INTRODUCTION
Full-timeIslamicschoolsarearelativelynewphenomenon intheUnitedStates.However,the
growthofsuchschoolshasbeenrapidand,Alhamdulillah,severalhundredsuchschoolsnowexist
andthenumberisexpectedtomushroomfurtherinthecomingyears.
IntheUnitedStates,Islamicschoolsadmitstudentsasyoungas3yearsofage(Pre-Kindergarten)
and,intheensuingyears,thesestudentsprogressthroughKindergarten, 1stGradeandalltheway
through12thGrade,atwhichtime,InshaAllah,theyshouldbereadytoentercollege.
Islamicschoolscurriculacomprisesecularsubjects,whicharegenerallythesameasthose
mandatedbytheCountyortheStateforpublicschools.Inaddition,Islamicschoolstutorreligious
subjectssuchasArabic,IslamicStudiesandQur'an.Thestandardstowhichstudentsaretutored
andtested insecularsubjects,onagrade-by-grade basis,arewelldocumented sothat
administrators, teachersandstudentsknow,attheoutset,what isexpected intermsof
performancefromeachparty.Equallyimportant,parentsareawareofsuchexpectations.No
similarstandardsexistforthereligiouscomponentofIslamicschools'curricula.
TheBoardofDirectorsoftheNur-UI-IslamAcademy,afully-accredited Islamicschool(Pre-K
through12thgrade)locatedintheFortLauderdaleareaofFlorida,feltthattheabsenceofwell
documentedstandardswasnotconducivetoproperadministration,teachingorlearning.Asafirst
steptocompensateforthisshortcoming,theBoardfeltthattherewasanurgentneedtostructure
andpublishaseriesoftextbooksthatwouldfitwellintothestructureandoverallcurriculaofthe
Nur-UI-IslamAcademy,andthatmayservetheneedsofotherschoolsinNorthAmericaand
elsewhere.
ThisledtheAcademy'sBoardofDirectorstoinviteProfessorAbdurRahim,Directorofthe
TranslationCenterofKingFahdQuranPrintingComplexandformerProfessorofArabicatthe
IslamicUniversityofMadinah,SaudiArabiatovisittheAcademyandtoproduceaseriesof
textbooksthatwouldenablestudentstoread,writeandspeakArabicwithsomedegreeof
proficiencybythe8thGrade.ProfessorAbdurRahimwasbothgraciousandgenerous inhis
responseandtraveledwithoutdelaytotheAcademy'scampustoundertaketheexercise.His
effortsledtothiseight-volumeseriescateringforstudentsfromKindergartenthrough8thGrade.
ProfessorAbdurRahim'seight-volumetextsallowthelanguagetobeacquired intheclassical
structuralform.Thebooksattempttoteachlanguageskillsthroughappliedgrammar.Eachlesson
consistsofaconversationbasedoncertainlanguagepatterns.Varioustypesofexerciseshelpthe
studenttounderstandeachofthepatternsoccurring inthelesson,andtomasterthem.The
vocabularyrepresentsclassicalandQur'anicwordsandexpressions,alongwithwordsusedin
modernArabic.
TheseriesofbooksarecurrentlybeingutilizedattheAcademytopreparestudentsforthe
UniversityofLondon(UK)GCEOrdinaryLevelandAdvancedLevelexaminations, viaEdexcel
International.
TheBoardofDirectors,faculty,studentsandparentsoftheNur-UI-IslamAcademyareverymuch
indebtedtoProfessorAbdurRahimforhisgenerosityanddevotiontoourcause,andwepraythat
Allahrewardshiminabundance.
MayAllahblessallwhoseekknowledge.JazakAllahKhairan.
Dr.KemHussain
President:Nur-UI-IslamAcademy
Nur-UI-IslamAcademy
10600SW59thStreet,
CooperCity,Florida,USA