Quran Coaching with Fathima Nafla

The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) said, “The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

If you are starting from scratch or with very little previous experience, learning to recite the Quran as the Prophet Muhammad sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam has taught us may seem quite daunting.

Tajweed may appear to be a complicated subject that cannot be grasped without fully immersing yourself in it. Memorisation may seem impossible.

Let’s eliminate the myth that ‘tajweed is difficult’. It isn’t difficult; it is merely something new to you. It can be grasped easily with the right attitude and approach.

Avoid overwhelming yourself with how far you have to go, but push yourself to learn just a little bit more every day and see how far you’ve come from where you used to be. The objective is not to attain a certificate, but rather to increase our love for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’aala and to seek His pleasure.

We also encourage discarding the notion that ‘there’s not enough time in the day for Quran‘. Rather, it is a well-known fact among people of Quran that spending time with the Quran creates an expansion in our experience of time, rather than a subtraction.

“And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?” [Surah Al-Qamar, 54:17]

Learning Approach

No matter what your level of recitation, your coach will ensure you are thorough with all the basic concepts by revisiting them with you as required.

Establishing the basics thoroughly makes it easy for the student to grasp advanced concepts in theory later on. The speed of progress depends on your capability as the purpose of one-on-one guidance is to provide personalised training. You will be challenged to put in an effort, but not in an overwhelming manner.

Commitment

Etiquette: While the teaching approach is soft, you will find a high level of strictness enforced with regard to attendance and punctuality. This is to ensure that lessons are treated with seriousness and that you as a student are committed to learning this sacred subject.

Revision: The Quran is a book of izzah. If you leave it, it will leave you. As long as you are a student here and, hopefully even after that, you are expected to maintain the following revision schedule.

• Reciting aloud from the Quran -> minimum 5 minutes a day
• Listening to a qualified Qari -> minimum 5 minutes a day
• Revising previous lessons and preparing for the next lesson -> before every class (for live lessons)

Attending Live Lessons

Tools Required: A good headset with microphone, notebook, easy access to notes that have been issued to you, and a distraction-free environment (if possible). You are advised to attend the lesson via a desktop or laptop rather than a mobile phone so that you may follow the lesson more easily.

Attendance: For live coaching, a lesson log will be maintained to track your attendance, progress, and homework. If you are unable to attend on a particular day, you are required to provide notice at least 4 hours in advance. The class will then be made up on another date as is mutually convenient.

Failure to provide adequate notice will result in class cancellation (i.e. no substitute lesson provided).

Lessons Postponed by the Teacher: If the teacher is unable to conduct a lesson on a particular day, she will inform you at the beginning of the week or at least four hours before your class time (depending on the reason for postponement). All such classes will be substituted at a mutually convenient time. If the number of classes to be substituted is more than the number you would typically have in a month and as such would cause inconvenience to either the student or the teacher, a refund will be issued.

Punctuality: Once you have agreed on a time for your class(es) each week, you are expected to be online a few minutes in advance and message your teacher to indicate your presence so that the teacher can call you on time. The class will not be prolonged beyond the scheduled end time to make up for any delays.

Theory Lessons: If you are unfit to recite and would like to have a theory lesson instead, please inform the teacher at least four hours in advance. This is merely to allow the teacher to prepare a suitable theory lesson so that lesson time is not wasted in deciding what to teach.

Correspondence with Teacher: Your teacher is within reach via e-mail and instant messaging. You may use any of these methods to exchange messages such as notice of class postponement. For lesson clarifications or longer discussions, it is preferred that you use your lesson time in order to get the best in-person explanation. A Q&A session is usually offered in the last 2-3 minutes of each session, but you may also pose your questions at the beginning of the lesson so that the teacher can plan the lesson accordingly.