Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research
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Curriculum

Kickstart your Curriculum with Yaqeen

As the world has changed over the past 20 years, many Islamic studies curricula have not. 

Muslim-centered teaching resources have not kept up with mainstream educational materials and often fail to address what students need to know.

How can educators and youth leaders foster discussion with Muslim youth around unique, relevant topics while equipping them to engage the world around them with an Islamic foundation?

Yaqeen Curriculum™ was designed to offer a practical solution to tackling unique, contemporary issues tailored to the concerns of Muslim youth today.

Who is the Curriculum designed for?
Our curriculum is designed for a high school audience to be used by educators in full-time Islamic schools and weekend schools. It is also suitable for community leaders to use with their youth groups.
Do I need to have an educational background to teach the Curriculum?
Although it is ideal for our users to have experience in teaching Islamic Studies, our curriculum provides step-by-step directions and explanations so even those with less experience can learn how to effectively teach our units. For those who have a history in teaching, we encourage you to modify the lesson plans where needed, and share with us your results!
How do I use the Curriculum?
Our curriculum is designed as a supplement to existing Islamic Studies’ curricula to enhance the classroom experience with relevant and contemporary topics. You can incorporate our lesson plans into your classroom schedules on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can also select individual lesson plans to teach from each curriculum unit that best fit your needs.
How long is each curriculum unit?

Each curriculum unit consists of 3-5 lesson plans, with each lesson designed for approximately 50-minute sessions each. Lesson plans can be taught within the allotted time period, or shortened or extended to meet student needs.

How is each unit broken down?
All units include learning objectives, ready-made presentations, worksheets, and assessments. You can preview and download unit 1 as an example below.

Topic 1: Islamic Creed: Principles of Faith

UNIT 1: The Case for Allah’s Existence
Release Date: October 2020
UNIT 2: Why Does God Ask People to Worship Him?
Learning objectives

Towards the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Understand and appreciate as finite humans with limited knowledge, capabilities, and capacities, the full essence of God’s nature evades human attempts at comprehending it.
  2. Understand that the question “why does God ask people to worship him” operates on a presumption attributing limited human qualities and motivations to God (eg. demands arising from needs).
  3. Explain and appreciate that God’s requests and demands for worship arise both from His absolute power and will (thus, His worship is necessary) and the value it holds for the benefit of His servants (thus His worship is beneficial).
    1. Understand that demands and requests arise for a variety of reasons that do not necessarily imply need or narcissism.
    2. Recognize it is more appropriate to re-frame the question ‘why does God ask people to worship him?’ as ‘why do we need to worship God?’ and to replace the notion of God’s supposed narcissistic demand to be worshiped with a more grounded human recognition of His majesty and His love to see the value of worship permeate His servants’ lives.
  4. Differentiate between general worship (as overall obedience to God’s commandments) and ritualistic worship (as specific routines and practices such as five daily prayers, supplications, pilgrimage).
  5. Explain and appreciate the value of worshiping God (through rituals) are many—including achieving inner-peace, clarity, purpose through spiritual fulfillments, and closeness to God.
  6. Contrast the following two conceptualizations of ritualistic ʿibadah: I. Worship that is mechanical, issues from felt compulsion (whether through internal or external forces) and is devoid of personal meaning vs. II. Worship that is intentional, issues from felt love and liberation, and offers personal guidance and meaning.
  7. Conceptualize and strive toward ʿibadah in its paradigmatic form as it implies a recognition of God’s absolute right to be worshiped and of His compassionate regard for the well-being and benefit of His servants.

Get started by downloading our Curriculum Unit and its supplementary materials:

Download Kit with all Resources

Want more content on this topic? Here are some more resources:
Read the publication
Explore the infographic.
Watch the Behind the Scenes video.

UNIT 3: The Proofs of Prophethood
Learning objectives

Towards the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Explain and find compelling the necessity of
    prophethood as a fulfillment of the human need for
    guidance and to have a relationship with our
    Creator.
  2. Explain and find compelling the appropriateness
    of God choosing a human prophet to communicate
    to mankind.
  3. Identify some main subtopics in the discourse on
    the proofs of prophethood in general (i.e., why
    prophethood is necessary) and the proofs for
    Muhammad’s prophethood in particular (i.e., why
    Muhammad is a prophet).
  4. Paraphrase some salient parts of Prophet
    Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم message that support the veracity of his claim to prophethood.
  5. Appreciate the function and relevance of
    prophethood and the message of Muhammad,
    especially in relation to the contemporary societal
    condition.
  6. Recount some physical miracles of the Prophet and appreciate the support they lend to his claim of prophethood.
  7. Infer from the accomplishments of the Prophet
    Muhammad the inability of others to combine such
    traits and feats in a single person.
  8. Understand and feel inclined to consider
    themselves as carriers of the prophetic responsibility
    of the final Prophet.

