Learning through Play

The closing ceremony of the Madressa summer term wasn’t as glamorous as the razzmatazz of the World Cup final seen in Soccer City in Johannesburg on 11 July 2010, but I can assure you the atmosphere in the rugby field was as passionate as those seen in Soccer City but with a difference.  The objective wasn’t to land your hands on the gold World Cup trophy designed by Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga but was to have fun, enjoy the day beneath clear blue skies with temperatures reaching 30°C, observe impeccable akhlaq, play as a team and end the day with salaat followed by a delicious barbeque.  The young olympians were practicing their skills at an indoor play area of Gambado whilst the older girls were practicing their golf swings at TopGolf ready for the British Open that is taking place in the home of golf in St Andrews.

Why such an emphasis on physical activities during Annual Sports Day and the outing to Thorpe Park in May, the Prophet (SAW) has said: “Let them play; the earth is the pasture of the children!” Playing is a natural exercise for the child. This will make its limbs strong. The mental capabilities will sharpen and it will grow in strength. At the ground of play the child will be exposed to community living and sharing responsibilities with others. This is why at SIM we dedicate a whole day from the curriculum so that the children benefit from positives of physical activities.  However, Imam Ali says: “One addicted to play will not be successful.” Therefore we need to exercise moderation when allocating time for “play.” It is a sign of the decline of social values when we judge a person on his proficiency at games. We have not understood that to live in the modern and complicated world, there is need for thoughtfulness and knowledge.

Speaking of knowledge we continue to extend SIM’s offering of GCSE to the older boys and girls with a view to well round them as young ambassadors of our faith. 

To sharpen our tool kit we have conducted various teachers’ training sessions in the first half of the year to ensure we are maximising our delivery in limited allocated time, and Insha’allah we pray that this improves how we disseminate His message to our children.  We invited parents and guardians to our Parents’ Day in June to further reinforce our triangular relationship with the children and their parents.  It is imperative that we retain this relationship in order to ensure we collectively achieve our common goal of guiding our children towards the right path.

We are also on the heels of Steve Jobs as Apple launches the fourth generation Iphone.  The SIM IT offering is continuously enhanced with the newly refreshed website being the central focal point of all Madressa activities, such as E-learning, notes, teacher resources, current news, etc.  We are in the process of releasing the notes in text format to facilitate easier searches through the content.  Another new addition is the Creative Resources which will include Islamic art and crafts, games shows, questions and much more which will facilitate fun learning for the children.

Please remember each other in the forthcoming month of Ramadhan and let us achieve the craving for the nearness to Allah.

I would like to wish you all a great summer break and a rewarding Ramadhan and look forward to welcoming you all back on 19 September 2010 when Madressa reopens.

Principal of SIM

Thorpe Park 2010

On a sunny and warm Sunday 30th May, Madressa took students and their families to Thorpe Park for an adventure packed day.

Almost 500 students and parents assembled early on Sunday morning and all arrived at Thorpe Park just before 10am, ready and eager for the clouds to stay away and no queues.

Children had already formed their groups on the coaches and whilst each was supervised by a parent or teacher, they all quickly disappeared, swallowed up in the huge theme park and amongst the thousands of other visitors.

The Tidal Wave, always a popular choice for students wishing to start the day drenched, as well some of the most popular rides like Saw, Colossus, were destinations which students dispersed towards.

Whilst the sun shone brightly on their day, the queues unfortunately grew lengthier at each ride, but were taken in good spirit and as an opportunity to plan the day and catch up on what friends had been up to.

Madressa organises such trips every year to see whether students enact the teachings learnt throughout their time. Salaat was prayed at the park, with students looking for places to pray (and for what qualifies for Sajdah) as well as organising themselves for wudhu using minimal amounts of water from their water bottles.

Soon after a few more rides, it was 6pm and the coaches began to depart for home, all 8 making their way for the short journey to Stanmore. On the coaches, whilst parents and teachers rested, students buzzed with excitement describing their adventures of the day.

The community spirit and self discipline displayed by students, parents and volunteers is always marvelled and looked back on fondly as the making of another great Madressa community outing.

Parents Day 2010

Madressa once again invited parents to meet their children’s teachers at the annual Parents Day held on Sunday 6th June. The aim behind organising this forum is not only to obtain feedback from parents on how they feel their child is progressing, nor is it simply to report facts and figures back to parents. Rather, the purpose is to find and explore new avenues in order to improve and develop their child’s understanding through effective teaching complemented by parental guidance and support.

