GCSE Islam: The Do-It-Yourself Guide

Description

This project started from three origins: The Association of Muslim Researchers (AMR) launched a distance learning scheme to enable any interested student to gain the newly-created qualification of GCSE Islam (Edexcel 1478/9\ by postal tuition. The UK Islamic Mission (UKIM) needed a book for use in their madrasahs which would enable their students to gain a state qualification as well as to continue their programme of Islamic Studies. The writer and teacher Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood retired from classroom teaching after 33 years at the 'chalk face' but still had the urge to teach, plus the burning ambition to enable any interested Muslim to gain GCSE Islam, even if they were unable to study at school. As she had already written text books for GCSE, and been involved in updating the UKIM course-books for youngsters at the madrasahs, and had later agreed to be AMRs postal tutor, it seemed the obvious thing to make the 'knowhow' available to the widest possible market. For the first time in UK it is now possible for a student to do GCSE Islam without any other world faith accompanying it; and for the first time it is possible to qualify by examination alone, without course-work handed in to a teacher over a two-year period. All you have to do is study the syllabus, get the course-books, do the 'donkey-work'; then you can put in your entry for GCSE Islam, walk in, and do it. So the opportunity is now available to all - not only teenagers, of course, but any other person who would like to have a go. Insha Allah, mature students could include Muslims at work, married women at home, senior citizens. The opportunity isyours. Go for it ! 'O Lord, expand my knowledge, and make my task easy for me'. Amin.