In Mishkah’s Islamic Studies High School Program (ISHSC), students will study 18 courses (48 credits) from a wide range of departments including Arabic language, Quranic studies, Hadith, spirituality, manners, Islamic theology, comparative religion, Islamic law, Islamic legal theory, Islamic history and civilization, Islamic thought, pedagogy and dawah. The descriptions of these courses are listed below. You can also view a table of the courses here.
Arabic as a Second language I
This course is designed to give students the ability to access and build a relationship with the Glorious Quran. Students will gain the essential syntactic, morphological, lexical, and analytical tools to access Quran, hadith and further comprehend simple Arabic and Islamic texts in English. A strong foundation in the theory of Arabic grammar, morphology and rhetoric is developed, and further implemented through the application of a theory to read texts in classical Arabic including the Quran, with supplemental reinforcement through writing and listening. Students will also be equipped with a broad vocabulary of words found in the Quran and Islamic disciplines.
Arabic as a Second Language II
This course introduces a more advanced level in the study of Arabic language by improving the four skills of reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and listening. It further provides more nuanced appreciation of utilizing verbal constructions to convey various senses of the past, (past continuous, recent past and far past), in addition to recognizing the common particles that change the mood of the present verb to منصوب ، مجزوم and the associated meanings. Also, it focuses on distinguishing between the active and passive and transitive/ intransitive verbs. It also attempts to familiarize students with common modifications of the nominal sentence, using إن and كان and to increase student’s ability to translate classical Arabic texts. Additionally, the students will recognize classical Arabic words, roots, and phrases in speech through listening. It aims to enrich the student’s Arabic vocabulary through reading Arabic stories.
(Prerequisite: Arabic as a Second Language I or Advanced Placement Exam)
Quran Memorization and Tajweed I
This introductory course to tajweed covers key rules in Quran recitation including the vocal points of articulation for each Arabic letter (maakharij), rules associated with meem and noon, rules of madd, and the rules of Hamzat Al-Wasl. Students also memorize the last juz’ of the Quran and read a portion of Surat Al-Kahf with the implementation of the rules mentioned above.
Analytical Tafseer I
This course is a primer on the Qur’anic Exegesis and explanation of the last part of the Qur’an (Juz’ ‘Amma) based on classical and contemporary works of tafseer. Attention will be given to the major themes addressed in Juz’ ‘Amma of the Qur’an, as well as the historical context of the verses, reasons for revelation, and the relevant hadith literature that further clarify their meanings.
Fiqh of Hadith I
This entry-level course is part one of two courses that examines the Fiqh of Hadith pertaining to the essential topics, which include creed, law, morality, and spirituality. It goes through Imam al-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith compilation. The first twenty hadiths are examined and discussed.
Fiqh of Hadith II
This entry-level course is the second part of two courses that examine the Fiqh of Hadith pertaining to essential topics, which include creed, law, morality, and spirituality. The course examines and discusses the final 21 hadiths from Imam al-Nawawi’s 40 Hadith compilation.
Manners
This course explores the sources, principles, and importance of good manners in Islam and the means to acquiring high moral character. It aims to produce Muslims that are versed, conversant, and capable of applying Islam’s ethical framework and its details through revelation-based knowledge relating to a set of daily manners. The course is designed to provide evidence-based knowledge relating to a set of manners that are comprehensive of worldly matters and religious matters including worship and dealing with one’s family, children, acquaintances, and strangers.
Islamic Creed I
This course is an introduction on the Islamic creed (‘aqidah) focusing solely on the first pillar of faith: belief in Allah. It will cover the fundamental categories of monotheism (tawhid) in Islamic theology and their practical applications, such as proving the existence of the Creator and His exclusive right to be worshiped. It will also present critiques of various contrary theologies, especially atheism and secular deism, as well as philosophical and mystical approaches to understanding Allah.
