Ihsan Circle · Fall 2026 Syllabus · المنهج
Faith Made Clear
What do Muslims believe, how do we know it is true, and what difference should that certainty make?
- Instructor
- Irslan Ahmad
- Format
- Online, live cohort
- Schedule
- Sundays, 1:00–2:30 PM Central
- Term
- August 23 – Oct 18, 2026
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Class size
- 10 students maximum
- Age
- Teens, 13–18
- Outside class
- 30–45 minutes — reading and a short written reflection
- Tuition
- $160
- Prerequisite
- None — no prior background assumed
About This Course
Muslim belief is not a set of slogans to be repeated without understanding. The Islamic tradition has always called believers to know what they believe, how truth is recognized, why revelation is necessary, and how sound reason leads toward faith rather than away from it.
Faith Made Clear introduces the essentials of Sunni creed — aqidah — through selected passages from al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, Qur'anic proofs, Prophetic teachings, and age-appropriate rational discussion. Students study the existence and attributes of Allah, prophethood, the truth of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, revelation, the Qur'an, the unseen, divine decree, human responsibility, and the life to come.
The course also introduces the historical circumstances in which formal creedal texts emerged, so students can see how early debates over God's attributes, free will, revelation, faith, and grave sin led Sunni scholars to preserve and articulate the inherited beliefs of the Muslim community with care.
The purpose is not to produce young polemicists. It is to give students an ordered understanding of their faith, a language for sincere questions, and a foundation on which conviction can mature.
Objectives
By the end of the term, a diligent student should be able to:
- 01Explain why creed, or aqidah, is central to Islamic life.
- 02Describe the roles of reason, revelation, reliable testimony, and human nature in acquiring knowledge.
- 03Summarize why the early Sunni creeds were written, and the questions they addressed.
- 04Present several accessible rational indications for the existence of God.
- 05Explain divine unity, transcendence, perfection, and the proper approach to Allah's attributes.
- 06Explain why human beings need revelation, and how a true prophet is recognized.
- 07Present the principal proofs for the prophethood of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and the truth of Islam.
- 08Summarize Muslim belief concerning angels, revelation, divine decree, resurrection, judgment, Paradise, and Hell.
- 09Discuss common questions about faith with intellectual humility and clarity.
- 10Explain how sound belief shapes worship, character, courage, hope, and responsibility.
The Shape of the Term
Unit One · Weeks 1–2
How Truth Is Known
Faith, knowledge, certainty, doubt, evidence, reason, revelation, and reliable transmission. Students learn that the Islamic intellectual tradition does not ask them to choose between thinking and believing.
Unit Two · Weeks 3–4
Knowing Allah
Accessible proofs for God's existence, followed by divine unity, perfection, transcendence, the attributes, and the limits of human imagination.
Unit Three · Weeks 5–6
Revelation and Prophethood
Why revelation is necessary, what qualities belong to prophets, how miracles function as signs, and how the Qur'an — along with the life, character, and message of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم — testifies to his truthfulness.
Unit Four · Weeks 7–8
The Unseen and the Life of Conviction
Divine decree, human responsibility, angels, the afterlife, and judgment — closing with how creed changes the way a Muslim worships, suffers, hopes, acts, and understands his place in the world.
The Term, Dated
- 01Aug 23
Belief, Knowledge, and Certainty
Exercise: A private question inventory — what do I believe, and what do I still need to understand?
- 02Aug 30
Why Muslim Creeds Were Written
Questions introduced: Divine decree, the attributes of Allah, the nature of faith, grave sin, and revelation.
- Sep 6Labor Day weekend — no session
- 03Sep 13
Does God Exist?
Exercise: Constructing and explaining a simple argument, rather than memorizing its conclusion.
- 04Sep 20
Who Is Allah?
Primary readings: Selected statements from al-Tahawiyyah concerning Allah and His attributes.
- 05Sep 27
Why Revelation and Prophets?
- 06Oct 4
Why Believe Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Qur'an?
Exercise: A structured case for prophethood, built from several independent forms of evidence.
- 07Oct 11
Destiny, Responsibility, and the Unseen
Primary readings: Selected passages from al-Tahawiyyah concerning decree and the hereafter.
- 08Oct 18
Living What We Believe
Final project: “What I Believe and Why” — a written or spoken creed map explaining the central beliefs studied and the evidence or meaning behind each.
Assessment & Completion
There are no letter grades here. Formation is not ranked — the work is designed to make growth visible to the student first.
- A private question inventory in week 1, returned to in week 8 — the course's own before-and-after.
- Reasoning exercises with instructor feedback: constructing an argument for God's existence (week 3), and a structured case for prophethood (week 6).
- Short written reflections across the term.
- Final project: a personal creed map — “What I Believe and Why” — presented written or spoken, at the student's choice.
Completion asks for consistent attendance (no more than two sessions missed), the weekly exercises attempted, and the final creed map presented.
Texts & Materials
Primary text: Selected foundational passages from al-Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah.
Provided: Qur'anic passages, Prophetic teachings, short selections from early Sunni creedal formulations, instructor-prepared historical timelines, proof maps, and student worksheets.
The student brings: a notebook and a pen; a quiet place to join the live session.
The course is organized around selected foundational passages; it does not attempt an exhaustive study of the entire Tahawiyyah in eight sessions.
Questions are welcomed and taken seriously. The instructor distinguishes plainly between what this course can answer, what requires more advanced study, and what remains beyond the limits of human knowledge.
Policies
Attendance. Sessions are live, and attended — a student can ask his question the moment he has it. If he has to miss a session, a recording can be shared on request; it is a fallback, not a substitute for being in the room.
Tuition help. No sincere student is turned away from our student programs for inability to pay. If tuition is the obstacle, write to us before applying and we'll find a way forward.
Refunds. Full before the first session, prorated after the first session but before the second, and none once the second session begins — see our Terms of Use.
Where the Term Leaves Him
A diligent student should hold an ordered map of Sunni belief, understand several of the principal reasons Muslims hold those beliefs to be true, and be better prepared to meet sincere questions with thoughtfulness rather than fear. He should leave seeing how conviction gives direction to worship, character, hope, and life — beyond knowing a list of doctrines.