Course Date: January 13 - April 14, 2026.
The Islam 101 program is a 14-week interactive and reflective journey designed for high school age and older students to explore the Qur'an's guidance and Prophetic teachings as a comprehensive paradigm for life. Through engaging lectures, discussions, and assignments, participants will connect their daily experiences to deeper spiritual meanings, fostering a holistic understanding of faith, worship, and moral responsibility in an accessible and engaging way.
In this introductory Islam 101 course, we will scratch the surface of one’s most essential questions and look for answers through the guidance of Divine Communication – in revelation, in the Final Messenger (PBUH) and in creation. As opposed to treating Islam as a subject of religious studies (or as “our religion”), we will take an experiential journey, as students in the school of life, and will focus on the paradigm Allah (SWT) lays out for humanity in the Qur’an and presents in the lived experience of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Putting our critical thinking skills to practice, we will read revelation in relation to creation, and vice versa, as well as study the Prophetic biography within the context of Qur'anic precepts. We will examine how we can individually confirm the Qur’anic statements and Prophetic stances in our lives and experiences.
The program combines discussions, multimedia, and experiential activities to make learning engaging.
Students connect Qur’anic teachings and Prophetic practices to their daily lives.
Google Classroom ensures seamless access to resources, while tools like Kahoot make learning dynamic and enjoyable.
Islam 101 is a reflective and experiential 14-week program that introduces students to the Qur’anic worldview and the Prophetic model as a holistic guide for life. Weekly live sessions on Tuesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 PM (EST) blend presentations, discussions, and guided reflection, encouraging participants to engage deeply with essential questions about existence, purpose, revelation, and moral responsibility.
Students will also complete at least one additional hour of weekly engagement through the course learning management system, where they will access readings, videos, and short assignments. Quizzes and interactive tools may be used to reinforce key concepts. Each week builds progressively on the previous one, supporting students in connecting revelation with their lived experiences and integrating Qur’anic teachings into daily life.
To challenge students to think for themselves
To help students navigate their lives through the Qur’an and Prophetic guidance.
To highlight the Qur’anic methodology of reflective thinking, contemplation, and experiential confirmation.
To challenge secularized and compartmentalized worldviews where religion is relegated to one of the many so-called boxes within one’s life.
To help students, especially the ones born and raised in Muslim families, discover the truths laid out in the Qur’an as opposed to “inheriting their parents’ religions.”
To instruct a holistic understanding of Prophetically-rooted moral action.
The Islam 101 course runs for 14 weeks, beginning on January 13, 2026, with live sessions held every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 pm (EST).
Week 1 (01/13/2026 Tuesday): The realm beyond: Is there more to life than meets the eye?
Week 2 (01/20/2026 Tuesday): The “Negation-before-affirmation” methodology
Week 3 (01/27/2026 Tuesday): Communication: If there a single Source behind everything, does that Source communicate with human beings? How & Why?
Week 4 (02/03/2026 Tuesday): The Source: How does God define God?
Week 5 (02/10/2026 Tuesday): Ramadan Prep
Week 6 (02/17/2026 Tuesday): Contemplation: What’s reflective thinking?
Week 7 (02/24/2026 Tuesday): “Iqra / Read” – The journey begins. What to read? How?
Week 8 (03/03/2026 Tuesday): The foundations of the “Message (Communication)” – The centrality of resurrection & accountability.
Week 9 (03/10/2026 Tuesday): Who responds to the call? Who rejects? Who shape-shifts? How do I find the “believer, disbeliever, hypocrite” in me?
Week 10 (03/17/2026 Tuesday): Previous Prophets: How to connect their stories in the Qur’an with our current situations?
Week 11 (03/24/2026 Tuesday): Hadith Jibreel: “He has come to teach you, your way of life.” Iman-Islam-Ihsan Pt.1
Week 12 (03/31/2026 Tuesday): Hadith Jibreel. Iman-Islam-Ihsan Pt.2
Week 13 (04/07/2026 Tuesday): Faith in Action: How to turn mundane into sacred?
Week 14 (04/14/2026 Tuesday): Healthy balance between this world and the next; Transforming one’s perception of this world.
The students will be able to…
“Think for themselves” according to Qur'anic guidance and Prophetic practice (sunnah).
Equip themselves with introductory tools to engage with the Qur’an and Prophetic practice (sunnah), enabling them to connect essential Qur’anic precepts to their daily experiences.
Study Islam not as a religion in a secularized sense but as a comprehensive paradigm and set of moral values, informing their way of life in every step of the way.
Identify how to read everything in existence as signs; connect revelation with creation -and vice versa-, as well as analyze the physical world with a recognition of the realm of the unseen.
Examine the prophetic biography with a focus on His (PBUH) mission and identity as The Final Messenger (PBUH) who was educated and guided directly by the Divine.
Connect to the sunnah (daily practices) of the Prophet (PBUH) as the ultimate role model, leading humanity to Divinely-guided faith and Divinely-instructed moral action.
Locate the seed of the hereafter and divine judgement within their daily realities, and connect morality with ultimate accountability in the hereafter.
Integrate individual spirituality, communal responsibility, and universal principles of justice and compassion into their lives through Qur’anic teachings and Prophetic tradition.
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Do you have a question? Contact us: [email protected]
Ustadh Usame currently serves as the Muslim Chaplain at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. An award-winning filmmaker and media producer, he has been active as a Muslim presenter in interfaith circles for the last two decades. He has also been leading halaqas/study circles in the Lehigh Valley area university campuses. He loves to discuss real-life implications of having a faith that’s based on conviction.
If you need advice on our program or registration, please feel welcome to contact us.
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