In the first part of this article, I shared some tips for being a productive online student. A teacher is still very much a student, so if you haven’t read the previous post, I highly recommend you head over there first! In this part, we will look at some habits that make for a productive online teaching experience.

Tips for Online Teachers

1. Orientation

When I get a new student on board, I usually allocate the first lesson as an orientation and trial session. As mentioned previously, many of them have never studied online before, much less used e-mail or Skype. Even if they do have the experience of studying online before, they may not be used to your particular approach. Therefore, it is a mutually worthwhile investment to allocate 20 to 30 minutes to guiding the student on the tools and techniques that you are going to be using.

My orientation session also covers an overview of the syllabus that I intend to teach, how to use their membership account, how to find the resources they need for class, important links to bookmark, etc. Having such a session has considerably reduced time wastage in subsequent lessons owing to reasons like, “I lost the textbook so I couldn’t do my homework”.

Action tip: List out the most common problems you face with students. Then think about how much of it is within your control to eliminate, and thus, plan your preventive measures.

2. Handbook for students

During the orientation session, I also issue a handbook to the student. This sets out particular things such as the objectives of their time spent with me, ground rules, motivational advice for being a dedicated student, and other regulations.

Before I created a handbook, my students and I would encounter many miscommunication problems. Assumptions were made about how lessons would be conducted, in what circumstances extra lessons would be provided and when they would not be provided, when the monthly fee was due, and so on.

Rather than repeating the rules for every new student and enduring growing pains with each one, the handbook became a useful tool to include in the welcome package!

Super efficiency, anyone?

Action tip: Could some of your online teaching hassle be due to not setting clear expectations at the beginning? Rather than blaming the other party, let us think about what we can do to make our communications more clear.

3. Teach adab along with the lesson

It is my personal opinion that one reason to why people find it difficult to do well in religious education is that they want the knowledge delivered in a nice package along with a certificate to show what they know. It’s easier to chart a clear path of progress in other subjects than it is with religious knowledge.

Secular academics does not focus on etiquette and discipline the way our tradition does, yet religious knowledge cannot be accessed without the key of adab.

Although I teach Qur’an at a very basic level, I ensure that the first five minutes of every session is allocated to reflecting on the adab of bearing the Qur’an. Five minutes may not seem like much, but it sets the attitude for the rest of the session, and I honestly do see a difference in my students’ performance after I started doing this.

With the convenience of online learning, students may be tempted to take you for granted, come to class disheveled and unprepared, and have a less than appropriate attitude towards the knowledge that you are trying to transfer. A little dose of adab resolves all that very easily.

Allah says in the Qur’an, “And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.” [Qur’an: Chapter 51: Verse 55]

Also, remember your own etiquette as a teacher, and particularly in group classes, ensure that everyone is comfortable with the arrangements. For instance, in a mixed class, you may want to avoid using video and to take each student’s recitation privately. Some boundaries are universal to all Muslims while others are more flexible depending on the nature of the class, the age of the students, the cultural norms, etc. So a little pre-planning and consultation with your students may be needed in the orientation phase!

Action tip: Select a classical text on the etiquette of seeking knowledge and send it out to your students. Inform them that you will be reading a portion from it during every class.

4. Mutually accessible lesson logs

I don’t like working with spreadsheets, but I found Google Sheets to be the perfect tool for logging sessions. Each student gets a sheet that is shared privately and it lists the date, lesson content, and homework. The syllabus is also listed here so we can mark off topics as they are covered.

While there might be more sophisticated logging systems available, the spreadsheet is simple enough to be easily understood by anyone, accessed globally, and kept private. If you are using a system like Qutor.com, then they do all the logging work for you so you don’t have to worry about sharing spreadsheets.

Having a mutually accessible log in means that there is consensus on what has been covered so far, and students can easily track their progress and find their homework. I have seen it come in useful when working with busy mothers who have too many things to keep track of already! No more, “Oops, you gave me homework? What was it?”

It’s also convenient for me to pick up and teach from any computer no matter where I am; which brings me to my next point…

5. Store work files on the cloud

What cloud? iCloud? Any cloud you like will do. iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, Dropbox – whatever flies your carpet is good enough.

One of my primary reasons for choosing to work only online is that I travel often. I used to drag books back and forth, which took up a good part of my baggage allowance just for work material. However, I have stopped doing this since I learned to use electronic resources instead of physical books, and I started to save everything in a neatly organized system online so that I can work even on a borrowed computer or mobile device.

A little bit of pre-planning may be required to ensure that you have a good Internet connection, headphones, and the appropriate software when you use someone else’s computer. However, it still beats the hassle of having to carry your whole office with you to the airport or coffee shop.

