How this course was made

The course teaches adult new Muslims, and anyone new to practising, the foundations of six subjects: Belief, Purity, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah and Hajj. It does not rest on our own opinions. It is built on three books published by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur'an in Madinah, in one series written "for the generality of Muslims":

• Usul al-Iman fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah ("The Foundations of Faith in the Light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah")

  Subject

  Belief

  Edition

  Ministry of Islamic Affairs / King Fahd Complex, 1st ed., 1421 AH

• al-Fiqh al-Muyassar fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah ("Fiqh Made Easy in the Light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah")

  Subjects

  Purity, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah, Hajj

  Edition

  King Fahd Complex, 1424 AH

• al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah ("Remembrance and Supplication in the Light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah")

  Subject

  The words of the prayer, and essential remembrance

  Edition

  Ministry of Islamic Affairs / King Fahd Complex, 1st ed., 1422 AH

One lesson (living with non-Muslim family) also uses a fourth book from the same publisher, al-Tafsir al-Muyassar, for the explanation of two short passages of the Qur'an. Where a new Muslim needs an answer that none of these books gives, the College looked first to the books of this series, then to the published rulings of senior scholars, and marked every such answer as College guidance (section 5.5).

Every ruling in the course is recorded with the page of the printed Arabic book it comes from, so any teacher, scholar or learner can check it.

We considered the many introductory books available and chose this series for eight reasons.

1. Written for exactly our learners. The Complex states that the series was produced so that people "may learn their religion in an easy, simple style". al-Fiqh al-Muyassar says that its purpose "in the first place" is to benefit "the generality of people who are neither specialists in the Shari'ah sciences nor students of them", and that it was therefore kept "far from prolixity, sub-division and the mention of differences of opinion". A new Muslim needs exactly that.
2. Every ruling comes with its evidence. All three books tie each point to the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah. al-Fiqh al-Muyassar's method requires sourcing every hadith and giving the grade of any hadith outside al-Bukhari and Muslim. al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a restricts itself to remembrance that is authentically established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
3. The work of committees of specialists, then reviewed. None of these books is one person's opinion. al-Fiqh al-Muyassar was written by four professors of fiqh, then submitted to "a specialist advisory committee to review it". Usul al-Iman was written by three scholars and reviewed by two more (section 3).
4. One way, taught clearly. In questions where scholars differ, al-Fiqh al-Muyassar restricts itself "to the preponderant view which the evidence supports, without resorting to mentioning the opinions". That matches the College's first design rule for this course: teach one valid way well, and say only "other views exist" where the book itself does.
5. One coherent series. The three books share one publisher, one purpose and one method. The Minister's foreword to Usul al-Iman announced the series in advance: books on belief, then "on fiqh, and on dhikr and du'a". One of the three authors of Usul al-Iman, Dr 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Badr, is also the author of al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a. Belief, worship and the words of worship therefore come from one consistent school of teaching.
6. A trusted publisher. The King Fahd Complex prints the Madinah mushaf and its translations into many languages, and its books pass through review committees before publication. The series is distributed widely and free of charge, so learners and teachers anywhere can obtain the same books.
7. A path beyond this course. al-Fiqh al-Muyassar is already the fiqh text of the College's at-Ta'sil Foundation Diploma. A learner who finishes this course meets the same book, in more depth, on the next step.
8. The right coverage. Usul al-Iman covers all six pillars of faith. The first five books of al-Fiqh al-Muyassar are exactly Purity, Prayer, Zakah, Fasting and Hajj. al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a supplies the words said in the prayer, which al-Fiqh al-Muyassar names but does not set out in full.

The names below are taken from the books' own front matter, as printed.

Usul al-Iman fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah (Belief)

• Prepared by: Dr Salih ibn Sa'd al-Suhaymi, Dr 'Abd al-Razzaq ibn 'Abd al-Muhsin al-'Abbad (al-Badr) and Dr Ibrahim ibn 'Amir al-Ruhayli.
• Reviewed and worded by: Dr 'Ali ibn Muhammad Nasir Faqihi and Dr Ahmad ibn 'Atiyyah al-Ghamidi.
• Foreword: Shaykh Salih ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Al al-Shaykh, then Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance and General Supervisor of the Complex.
• Published by: the Ministry, through the King Fahd Complex, 1st edition, 1421 AH. About 300 printed pages.
• What it covers: belief in Allah (His lordship, His sole right to worship, His names and attributes), the angels, the revealed books, the messengers, the Last Day, and the Decree; then Islam, iman and ihsan; loyalty and disavowal; the Companions; and holding to the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
• Its own aim: "to give the Muslims insight into the matters of 'aqidah, which is the foundation of iman". It describes its contents as foundations "which every discerning person, young or old, can grasp in the shortest time".

al-Fiqh al-Muyassar fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah (Purity, Prayer, Fasting, Zakah, Hajj)