Islamic Creed II
This course will focus on the six articles of faith and other important topics in Islamic ‘Aqidah. Students will learn the meaning of faith and unbelief, Sunnah and heresy, the angels, the jinn and devils, the revealed scriptures, the miraculous Qur’an, the status of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, sainthood, and love and hatred for the sake of Allah. The topics will be explored from both a textual and rational perspective.
Fiqh of Worship I
This is an entry-level course in Jurisprudence that examines the key and contemporary issues pertaining to the acts of worship. This course focuses on purification (Tahârah), prayer (Salâh) and fasting (Sawm). The main text focuses on the opinions and evidence of the Hanbali Madhab. In addition, attention will be given to all the various opinions across the major Madhahib (legal schools of thought), particularly on major issues.
Family Law I
This course is an intensive study of marriage in Islam covering the wisdom behind marriage, the rulings pertaining to it, the details of a valid marriage contract, marital discord, divorce, guardianship, and spousal rights and obligations, gender roles and family structure in Islam. The main text focuses on the opinions and evidence of the Hanbali Madhab. In addition, attention will be given to all the various opinions across the major Madhahib (legal schools of thought), particularly on major issues.
Biography of the Prophet Muhammad
This course is a biographical analysis of the Last Prophet ﷺ based on authentic sources, allowing students to develop love and appreciation for the Prophet ﷺ, understand why particular Qur’anic passages were revealed, develop the ability to compare his times with ours in various respects, and fortify one’s knowledge on the compelling reasons to believe in his prophethood.
History of the Rightly Guided Caliphs
This course is meant to introduce students of knowledge to the proper belief and attitude towards the Ṣaḥāba (Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and may Allāh be pleased with them all). Students will get acquainted with Islamic intellectual and political history during the time of the Khulifāʾ Rāshidūn and how it is connected to future Islamic polities. Moreover, this course is also meant to give students a basic understanding of Islamic historiography (minhāj al-tārīkh), as to equip them with the tools to refute Orientalist histories. The course is designed to provide students with evidence-based knowledge, with a focus on proofs from the Qur’an, Sunna and authentic sources of history to enable them to distinguish between the acceptable and fabricated narrations about their history.
History of Muslim States
In this course, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of Islamic intellectual and political history from the Umayyads until the present day. This course will include study of the Umayyad, ʿAbbāsid, Fāṭimid, Ayyūbid, Mamlūk, Almoḥad, Almoravid, Timurid, Dehli, Mughal, Ṣafavid, and Ottoman polities as well as the colonial period. Moreover, this course is also meant to give students a basic understanding of Islamic historiography (minhāj al-tārīkh), as to equip them with the tools to refute Orientalist histories. The course is designed to provide students with evidence-based knowledge, with a focus on proofs from the Qur’an, Sunna and authentic sources of history to enable them to distinguish between the acceptable and fabricated narrations about their history.
Introduction to Islamic Sciences
This course aims to introduce students to the classical Islamic sciences. The historical development of some of the main Islamic sciences will be covered, with a special focus on Islamic law, Quran and Hadith Sciences and its application. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the higher objectives of Islamic law (maqasid al shari’ah). Students will become familiar with the works they can refer to for their future research as students at Mishkah University.
Dawah Methodology & Practice
The course is designed to examine the virtue and purpose of inviting to Islam. It provides a detailed examination of the history, methodologies, and characteristics of Da’wah, as guided by the Qur’an and Sunnah. The course transitions into examining and building an understanding of Western and Islamic culture, in order to have a stronger impact of da’wah.
Islamic Apologetics
This course will offer a framework for Islamic apologetics, how to build conviction and mitigate doubt, and handle some of the most circulated criticisms against Islam in our age, using each as an exercise in our apologetics methodology. The objective of this course is for students to develop the philosophical and dialectical skill to eloquently articulate rationale systematic arguments in defense of the established doctrines and practices of Islam.
Islam and Science
This course will offer a framework for looking at how Islam and science interact with one another. It examines various ways where science intersects with Islamic thought and the challenges that are raised therein. This includes how science is used in atheism-theism polemics that Muslims can understand to defend their faith better.