I admit that it can be frustrating to work in temporary setups while travelling, so these arrangements only suit me for short-term shifts in routine. Nevertheless, it’s better than skipping work altogether and coming back to students who have forgotten everything they have learned and look at you like the cat that swallowed the canary!

That’s for your convenience. For your students’ convenience you can maintain…

6. Resource pages

I have a lot of respect for the ladies I teach, because they are usually stretched to capacity with bringing up amazing children and running a household but still have the determination to improve their relationship with the Qur’an. I can only imagine the chaos in their heads although they manage to make everything look easy.

Therefore, it is understandable that they suffer from “Frequent File-Losing Syndrome” – that strange case where you used a particular textbook yesterday but can’t remember where it is today.

This gave me the idea to maintain a resource page on the members’ section of my website (or even something as simple as a shared folder on the cloud). This page lists all the textbooks, video playlists, audio files and other important information that my students need on a regular basis.

E-mails get lost, bookmarks and downloads get deleted, but the resource page is always available on the website. This simple step has saved me from having to repeat directions, and I can spend my time with students on more fruitful activities.

Action tip: Explore online collaboration tools, and pick one that works for you and your students. Choose something that is easy to maintain and is fun to use.

7. Get to know the student

In the field of Qur’an studies, your student is like your son or daughter, and your influence is supposed to go beyond the lesson and impact them in many areas of their life. While traditional modes of learning allow the teacher to influence the student a great deal, online teaching requires a little more effort.

A student who has a good relationship with their teacher performs better than a student whose teacher merely shows up, delivers the lesson, and then leaves. There is plenty to be said about relationship-building, especially when working with teenagers or young children, but I’ll leave it unsaid as this article is strictly about online teaching.

If you are teaching the opposite sex, perhaps use the orientation session to get some background knowledge on your student so that you will have some idea of their past, their plans for the future, as well as their circumstances so that you can mentor them accordingly.

It gets easier when you are teaching the same gender, as you can even set up alternative modes of contact (such as social media channels, or inviting them to your home if they live nearby).

Yet again, be sure not to cross boundaries so that you’re not perceived as a nosy old lady/man!

8. Dress professionally

It goes without saying that if you want your work to be taken seriously, then you yourself have to attend to it with seriousness. You might primarily be a housewife, but that’s no excuse to be sweaty from mopping the house when it’s time for class! On top of every lesson being an occasion where the Qur’an is being taught, treat it as a proper profession at least as far as your appearance goes.

I find it helpful to get into “professional mode” by wearing a special jacket that I’ve reserved for my teaching sessions. I dress like this regardless of whether the session is video-based or not because the point is to change my mood, not the student’s, although it does affect the student as well. Sometimes I even throw in a watch and a ring – just like I would if I were going out to work.

Any freelancer will tell you how difficult it is to get people to treat your work with respect and to set boundaries with family members and friends especially when you are just starting out. A guest who walks into my house on a work day would think I am a crazy housewife to be dressed in a work jacket at home, particularly on a humid day – but it also sends a clear message that I am not just teaching to pass time and hence my boundaries are better respected.

The best part is that I have noticed my new students (and their parents) improving their appearance in my presence after just one session with me (without any poking from me), and it has definitely improved the performance of the student. I don’t know how to explain it, but even my little students do much better in class when they are well dressed rather than when they come running in their play time clothes! When a student shows up in a tank top, not only is it a major face-palm moment for me, but she’ll likely be in too casual a mood to concentrate.

It also helps to have a dedicated work space with your reference material close at hand, stationery to make notes, and peace and quiet. Let this be your work zone and resist using this area for personal Internet browsing or casual chit-chat.

9. Continue to increase your knowledge in online teaching platforms and technology

Strive to give your students the best possible experience. By all means, get started even if you’re not very good with information technology. As mentioned many times before, there are pre-developed systems like Qutor.com or independent Qur’an academies that train you on their particular software system. These can make your work as a Qur’an teacher easier all the way from finding suitable students to conducting lessons.

If you like playing around with software as I do, then continue to experiment with various options to make your lessons a better experience for you as well as your students. If you are dealing with young students, you do not want to be using archaic systems nor do you want complicated plug-in downloads and installations getting in the way of a smooth experience.

A productive Muslim is always striving towards itqan – and that counts even in your choice of technology!

“Verily, Allah loves that when anyone of you does a job he should perfect it.” [Bayhaqi]

10. Register yourself with the Government

There are various opinions about whether or not you can mandate payment from your students for teaching Qur’an. If you choose to accept payment for your time and effort, then make sure you are obeying the laws of the country with regard to your income generating activities.

