Vision
The Vision of the Madrasah: to develop the Islamic personalities of our children and to build a strong attachment to the religion based on intellect and wisdom inspired by Quran, the Prophet and his progeny (Ahlulbayt).
The Mission of the Madrasah: the promotion and advancement of education in accordance with the Shia school of thought by providing services and facilities as required particularly for the benefit of young people in the current age.
Aims and Objectives
The objective of the madrasah is to educate young people about Shia Islam in the following four main categories:
- Usul-e-Din (principles of the religion)
To teach about the set of essential beliefs in Islam that every Shia Muslim needs to believe in. They are: 1) Tawhid and belief in divine unity of Allah; 2) prophethood; 3) resurrection; 4) divine justice; 5) the belief in the twelve Imams as successors of the Prophet (Imamah). - Ahkam and Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence)
To teach the matters of the religion that Allah has legislated for His servants as per the Shia school of thought. The main categories are: 1) performing five daily ritual prayers 2) paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit the poor and the needy (Zakat and Khums) 3) fasting during the month of Ramadan 4) pilgrimage to Mecca – Hajj 5) expressing love for the prophet and his progeny (Ahlulbayt). - Quran
To teach to recite the Holy Quran with the correct pronunciation. - Islamic History
To teach about prophets and Imams, their teachings and important events in their livesBy teaching these main categories the madrasah aims to prepare ground for its students to:
- adopt a moral attitude as per the Shia school of thought
- acquire detailed knowledge about the religion
- develop love for Prophets, Quran and Ahlulbayt
- distinguish right from wrong (Wajib, Haram, Mustahab and Mahkrooh)
- become responsible and productive citizens
- meet challenges of the future confidently
History
Al-Zahra Association (www.alzahra.org.uk) is a registered charity in England (registration number 1142491). It was established in 2011 to organise religious and cultural activities for the Shia community in Southampton and the surrounding areas. Till 2019 its events were run by the volunteers from homes or hired venues. However, due to the success of its events, growing number of the participants and families and potential future programmes, Al-Zahra Association launched a fund-raising campaign in 2015 to buy a centre of its own, which was acquired in 2019.
Al-Zahra Association is authorised by the representative of Ayatollah Sistani to collect and use Khums for its centre. Such permission was conditioned to spreading the knowledge and e’lm among people, which Al-Zahra madrasah aims to fulfil.
Structure
Our Madrasah year runs alongside the School year and offers classes as per the following bands:
Level 1 6-7 (primary)
Level 2 8-9 (primary)
Level 4 10-11 (primary)
Level 5 12-13 (secondary)
Level 6 14-15 (secondary)
Future Plans
See the next section
Challenges
Islamic education for youths is the most important service which Al-Zahra Association aims to provide through its madrasah. However, this is predicated to be a challenging task due to the following reasons:
1- A new centre and new experience for the management of the madrasah
2- The madrasah running costs
3- Limited class size due to small size of the building
4- Limited class size due to small number of qualified teachers
5- Availability of suitable curriculum, course materials and book
It is worth to mention that:
- Al-Zahra Association includes members who are experienced madrasah teachers. These individuals have been teaching in Almahdi madrasah (Wessex Jamaat) for few years hence are quite familiar with Tarbiyah curriculum.
- Al-Zahra Madrasah plans to use Khums and people’s donation to cover the running costs.
- It also aims to start a new fundraising campaign in few years to buy a new building which could provide a bigger space for the madrasah, insha Allah.
