about baseerah institute
Baseerah Institute is a female-led Islamic institution that seeks to raise the level of female education and scholarship through the teaching and publishing of traditional or well-known texts in a subject. We offer part-time courses, various short courses and workshops throughout the year.
Baseerah Institute was founded in 2016 by Shaykhah Rukayya Samsodien, responding to a need in the community for female led scholarship and excellence run by women, for women.
Experience learning via welcomed discussions and engaging of thoughts and topical issues.
We pride ourselves in our holistic approach to imparting knowledge, and strive to foster an atmosphere of sisterhood and togetherness along with academic excellence. No prior studies of Islamic Studies is required for our courses, as we start our students from the very basics.
﴾وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالإِنسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿
“… And I (Allah) have not created jinn and mankind except to worship Me (alone).”
Sūrat al-Thāriyāt: 55.
BIO
Shaykhah Rukayya Samsodien completed memorisation of the Qur’ān over two years under the tutelage of the late Shaykh Mohammed Yusuf Booley. After completing memorisation, she returned to school and completed matric at Islamia College after which she commenced study in Damascus, Syria for six years. She received a diploma in Arabic Language and Islamic studies from Abū Nour Institute and continued study at Al-Fatḥ University in the faculty of Sharīʿah and holds a degree in Sharīʿah. During her stay she recited the entire Qur’ān to Shaykh Abū al- Ḥasan Muḥayyiddīn al-Kurdī in the narration of Ḥafs via the Ṭāriq of the al-Shāṭibiyyah and received sanad and ijāza therein. She acted as the former Principal and subsequently Ḥifṭḥ Consultant at JamʿEyyatul Qurrā’ Female Ḥifṭḥ Institute for seven years and lectured full-time at Dārun Naʿīm, Wynberg, for six years.
She is the director at Baseerah Institute which runs weekly classes in the sciences of Sharīʿah. Baseerah Institute is focused on supporting the already existing madāris in Cape Town by providing much needed English source books, as well as supporting the Hifth fraternity.
She has authored the following works under her Institute’s name:
Hifth Guide: Assisting Your Loved Ones along their Hifth Journey
Hifth Guide: An Educator’s Manual
Al-Fiqh Al-Manhajī: The Book of Purification
Al-Fiqh Al-Manhajī: The Book of Prayer
She is also accredited as an Arabic - English translator of the High Court of South Africa.
2-YEAR ARABIC COURSE 2024
2-YEAR ARABIC MASTERY COURSE
Baseerah Institute is extremely excited to be launching its two -year Arabic Mastery course, the first of its kind in our community! We aim to graduate students with a firm grasp of the Arabic Language and its workings, and so we turned to successful Arabic Language Programs in the Middle East for inspiration. We are privileged to be pioneering a language model which aims to:
- Build a strong foundation in the Arabic Language by studying well-known primer texts in the fundamental sciences of Grammar, Morphology and Readers
- Leave the student with a strong overview of the language sciences
- Fill in any gaps during previous learning of the Arabic language
- Apply the laws of Grammar and Morphology via practical, well-known readers
- Observe how these principles come to life in the Qur’an and Sunnah
- Implement Arabic in a fun, safe setting via interactive conversational Arabic sessions!
ARABIC COURSE MODULES
Course Books
We will be studying the following books during our two-year Arabic journey:
- Nahw al Wadih: Book 1, Book 2 and
Book 3.
- ‘Unwan al tharf fi ilm al Sarf
- Qasas al Nabiyyin Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 and Book 4.
A closer look at each module
1. Grammar module
The focus will be multifold. Grammar will be the core subject, but this book is chosen particularly for its vast exposure to every day vocabulary and sentence construction, which is of no less importance. Studying Grammar is not only about word endings, but as non-native speakers, it unlocks to us the meanings of different constructions in the Arabic Language.
2. ‘Unwan al tharf fi ilm al Sarf
In Sarf you will study the changes nouns and verbs undergo, but more importantly, it will allow you to understand the different meanings that a word undergoes, depending on the changes in its physical make-up. Sarf is an often neglected science, but its study is exciting and unlocks many of the gems of the Arabic Language, most especially, the Qur’an.
3. Qasas al Nabiyyin
This is a four-book series. In any study of the Arabic sciences, a reader series is needed to bring together all the sciences in a practical manner. This series is unique in that it not only provides the required practice, but also explores the Prophetic stories mentioned in the Qur’an.
course details
Start date: Wed. 31st January 2024
Females only
Part time
Three, 4-hour sessions per week
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday mornings
8:30 - 12:30pm
In-person or online Zoom sessions
Recordings available
Arabic - English medium
Venue: Masjid us-Salaam, St Athans Rd, Athlone
Registration Fee: R250/ $25
Monthly Fee: R700/ $70
services we offer
PUBLICATIONS
Hifth Guide: Assisting your loved ones along their Hifth Journey
Ḥifth Guide: A Teacher’s Manual
Al-Fiqh Al-Manhaji: The Book of Prayer
Al-Fiqh Al-Manhaji: The Book of Prayer
workshops
Hifth
Fiqh
Tazkiya
religious consultation
Hifth
Fiqh for women
translation
Live translation services
We are blessed to be able to sit at the feet of a female scholar with THIS wealth of knowledge in Quran, Arabic and all its beautifully technical parts, Fiqh, Aqeedah, Tafseer and all the Islamic Sciences and a character which blesses all the above. As much as this may sound like praise of one person, but it's an emphasis of the blessing we have in South Africa with Shaykha Rukayyah, Baseerah Institute and its values. Alhamdullilah. As women we need to equip ourselves with all the tools and guidelines from Allah and His Messenger in order to worship Allah in the manner we expected to. It's so much easier doing this from a woman.
- Fierdous Solomon
Baseerah
Institute
address
Cape Town, South Africa
phone number
+ 27 67 214 4963