Alim Course

Lesson 1 • Arabic as the Language of Scholarship

Explains why Arabic proficiency is central to Islamic scholarship. Students identify key grammatical concepts needed for text comprehension.

Lesson 2 • Classical Scholarly Tradition

Surveys the transmission of Islamic knowledge through chains of scholars. Students understand the isnad system and its role in preserving authenticity.

Lesson 3 • Primary Sources of Islamic Law

Introduces the Quran and Sunnah as foundational legal and theological sources. Students learn how scholars derive rulings from these texts.

Lesson 1 • Asbab al-Nuzul: Revelation Contexts

Examines historical circumstances surrounding specific revelations. Students use context to avoid misapplication of verses.

Lesson 2 • Principles of Tajweed

Teaches phonetic rules governing correct Quranic recitation. Students practice articulation points and apply elongation and stopping rules.

Lesson 3 • Structure and Compilation of the Quran

Covers the Quran's arrangement, chapter types, and compilation history. Connects textual structure to interpretive methodology introduced later.

Lesson 4 • Abrogation and Quranic Chronology

Explains the concept of naskh and its effect on legal rulings derived from the Quran. Students distinguish abrogating from abrogated verses.

Lesson 1 • Applying Hadith in Legal Reasoning

Connects hadith grading to practical legal derivation. Students practice using authenticated narrations as evidence in juristic arguments.

Lesson 2 • Weak and Fabricated Narrations

Identifies categories of weak hadith and the problem of fabrication. Students learn detection methods and scholarly rulings on their use.

Lesson 3 • Science of Narrator Criticism

Teaches jarh wa ta'dil methodology for evaluating narrator reliability. Students apply grading scales used by classical hadith scholars.

Lesson 4 • Major Hadith Collections

Surveys the six canonical collections and their methodological differences. Students understand each compiler's criteria and scholarly standing.

Lesson 1 • Prophethood and Revelation

Examines the doctrine of prophethood, its conditions, and the finality of prophethood. Students analyze theological arguments for prophetic authenticity.

Lesson 2 • Eschatology and the Unseen

Covers Islamic doctrines on death, resurrection, judgment, and the afterlife. Students ground eschatological beliefs in Quranic and hadith evidence.

Lesson 3 • Classical Theological Schools

Surveys Ash'ari, Maturidi, and Athari theological methodologies. Students compare their approaches to divine attributes and human agency.

Lesson 4 • Rational Arguments for Islamic Belief

Introduces kalam methodology for defending Islamic theology rationally. Students construct and evaluate classical proofs for God's existence and attributes.

Lesson 1 • Structure of Usul al-Fiqh

Defines the discipline's scope, its sources, and its relationship to fiqh. Students understand how legal theory governs practical ruling derivation.

Lesson 2 • Legal Rulings and Their Categories

Covers the five-category ruling system and conditions for their application. Students classify acts and understand the basis for each ruling type.

Lesson 3 • Linguistic Tools of Legal Derivation

Examines how Arabic linguistic analysis drives legal interpretation. Students apply concepts of command, prohibition, and textual clarity to derive rulings.

Lesson 4 • Secondary Legal Sources

Covers ijma, qiyas, istihsan, maslaha, and custom as supplementary sources. Students evaluate their validity and conditions for use.

Lesson 1 • Purification and Prayer Law

Covers the fiqh of taharah and salah in detail, including conditions and invalidators. Students apply usul tools to disputed questions in these chapters.

Lesson 2 • Fasting, Zakat, and Hajj

Examines the legal structure of the remaining pillars of Islam. Students analyze conditions, obligations, and dispensations in each pillar.

Lesson 3 • Family Law Fundamentals

Covers marriage, divorce, and child custody from a juristic perspective. Students apply legal evidence to contested family law questions.

Lesson 4 • Commercial Transactions in Fiqh

Examines the legal framework for sales, contracts, and prohibited transactions. Students identify riba, gharar, and other invalidating elements.

Lesson 1 • Virtues and Their Cultivation

Covers sincerity, gratitude, patience, and reliance on God as core virtues. Students apply classical methods for cultivating each virtue practically.

Lesson 2 • Foundations of Tazkiyah

Defines the science of soul purification and its place in Islamic scholarship. Students understand the relationship between inner states and outward practice.

Lesson 3 • Sufi Tradition and Its Evaluation

Surveys the historical development of Sufism and scholarly assessments of its practices. Students distinguish sound spiritual practice from innovation.

Lesson 4 • Diseases of the Heart

Identifies major spiritual diseases such as pride, envy, and ostentation. Students use classical diagnostic frameworks to assess and address these conditions.

Lesson 1 • Reform Movements and Modernity

Examines major reform movements from the eighteenth century onward. Students evaluate their methodologies and impact on contemporary Islamic thought.

Lesson 2 • Classical Islamic Civilization

Surveys the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Andalusian periods of intellectual flourishing. Students connect historical scholarship to the texts they study.

Lesson 3 • The Rightly Guided Caliphate

Examines the four caliphs' governance, legal decisions, and scholarly contributions. Students analyse how early political events shaped jurisprudence.

Lesson 4 • The Prophetic Era and Companions

Covers the life of the Prophet and the formative period of the first Muslim community. Students extract leadership and legal lessons from this period.