Basic Islamic Courses for Adults (Singapore)

So for a few months in 2016 I’ve been asking my friends & family for recommendations for courses to learn Islam from basics. We’ve chosen one course, alhamdulillah, but I figured I might as well share a little summary I made of all the schools & courses; perhaps it may benefit someone in the future.

Intuitively the first “school” we searched for was Darul Arqam, which is centered mainly for reverts. The classes are all in English, so that’s a plus-point for me since my Malay is so weak. However, all the classes are “disjointed” from each other – they don’t have one single curriculum with a fixed syllabus. You simply attend individual modules in any order you wish. The same goes for ADIL. We preferred something that is more regular in schedule.

Some time back I attended a talk titled “Do I need a shaykh to study Islam?” The common answer one would give to this question is that yes, it’s important to study from shaykh, asatizah, or teachers, because if you study Islam on your own (usually through Shaykh Google), you tend to come across unreliable sources which lead to confusion or in extreme cases, radicalization. Some of the fatwa that we find online are also more catered to Muslims in other societies as opposed to ours.

During the talk it was shared that a more prevalent danger of learning on your own is that you only tend to study what interests you the most. And I found this to be so applicable to me! When I first started practicing, what interested me the most were topics related to deviant sects, and comparisons with other religions. But when I went to a workshop on solah, I found out that even the way I sujud has been wrong all along! Something I thought was so basic. Even my knowledge of the basic pillars have been shaky.

In fact, one of the very first posts on this blog was on Predestination – Why must we answer for our sins, if God has already predestined them? It’s a topic that I sometimes still struggle with to this day. And belief in predestination (Qadr) is actually one of the basic 5 pillars of Islam! So we definitely need to go back to basics. The unlearning and relearning process.

So here goes, my summary. I believe all of these courses will offer a cert at completion. If anyone is reading this, let me know if you experience with the below courses that you can comment on or if you have other recommendations not on the list!

Information is correct at the time I compiled the information, which was 22 Oct 2016. I know, I know, I haven’t had much time to blog, ok! x: List is not in any order

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Pergas IPIP – Introduction to Islamic Studies, PTI

Duration & Schedule: 6 months, 4 modules (6 weeks per module). Weekly PTI is on Sundays, 9am-12pm

Cost (SGD): $350; books and notes not included

Location: Wisma Indah (Kembangan)

Intake: First session (January): Registration opens in September, and closes in November. Second session (July): Registration opens in April, and closes in May.

Language of Instruction: Malay

Reviews: Asatizah are older, at times more narrow-thinking but depends on modules. Quality of admin varies – one person shared that she faced many problems in getting her cert, while another shared that she faced no problems at all.

Other Remarks: Al-Quran recitation included. Cert will be given, and can move on to SPI (sort of a pre-pre-diploma) level and so on.

Al-Zuhri – Fundamentals of Islam (FIC)

Duration & Schedule: 4 months. Schedule unknown, but 3 hours for each session

Cost (SGD): $54 registration, $81 monthly (Total: $378)

Location: Wisma Indah (Kembangan)

Intake: ?

Language of Instruction: Malay

Reviews: Asatizah are younger comapared to Pergas, less rigid and more open to out-of-the-norm questions

Other Remarks: Topics can be found here (in English). Unclear if can move on to a higher-level course with the cert.

Andalus – Kelas Bimbingan Dewasa (KBD)

Duration & Schedule: 2 years, 8 modules. Schedule depends on branch (can be found on their site), but 1.5 hours each session.

Cost (SGD): $12 registration, $42 monthly (Total: $1020). Books and notes not included. Total cost for books is about $62.50. Powerpoint slides can be found on their site, albeit may not be updated.

Location: Various branches around Singapore

Intake: January

Language of Instruction: Malay

Reviews: Nil

Other Remarks: No exams, but 80% attendance required. Can move on to pre-diploma course (and so on), but at a centralized branch (forgot where)

Muhammadiyah Islamic College – Pre-Diploma Certificate in Islamic Studies (Part-Time)

Duration & Schedule: 2 years (I think? Not stated clearly), Sundays 9.30am-2pm.

Cost (SGD): $40 registration, $80 monthly (Total: $1960)

Location: Geylang Lorong 13 Singapore 388660

Intake: ?

Language of Instruction: ?

Reviews: Nil

Other Remarks: Can go on to diploma. Start with Al-Quran and Tajwid

Muhammadiyah Kelas Asas Bimbingan Agama (KABA) – KABA Adult

Duration & Schedule: 3 months, 2hours each session.

Cost (SGD): $35 per month (Total: $105)

Location: No 14 Jalan Selamat, Singapore 418534 (Near Masjid Mydin)

Intake: ?

Language of Instruction: ?

Reviews: Nil

Other Remarks: Based on one book. Focus is on family.

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So the course that we have chosen is … *drumroll* *but use duff so that it’s a halal drumroll* … Andalus’ KBD!

I’d say a big factor in a choice is the fact that they have various branches around Singapore, and the one closes to us happens to be a mere 5-min walk from our house (and also above a McDonald’s hehe did anyone say McBreakfast??). Schedule is also important, as Mursh also has to work on some weekends.

Alhamdulillah we’ve been going for classes for about a month now. The ustazah is young and gets nervous sometimes, but she’s so good! I’m really happy that we’ve finally started on this journey. Originally we had also wanted to sign up for Quran lessons (Andalus has a “Quran Clinic”) but the registration fee for KBD for the two of us felt quite heavy on the pockets already for the month x: Perhaps once we have gotten used to the schedule, we can start our Quran classes. Bi idz nillah!

Please make doa for us that we can benefit fully from this class and can istiqamah.

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UPDATE: Alhamdulillah I received several other very good recommendations for courses. I’ll add them to the list with some brief details, hope it will be of benefit to those who are still looking!

SimplyIslam SG (jointly offered with Ihsan Institute based in UK) – Al-Husna Certificate in Traditional Islamic Studies 

Duration & Schedule: Total 137 hours, ranging from 2h-3.5h per session. Schedule for 2017 can be found here.

Cost (SGD): $800 inclusive of course notes but does not include specific text books that may be required

Location: 152 Still Rd, Singapore 423991 (near Eunos)

Intake: January

Language of Instruction: English

Other Remarks: No exams, but may have some kind of assessments to monitor the students’ development. 70% attendance required for cert.

Al Misbah Academy (in collaboration with Arees University Houston,Texas U.S.A) – Certificate In Islamic Studies

 

Location: Centrepod@changi, 80 changi road 05-13 S(419715) (Near Joo Chiat Complex)

Language of Instruction: English

Schedule is flexible. No other info can be found on their site, interested parties can contact them directly for more info

Beginner’s Course in Islam (Fardu’Ain) by Ustaz Zhulkeflee bin Hj. Ismail

Duration & Schedule: 18 lessons, 2hours per week. Every Friday, 8-10pm

Cost (SGD): $60 per month, $280 for full course

Location: Masjid Kassim, Level 2, 450 Changi Road S419877 (5 mins from Kembangan MRT)

Intake: 1st intake Jan-May, 2nd intake Aug-Dec.

Language of Instruction: English

Other Remarks: No notes provided, but powerpoint slides will be uploaded after each class. Path available for intermediate & advanced courses.