transmission — with a word list for every sūrah and four sessions in Ramaḍān itself.
الحديث
Ḥadīth
weekly tasmīʿthe Forty of an-Nawawī memorised · the aḥādīth of the rulings of worship
The Forty Ḥadīth memorised in full in the weekly tasmīʿ slot — two or three a week with a one-line meaning, all forty-two by July — and the aḥādīth of purification and prayer met as evidences in the fiqh strand.
اللغة العربية
Arabic
32 sessionsMadinah Book 1 · an introduction to al-Ājurrūmiyyah · Arabic Level 1
Target-based, every week of the year: by July a student reads, writes and parses basic classical Arabic at a defined Foundation level, and the texts stop being translations.
القيادة والمسؤولية
Leadership & Responsibility
6 sessionsḤilyat Ṭālib al-ʿIlm · ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm · Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīn
Six Leadership Labs and a year of real responsibility: leading the class, speaking with knowledge, serving the masjid, running a community event.
Each hour follows the Madinah method: the matn read in Arabic, translated, explained through its recognised commentary, its evidences examined, then heard back from memory. al-Fiqh al-Muyassar runs once every week — 32 sessions in sequence, every ruling with its evidence. Tafsīr's fourteen include the four-week Ramaḍān Circle.
The texts
The bookshelf of a first-year student in Madinah
Every core text is a recognised matn of the Salafi curriculum, chosen because it is short, sound and provable, and because it can be carried in memory for life; the supporting texts are its standard commentaries and readers. Where each sits in the Madinah tradition is noted so that you can see what you are joining.
ʿAqīdah
الأصول الثلاثة وأدلتها
al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah wa-Adillatuhā
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 1206H)
Core matn — memorised in full
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn; Sharḥ of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān
At Madinah · The first creed text of the Madinah ladder, studied in the University's preparatory institutes before Kitāb at-Tawḥīd and al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah.
ʿAqīdah
القواعد الأربع
al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
Core matn — memorised
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān
At Madinah · Taught alongside al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah as the second of the author's short creed texts.
ʿAqīdah
نواقض الإسلام
Nawāqiḍ al-Islām
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb
Core matn — memorised
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān (with its questions and answers)
At Madinah · The third of the short creed texts; completes the beginner's set.
Fiqh
الفقه الميسَّر في ضوء الكتاب والسنة
al-Fiqh al-Muyassar fī Ḍawʾ al-Kitāb wa-s-Sunnah
A panel of scholars — King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur'an, Madinah (1424H)
The spine — Book of Purification and Book of Prayer complete (including Funerals), the essentials of Fasting; every ruling with its evidence
Read with · The book carries its own evidences and references; ash-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ and the fatāwā of the Permanent Committee for the teacher
At Madinah · Published by the King Fahd Complex in Madinah under the Ministry of Islamic Affairs: a clear, comprehensive fiqh of worship and transactions that also flags the common errors people fall into, each ruling with its evidence from the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah.
Ḥadīth
الأربعون النووية
al-Arbaʿūn an-Nawawiyyah
Imām Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf an-Nawawī (d. 676H)
Memorised in full through the weekly tasmīʿ slot, with a one-line meaning of each
Read with · Ibn ʿUthaymīn's Explanatory Notes for the teacher
At Madinah · Memorised early in the Madinah ladder, in the preparatory institutes.
Tafsīr
مختصر تفسير ابن كثير
Mukhtaṣar Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr (the abridged Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-ʿAẓīm)
al-Ḥāfiẓ Ismāʿīl ibn Kathīr ad-Dimashqī (d. 774H)
Core text — al-Fātiḥah and all of Juzʾ ʿAmma
Read with · Tafsīr as-Saʿdī and Ibn ʿUthaymīn's Tafsīr Juzʾ ʿAmma for the teacher
At Madinah · The foremost tafsīr by transmission — the Qur'an explained by the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the Salaf — standard in Madinah's institutes; the abridgement keeps the maʾthūr core within reach of a first-year student.
