Noor Children’s Islamic School (NCIS)
Noor Cultural Centre’s Sunday religious education program serves children ranging in age from four to fourteen, and meets on Sunday mornings. Typically, students are grouped according to age and learn in the presence of a teacher and one or more volunteer(s). Due to Covid-19, classes will be taking place online until it is deemed safe to resume in-person learning. Upon enrollment, parents will be given instructions about the online learning format.
Interweaving Qur’ān and Prophetic traditions (the Hadith traditions) into every lesson, the curriculum is anchored in four main subject areas: al-īmān (faith), al-islām (acts of worship); al-ihsān (“righteousness” or spiritually-informed living), and Islamic History.
Objective: To provide our young with a strong, academically-grounded foundation in the areas of Islamic faith, practice, ethics (including questions of social justice, gender justice, environmental responsibility, and cross-cultural and interfaith understanding, to name a few core areas), and history. The Sunday school aims to achieve this in an environment that is free of cultural bias and that allows children to develop their own unique identities as both Muslims and Canadians in a manner consistent with Noor’s guiding vision.
General Topics Covered
Qur’ān & Hadīth:
- The place of the Qur’ān in the Islamic canon
- The ‘occasions of revelation’, and the importance of context in religious interpretation
- Valuable life lessons from the stories and parables of the Qur’ān
- Recitation and memorization of sūrahs in Arabic, with a basic comprehension of their meaning
- The spiritual meanings of the hadīth qudsī (the sacred hadīth) traditions
- The life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and his role as an exemplar
- The history and methodology of hadīth transmission
History:
- Islamic history and its place in the unfolding story of God’s gradual revelation to humanity
- Other prophets, their revelations, and the histories of their communities
- The history of Arabia prior to the dawning of Islam
- The genesis of the main Islamic sects
- The positive roles Muslims have played in world history, and Muslim contributions to human civilization
- The histories of Muslims in North America
Faith: Al-Īmān :
- Al-Tawheed (the Oneness of God) and God’s “most beautiful” attributes
- God’s eternal guidance to humanity through 1)Prophets and 2)Revelations
- Angels as agents in Revelations
- Accountability in the hereafter
Practice I: Al-Islām (acts of worship) :
- Al-shahādah (‘witnessing’ to the faith)
- Preparation and performance of al-salat (the obligatory prayers)
- Sawm (fasting) during Ramadan, as a physical as well as spiritual exercise
- Al-zakat (purifying dues)
- Hajj (pilgrimage to the Ka’bah)
Practice II: Al-Ihsān (“righteousness” or spiritually-informed living / ethical and moral responsibility) :
- The role of all human beings as “vicegerents of God”
- The notion of worship in all of our deeds
- Respect for all of God’s creation
Pedagogical Approach: Our teachers will strive to create a learning atmosphere that is inclusive, mutually respectful, and promotes pride in self as Muslim.
Program Dates and Times:
– Sundays 10:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. (with one break)
– 2020/2021 term: September 20, 2020 – June 20, 2021 (30 classes; see school calendar)
– Parents will be e-mailed instructions about logging into the online portal before the first day of classes. Parents and children are asked to log on at the regular class time (10 a.m.) on Sunday September 20 to complete registration. There will be a short information sessions for parents that day.
Registration & Fees:
– Registration is required before September 20, 2020 (see online form)
– Fees for the school year are $340 per child (note: fees have been reduced for the online format), payable in full via e-transfer by September 20, 2020. E-transfer instructions will be provided after registration. If you need to request other payment options, please contact Eiman Abou-el-Alla at ncc.islamicschool@gmail.com or (416) 509-1617.
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