Our story begins with a Curriculum Development Project (CDP) that shaped the lives of hundreds of students in Singapore! In 2001, IQRA' International Educational Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in the USA, was awarded a seven-year contract to redesign the curriculum of the full-time madrasah in Singapore. This was to prepare the Primary One cohort from 2002 onwards, to study Islamic studies in English, and then, later in 2007, to sit for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) together with the students in the national schools.
Our team was fortunate to work with the founders of IQRA' International Educational Foundation, Dr. Abidullah Ghazi and his wife Dr. Tasneema Ghazi, both of whom are recognized as pioneers in the development of Islamic Curriculum in English.
From left to right: Dr Tasneema Ghazi and Dr Abidullah Ghazi
Dr. Tasneema's motto has always been that since Islam is the best, the Islamic curriculum should also be presented in the best possible way. As an experienced teacher, she was able to apply her pedagogical skills onto the subjects found in the traditional Islamic curriculum. The result was the development of an Islamic curriculum that was based on authentic sources, but which was presented at a standard similar to the national school curriculum in USA, UK, etc. She also ensured that the books designed for children incorporated colourful illustrations and that the content was age appropriate. There was also no compromising on the quality of paper and binding of the books.
It was this quest for excellence that both Dr. Ghazi and Dr. Tasneema inculcated in the team working on the CDP project. Alhamdulillah, the project was completed in mid-2008 and the team in Singapore reached the end of their project term. However, a few of the core team members decided that we wanted to try and contribute in a small way to the tremendous effort that Dr Ghazi and Dr Tasneema had made to bring excellent Islamic curriculum to our children, teens and youth.
Thus IQRA' ASIA PTE LTD was registered at the end of Year 2008 by its Director, Azra Taufiq, with support from IQRA' International Educational Foundation (hereafter referred to as IQRA USA) and other members of the project team.
The main areas of focus of IQRA ASIA are:
1) to distribute in this region the curriculum published by IQRA USA, mainly to schools and retailers
2) to provide curriculum development support to IQRA USA
3) to provide training for teachers on the curriculum developed by IQRA USA
Over the years, IQRA' ASIA has worked with schools and retailers in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. In 2022, the management of IQRA' ASIA decided to set up ABADA BOOKS, a division focused on facilitating online purchases of Islamic books.
ABADA BOOKS will make it easier for parents and individuals to purchase the curriculum developed and published by IQRA USA. Our presence in this region will make it more cost effective for customers from Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia etc. as they should incur less shipping charges. Thus we hope to see more of IQRA USA's excellent Islamic publications in the homes and schools of this region!
Finally we pray that Allah swt grants tremendous reward to Dr Abidullah Ghazi, Dr Tasneema and their team in USA, for their wonderful contribution to the ummah, which has benefitted more than two generations of children in USA and other parts of the world.
