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TABLEOFCONTENTS

IntroductionObjectivesandMethodology

PARTI:ISLAMICTEACHINGS

100IntroductiontoIslam101IslamicBeliefs(al'Aqa'id)102ProphetsofGod103IslamicWorship(alIbadat)104IslamicManners105IslamicMorals106Tazkiyyah107FamilylifeinIslam201Jihad.202AlHalalwaalHaram301TheIslamicSocialSystem302EconomicSystem303PoliticalSystem

PARTII:THEQUR'ANANDTHESUNNAY

100AlQur'an101PracticeReadingoftheQur'aninArabic102Tafsir103AlSunnah104StudyofHadith

PARTIII:LIFEOFTHEPROPHET

100LifeoftheProphet200SpecialTopicsConcerningtheProphet201TheProphet'sFamily202CompanionsoftheProphet

PARTIV:POLITICALHISTORYOFISLAM

100TheRightlyGuidedCaliphs(alKhulafahalRashidoon)200BanuUmayyah201The`Abbasiyyah202NorthAfricaandSpain203TheCrusadesandtheMuslimKingdoms204The'Uthmaniyah(Ottomans)

205Persia206TheIndianSubcontinent207TheSpreadofIslaminOtherAreas208TheMuslimWorldToday

PARTV:CULTURALHISTORYOFISLAM

200HistoryofReligiousThoughtandPractice201HistoryofEducation

202CivilLife203ArchitectureandArt204HistoryofScience

PARTVI:ISLAMIN.NORTHAMERICA

100TheAmericanScene101AMuslim'sViewofChristianity102TheIslamicCall103TheHistoryofIslaminAmerica

PARTVII:SUPPLEMENTARYSUBJECTS

100ArabicI101ArabicII102Qur'anicArabic

REFERENCEMATERIAL

Introduction

In1974,thePlanningCommitteeoftheMuslimStudents'Associationofthe

U. S.andCanadasparkedtheideaofdesigningacomprehensivecurriculumforAmericanMuslimswhohaverecentlyembracedIslam.SuchcurriculumisgreatlyneededbyalargepopulationofMuslimsinNorthAmericatohelpthemunderstandIslamasacompletewayoflife,practiceitandliveuptoitsideals.Tosatisfythisneed,thetaskofproducingthecurriculumanditssupportivematerialwasentrustedtotheDepartmentofEducation,PublicationandInformation.ThroughtheeffortsofthatDepartmentandtheIslamicTeachingCenter,Dr.MohammadMoinuddinSiddiquiundertooktoworkout"AProgramofStudiesforNewMuslims."HisdeepcommitmenttoIslamandconvictionofthesignificanceofeducationasacrucialvehicleforsocialchangepromptedhimtodevotehistimeandfinishthefirststageofthistremendousandchallengingwork.Thesecondstageisthewritingoftextbookswhicharespecificallytailoredtothesequentiallevelseriesofthisprogramofstudies.TherapidgrowthofIslamamongthepeopleofNorthAmericaisencouragingand,atthesametime,challenging.ThechallengelieswithMuslimswhomustmeasureuptotheirresponsibilityofincreasingthemomentumofpropagatingIslamandeffectivelyconsolidatingandstrengtheningtheirranks.OnlythroughdevelopingthetrueIslamicpersonality,knowledgeableandcommitted,capableoftakinginitiativeandbroadminded,canwemeetthechallenge.EducationisthemosteffectiveprocesstoacceleratethedevelopmentofsuchanIslamicpersonalityandtostrengthenandconsolidatetheranksoftheMuslims.Itisanactivatingforcewhichwillenablethemtosubstituteactionsbasedontruthandrealityforactionsrootedinimitationandoutmodedtraditions.EducationisacentraltooltobringaboutIslamicsocialchangewewanttoseeamongMuslimsinNorthAmerica.ThischangecancomeonlyfromtheactionsoftheMuslimsthemselves.Toactcorrectly,aMuslimmustfirstacquireauthenticknowledge,changehismodeofthoughtandimprovehispracticalability.ThesechangesmustresultfromtheMuslims'owndecisionsandeffortsiftheyaretobeeducationallyenduring,religiouslysound,sociallyimportantandphysicallypermanent.ItiswiththisaimandintentionthattheIslamicTeachingCenterhasprepared"AProgramofStudiesforNewMuslims"ItisanattempttoenabletheNewMuslimtorespondtohisenvironmentinNorthAmericaequippedwithanIslamicframeworkreflectinghisbeliefs,values,attitudesandbehaviorwhichcharacterizehimasanewbreedofmenenjoiningright,eradicatingevil,forbiddingwrongandbelievinginAllah.WepraytoAllahTa'alathatthisprogrammayprovebeneficialtoourbrothersandsisterswhohaverecentlyembracedIslam.Yetitisalsoagoodideaforallofustousethisprogramtoincreaseourknowledge.MayAllahTa'alagrantussuccessandkeepusfirmonHispath.YourbrotherinIslamEITiganiA.Abugideiri,Ph.D.DirectorGeneralIslamicTeachingCenter

ObjectivesandMethodology

1.ObjectivesThemainobjectiveofthisprogramofstudiesistoprovideaconciseyetbroadframeworkforthestudyofIslamprimarilybyAmericanswhohaverecentlyembracedit.Toattainthemainobjectiveitisnecessarythat,inadditiontotheknowledgeofIslamicbeliefsandpractices,thenewMuslimshouldhavesomeacademicknowledgeoftheQur'anandtheHadith,thelifeoftheProphet,thepoliticalandculturalhistoryofIslam,thelivesandworksoftheCompanionsandthescholarsofIslam.OnapracticallevelheshouldlearnhowtoperformSalatandHajj,observeSiyamandgiveZakat,readandunderstandQur'anicArabic,memorizeshortsurahsandestablishaMuslimcommunity.Theprogramisdividedintothreelevelswhichareprogressivelydetailed:100series,200seriesand300series.ThefirstlevelisthemostbasicandshouldbemasteredbyeveryMuslim.Thesecondandthirdlevelsarealsoimportantbecausetheyprovidemoredetailedandspecificinformationofthematerialsandconceptsintroducedinthefirstlevel.

2. Methodology

TheprogramisdesignedinsuchawaythatanewMuslimcanuseanyorallofthefollowingmethods,dependingonhissituation:

1. Selfstudy
2. Studycircles(Halaqah)
3. Groupdiscussions
4. Lectures
5. Individualprojects.

The100levelcoursesaremostsuitableforselfstudyandstudycircles.The200and300seriescoursesareacademicinnature,the300levelcoursesbeingratherspecialized.Thesecoursesshouldbetaughtbyacompetentteacherinaclassroomorinagroupdiscussionsetup.Ifthisprogramisstructuredasaformalclasstypeinstruction,itwillrequirethateachinstructorundertakestheselectionofsupportivematerialsandtexts(theeighthpartoftheprogramisalistingofavailablereferencematerialsandtexts).However,theperformanceexpectedofeachstudentisstatedingeneraltermsinthesequentiallynumbereditemsofthesyllabii.Thisprogramofstudies,therefore,maybeusedwithstudentsofvariousagesandeducationalbackgroundsbycriticallyselectingtheappropriatematerialsandtexts.

Thefollowingexampleispresentedinordertoassistinstructorsinwritingperformance(orbehavioral)objectives.

Eachperformanceobjectivemustincludethesefourareas:

1. Whowillbeperforming?
2. Thespecificperformanceexpected.