• Prepared by four professors of fiqh: Professor Dr 'Abd al-'Aziz Mabruk al-Ahmadi, Professor Dr Fayhan ibn Shali al-Mutayri, Professor Dr 'Abd al-Karim ibn Sunaytan al-'Umari, and Professor Dr 'Abdullah ibn Fahd al-Sharif.
• Hadith sourcing: Dr 'Abd al-'Aziz Mabruk al-Ahmadi documented the texts and sourced (takhrij) the hadiths of the whole book.
• Reviewed and worded by: Professor Dr 'Ali ibn Muhammad Nasir Faqihi and Dr Jamal ibn Muhammad al-Sayyid, of the Complex's Scholarly Affairs. The book was then reviewed by a specialist advisory committee.
• Foreword: Shaykh Salih ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Al al-Shaykh.
• Published by: the King Fahd Complex, 1424 AH. Fourteen books of fiqh, from Purity to Judgement and Testimony.
• Its stated method includes: dividing topics into books, chapters and issues; giving the evidence for every ruling; giving only the preponderant view where scholars differ; citing every verse by surah and number; sourcing every hadith and giving its grade; explaining unfamiliar words; drawing on contemporary works such as Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymin's al-Sharh al-Mumti' and Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan's al-Mulakhkhas al-Fiqhi alongside the classical sources; and warning against common mistakes.

al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-s-Sunnah (the words of the prayer)

• Author: Shaykh Dr 'Abd al-Razzaq ibn 'Abd al-Muhsin al-Badr, named as "the author of this book" in the Minister's foreword. He is also one of the three authors of Usul al-Iman.
• Foreword: Shaykh Salih ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Al al-Shaykh, with an introduction from the General Secretariat of the Complex.
• Published by: the Ministry, through the King Fahd Complex, 1st edition, 1422 AH. About 157 printed pages.
• The author's method, in his own words: only what is authentically established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), mostly from al-Bukhari and Muslim; brief sourcing; chapters arranged as in the well-known books of remembrance; brevity; explanation of unusual words; and full vowel marks on the hadiths so they are read correctly.
• What the course uses: the section on the remembrance of wudu, the masjid, the adhan and the prayer (pages 71–97). Its other chapters, such as morning and evening remembrance, iftar and ruqyah, are used for a small number of answers to learners' questions.

al-Tafsir al-Muyassar (one lesson only)

A concise explanation of the whole Qur'an prepared by a committee of scholars and published by the King Fahd Complex (2nd, revised edition, 1430 AH). The course uses it only for Luqman 31:14–15 and al-Mumtahanah 60:8–9, in the lesson on kindness to non-Muslim parents and relatives.

• The Arabic first. We worked from digital editions of the Arabic text arranged by the printed page numbers, so every passage can be checked against the physical book.
• Our own translation, made to a strict rule. The College translated the parts used into English itself:
  • all of Usul al-Iman;
  • the introduction and the five worship books of al-Fiqh al-Muyassar;
  • the prayer section of al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a.

  That is roughly 197,000 words. The rule: translate every sentence and footnote; add nothing; summarise nothing; render Qur'anic verses literally with their references; keep hadith references exactly as printed; and flag any uncertain rendering for a scholar instead of guessing.

• Every page checked twice. An independent checker who had not done the translation compared every page against the Arabic, sentence by sentence and footnote by footnote. An editor then re-checked each reported problem against the Arabic before correcting it. In the first two books this produced 106 findings: 1 critical, 12 major and 93 minor. 92 were corrected. 14 were declined with reasons; they asked to add commentary or to drop the Arabic of a du'a.
• A second opinion, never copied. The Complex has published its own English edition of Usul al-Iman. We used it only to double-check the meaning of our rendering, and never copied its wording.
• Errors in the print are reported, not silently changed. Where the printed Arabic or the digital copy appears to contain a slip, we translated what is printed and listed it for the Academic Director. Examples: a hadith number with its digits reversed; a missing "except" that turns a promise into a denial; a dropped word in one remembrance that would make it read "we do not worship Him". None of these slips appears in anything a learner will be taught. The review list holds:
  • 106 uncertain renderings;
  • 78 possible print errors that could affect meaning;
  • 101 that are spelling only.
• Side-by-side review copies. For each book, the Arabic and the English sit together, page by page, so the Academic Director can check any line.

5.1 Sorting every ruling

We went through the translated books issue by issue and gave every ruling one of three tags, asking: what does a new Muslim need, and when?

• Essential

  Meaning

  needed in the first months to believe and worship correctly

  How it is used

  taught as a ruling in a lesson

  Count

  173

• Helpful

  Meaning

  worth knowing soon

  How it is used

  a one-line mention or a glossary entry

  Count

  312

• Later

  Meaning

  rare cases and detail best taken with a teacher

  How it is used

  kept in a list for each subject so nothing is silently dropped; a learner can always ask a teacher

  Count

  195

Each Essential item keeps the page it came from and the one clearest piece of evidence the book itself gives for it.