Arabic
دروس اللغة العربية لغير الناطقين بها — الجزء الأول
Arabic Course for English-Speaking Students, Book 1
Dr V. Abdur Rahim, Islamic University of Madinah
Core coursebook — completed in 24 sessions
Read with · Key, handwriting and dictation workbooks; free lessons at madinaharabic.com
At Madinah · Written for the University's Arabic Language Institute by its long-serving professor of Arabic, and taught there for decades.
Arabic
الآجرومية
al-Ājurrūmiyyah
Ibn Ājurrūm aṣ-Ṣanhājī (d. 723H)
Introduction — kalām, the parts of speech, iʿrāb and its signs, the marfūʿāt (6 sessions)
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn; at-Tuḥfah as-Saniyyah for the teacher
At Madinah · The first grammar matn of the Madinah tradition, memorised before Qaṭr an-Nadā and the Alfiyyah.
Leadership
حلية طالب العلم
Ḥilyat Ṭālib al-ʿIlm
Shaykh Bakr Abū Zayd (d. 1429H)
Leadership text — selected chapters
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
At Madinah · The standard text on the etiquette of the seeker of knowledge, explained by the senior scholars of the Kingdom.
Leadership
الرحيق المختوم
ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm (The Sealed Nectar)
Shaykh Ṣafī ar-Raḥmān al-Mubārakpūrī (d. 1427H)
Sīrah case studies
At Madinah · The prize-winning sīrah of the Muslim World League competition; standard sīrah reading in Madinah circles.
Leadership
رياض الصالحين
Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīn
Imām an-Nawawī
Character chapters
Read with · Sharḥ of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
At Madinah · Read in masjid circles across the Muslim world; the character text of the Salafi curriculum everywhere.
Your week
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8–9pm
Monday · every week
Arabic
Madinah Book 1 in 24 sessions, then al-Ājurrūmiyyah and the Level 1 examinations. Handwriting, dictation, reading the week's ḥadīth as Arabic.
Tuesday · alternating
ʿAqīdah / Fiqh
Week A: al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah and its sister texts. Week B: al-Fiqh al-Muyassar continues.
Wednesday · alternating
Fiqh / Tafsīr · Lab
Week A: al-Fiqh al-Muyassar. Week B: the abridged Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, and six times a year a Leadership Lab.
- Fiqh
- Tafsīr
- Fiqh
- Lab
Inside the hour
| 0–5 min | The Rāʿī of the Week opens: adhkār, register, timekeeping |
|---|---|
| 5–15 | Tasmīʿ — the week's memorisation heard back, including two or three of the Forty |
| 15–50 | The text: read in Arabic, translated, explained, its evidences examined |
| 50–60 | Questions, consolidation, the week's memorisation set |
| Term 3, Wed | The hour opens with the students' khāṭirahs; tasmīʿ runs 10–18, the text from 18 |
At home
45–60 minutes of directed study a day — memorisation, Arabic exercises and the weekly written task, which once a term is a structured essay. Each student — and the parents of under-18s — receive a one-page record each term showing what has been memorised and heard.
A sample fortnight in October
| Week 3 · Monday | ArabicLesson 3 — the article |
|---|---|
| Week 3 · Tuesday | ʿAqīdahThe three matters every Muslim must know |
| Week 3 · Wednesday | FiqhWuḍūʾ — its ruling, conditions and obligations |
| Week 4 · Monday | ArabicLesson 4 — prepositions and the majrūr |
| Week 4 · Tuesday | FiqhWuḍūʾ — its sunan, what breaks it, what needs it |
| Week 4 · Wednesday | Leadership LabAmānah — leadership is responsibility; the etiquette of the seeker |
Ramaḍān Circle
During Ramaḍān the three evenings become one weekly circle of tafsīr — four sessions on the sūrahs of Juzʾ ʿAmma, including Sūrat al-Qadr in its month. The day and time are announced in January so that they do not clash with tarāwīḥ.