If your work requires registration by law, then register yourself. If it requires a license to practice, then apply for one. Declare this stream of income to the Government no matter how far below the tax threshold it may be and even if you yourself don’t consider your activity to be a real business. Keep your activities halal and in accordance with the law of your country and you will see immense barakah in them.

Oh and one more thing – online teaching doesn’t come with payslips and automatic tax deductions. Therefore, make sure you maintain proper accounts of how much you’re earning and spending so that you don’t have to pull your hair out during tax season.

Get Started Now!

You know that old story you keep telling yourself about how you’re not good with technology, or how you don’t have time to invest in your education, or how you are too forgetful to learn anything new, or how the kids are always getting in the way?

Yeah, that’s what it is – a story!

Nothing saddens me like seeing the blessing of the internet, smartphones, and other portable technology being under-utilized or frivolously wasted.

Whatever your personal obstacle is, it is very likely that there is a simple way to overcome it. Speak to someone with experience and you might be surprised at what’s possible.

May Allah bless your effort to learn and teach the Qur’an. Perhaps make it one of your Ramadan goals to start your online learning/teaching effort.

My sincere best wishes towards your success.

Further Reading: Al-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat al-Qur’an, by Imam An-Nawawi (Etiquette with the Qur’an, translated by Musa Furber)

Now please share with us your most productive online Qur’an learning/teaching techniques here in the comments section to inspire and encourage others.

The post Get Serious About Teaching Qur’an Online appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

“How can a computer replace a live teacher? I doubt my child will make much progress with online learning.”

“I’m not good with computers – I don’t think online Qur’an lessons are for me.”

“I don’t feel comfortable teaching someone who isn’t sitting in front of me – I doubt it will be effective”. 

These are all true concerns that I have heard every time I tell someone, “I learn and teach Qur’an – online.” Of course, there is no replacement to the traditional mode of learning at your teacher’s feet and observing them inside and outside of the classroom. This method is definitely one of the most immersive learning experiences one could enjoy as a student.

However, not many of us are given the opportunity to indulge in this rich tradition. During my adolescent years, I went in and out of Islamic classes; learning next to nothing because I could never attend consistently. School and university always got in the way. By the time I left university, I was already sucked into the rat race of corporate environment. Then I got married and embarked on an unsettled lifestyle – travelling on short notice so often that I could not possibly commit to any long-term course at a traditional “offline” school.

Prophet Muhammad  said, “There are two blessings which many people lose: health and free time for doing good.” [Sahih Bukhari]

Alhamdulillah, by the virtue of a good friend from the other side of the world (who also happened to hold an ijazah in Qur’an recitation), I was introduced to the world of online Qur’an coaching. After some years of learning online, I received relevant approval to teach, and I began my own online classes. However, I consider myself as more of a student than a teacher as I continue to study various aspects of the Qur’an with teachers I have never met in person.

You will find abundant resources on etiquette and tips related to seeking knowledge. The purpose of this article is to focus on online learning and teaching and to share some productivity tips that I have gathered from personal experience.

If you have been hesitant about using technology for religious education or have had a bad experience in the past, I hope this article will give you hope and rekindle your motivation to use whatever resources are at your disposal to follow or provide a structured course of learning.

This part is oriented towards the student while the next part of this article will provide some tips for teachers.

Tips for Online Students

1. Take technical difficulties as a learning experience, not an obstacle.

This point applies to online teachers as well as to students.

Yes, computers are complicated. Skype decides to update just as your teacher calls. The browser shortcut your husband put for you on the desktop disappeared after your toddler played with the keyboard. The internet connection is catchy at its best. The Arabic letters are typing from left to right instead of right to left. You can’t remember where you saved your notes and forgot how to open Windows Explorer. No wait – you don’t even know what Windows Explorer is. The teacher sent you homework by e-mail but that e-mail is nowhere to be found. You found the e-mail with your neighbor’s help but now you don’t know how to attach your homework and send it back, and you don’t want to call the fussy neighbor again. Your student is too distracted and hanging upside down off her chair. You see her feet instead of her face and wish you could reach out through the screen and give her a playful smack.

Yes, all these things can easily happen, and they can be extremely frustrating. Especially that last scenario. However, that is no reason to completely reject the idea of online learning.

I have seen parents and students who didn’t even know how to use a computer become cool troubleshooters after a few weeks of persistent battle. Their desire to learn outdid their animosity towards technology, and because of that, they not only learned Qur’an but also learned a thing or two about computers!

Action tip: If you have been dismissing online learning, think deeper about why that is. What is your real fear? Then, make a firm resolution right now – “I WILL overcome every obstacle and inconvenience and make online learning work for me in sha Allah!”

