Dear {{Name}}
Thanks for registering for the online course on Real Statistics: An Islamic Approach. The first module of the course (Principles of Islamic Education) shows how an Islamic approach to education differs radically from the Western approach that we have all learned. This unit is suitable for all involved in the educational process. The ambitious goal of this course is to influence and change the educational process throughout the Islamic World to conform to the Islamic approach, instead of the Western approach currently being followed everywhere.
Initially, I had intended a small course meant only for teachers of statistics, to prepare them to teach statistics via an Islamic approach in the coming semester, starting September. However the overwhelming enrollment of 200+, and the diverse interests of the participants, have led me to substantially re-think and re-structure the course. Keeping the whole group coordinated to the same schedule, and arranging discussions, responses, and feedback, proved to be too difficult to handle, for such a large group.
The new structure allows students to work at their own pace through a sequence of lessons. There is no time pressure, no completion dates, and no monitoring, and no coordination with any central schedule. Anyone can enrol at anytime, and if you have friends who are interested, you can send them the link to enrol: Register RSIA. Those who enrol will be sent an email similar to this one, and they can start lessons at their own time, and follow their own schedule.
The FIRST set of readings is listed in UNIT 1: Developing an Islamic WorldView After completing these readings, you will be asked to take a quiz to test your comprehension, and also to give me feedback about the learning process. After successful completion of the quiz, you can go on to the next unit. At this point, the lessons in unit 1 are complete, but the quiz will be written up (insha Allah) in the next few days. I will also be assembling all of this material into a textbook chapter, on which I would be happy to see student feedback about its clarity, comprehensibility,etc.
Some students have some issues with weak English, and have different native tongues. For such students, I would recommend using Google Translate into their own preferred language. Although it is not very good, the translation should be enough to give you basic understanding of the message, and be helpful to you in understanding the English text.
For understanding reading materials, it is always useful to have some discussions, and to be able to ask questions. Previously, we had created groups for this purpose, but these did not work out very well, so we have now created the following alternative methods for discussions and question/answer:
I am grateful to all the group leaders for the hard work they did last week to manage discussions within the subgroups. I am interested in getting feedback for the production of the final, published version of the textbook and the course. My feeling is that the first module on Principles of An Islamic Education should be published separately from the rest of the book, which will be more concerned with the teaching of statistics. Students comments regarding any writing which generates questions and confusions will be highly appreciated, as it will help me achieve greater clarity in the revision. I can also answer any common questions which arise in the final version of the textbook itself.
I hope and pray that this will prove to be a great learning experience for all of us. Remember that knowledge is a NOOR from Allah which enters our hearts. So it is highly recommended that before we start study, we should make a dua to Allah to make the task easy for us, to open our hearts, and to fill them with the treasures of beneficial knowledge. We should also recite the Syedul Astaghfar to seek forgiveness for our sins, so as to purify our hearts, to make them worthy of receiving the Noor of Knowledge.
May Allah T'aala accept our meagre efforts, and use them as a means for the spread of His Final Message and Greatest Gift to all of humanity. Ameen
Asad Zaman
Ex-Vice Chancellor, PIDE
Islamic WorldView Blog: shortlink: bit.do/aziwv