The calendar
Every week of the year
Outside Ramaḍān, sessions run Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8–9pm at Masjid Fida. Week A: Tuesday ʿaqīdah, Wednesday fiqh. Week B: Tuesday fiqh, Wednesday tafsīr — or a Leadership Lab in weeks 4, 8, 16, 20, 24 and 28. Monday is always Arabic.
Term 1
Mon 21 Sep – Fri 18 Dec 2026
12teaching weeks
Breaks and notes · Half-term 19–23 Oct · Winter break 21 Dec – 1 Jan (last session Wed 16 Dec)
Term 2
Mon 4 Jan – Fri 19 Mar 2027
6teaching weeks
Breaks and notes · Ramaḍān Circle 8 Feb – 5 Mar (one session a week, day and time announced in January) · ʿĪd al-Fiṭr break 8–12 Mar
Term 3
Mon 5 Apr – Fri 16 Jul 2027
14teaching weeks
Breaks and notes · Easter 22 Mar – 2 Apr · Bank holiday 3 May · ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā c. 17 May · Half-term 31 May – 4 Jun
Closing
Week of 12 July 2027
Capstone community evening · the Diploma ceremony at Masjid Fida
Thirty-two full teaching weeks (96 sessions) plus the four-week Ramaḍān Circle: one hundred contact hours. Dates follow Leicester school terms; ʿĪd dates are confirmed by moon-sighting.
Leadership and responsibility
Six Labs, and a year of carrying real weight
In Islam leadership is a trust before it is a position. “Every one of you is a shepherd, and every one of you is responsible for his flock.” The programme teaches it the way the Prophet ﷺ taught his young companions: by giving them something real to carry.
Lab 1 · Term 1
Amānah — leadership is responsibility; the etiquette of the seeker
‘Every one of you is a shepherd…’ (Bukhārī and Muslim); what leadership means in Islam and what it does not; Ḥilyat Ṭālib al-ʿIlm on ādāb with oneself, the teacher and companions; the Rāʿī of the Week rota begins; each student writes a personal ʿahd
Lab 2 · Term 1
The Prophet ﷺ as leader
Three sīrah case studies from ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm: shūrā at the Trench, patience at Ḥudaybiyah, mercy at the Conquest of Makkah
Lab 3 · Term 2
Young leaders among the Ṣaḥābah
Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr the ambassador; Usāmah ibn Zayd the commander; Ibn ʿAbbās and Zayd ibn Thābit the scholars; ʿĀʾishah the teacher of the Ummah; a personal Ramaḍān leadership plan
Lab 4 · Term 3
Speaking with knowledge — the khāṭirah workshop
Building a five-minute talk: āyah, ḥadīth, one point, one action; delivery; the adab of speech. Every student delivers one in Term 3, one, two or three a Wednesday as numbers require
Lab 5 · Term 3
Leading in the masjid
Imāmah and adhān in practice; leading adhkār; running a ḥalaqah; the capstone evening is planned — teams, roles, timeline, budget, risk
Lab 6 · Term 3
Character under pressure; capstone rehearsal
Anger, patience, honesty, friendship, the phone in your hand — from Riyāḍ aṣ-Ṣāliḥīn; daʿwah with wisdom (an-Naḥl 16:125); the capstone evening rehearsed
Every week, not just Lab weeks
Rāʿī of the Week
One or two students carry the week: register, opening adhkār, timekeeping, the room left tidy, newcomers welcomed. Everyone leads at least once in the year.
The khāṭirah
From Term 3 every Wednesday session opens with students' five-minute talks with evidences — one, two or three a week as numbers require — prepared in Lab 4 and assessed.
The khidmah log
Ten hours of recorded service to the masjid across the year, signed off by the masjid.
The matn tracker
A personal record of every text memorised and heard by the teacher: al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah, al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ, Nawāqiḍ al-Islām, and the Forty — two or three of which are set each week and heard in the tasmīʿ slot, so that all forty-two are memorised by July.
Peer teaching
Each student re-teaches one Arabic point to the class; teaching is the fastest way to learn and the surest test of understanding.
