Online Quran & Islamic Classes in Birmingham

Students in Birmingham study Quran, the Dars e Nizami curriculum and the Arabic sciences one-to-one online with Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir, a graduate of Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat (Pakistan) with more than ten years teaching these books. Classes are taught in English, Urdu, Hindi or Arabic.

Birmingham has one of the largest Muslim populations of any European city, with Small Heath, Sparkhill and Alum Rock forming a belt where mosques anchor daily life. The community is largely Mirpuri and Kashmiri; teaching is largely Urdu-medium, which leaves British-born students studying in their second language. Community languages here include Mirpuri Punjabi, Urdu and English, and teaching in English removes the barrier for students raised locally who do not read Urdu. UK evenings sit just four to five hours behind Pakistan. Fees are quoted per student rather than published, and a trial class establishes the right starting level before anything is committed to.

Islamic education in Birmingham

That shapes what families here actually need. Where a community has deep mosque provision, the gap is rarely access to a building; it is structured one-to-one teaching at a level and in a language the student can follow.

Community languages in Birmingham include Mirpuri Punjabi, Urdu and English, which matters because most classical teaching worldwide assumes Urdu or Arabic as the medium.

What times do classes run in Birmingham?

UK evenings sit just four to five hours behind Pakistan.

Practically, that means after-school sessions for children and evening slots for working adults. UK evenings sit only four to five hours behind Pakistan, the most comfortable overlap of any Western country.

Daylight saving is handled by moving the slot rather than leaving the family to recalculate it twice a year.

Studying without Urdu

A common assumption is that classical Islamic study requires Urdu first. It does not. Urdu is the medium most teaching happens in, not a component of the sciences themselves.

The books are Arabic. The commentary tradition is largely Arabic and Urdu. A teacher fluent in English can carry that content across directly, and a teacher with formal training in linguistics can do it precisely.

See studying without Urdu for how this works in practice.

What can students in Birmingham study?

The full range: Quran classes from Noorani Qaida through Nazra, Tajweed, Hifz and Tarjama with Tafseer; the Dars e Nizami curriculum year by year; and the Arabic sciences including Sarf-o-Nahv.

Children commonly start with Qaida or Nazra and add Islamic studies alongside. Adults more often take Tafseer, grammar, or a single classical text.

Sisters studying from home take the same curriculum through the six-year course.

What a class looks like

A session opens with revision of the previous lesson, moves to new material, and closes by setting specific practice before the next class. For memorisation students the three-part structure of new lesson, recent revision and long-term revision runs every session.

In a one-to-one class the whole hour follows one student. In a small group each student reads aloud and is corrected in turn, which adds the useful pressure of being heard by peers.

Class length and frequency are set to suit the student, commonly two to five sessions a week for language or memorisation work, fewer for adults reading a single text.

Teaching children

Children are taught in shorter sessions, with more repetition and a slower introduction of new material than adults need. For a child raised outside a Muslim-majority country, English-medium teaching also removes the quiet embarrassment of not following a class in a language the rest of the family speaks.

Parents are told honestly how the child is progressing, including when the answer is that progress has stalled and why.

This page covers the practical side for parents.

Teaching background

Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir studied the classical curriculum the traditional way, through Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat (Pakistan), and has spent more than ten years teaching it.

He also completed an MA in English, an MA in English Linguistics and an MPhil in English, which is why the same classical material can be delivered in English at full depth rather than in a simplified version.

Instruction is available in English, Urdu, Hindi and Arabic.

What do classes cost?

Fees are quoted for each student rather than published as a price list, because the honest figure depends on the course, how many classes a week and the level involved. A child taking two Qaida sessions weekly and an adult reading advanced Arabic texts are not the same commitment.

For general context rather than as a quotation: Across online Islamic academies generally, tuition is priced either per class hour or as a monthly block of two to five classes a week, and one-to-one teaching costs more than group classes because the hour belongs to one student. Local currency, timezone and class length all shift the picture, which is why a real number needs the real details.

Message the student’s age, level and how often you would like to study, and you will get a straight answer for that situation. This page covers the question in more detail.

Getting started

Begin with a message rather than a booking form. Age, current level, preferred language of instruction and rough availability are enough for a useful reply.

Level assessment matters more than most families expect. Students frequently arrive believing they are ready for a text they cannot yet parse, and starting them there wastes months. An honest starting point is worth more than a flattering one.

A trial class confirms the assessment in practice before anything is agreed.

The sequence

Each stage assumes the previous one is solid, which is why placement matters more in this curriculum than in most subjects. A gap three years back surfaces as confusion three years later.

The order is not arbitrary or traditional for its own sake: it follows what each text actually requires its reader to already know.

This page explains the syllabus this site follows.

Growing up Muslim outside a Muslim country

Second-generation students occupy an awkward position: fluent in the language of their country, partly fluent in their parents’ language, and rarely literate in either at the level classical study demands.

That is not a deficiency in the student. It is a mismatch between how the tradition is transmitted and where these families now live, and it is solvable by changing the medium rather than the content.

This page addresses this directly.

What this site does not claim

There are no student numbers, star ratings or testimonials published here, because none have been collected and verified yet. When real students give feedback it will appear with their first name, country and what they studied.

Qualifications are stated exactly as they are: the Dars e Nizami curriculum through Tanzeem ul Madaris Ahl-e-Sunnat (Pakistan), an MA in English, an MA in English Linguistics and an MPhil in English, and more than ten years teaching these books. Nothing beyond that is implied.

Questions of Islamic law are not decided on this site. Pages explain what a science is and how it is studied; contested rulings belong with a qualified scholar who can hear the specifics of a case.

The teaching method

Three things happen in every class: revision of the last lesson, new material, and the student explaining the new material in their own words. The third is where understanding is tested rather than assumed.

Classical teaching is oral for a reason. Parsing errors and misplaced emphasis are audible, and a teacher hears them in the moment rather than discovering them in an exam months later.

Practice between classes matters more than class length. Fifteen focused minutes daily beats an hour of cramming the night before, for grammar and memorisation alike.

How is the starting level decided?

By what the student can do, tested directly, rather than by a certificate or the year they were last enrolled in. Institutions vary widely in what a given level means, so paper qualifications are treated as context and not as a placement.

For Quran students that means reading aloud and being listened to. For grammar students it means parsing an unseen sentence. For Dars e Nizami students it means opening a text at the level they claim and working through a few lines.

Students frequently place themselves a stage or two above where supervised reading puts them. Starting at the flattering level rather than the real one is the single most reliable way to waste a term.

What happens between classes

Every session ends by setting specific practice, not a vague instruction to revise. Specific means a named passage, a defined table, or a page to parse.

Adults with demanding jobs often do better than teenagers with more free time, purely because they protect a small daily slot instead of relying on motivation. The habit matters more than the hour it sits in.

Where practice is not happening, that shows up in the next class, and the honest response is to adjust the plan rather than pretend the material was covered.

Frequently asked questions

Are classes live or recorded for students in Birmingham?

Live, one-to-one, at a time that suits your local schedule. Nothing is pre-recorded.

Can my child study in English rather than Urdu?

Yes, and for children raised in Birmingham that is usually the better choice. The classical material is delivered in English at full depth rather than in a simplified version.

What time of day do classes run?

UK evenings sit just four to five hours behind Pakistan. Children are typically taught after school and adults in the evening.

Do you teach adults as well as children?

Yes. Adult beginners and adults returning to study after years away are both common.

How do we start?

Message the student’s age, level and preferred language. You will get an assessment and, if it fits, a trial class before anything is agreed.

Last reviewed 29 July 2026 by Shaykh Hafiz Muddassir.