5.2 Building lessons that a new Muslim can finish

• Short lessons. Each lesson is under ten minutes: a short video, a reading of no more than 300 words, three points to remember, a few check questions and one practical step.
• Plain English first. Arabic terms are explained where they first appear, and simplified spellings are used for learners (Salah, Wudu, Zakah), with the full forms kept in the College's own glossary of 190 terms.
• One valid way first, following the book's own preferred position.

5.3 Ordering by need: four levels

A new Muslim needs to pray long before they need the rulings of Hajj. So instead of teaching subject by subject, the 41 lessons are arranged in four levels:

• Level 1

  Focus

  Believe, purify and pray. Goal: pray all five prayers alone

  Lessons

  12

  Minutes

  103

• Level 2

  Focus

  Growing in faith and prayer

  Lessons

  8

  Minutes

  67

• Level 3

  Focus

  The unseen, Ramadan and Zakah

  Lessons

  12

  Minutes

  100

• Level 4

  Focus

  Hajj, and living as a Muslim

  Lessons

  9

  Minutes

  74

Each level ends with a short check. The learner also sends a teacher a recording of the essential recitations, such as al-Fatihah and the tashahhud, so a teacher can help with pronunciation.

5.4 Teaching the prayer in full

al-Fiqh al-Muyassar lists the pillars, the obligatory acts and the sunnahs of the prayer separately. It does not describe the prayer from start to finish. We therefore assembled the full prayer in 18 ordered steps over three lessons:

• the movements and their status come from al-Fiqh al-Muyassar (pages 72–78);
• every word said in each position comes from al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a (pages 77–90), in Arabic, transliteration and English.

Twelve small points that none of the books states outright, such as which rak'ahs are recited aloud, are still taught so the learner can pray fully. Each is marked as College practice for the Academic Director to confirm.

5.5 Answering the questions the books do not answer

Books written for Muslim societies do not answer everything a convert in Britain asks. We listed 71 such questions:

• how one enters Islam, and what happens to one's past;
• non-Muslim parents and family festivals;
• prayer times in British summers;
• inhalers while fasting;
• zakah on pensions;
• the food a learner may eat;
• many others.

For each, a researcher looked in this order:

1. The four books of the series. Some answers were found in later chapters of al-Fiqh al-Muyassar and al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a.
2. The published rulings of senior scholars, using primary texts only:
   • the Permanent Committee for Research and Fatwa;
   • Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz;
   • Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymin;
   • the fiqh councils of the Muslim World League and of Jeddah, for modern medical, financial and astronomical questions.

Every answer quotes its source's Arabic and gives the exact reference. An independent checker then re-opened every source. All 68 researched answers were confirmed (27) or corrected (41). Answers that do not come from the series are labelled College guidance.

Where they sit:

• 59 answers are in the lessons themselves.
• 55 short answers are in each subject's "Questions new Muslims ask", so lessons stay short.
• Three are settled by the Founder's own decisions.
• One question is held back on the Founder's instruction for the Academic Director: how to pray before one can recite al-Fatihah in Arabic.

5.6 The words learners memorise

Forty-seven du'as, remembrances and passages are prepared word by word for the course's memorisation tool, each with transliteration and meaning. Seventeen of them are must-learn: the Shahadah and every word of the prayer. The Arabic is taken exactly from the source page; Qur'anic passages are checked against the Madinah mushaf. The printed al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a is fully voweled, but the digital copy we worked from had lost its vowel marks. The College has added the vowels, and these are to be confirmed against a printed copy before recording.

5.7 Review at every stage

Each stage (translation, sorting, lessons, answers, memorisation) was checked by two independent reviewers before moving on:

• one for faithfulness to the sources;
• one for a new Muslim's needs, clarity and kindness.

Their findings were checked against the sources before being applied. The last step is the Academic Director's review of everything marked for him:

• the 12 College-practice items;
• the College-guidance answers;
• the print checks;
• the uncertain renderings.

This course is a beginning. The detailed sub-rulings, rare cases and technical discussions are not taught. They are not lost, though: the College keeps them in a list for each subject, and a learner can always ask a teacher where the subject continues. The natural next step is the College's at-Ta'sil Foundation Diploma, which studies al-Fiqh al-Muyassar in depth.

Every ruling in every lesson is recorded with its source, the book (al-Fiqh al-Muyassar, Usul al-Iman, al-Dhikr wa-d-Du'a or al-Tafsir al-Muyassar) and the page of its printed Arabic edition. Inside the lessons, learners see only the references to the Qur'an and the hadith, such as "Qur'an 2:185" or "Bukhari 631"; the book pages are kept in the College's record and in the teachers' notes. The College keeps the Arabic text, its English translation and the full research record for every answer, and will show them to any teacher or scholar who asks.