2. Learn to lift your own ignorance

Do not join online classes for the hype or glamour of studying from so-and-so on the other side world or to add another qualification on your LinkedIn profile. The only way to persist and benefit is if your intention is sincerely for curing your ignorance. Without this sincerity, you will be wasting time and money signing up for lessons that bring you no long-lasting benefit.

Do not learn to teach – although teaching is a noble act. At the time of learning, let your intention be purely to resolve the shortcomings within your own self. Immerse yourself, apply what you’re learning to your lifestyle, think about alternatives, and prepare questions to ask your teacher. This will leave a lasting impact on your soul compared to waiting for that next quotable quote from your lesson to share on Twitter.

Share later – once you have internalized the lesson (and don’t forget the event hashtag!)

Action tip: Take a few moments to close your eyes and reflect on why you are learning or why you hope to learn Qur’an. If the answer troubles your conscience, then make dua:

“Oh Allah! Purify my heart from hypocrisy and my actions from dissimulation and my tongue from lie and my eyes from stealthy looks, indeed, You know stealthy looks of eyes and that which the breasts conceal.”

اَللَّهُمَّ طَهِّر قَلبِي مِنَ النِّفَاقِ وَ عَمَلِي مِنَ الرِّيَآءِ وَ لِسَانِي مِنَ الكَذِبِ وَ عَينِي مِنَ الخِيانَتِ فَاِنَّكَ تَعلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ لاَعيُنِ وَ مَا تُخفِى الصُّدُورُ

[Allahumma tahhir qalbiy minan-nifaqi wa amaliy minar-riyai wa lisaniy minal kadhibi wa ayniy minal khiyanati fainnaka ta’lamu khainatal a’yuni wa ma tukhfis-sudur.]

3. Find a good teacher and stick with them

The Qur’an was not dropped on us like a package. Allah  revealed it through a teacher (i.e. Jibrail ) to the Prophet who then taught it to his companions. The tradition of conveying the Qur’an via a living teacher continued even as Islam spread. When written copies of the Qur’an were distributed to different regions, they were accompanied by an individual who would teach it to the recipients.

One lesson that can be learned from this is the importance of having a living teacher in addition to books.

The hardest part of my learning experience has been finding a suitable teacher. Once I completed the elementary material and desired to go further with tajweed, I had to search high and low for someone was qualified in teaching my interests, taught online, lived in the same time zone as me, was fluent in English, was willing to provide one-on-one instruction, and -most importantly- was willing to accept me as a student.

Although there are many online teachers, it is not always possible to find a suitable match. I searched for years. I cried. I made dua. I tried studying on my own (not recommended). I made istighfar so that Allah would open the doors of knowledge for me. I went to the masjid Qur’an circle when I could.

Teachers came and went, and I learned something valuable from each one of them, but the one who had the most impact on my life and guided me like a parent is the one I committed to for the long run. I say ‘guided me like a parent’, but she is actually five years younger than I am, subhan Allah!

There is no question as to whether you need a teacher or not. Whatever it is that you are trying to learn about the Qur’an, a qualified and concerned teacher is essential. YouTube is only a supplementary resource and not an ustadh-replacement. Videos and books will tell you what you need to know, but only a teacher can tell if you really know it. Structured online courses usually provide a student forum, which can be used to interact with your teachers and senior students.

Action tip: If you don’t have a teacher yet, take immediate action to find one. Qutor.com is a great online directory of Qur’an teachers who have been assessed prior to receiving membership on the website.

4. Respect your teacher

This falls under general etiquette which is not covered in this article. However, online learning requires an additional degree of respect and consideration for your teacher.

Your teacher might be from a different part of the world. Respect their style of teaching and take their recommendations even if it is different from what you are used to. Make an effort to understand their background and not tread on any inappropriate topics. Cultural sensitivity is a useful sense to develop.

Respect their schedule. Yes, it is nice to have them on Skype, WhatsApp, and even Facebook. However, do not misuse that privilege by disturbing them. Do not expect them to reply to your texts at any time of the day. Adjust yourself to their convenience or come to a mutual agreement about what will work for both of you.

Have the courtesy to inform your teacher if you know you are going to be even a few minutes late or will have to skip your lesson completely. Also, when you have missed a lesson out of your own carelessness, be sure to apologize (and don’t even think of asking him/her to give you an extra session!) The less you annoy your teacher, the more you’ll get out of them!

Make an effort to get to know your teacher more personally -without prying of course- and without crossing limits if they are of the opposite gender. Depending on the nature of what you are studying, your age, and your teacher’s preferences, online classes may happen even without video. There is a chance for misunderstanding to arise when you can’t see the other person or “set them in context”. This is easily overcome by a bit of informal chit-chat before or after class to maintain a good relationship.