Get started by downloading our Curriculum Unit and its supplementary materials:

Download Kit with all Resources

Want more content on this topic? Here are some more resources:
Read the series.
Explore the infographic.
Watch the lecture.
Watch the Behind the Scenes video.

UNIT 4: Qur'an: The Living Literary Miracle
Learning objectives

Towards the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate the ability to be historically introspective and evaluate their own historical moment as not universal and absolute. (affective and cognitive)
  2. Recognize the discernibility of the world and distinguish between God’s habitual practice (‘adat/’adiyyat) and a miracle, a break from that habitual practice. (cognitive)
  3. Explain the concept of tahaddi, the Qur’anic challenge to produce the likes of it, to help appreciate the miracle of the Qur’an. (affective and cognitive)
  4. Recognize some of the historical circumstances of the Qur’an’s revelation that characterize the Qur’an to be unlike other literary “classics.” (cognitive and affective)
  5. Recognize and appreciate some of the literary miracles of the Qur’an and its perfect union of emotive and logical elements in a singular homogenous text. (cognitive and affective)
  6. Apply the ring theory on a short passage of the Qur’an as an analytic framework to better appreciate the unique compositional structure of the Qur’an. (affective)
  7. Understand how historical information is transferred and shall appreciate the concept of tawatur, multiple chain transmission, as a measure that provides knowledge of historical events. (cognitive and affective)
  8. Recognize the historical accuracy of dating the Qur’an to the Prophet’s era. (cognitive and affective)

Get started by downloading our Curriculum Unit and its supplementary materials:

Download Kit with all Resources

Want more content on this topic? Here are some more resources:
Read the publication.
Read the related publication.
Explore the infographic.
Watch the lecture series.

Topic 2: The Ethics of Everyday Life

UNIT 1: Environmental Ethics in Islam
Learning objectives

Towards the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Recall some of the ways in which the Quran and Sunnah speak of the environment, especially: 1. as a sign to contemplate and achieve faith and gratitude; 2. as an object made subservient to humans so that humans may derive utility and enjoyment; 3. as something that is balanced and ordered by Allah and for which He makes humans morally responsible to preserve the balance and warns us from corrupting it. (cognitive)
  2. Appreciate and explain that while Allah has subjected the celestial bodies (e.g. the sun, moon, stars, skies) and the Earth, and that which they contain, for our utility and interests, He has made human beings responsible for the care and well- being of these environments. (cognitive & affective)
  3. Understand the importance of exploring the role and the impacts of different entities (e.g. government, corporate), interests (e.g. political, economic), and the economic system (policies, choices, actions) with the ecological balance of the world. (cognitive)
  4. Recall and apply with positive regard at least three practical instructions of the Prophet as they relate to how Muslims should treat the environment. (cognitive & affective)
  5. Feel inclined to consider the environmental impact of their choices and actions. (affective)

Get started by downloading our Curriculum Unit and its supplementary materials:

Download Kit with all Resources

Want more content on this topic? Here are some more resources:
Read the publication.
Watch the animation.

UNIT 2: Islamic Mindfulness
Learning objectives

Towards the completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. Recognize the need for mindfulness practices in light of modern conditions of the heart and mind, and appreciate their role in enriching our emotional and spiritual well-being. (cognitive & affective)
  2. Define mindfulness as an individual’s state of awareness of what is going on inside the mind and heart. (cognitive)
  3. Recall the general definition of bidʿah as a new practice or doctrine deemed unacceptable in matters of religious worship and faith, since it has no basis in the Qur’an and/or Sunnah. (cognitive)
  4. Positively regard silence as a natural part of the human disposition (in intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts) and recognize the value in simply being present in silence, without distraction or noise from the world, our speech, and our inner monologues. (affective)
  5. Understand and recognize the value of Imam al- Suyuti’s stages of thought (al-hajis, al-khatir, hadith an-nafs, al-hamm, al-’azm), and how his construct helps us realize the separation between our thoughts and ourselves and the choice we have as to whether and to what extent to engage them. (affective & cognitive)
  6. Define and appreciate the value of muraqabah as a theocentric form of mindfulness for cultivating vigilance toward our individual thoughts, feelings, inner states, and actions before God. (cognitive & affective)
  7. Understand that muraqabah occurs through knowledge of four realities: Allah, Shaytan, the soul’s capacity to enjoin evil, and the deeds that must be done for the sake of Allah. (cognitive)

Get started by downloading our Curriculum Unit and its supplementary materials:

Download Kit with all Resources

Want more content on this topic? Here are some more resources:

Read the publication.
Watch the animation.
Explore the infographic.