Traditional Islamic education is the means by which Muslims have preserved their religion throughout the centuries. Its core is the Student-Teacher relationship.
Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) Sacred Knowledge has been transmitted directly from teacher to student, never acquired solely by turning the pages of books.
Students seeking Sacred Knowledge traditionally spent long years studying intricate texts with teachers who have taken their Knowledge from their teachers, and so on all the way back to the Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).
The teachers transmit Sacred Knowledge exactly as they inherited it from their teachers and when they judge the student to be their worthy heir, they authorize him or her to go forth and transmit Sacred Knowledge to others.
This metaphor of "inheriting" Sacred Knowledge from teachers is taken from the Tradition of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
"Indeed, the Prophets do not bequeath dinars nor dirhams, but rather, they bequeath knowledge." [Abu Dawud, 3641; Tirmidhi, 2682; Ibn Maja, 223 - a rigorously authentic hadith].
The teachers at Daar Aisha Shariah College have been formally trained and authorized to transmit knowledge by leading scholars in the Muslim world. They are meticulous in striking a balance between the time-honoured orthodoxy of Sunni Islam while sensitive to the circumstances of Muslims living in the western world.
Our method of transmission is effective because we implement the principles of traditional Islamic education through qualified teachers.
This traditional model of education ensures that students have respect for their teacher, their teacher's teachers, and so on all the way back to the Prophet (Allah's peace and blessing be upon him).
Direct oral instruction from a teacher also ensures that sacred knowledge is properly understood and applied. Unlike books, Teachers bring Sacred Knowledge to life by interacting with their students and providing living examples that can be emulated.
Although traditional texts passed down from teacher to student over the generations are our link to the letter and spirit of Islam, their words must be understood in the context in which they were written this being the role of the teacher who becomes the key to that understanding.
As part of their academic training, our teachers were educated in the West as well as with some of the most illustrious teachers in the Muslim world in their quest for the acquisition of Sacred Knowledge.
Our teachers therefore, are uniquely positioned to join between the classical and modern by remaining faithful to traditional knowledge as recorded in books and taught by illustrious Scholars.
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