Action tip: The next time you ask your teacher how she/he is, pay sincere attention to the answer and ask more questions (without crossing appropriate limits, of course.)

Action tip 2: Seek forgiveness from your teacher often – even if it is for negligible shortcomings like being 30 seconds late! You never know what could earn their displeasure and subsequently cause you difficulty in learning.

5. Maintain good notes

In the Qur’an, Allah says, “Who taught by the pen”. [Qur’an: Chapter 96: Verse 4]

Maintaining notes is a sign of how seriously you take your lessons. There is a tendency to treat online lessons like a casual affair. We tune in to lessons and grasp what we can, but fail to put in the same effort that we would with a physical class.

With online classes, it is possible that the teacher will provide many virtual resources. Therefore, it is a good idea to have a virtual capture tool in addition to or instead of a physical notebook.

E-mail and other communication tools are good for receiving resources but not for storing them in an accessible manner. We suffer from information overload these days. Who has the capacity to remember every file or link that was sent over the years and to search for them at appropriate times?

A tool like Evernote, for example, will help you capture text as well as attachments and to organize them into notebooks and tags for each subject, topic, or teacher you study with. Once you get comfortable with it, you can make use of the advanced features to take your resource management to the next level. If, on the other hand, you choose to save everything on your local computer, then make sure you take regular backups!

Note: Make sure you get your teacher’s permission if you intend to record lessons. Sometimes, parents do not have the time to sit with their child during class or would like to have a recording to refer to when helping their child with homework. Therefore, systems like Qutor.com offer parental watch and video archive features, so there is not much cause for apprehension with regard to online learning.

Action tip: Assess your notes and think about how you can improve them. If you are not even taking notes, it’s time to get yourself a notebook and/or a cloud storage account!

6. Make each lesson special

Just because you have your teacher calling you in the comfort of your own home, this does not mean you can get too comfortable. Religious knowledge is the inheritance left to us by the Prophet . Prepare yourself to receive it in a noble manner.

Yes, there may be days when you have to wake up in the middle of the night to catch a live session happening in a different time zone, but that does not mean you can jump out of bed and sit in front the computer looking like a complete disaster!

If you are going to be reciting Qur’an or mentioning Allah , there will likely be angels in your presence. Dress respectably, perform wudhu, and sit facing the qibla if possible. Have your notes opened and ready before the session begins rather than going hunting for them when the teacher asks you a question. Be available at least five minutes before the scheduled start time so you can resolve technical glitches and allow the session to progress without delay. Anticipate each lesson as an occasion where the inheritance of the Prophet  is being distributed and make it special!

Action tip: Think about one small change you can make so that your Qur’an lessons become more special. Perhaps have a special cap/scarf/jacket/atar/whatever that you only use for Qur’an class, resolve to put your phone on flight mode or DND mode for the duration of the class, find a place where you can sit facing the qibla, whatever suits you. 

7. Join online communities

Let me tell you this – online studies can get very lonely! If you are studying one-on-one with your teacher then you have no classmates at all. Even if you are in a group class, you probably won’t have much opportunity to interact with your classmates to a level where you can talk to them even outside class times.

Some courses offer student forums where you can connect with other students to have course-related discussions or even make life-long friends. Besides that, you can also find plenty of online services where Qur’an students gather. There are forums, Slack communities, and mail groups – all at the grasp of your fingers. 

Besides curbing the loneliness, these online gatherings are a great way to discuss questions that come up while you study, to share relevant resources, to expand your knowledge about the way the Qur’an is studied in different parts of the world, etc.

Remember, of course, to maintain adab and to be careful about whom you trust even in groups of the same sex. You don’t want a nasty surprise when screen name “HamzaFeeSabeelillah786” turns out to be a creepy stalker instead of a genuine Qur’an student!

I’m tempted to include Facebook and WhatsApp groups here, but I would not personally recommend them. While they are useful to some extent, I personally consider using Facebook to engage in Qur’an groups to be the equivalent of walking through the mall to reach the Qur’an school. There are too many distractions and unrelated topics that can drown your time and ruin your attention. Similarly, being constantly on WhatsApp because “it’s useful for Qur’an studies” is the equivalent of leaving a part of your roof open 24/7 for the sake of good ventilation. You never know what else is going to land on you!

Action tip: Right now ask Allah  for good Qur’an friends. Then go ahead and use some of the ideas mentioned above to find them, and remember to tread carefully!

8. Do shukr for the convenience of online learning

I sometimes wonder where I would have ended up without the convenience of learning from home. Would I have filled my time with gossip-filled phone calls to pass time? Would I have resorted to inappropriate literature for entertainment? At other times it is mind-blowing to reflect on how much knowledge has reached me by mere virtue of being fluent in English.