The mammoth task of organising nearly 2,500 appointments and co-ordinating the activities of over 150 teachers were all achieved through the dedication and commitment of Madressa volunteers in order to provide an environment for this crucial dialogue between parents and teachers to take place.

On display, as in previous years, was the creative artwork relating to Allah (swt)’s creation in Quran for human beings that the students had spent many hours labouring over in preparation for the Quran Day held on the 25th April earlier this year.

Please feel free to email us your suggestions/feedback on Parents’ Day on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sports Day 2010

On Sunday 11th July, Madressa organised it Annual Sports Day for all members of the community inviting young and old. Not only was the sun shining, but by the end of the day about 500 people had joined us for the sporting activities and the BBQ.

There were a number of activities on offer for the different age ranges and classes. Classes 1 – 3 were entertained at the multi-activity centre, Gambado in Watford which provided adventures like dodgems, a climbing wall and a play frame amongst other activities.

Class 4 + on the ladies side were invited to undertake a stress free day out at TopGolf in Watford. By the end of the afternoon, the girls had shown off their talents by producing strong and graceful drives out on to the range and we would not be surprised to see them taking up the sport more competitively in the future.

The boys of class 4+ were once again enjoying a sunny, multi-sporting activity day on the rugby field alongside eager parents and teachers. Football, volleyball and cricket were the orders of the day and the children eagerly participated and involved themselves in their favourite sports.

By the time Salaat time had reached, the children were ready to take a break from the scorching sun and after they had prayed they enjoyed a delicious BBQ that featured T-bone steaks, chicken tikka, and lamb tikka (mishkaki) all grilled to perfection.  For the barbeque we were honoured to have with us the President of Council of European Jamaat, a representative from Muslim Council of Britain and various other prominent members from other Jamaats in UK.

Teachers’ Training

Our Madressa is blessed with the many volunteers who come and teach in their spare time on Sundays.

The key words in the last sentence are volunteer and teach. Our teachers are not professionals, and although we have had some training, some formal, but most through building on experiences of others or the weekly Sunday lessons.

It was therefore very beneficial for the teachers to get some hand on practical teacher training a month or so ago. The session was held in the annexe over a 3hour session with some pizzas to keep us going.

Our teacher was none other than our own professional teacher trainer, and Madressa teacher Ali Mawji. Having applied his trade in the corporate world, Ali shared a number of resources with us for example:

- A real life video case study to deal with disruptive students.

- Different types of learners:

• the auditory learners include repeating difficult words and concepts aloud, incorporating small-group discussion, organizing debates, listening to books on tape, writing oral reports, and encouraging oral interpretation.
• tactile/kinesthetic learners include providing hands-on activities (experiments, etc.), assigning projects, having frequent breaks to allow movement, using visual aids and objects in the lesson, using role play, and having field trips.
• visual learners can see words written down, using pictures when describing things, drawing time lines for events In history, writing assignments on the board, using overhead transparencies/handouts, and writing down instructions.

We as teachers should tailor our methods to the different types of learning needs consequently the student will enjoy and learn more effectively.

 - A survey of responses of how our students would like us to teach.

- Ability to make lessons interactive by using YouTube videos as a practical way of making lessons more enjoyable.

Ali stressed the importance of preparing for your lesson, and not restricting the lessons to the notes only from the manuals. Though easily said, not easy to do so, but the ideas he shared will definitely improve the quality of teaching that our students receive.

There were multiple discussions and exercises for the teachers to get involved in, but couple of thing sticks in my mind:

• To have a good relationship with your students and know them as individuals.
•  To tailor your teaching to the needs of the individuals.

The teachers welcomed such a session are looking forward to not only implementing what they learnt but also to have another session with Ali. The pizzas were not the main attraction - it was the thrill of learning how to be more effective.

A special thanks goes to Ali for sparing his time in sharing his knowledge.

By A teacher still learning the trade.

Importance of learning Tajweed – Qur’an Teachers Training

Listening to the Qur’an being recited correctly is enough to soften even the hardest of the hearts, Arabs and non Arabs alike find it deeply moving experience even if they do not understand what is being said. Each one of us has to recite Qur’an in our daily salat but many of us do not realise that reciting the Qur’an correctly, observing the rules of recitation is not an advanced science for expert reciters alone, rather it is an obligation upon each and every one of us whenever we recite the Qur’an.

The Qur’an is the word of Allah, and its every syllable is from Allah. Its recitation must be taken very seriously. The purpose of the Science of Tajweed in essence is to make the reciter proficient in reciting the Qur’an, observing the correct pronunciation of every letter with the rulings and characteristics which apply to each letter, without any exaggeration or deficiency.