The capstone
In the closing week the cohort plans and runs a community evening at Masjid Fida: recitation, khāṭirahs, a quiz for younger children, hospitality. Roles are real and the teacher steps back.
What you will be able to do
By July 2027
ʿAqīdah
Recite al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah, al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ and Nawāqiḍ al-Islām from memory and explain each point with its evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Fiqh
Perform purification and prayer as the evidences describe, give the evidence for each ruling, call the adhān, lead a prayer and lead the funeral prayer.
Tafsīr
Explain the meaning and lessons of al-Fātiḥah and every sūrah of Juzʾ ʿAmma, and pray with understanding.
Ḥadīth
Recite the Forty Ḥadīth in Arabic, say where each is found, and explain what it proves.
Arabic
Reach Arabic Level 1 (Foundation): read and write voweled Arabic, form and parse basic nominal and verbal sentences, and translate a short sūrah or ḥadīth with a dictionary.
Leadership & Responsibility
Deliver a five-minute khāṭirah with evidences, lead adhkār and prayer, and plan and run a community event as a team.
Arabic Level 1 · Foundation
A defined, examined level so that a graduate knows exactly what they can do in Arabic — and so does anyone who reads the certificate.
- Read any voweled Arabic text accurately and write it from dictation
- Form and understand the nominal sentence (mubtadaʾ and khabar), the iḍāfah, the adjective phrase and the prepositional phrase
- Use the demonstratives, the detached and attached pronouns, and gender agreement
- Recognise and form the sound and broken plurals and the dual, and count from one to twenty
- Use the past-tense verb with its subject pronouns and build the verbal sentence
- Name the parts of speech and the signs of rafʿ, naṣb, jarr and jazm, and parse a simple sentence — the opening of al-Ājurrūmiyyah
- Command a core vocabulary of about five hundred words, including two hundred from Juzʾ ʿAmma and the ḥadīth studied
- Translate a short sūrah or a ḥadīth of the Forty with a dictionary, and hold a two-minute basic conversation
Assessed · A one-hour written paper (dictation, grammar, translation of a ḥadīth and a short sūrah) and a ten-minute oral (reading, parsing, conversation). Three target checks during the year show each student where they stand.
How progress is measured
| Component | Weight | What counts |
|---|---|---|
| Tasmīʿ (oral memorisation) | 20% | The three creed texts and the Forty recited to the teacher |
| Termly examinations | 25% | ʿAqīdah, fiqh and tafsīr papers; a practical prayer assessment |
| Arabic Level 1 examinations | 20% | Three target checks, then the final written and oral examinations |
| Written coursework | 15% | One short task a week and a structured essay each term (800–1,200 words), marked with feedback |
| Portfolio | 10% | Khāṭirah delivered, Rāʿī weeks, khidmah log, capstone role |
| Attendance and conduct | 10% | 90% attendance expected; ādāb of the ḥalaqah kept |
Distinction 80% and above, Merit 65%, Pass 50%, with the memorisation component passed in every case. A student who misses a paper through illness sits it within a fortnight.
The award
The Foundation Diploma. Awarded by the International Islamic College at Pass, Merit or Distinction, naming the texts completed and the Arabic level achieved. Awarded to students who sit and pass the end-of-year examinations (entry fee £50, optional); a student who does not enter receives a transcript of the year's study instead.
Ḥāfiẓ al-Mutūn endorsement. For students who recite the three creed texts and the Forty Ḥadīth in full.
A year that stands alone. Every text begun this year is finished this year. Nothing in the programme depends on a second year; a graduate leaves with the skills above and the tools to read further texts with a teacher.
The graduate
- Recite al-Uṣūl ath-Thalāthah, al-Qawāʿid al-Arbaʿ and Nawāqiḍ al-Islām from memory and explain every point with its proof.
- Perform purification and prayer as the evidences describe, and give the evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah for each ruling.
- Call the adhān, lead a prayer, lead the funeral prayer, and lead the adhkār after ṣalāh.
- Recite the Forty Ḥadīth in Arabic, say where each is found, and explain what each proves.