This is not to say that English and online learning are the only ways people can learn. However, when I reflect on my specific circumstances and life course, these two are such immense blessings that I cannot thank Allah enough for them – let alone for the blessings of being able to see, hear, speak, type, and many more blessings that I could go on about.

Allah says, “And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” [Qur’an: Chapter 16: Verse 18]

The difficulty I had in finding a teacher reminds me to constantly be in a state of gratitude for the resources Allah  has bestowed on me. I am blessed with unlimited Internet (at least when I am not travelling), so what better use can I put it to compared to learning the book of Allah ? How would I account to Allah  for the ni’mah of being born in this era of online convenience?

Apart from the technological conveniences, I realize I am fortunate in many ways compared to large segments of the Muslim ummah who perhaps might not have even their basic needs covered. While I pray for them, I realize it would be the height of ingratitude not to make use of what I have been given in order to help the ummah and then the rest of humanity.

Action tip: Every time you enjoy a class or learn something mind-blowing (which is almost always since we’re talking about the Qur’an here), say, “Alhamdulillah”. How does this help? 

Allah says, “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.” [Qur’an: Chapter 14: Verse 7]

We often hear the first part of this verse reminding us to be grateful, but how often do we reflect on the latter part which mentions the consequences of denying?

9. Journaling

When you are creating your own course of study instead of following a structured curriculum, it helps to have a way to track your thoughts, challenges, and progress.

A journal can be a beautiful way to chart your progress and also serve as a companion to capture your struggle and help you brainstorm creative solutions. Over time, when you have days of little or no motivation, your journal will remind you of everything you faced and how far you have come. Thus, it serves as a reminder to do shukr as well.

Not every entry has to be in text form. Use doodles, pictures, or even clippings from relevant articles. Feel free to use lots of color and make it an aesthetically appealing keepsake.

Your journal can be a physical diary or scrapbook, a blog online, or a document somewhere. Having a blog solely for your Qur’an journey is a great way to attract more like-minded people and enhance your circle of Qur’an friends from around the world!

Action tip: Pick a physical or virtual notebook and start journalling!

In sha Allah, in the next part of this series we will look at some tips for online Qur’an teachers. In the mean time, why not leave a comment below and share some of your own online learning experience?

The post Get Serious About Learning Qur’an Online appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Making to-do lists is a good habit but not necessarily the hallmark of a productive person. Anyone can ramble about what they need to do. The hallmark of a productive person, however, is his/her ability to fill up the ‘Done’ list (without always being serious and in a rush). In this article, I’ll introduce one resource for you to get productive without looking un-cool. In sha Allah you can get things done like a pro and sip coffee at leisure just like our ProductiveMuslim stick figure!

Introducing the Ultimate Muslima Planner 2015

The Ultimate Muslima Planner is the work of Mia Widiasari, an active housewife from Jakarta, Indonesia. Her interest in do-it-yourself projects and love of stationery lead her to explore Photoshop on her own and eventually to design an entire planner!

Initially, it was just a planner for herself, and upon the advice of a good companion, Mia has now brought it to the mass market. Mia’s dedicated efforts, from meticulous planning and creative design to collaborating with printers in stafford, strategic marketing, and thoughtful packaging – including the advantages of plastic wrapping – make her loving attention to detail apparent when you finally see the remarkable final product. Ma sha Allah wa tabarak Allah.

Being a planning nerd, I’ve used many organisers, diaries, to-do apps, and calendars in my life and I can tell you that the Muslima Planner truly deserves to be called the ultimate one.

The first impression of this product is one of feminine elegance. The product is packaged and shipped with beautiful wrapping on the inside, a waterproof casing on the outside and is accompanied by a thoughtful message. What’s more, I found that the ribbon and message card doubles up as a bookmark for the planner. Talk about re-use!

Design and Productivity Concepts 

If you’re familiar with the concepts we teach here at ProductiveMuslim, you’ll recognise those being applied in this planner: tailored for Muslimaat and presented in one lightweight and A5-sized book. No more printouts and loose sheets to manage!

The thick and hard covers ensure that your planner can survive hard knocks throughout the year and still maintain its composure. They also support the book well, enabling you to write neatly on the go. The spiral binding makes it easy to keep it open to the page you want and follow your plans each day. This has the amazing benefit of being an in-your-face reminder compared to planners that are harder to keep open or smartphone apps that can be easily forgotten. In addition, the separate sections are marked with durable tabs for easy identification and perusal. I’m telling you, this planner is made to last an entire year of active and productive living!