Each Arabic letter has a Makhraj – What is Makhraj? It is an exit or articulation point of the letters - in the mouth or throat from which the letters originate and they also each have Sifaat – attributes, or characteristics - particular to them. Knowing the Makhraj and Sifaat of each letter is an important part of Tajweed. Sometimes two letters have very similar exits which makes mixing them up easy. So if a person does not know the attributes of each letter there is a danger that he will change the meaning of the words in Qur’an recitation.

To learn the correct method of reciting Qur’an, SIM is truly honoured to have training with Sister Madiha Makki (Head of Dar-ul-Quran of Islamic Centre – Maida vale) for nearly all our Qur’an teachers across the community. Her efforts and dedication in teaching through her own magnificent Tajweed Books in English will insha’allah give understanding of the semantics of the Holy Qur’an. This teaching can take a student of beginner level from letter recognition to fluent and accurate recitation of Qur’an very smoothly. Alhamdulillah almost 35 – 40 teachers are trained to teach students of Beginner’s Level. Another 13-14 teachers have been graduated to teach students of Beginner’s Level as well as Tajweed Level 1. Some of the teachers have also been qualified to teach adults under strict guidance of Sister Madiha Makki.

SIM’s objective is to improve and enhance the recitation of the Holy Qur’an of our young reciters within the community and help them achieve the higher standard of understanding of Tajweed and fluency. Our dedicated team of Qur’an teachers are working tirelessly with the continuous support of enthusiastic parents to acquire this advance standard of recitation. The aspiration to learn this Holy book will insha’allah be rewarded in abundance by Allah (swt).

GSCE Islamic Studies

The fifth cohort of GCSE students eagerly await their results.

But this year’s class was with a difference. This academic year, the SIM commenced teaching the AQA syllabus for Unit 8 (Islam) and will Insha’allah start teaching Unit 9 (Islam: Ethics) from the autumn term.  We hope that with the hard work of the students and the efforts of the teachers in supporting them, this year’s candidates will achieve and Insha’allah exceed the high grades that previous cohorts have achieved.

Whilst achieving a good grade is not the sole purpose of facilitating our students to sit the exams, the achievement of a good grade shows the student has a good grasp of the subject matter. Students also gain the confidence to do well in their other subjects aided by the good exam techniques they learn at SIM and the confidence gained by getting a high grade.

However, the focus of our GCSE teachers rightly remains in teaching the senior boys and girls to practice the teachings of the Holy Quran as practiced by the Ahlul Bayt and learn from these shining examples and apply these in our daily lives and with those with whom we interact in the wider community to show that Islam has practical solutions to our modern day issues.

In addition to teaching the subject at SIM, SIM teachers participate in a number of activities with both the IEB and the AQA examination board. Two teachers from SIM, Taskeen Zahra Jaffer and Mukhtar Karim, participated in the review of the teaching manual over three days hosted by the Islamic Education Board of the World Federation (IEB) at Dar al Tableegh. The initiative was aimed to produce a comprehensive manual for the students of the Madaris across the UK and East Africa where the subject is taught. With Allah’s Grace we hope that the teachings of the Alhul Bayt (as) will be shared with all students studying the subject with the AQA examination board. At SIM we are privileged that Taskeen Zahra is an accredited examiner of GCSE at the AQA board. Her work in this regard will enable the students at SIM to get a better insight on exam technique and through her interaction with the IEB

All teachers from SIM who teach GCSE Islamic Studies also participated in the first of a series of Continued Professional Development (CPD) sessions for Madaris teachers initiated by the IEB. This session focussed on the rights of the husband and wife through focussing on verses of Sure Nisa. A comprehensive tafseer of the verses was delivered by Dr Bahmanpour, Principal of the Islamic College in London.  The session then went on to discuss the concept of crime and punishment in Islam. The interactive session was chaired by Mukhtar Karim on behalf of the IEB and was considered highly beneficial by the participants. The session was also recorded for the benefit of madaris teachers who could not attend.

There are a number of CPD sessions intended to cover issues such as the verses explaining the concept of jihad in the Holy Quran, the concepts of environmental science in hadith, issues pertaining to life and death in the Holy Quran with a focus on modern methods of fertility treatment and euthanasia and the concepts and practice of Islamic Finance.

It is intended that these sessions increase the capacity for our teachers to deliver the subject material to the senior students of the Madaris, showing how the teachings of our faith are not only relevant in this era but can actively present working solutions to modern day problems from a faith perspective. It is only through living our faith in every era that we can truly try and do justice to the principles of our religion.