- Explain al-Fātiḥah and every sūrah of Juzʾ ʿAmma, and pray with understanding.
- Read, write and parse basic classical Arabic at Level 1 (Foundation), with a core vocabulary of about five hundred words.
- Deliver a five-minute talk with evidences, plan and run a community event, and keep a record of service.
- Summarise a text or a ruling clearly in writing, with its evidence.
- Know the limit of a student: ask a scholar, never issue a verdict.
Benchmarked to UK higher study
A diploma-sized year, by the book
UK courses are measured in notional learning hours — everything the course asks of a student, not just time in class — at ten hours to one credit. The Foundation Diploma is designed, sized and assessed to those conventions.
| What the year asks of you | Hours |
|---|---|
| Taught sessions — three evenings a week, and the Ramaḍān Circle | 100 |
| Directed daily study — 45–60 minutes, six days a week | 176 |
| Weekly assignments and three termly essays | 48 |
| Ramaḍān reflection journal | 6 |
| Revision and examinations | 25 |
| Portfolio — khidmah, khāṭirah, capstone | 24 |
| Total notional learning hours | ≈ 380–400 notional hours · ≈ 38–40 credits |
Diploma-sized
UK convention reserves the title Diploma for courses of 37 credits (370 hours) or more. This programme is designed above that threshold — nearly double a typical evening course.
Written to FHEQ conventions
Learning outcomes in the four FHEQ domains, marked written work with feedback, structured essays, formal examinations and defined grade descriptors — the design conventions of the UK Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.
Foundation stage
Pitched at the foundation stage of higher study — the bridge from Level 3 into Level 4, as in a university foundation year: taught texts and defined outcomes, with analytical writing built up term by term.
The Foundation Diploma is the College's own award. The College is independent: the award is not a regulated qualification, is not accredited, and carries no university credit.
It is benchmarked to these national conventions in volume, workload and assessment — and it says exactly what it is.
Points of reference: the QAA Framework for Higher Education Qualifications; the QAA subject benchmark statement for Theology and Religious Studies; the Regulated Qualifications Framework sizing conventions.
Who it is for
Open to brothers and sisters
- Aged 16 or over on 1 September 2026 — sixth-formers, university students and working professionals alike; no upper age limit.
- Able to read the Qur'an fluently in Arabic script — the Arabic strand moves at the Madinah pace.
- Three hours in class each week — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8.00–9.00pm — with 45–60 minutes of directed study a day, one short written assignment a week and a structured essay each term.
- Attendance of 90% or better; parents of under-18s are told of every absence.
- The ādāb of the ḥalaqah: phones away, teacher and companions honoured, the room left better than it was found.
- Parental consent for students under 18.
Brothers and sisters
One cohort, open to brothers and sisters aged sixteen or over on 1 September 2026, with no upper age limit and no cap on numbers. Under-18s attend with written parental consent, and their parents are told of every absence.
Safeguarding
Parents of under-18s receive the programme's safeguarding statement and the named lead's contact details before the first session. Every session is held on masjid premises; seating and delivery arrangements follow the masjid's practice, and the sessions on personal fiqh are taught separately to brothers and sisters.
Fees
Forty pounds a month
£40a month · eleven months, September to July
- £440tuition for the year
- £50end-of-year examination fee · optional to sit, required for the Diploma
- £490for the year including the Diploma examination, plus the class book bundle at cost
£40 a month for eleven months (September to July): £440 for the year. The end-of-year examination fee is £50 — the examination is optional, but the Diploma is awarded only to students who sit and pass it. £490 for the year including the Diploma examination, plus the class book bundle at cost.
No enrolment or registration fee, and no other charges. The book bundle's price is announced before the programme starts. Payment is expected by bank standing order; the College never takes card details by phone. A 14-day cooling-off period applies, and monthly billing means a student who withdraws owes nothing beyond the month in progress.