Set Interconnected Goals

The planning pages start off with a reminder to begin all planning activity with Bismillah, a source of barakah, In sha Allah. While most planners provide pages for you to plan your annual, monthly, weekly and daily goals, they don’t always provide a clear interconnection. It’s very easy to make daily plans that have nothing to do with the big picture we have for the year, and we know that’s a surefire way to make sure our ‘big plans’ always remain as plans and never get done!

As the saying goes, “How you spend your days is how you spend your life”. The Ultimate Muslima Planner helps you connect your big plans to your daily plans so that the yearly plans are mapped to a particular week, and these weekly plans are mapped to a day. So you end up actually scheduling your goals and getting them done instead of planning them for that elusive “someday”.

The calendar pages indicate the Hijri and Gregorian months together for really productive Muslimah planning. Also to encourage a touch of spirituality in your daily planning, is an attractive visual reminder of the 7 daily spiritual habits recommended by ProductiveMuslim.

Plan A Monthly Challenge

What appeals to me most about the Ultimate Muslima Planner is that every page reminds you to be proactive and protective of your time. The monthly planning pages, for example, have a space for you to plan a challenge of the month. How easy is it to let months and years slip by without making major improvements or achieving anything substantial? Having such monthly challenges motivates you to make every month count towards dunya and akhirah.

Manage Your Finances

A productive Muslimah is conscious of her finances, whether she earns for herself or manages her husband’s income to run the household. The Ultimate Muslima Planner comes with a dedicated financial planning section which helps you with managing your budgeting, saving (such as for Hajj or umrah), and daily transaction management. Now you know where every cent goes and will be equipped to make healthy financial choices throughout the year, improving from month to month In sha Allah. There’s even a debt management section to help us tackle our debts proactively and be free of that burden. May Allah make it easy, ameen.

I did find that I couldn’t find adequate space to record incomes such as your salary, sales, or allowance provided by the breadwinner. However, it’s easy to work around this and customise the pages according to your needs, even using multi-coloured sticky notes and clips to add an extra touch of colour and personal organisation.

Manage Your Home

The weekly planning section comes bundled with a cleaning guide for tackling your chores systematically in daily, weekly, monthly, and annual chunks instead of feeling overwhelmed and overworked. I feel relieved just by seeing the household work laid out in this way!

There’s also a sunnah-based guide for planning meals and laying out the menu. You know how it’s easy to learn about sunnah habits and then forget about them in implementation? That problem is solved when you use the Ultimate Muslima Planner because it combines the basic reminders in a beautiful way.

Manage Your Worship

The ibadah planning portion is an absolutely brilliant resource too, not only does it motivate you to step up your ibadah activities, but to also make regular progress in your spiritual activities. Some of the terminology used might be specific to the Indonesian/Malaysian community and confusing for others, but it’s still easy enough to interpret the intended ideas. This section provides extremely detailed support for managing Ramadan, encompassing elements you wouldn’t think of or would be too busy to consider. Just consider your Ramadan planning to be on auto-pilot if you use the Ultimate Muslima Planner! The beauty of it is that it even has a page for maintaining your productivity when you are unable to fast and also to make up your missed fasts. These ibadah planning pages really took my breath away.

A Gem For Productivity

The weekly planner combines the aspects of ibadah, health, nutrition, and M.I.T. (Most Important Tasks) management to help you achieve a balanced week where you give due focus to spiritual, social, and physical productivity like a truly productive Muslimah. Perhaps an improvement for future editions of this planner would be to incorporate time slots for the entire day so that appointments can be accurately recorded in their particular slot and to-dos can be scheduled for specific times of the day.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, a productive Muslimah has time for relaxation and fun. In fact, we make time for fun. This concept is often lacking in traditional planners. The Ultimate Muslima Planner beautifully incorporates fun with its practical vacation, iftar party, and Eid planning pages complete with itinerary, checklists, timelines, shopping lists, sunnah to-dos, prayer places and times, sacrificial animal planning and budgeting, and much much more!

I could go on and on about this treasure. For someone who values their time and life and wants to make something meaningful out of it, this planner truly is a treasure. It’s well thought out, beautifully designed, practical and makes a productive lifestyle so easy to follow. It works for anyone – from the seasoned productivity-obsessed ladies to those just starting out on a journey of more productivity-conscious living.

A Note From the Developer

I asked Mia if she has any rules she follows in the design and sale of the Ultimate Muslima Planner:

“Since this planner caters to the Muslimah audience, I was trying to keep the design feminine but also fresh and modern. However with the academic planner that I will release quite soon, I plan the design to be more universally accepted because I would like male students to be able to use it as well. For wholesalers, I’d like them to actually see and feel the planner themselves before actually allowing them to resell it. It is in accordance to what our Prophet said in one of his noble hadith: ‘Do not sell what you do not possess’. [Sunan Abi Dawud].”