At SIM we remain committed to offering full support to the IEB through any resource we are able to.  Teachers will continue to interact with the IEB and through them the AQA to try to get the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt (as) to a wider audience showing practical application of the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt (as) for the improvement of the communities in which we reside.

IT/ Web Update

From an early stage the S I Madressa has kept itself abreast of the developments in the world of technology, with the aim to utilise the tools and channels available in order to add value to the education system. As part of these efforts, our website www.madressa.net has become one of the most valuable resources in its category across communities worldwide.  It is not only a website for the local community but rather for the global communities and provides students across the oceans with free access to the seas of teaching material.

As part of the ongoing process of improvisation of our services, the website has over time undergone transformation in its contents, form and shape and in February this year, yet another enhancement took place. In addition to displaying a fresh and new look, the navigation across its contents has been made even smoother. The functionality and purpose is not merely limited to teaching materials, information and news, but it also acts as a portal for the SIM community into its virtual e-learning platform, making it a central entrance for all students and teachers.  It also acts as a gateway into other relevant Islamic resources and facilitates the search process for the visitors.

The recent months have witnessed a number of new features and components, making the website more dynamic and interactive. One of the most significant developments is that SIM, in addition to the availability as PDF files, is currently in process of making the notes available as a full text version on the site for easy access and research. The aim of this project is to make the notes available by individual lessons with further reference to additional resources directly related to the topic in question, by using various forms of media (video, audio, other text resources etc). The objective is to publish these lessons as they get completed.

Another inspired introduction is the Creative Resources section. The aim of this section is to build a database of all things creative and Islamic, such as Islamic arts and crafts, plays on the Ahlul Bayt (a.s), game shows with religious questions, and more. These resources can be used in the community, Madaris, school or at home to make learning fun and interactive for all, especially children!

The next upcoming feature is the online assessment the students are required to do as their summer coursework that will consist of various questions being framed on all 4 subjects (Akhlaq, Fiqh, Quran and Tareekh) through links provided simply to expose the students to the vast sea of knowledge on useful websites.

Furthermore, the digital gallery is expanding with regular updates of new content. Last but not the least our treasure and pool of lectures given by Sheikh Abbas Jaffer to our senior students are added benefit to the youth not only in madressa but in communities worldwide.

Our dedicated IT team is on an ongoing basis exploring scope for further enhancements and improvements to make it a one true stop for all SIM activities and welcomes your suggestions.

SIM Learning Support

During the last few months, SIM Learning Support Team has been working hard to develop Communication Passports for students with additional needs. Communication Passports are an efficient way for students and their families to communicate important messages to any adult who may teach or support the student at Madressa. These messages can include information about the student’s family, interests, strengths, dislikes and most importantly, practical ideas for how Madressa staff can help meet the student’s needs. The student plays an integral part in deciding what goes in their passport and they then carry their passport around with them throughout the Madressa day. Teachers and classroom helpers of Classes 1-4 have received written information and training on the use of the Communication Passports, which will insha’allah be launched when Madressa resumes after Summer holidays/Ramadhan.

Learning Support Volunteers have also been busy with Parents’ Day as well as providing Basic Level Training to some new recruits who have joined the team to provide weekly support to students with additional needs.

If you are interested in joining the Learning Support Team, be it to provide 1:1 or group support for students, providing training or developing online resources, please email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Muslim Mums Issue 10 - Tenth Bumper issue – Ramadhan 1431

Muslim Mums will be releasing its 10th Bumper issue of the magazine in Ramadhan.  This Issue contains numerous features:

• Taking you through the Stages of Childhood
• Growing feet
• The Indian Spice Box
• I Home School my Children
• The Season to indulge the Spirit
• Hijab Talk
• Asmaul Husna
• Readers are Leaders
• Dealing with Emotions
• Meat verses Milk
• Eid around the World
• Blog Spot
• Small Things
• My Baby Girl
• How to Deal with loosing your Baby – An Islamic Perspective
• Inside your Mouth
• Yoga for Children

 Please pick up your free copy during program at Hujjat in the Holy month of Ramadhan or download your e-copy from www.madressa.net nearer the time.

2010 Dates for your diary

Sunday 18^th July 2010 – Sunday 12^th September 2010 – Madressa closed for Summer Holidays / Ramadhan / Eid ul fitr
Sunday 19^th September 2010 – Madressa Resumes – Start of 3^rd Term