Teacher Training Complete Package for Why Islam is True (6-Month Installment Plan)

Syllabus

Module 1: The Prophet Made Arguments. The Meccans Argued

The Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) was a teacher. That means that he didn’t simply tell his students what they had to believe, but he helped them discover for themselves that what he was calling them to was true. 

Trainees will learn how to take this realization and bring it into their classrooms to cultivate an open and religious culture of learning where students gain the freedom to be inquisitive, to challenge, and to make their religion something that they choose for themselves.

Module 2: How to Make an Argument

There is not a single verse in the Quran that tells us not to use our minds. But there are dozens of verses that censure the Meccan polytheists for not using their minds and simply clinging to the customs of their ancestors. 

But what exactly does it mean to “use our minds”? This session will give examples of Quranic verses that employ rational evidence and then analyze their underlying logical structure. (That logical structure is called an “argument”.) 

Trainees will then find those same logical structures in an important verse of the Quran. This will set them up for a logical analysis of the arguments in future sessions.

Module 3: The Argument From Contingency

Scholars of all of the traditional Islamic sciences frequently refer to Allah Most High as “the being that exists necessarily” (al-dhat al-wajib al-wujud). This is an implicit reference to the most important traditional Muslim argument for the existence of God—the argument from contingency (dalil al-imkan). All of our scholars were deeply familiar with this argument and used it to explain hundreds of verses in the Quran. 

Trainees will learn the concepts of “contingency” and “necessity” and then master this traditional Muslim argument for the existence of God. They will then use the formal structure of this argument to analyze and respond to a variety of common student questions and objections.

Module 4: The Argument for God’s Volitional Agency

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle developed arguments for the existence of God. These arguments became a part of the Christian tradition, but not the Muslim tradition. Traditional Muslim scholars recognized that Aristotle’s “God” was not the same as the God of the Quran—Aristotle’s God did not have any knowledge and didn’t choose to create the universe. 

In this session, trainees will revisit some of the Quranic verses that they saw in the previous session and then study how these verses comprise an argument that rebuts Aristotle’s argument. They will then use the formal structure of this argument to analyze and respond to a variety of common student questions and objections.

Module 5: The Argument for God’s Oneness

The Quran is full of arguments for God’s oneness. But all of these arguments presuppose the two arguments above. Trainees will examine a variety of Quranic verses that argue for God’s oneness, analyze their underlying logical structure, connect them to the previous arguments, and construct an Islamic conception of God that is grounded in both the Quran and in rational arguments.

Module 6: The Argument From Miracles

The Quran explains that Allah Most High aided His prophets and messengers with “clear signs” (bayyinat). These “clear signs” are prophetic miracles (mu‘jizat).

Trainees will study the concept of “prophetic miracles”, learn how to respond to objections that they are unscientific, and then analyze the logical structure of the Quranic argument from miracles.

Module 7: A Walk Through the Textbook

The nineteen chapters of the “Why Islam is True” textbook are based on the four arguments and a classroom culture that encourages all the hard questions. Trainees will review the textbook in light of their training and learn how to use it effectively in their classrooms.

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OPTION 2: FOUR INSTALLMENTS

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