Should You Buy It?

Currently retailing at USD 20 internationally and IDR 200,000 within Indonesia (the numbers are different for wholesalers), I’d say it’s a scant price to pay to take charge of your life and make the most of your life for this world and the hereafter.

Do you have the Ultimate Muslima Planner? Are you planning to buy it? What other planners and diaries would you recommend? Let us know if this review was helpful in the comments below! 

To find out more about the Muslima Planner, please visit their Facebook page Muslima Planner by Kecil Mamil.

The post [Productivity Tool Review] Ultimate Muslima Planner appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

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About the Doodler:

Aneesah Satriya is a Master of Architecture student in the UK, but originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She has an avid interest in crafts, the visual arts and da’wah through social networks. While attending various talks and conferences during her year back home (including a Productive Muslim seminar!), she started to “doodle” notes in her sketchbook, with the intention of sharing them with friends who could not make it. Surprisingly, the scanned visual notes became very popular on Facebook and were shared among attendees and non-attendees alike. Aneesah now produces doodles based on Productive Muslim articles, and also volunteers to design for Islamographic.com.

The post [Brain Teaser] Productivity Crossword Puzzle appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.

Now that’s a broad area to handle. So in this article we will just look at freeing up chunks of time that are taken by our various technology addictions. Perhaps some of it is not really addiction but obligation rather. Yet there might be ways that we’re wasting our time even with these “obligatory” activities. Take a look and see if you can apply some of the following tips.

Calls

Phone calls can take a large chunk of our time. Try to reduce the habit of answering EVERY phone call and instead focus on incoming calls of those you really need to speak to. For everyone else, set up a voice message service on your phone so they can leave a message if it’s really urgent. When you have to make a phone call, plan what you want to get out of the call in advance so that you don’t get sidetracked and waste time.

Turn off your mobile phone/Blackberry/Tablet when you’re not using them

Yes that’s right. As painful as it may seem at first, just get used to turning them off when you sit down to recite the Quran or engage in some Dhikr or go to the mosque. Turn them off when you go to sleep so that your short resting time isn’t shortened further by inconsiderate callers or bleeping notifications.

Prune your RSS

If you’ve been letting your RSS subscriptions overflow, now would be a good time to go through them and unsubscribe from the ones which have ceased to provide any value for you. Keep only beneficial RSS that will boost your eman and productivity during Ramadan (e.g. ProductiveRamadan.com! ;)).

Have mercy on your Inbox

Set up filters and/or folders to neatly separate your e-mail. That way you can leave the unimportant e-mails for later or just trash them all in one go. Unsubscribe from newsletters and notifications that you hardly cast a second glance at. Use the ‘delete’ button freely. 

Reduce Facebook frequency

This doesn’t just apply to Facebook. Reduce the frequency with which you log in to any social networking service. Resist the temptation to “be in the know” about everything that’s happening in your circle of friends 100% of the time. Ease off from forums, Myspace, Twitter, etc. I’m not suggesting that you drop these completely. I’m suggesting that you allocate time once or twice a week for these activities instead of engaging in them every day. Sort your friends and followers into ‘lists’ so that you can easily check on the most important people and avoid the larger stream for when you have more time. Step into your privacy settings area and reduce the number of notifications that you have allowed so that you don’t get bogged down by these unnecessarily.

Use technology to keep you on the technology diet

Make use of distraction prevention software or Internet blocking software to keep you focused on your current task and curb the urge to surf for “just a little while”. We all know how easy it is to get lost on the Web through one click after another once we give in to this urge. Try out options like Read It Later or Ghoster to help you overcome distractions.

Don’t waste those tiny gaps of time on technology

The time that you spend waiting in queues or while traveling; should not be spent sending that tweet or updating your Facebook status, rather it should be spent on some silent dhikr or dua, or just some spiritual reflection. Perhaps you could listen to some Quran on your phone/mp3 player and get ahead on your recitation/memorization.

Let people know

It helps if people know that it’s a special month and that you won’t be available all the time as before. This way, you can cut down on distractions, that are coming from outside. How you communicate this is up to you – be it through status messages on your chat client or status updates on your social networking websites or just by saying it directly – just make it known politely.

Enjoy flicking the switch off on technology for the month (at least partly). Don’t worry—the world can wait.

Benefited from this article? Join our brand new Productive Ramadan course – a simple, practical and complete blueprint for leading a Productive Ramadan insha’ Allah!

The post [Ramadan Series] The Ramadan Technology Diet appeared first on ProductiveMuslim.com.