Tarbiyah and Curriculum
for Parents & School Boards

An Islamic school must be different from a public school in a way that prepares Muslim children for leadership in American society. We defeat the purpose of an Islamic school if we just recreate a public school, replace music class with Islamic Studies class, and then call it an Islamic school. An Islamic school should have a specialized curriculum that is structured around the concept of Tarbiyah. Many schools that have not yet had time or ability to change their focus toward a tarbiyah-based curriculum are starting now to make that change.

Tarbiyah is the Arabic term for a type of education that addresses the heart, mind, body, and soul of a child. Tarbiyah puts God back at the center of all your child's learning experiences. For example, when your child studies pollution in science, woven through out the lesson could be the exploration of the responsibility of the khalifah that humans were given by our Lord. "Behold thy Lord said to the angels: 'I will create a vicegerent on earth.'" (2:30) Students might be asked to contemplate their responsibility as the khalifah to take care of this earth while they learn about pollution. Tarbiyah provides a framework (that is a blend of Islam and academics) around which your school can adapt or build a curriculum.

Curriculum and tarbiyah are two halves of one whole. Curriculum is the entire body of knowledge a school has decided a child should learn/know. Tarbiyah guides how this curriculum is determined, developed, and delivered. Curricula in Islamic schools do not need to be identical across the United States and Canada, but they can have shared core values and principals to guide them. Visit our Curriculum Room to learn more about curriculum in general as well as ways that you can help your school develop its curriculum.

The Tarbiyah Project is an extremely well designed and researched program that helps your school move towards a true Islamic education for your child. Br. Dawud Tauhidi has developed a set of powerful ideas as the basis for this teaching/learning approach. Sr. Sommieh Uddin has worked to implement that approach. "Curriculum reform efforts of the past have sought to Islamize conventional textbook knowledge. What is now needed is a comprehensive curriculum that has Tauhid (God-centeredness in all its aspects) as its core content and approach. Integration of all subject areas around significant themes (Powerful Ideas), taught through authentic instructional models, will lead to more effective learning and life experiences for our children in the 21st century." Click here to learn more about this project >The Tarbiyah Project.