How it works (for volunteers)

QuranBasics.org is the place where new Muslims can begin their journey with the beautiful Quran by learning the 4 simplest chapters in free, private lessons with a volunteer teacher. ​

If you have a few hours spare each week, even just one, to teach a new Muslim Al-Fatihah, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq or An-Nas, become a QuranBasics.org volunteer and share the blessing of the Quran with others.

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1. Control your schedule & availability

2. How lessons are booked

3. Managing lessons

4. What you'll teach and how

5. Eligibility

Control exactly when you're available

You stay in full control of your time donation & availability so our system guarantees lessons are only booked during times slots you’ve earmarked for charity.

Easily edit your volunteer schedule to only get bookings when you're free.

When a student books a lesson, our system automatically assigns that lesson to a volunteer who is available at the selected time slot. If multiple volunteers are available, we fairly assign lessons to the first volunteer in the queue (i.e. they taught a lesson least recently).

How lessons are organised

All lessons are booked on our website at quranbasics.org/book and lessons are assigned to teachers in two ways.

Students can book lessons at quranbasics.org/book

Round Robin

QuranBasics.org works by giving students variety in who they learn from. As a volunteer teacher, you won't be stuck with the same student from the beginning to the end of their journey, instead every teacher will take turns teaching each student (a round-robin system).

This system makes sure students always have a teacher with "fresh ears" to notice mistakes or provide a different style of teaching to help them progress.

Direct Lessons

Students also have access to a directory of all volunteer teachers and can book a lesson with a specific teacher directly if they are available.

Managing lessons

To help students pick up exactly where they left off in their last lesson, with you or another teacher, we use an internal notes system to log student-specific summaries on their progress. It's a very helpful tool to check before lessons with a new student.

Internal lesson notes system

What you'll teach and how

QuranBasics.org only teaches Al-Fatihah, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas. They are 4 of the most important Chapters in the Quran and through Allah’s Wisdom and Mercy, they are also some of the shortest and easiest Chapters to memorise – even for those who don’t know Arabic.

7-Step Curriculum

As a volunteer, you will follow this simple, proven 7-step curriculum:

1. Sounds of the alphabet

2. Learn how, and when, to say several key phrases

3. Learn Al-Fatihah

4. Learn Al-Ikhlas

5. Learn Al-Falaq

6. Learn An-Nas

7. Reviewing everything they learned to build confidence and fluency

On the completion of a chapter of the Quran, students are awarded a certificate to celebrate their achievement. You can see an example certificate here.

Sounds of the Alphabet

This lesson gets them comfortable with the unique phonics of Arabic. Going through a few rounds of Aa, Ae, Au, Ba, Be, Bu etc, helps us find the sounds they need help with and we focus on building that new sound. It's a fun introductory exercise to help them figure out how to control their tongue and throat in new ways. We don't labour the point here, as long as they are close enough it's a pass.

The goal is not to memorise the alphabet. Students don't need to be literate in Arabic to learn the Quran. After all, neither was the Prophet ﷺ and some of his companions...

Learning Key Phrases

This is their first experience memorising Arabic sentences. These exercises are designed to prepare them for memorising Ayat of the Quran and let them experience what it's like to learn sentences.

Phrases such as:

• Bismillāh (Arabic: بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ) and the long version بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

• Alhamdulillāh (Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ) and the long version ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ

• Inshallāh (Arabic: إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ)

Phrases like the full Bismillāh and Alhamdulillāh give them a head start to learning Al-Fatihah which will give them a great boost of motivation. They'll begin Al-Fatihah with confidence. That smooth start will dispel all the anxiety they are hiding inside themselves. We have only Allah to thank for making this easy.

Al-Fatihah (The Opening)

Al-Fatihah is the first chapter, has only 7 verses and only 29 words. After learning the key phrases, students will have an amazing start to learning Al-Fatihah and the feeling of "this isn't as hard as I thought it would be" will motivate them the entire way.

When teaching Al-Fatihah, and any part of the Quran, it's important to cover the following things:

1. The meaning behind the chapter

2. The context of the chapter

3. Any known benefits of it

Don't worry, you'll be given notes with all this information. It's all basic stuff.

The reason why we do this is to demonstrate that learning the Quran is not just about repeating a series of pleasant sounds. They are the words of Allah. The words we learn have purpose and the benefit of the Quran comes when you understand its message.

Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, An-Nas

Once your student has successfully memorised and understood Al-Fatihah, it is now time to teach them these three chapters in the following order:

1. Al-Ikhlas

2. Al-Falaq

3. An-Nas

Eligibility

To join as a volunteer teacher, we need to make sure you're qualified. That doesn't mean having a degree in Arabic or Quran Sciences, but it does mean you need to confirm the following:

• I have perfect memorisation of Al-Fatihah, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas

• I can read any page of the Quran fluently

• I am a fluent English speaker

• I have the patience to teach non-Arabic speakers the Quran

When you join us as a volunteer, we'll verify this before you start taking any lessons.

If you haven't read our about mission, you can do so here.

If you're ready to join us, you can do so here.

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Have questions? Email bilal[@]quranbasics[.]org