Vision
The vision of the Madrasah is to facilitate, supplement and provide quality Islamic education and inculcate the Islamic values to the children of our communities.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the organization is to provide Islamic education in accordance with the Madrasah within the bounds of the Sharia of the Islamic Shia Jaffari faith in all its activities and undertakings.
History
The Madrasah, formerly named Al-Muntazir Madressa, was established shortly after formation of the first Vancouver Jamaat in 1975. The Madrasah was held initially at people’s homes, as were religious gatherings, and later with purchasing and building of a facility, it was held there. With a growing number of members, the community expanded further and built a new centre named Az-Zahraa Islamic Centre, opened in 2002. The new facility included a full time school as well as weekend Madrasah, both named after the centre.
Structure
Madrasah Council of Madrasah Az-Zahraa comprises of the following members:
Aalim and Spiritual Consultant: Shaykh Murtaza Bachoo
Principal: Br. Abbas Mohamed
Vice Principal N-Gr2: Sr. Afroz Nakvi
Vice Principal Gr3-Gr7: Br. Aliridha Rashid
Vice Principal Gr8-10 & Spiritual Station: Br. Firas Moosvi
Admin Support: Sr. Tahera Khaku
Director Education: Sr. Navshina Savory
Teacher representative: Br. Firas Moosvi
Parent representative: Sr. Nafisa Jaffer
Future Plans
The Madrasah endeavours to continue providing excellence in Islamic education. With the new Tarbiyah curriculum and improved teacher resources and support system, we hope that we can deliver quality education and inculcate Islamic values in the future generation.
Challenges
The Madrasah is often expected to provide a comprehensive curriculum that will educate and nurture children with Islamic beliefs and practices. While Islamic education does revolve around both education and practice, the Madrasah cannot be relied solely due to a constrained scope and limited duration in which material can be delivered and strong relationships can be forged with teachers and other students. Madrasah therefore strives to work with parents, teachers and the community to provide guidance and supplement other sources of Islamic education.
The methods of delivering material can also be challenging due to constrained timing and limited experience in teaching from the volunteers at Madrasah. It is important to recognize that it cannot be compared with regular school where the teacher has ample time to reinforce concepts and build personal relationships. We hope that with more training we can ease some of these challenges.