Terms of Enrolment, Fees & Refunds and the Privacy NoticeThe teacher
Ustādh Emran Ahmed
Founder, International Islamic College · Programme Lead & Teacher
Ustādh Emran Ahmed is the founder of the International Islamic College, Leicester. He has more than ten years in educational leadership, more than eight of them as a head teacher, has served as an imam for over a decade, and holds ijāzāt from mashāyikh in different parts of the world, including Madinah. He teaches every strand of the programme himself.
Academic Lead
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī
Co-founder of the College · Academic Lead
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq at-Turkmānī oversees the curriculum and the choice of commentaries, reviews samples of marked essays and final examinations each term, and — independent of the teaching of this programme — hears complaints and academic appeals.
Questions
Asked often, answered plainly
Who is it for?
Anyone aged sixteen or over on 1 September 2026 who can read the Qur'an fluently in Arabic script and wants to study properly: sixth-formers, university students, working professionals, parents — brothers and sisters alike, with no upper age limit. There are no other entry qualifications, only a short conversation with the teacher before a place is confirmed.
Do I need to know Arabic already?
No. You need to read the Qur'an fluently; the grammar and vocabulary are taught from the first week using Madinah Book 1, at the Madinah pace. Explanation is in English; the texts, the evidences and, increasingly, the reading are in Arabic. By July you sit the Arabic Level 1 examinations and the level is recorded on your certificate.
I am under 18 — can I join?
Yes, if you are sixteen or over on 1 September 2026. Students under eighteen attend with written parental consent, their parents are told of every absence, and they receive the programme's safeguarding statement and the named safeguarding lead's contact details before the first session.
What if I miss sessions?
We expect 90% attendance: the programme is three hours a week and every text is finished this year, so a run of absences is hard to recover. If you miss a session, the week's memorisation and written task still stand and the teacher will tell you what to catch up. A paper missed through illness is sat within a fortnight. Parents of under-18s are told of every absence.
What is the £50 examination fee?
£50 is the end-of-year examination fee, paid in the summer term when you enter for the third-term papers and the Arabic Level 1 written and oral examinations. Sitting is optional, but the Diploma is awarded only to students who sit and pass; a student who chooses not to enter receives a transcript of the year's study and marks instead. It is refunded in full if you withdraw before sitting or the College cancels the sitting. Tuition is £440 (£40 a month for eleven months); the full year including the Diploma examination is £490, plus the class book bundle at cost.
Is the Diploma accredited?
The Foundation Diploma is the College's own award. The College is independent: the award is not a regulated qualification, is not accredited, and carries no university credit. It is designed, sized and assessed to UK higher-study conventions — about 380–400 notional hours, written to FHEQ conventions at the foundation stage — and it says exactly what it is: a College award naming the texts completed and the Arabic level reached. Our public roadmap sets out, stage by stage, what we will claim only when it is reached.
Which books do I need, and what do they cost?
The class book bundle — the Arabic matn booklets for memorisation, the English editions of the commentaries, and Madinah Book 1 with its workbooks — is supplied at cost; the price is announced before the programme starts. Several of the texts are also available free online. Nothing else is required beyond a notebook and the will to memorise.
How do I apply?
Apply online in about ten minutes: who you are, your Qur'an reading, why you want to join, and — for under-18s — a parent's details and consent. We then arrange a short conversation with the teacher, and if the fit is right you receive an offer with the standing-order details. Applying costs nothing. Questions first? Call 07436 436363 or email info@theiic.uk.
Bring us a young person who can read the Qur'an and is willing to work.
Applications for the 2026–27 year are open. The form takes about ten minutes, costs nothing, and is followed by a short conversation with the teacher. Sessions begin Monday 21 September 2026.
Our status, honestly
The Foundation Diploma is the College's own award. The College is independent: the award is not a regulated qualification, is not accredited, and carries no university credit.
at-Taʾṣīl is benchmarked to UK higher-study conventions in volume, workload and assessment, and it says exactly what it is. The International Islamic College is an independent college founded in Leicester in October 2025, not registered with the Office for Students, and its accreditation roadmap is public: we never claim a stage before it is reached.