Deen For Teens
Deen for Teens
Faith, Identity, and Real Life
Deen for Teens is a structured, twice-weekly Islamic learning and mentorship program for high school students — combining classes, honest discussions, meaningful friendships, outings, service, and practical guidance under the leadership of Shaykh Numaan.
The program helps Muslim teenagers understand their religion, develop confidence in their identity, and learn how to navigate the real challenges they face at school, online, with friends, and within themselves. This is not simply another weekly lecture. Students meet twice each week for structured learning, guided conversations, activities, mentorship, and community-building — a safe and serious space to ask questions, discuss difficult issues, build friendships, and develop a lasting connection to the masjid.
Program Details
| Academic Year | September – June |
| Days | Tuesdays & Thursdays |
| Time | 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM |
| Audience | Grades 9–12 |
| Location | In person at Zubaida Foundation |
| Instructor | Shaykh Numaan |
| Registration | Required (full academic year) |
The program includes scheduled breaks for Thanksgiving, winter break, Ramadan, Eid, and other major community dates.
Why twice a week — and not more? Today's teens already carry a full load: school, homework, sports, activities, jobs, and family. Deen for Teens is intentionally built around two focused, meaningful evenings rather than stretching students thin across the week. Two days is enough to build real knowledge and real friendships — while leaving room for a healthy, balanced life.
The Two-Day Model
Each week has two distinct but connected experiences:
Tuesday — Foundations
Structured Islamic learning. Students study a clear curriculum in faith, worship, Qur'an, Sīrah, character, and the practical responsibilities of being Muslim. These classes build week by week, giving students the vocabulary, knowledge, and confidence to understand Islam properly.
Thursday — Faith in Real Life
Application, conversation, mentorship, and community. Students discuss real-life issues, work through scenarios, ask questions, join group activities, plan service projects, and take part in outings — connecting what they learn to the lives they actually live.
What Students Walk Away With
By the end of the year, students should:
- Understand the foundations of Islamic belief
- Know the essential rules of purification, prayer, and fasting
- Have a clearer, more personal relationship with the Qur'an
- Know the major stages of the Prophet's ﷺ life and how the Sunnah guides Muslim practice
- Recognize common threats to faith and character
- Make more thoughtful decisions about friends, relationships, and screens
- Feel comfortable asking religious questions
- Build lasting relationships with Muslim peers and mentors, and a stronger connection to the masjid
- Complete a community service or leadership project
- Leave with a realistic personal plan for continued growth
Know your faith. Find your people. Face life with clarity.
The Six Curriculum Pillars
The curriculum is built on six connected pillars — the essential knowledge every young Muslim needs, taught in a way that is conscious, intelligent, and resilient. Tap each pillar to explore what it covers.
Students need more than inherited religious language — they need to understand what they believe and why it matters.
- Knowing Allah and the meaning of tawḥīd
- Prophethood and revelation
- The Qur'an as divine guidance
- The reality of the Hereafter
- Divine decree and human responsibility
- Islam, īmān, and iḥsān
- Reason, faith, and certainty; handling doubts
- Religious authority and trustworthy scholarship
- Why Muslims follow the Sunnah
- Understanding madhhabs and scholarly disagreement
- Modern worldviews and their assumptions
The goal is not to turn teenagers into theologians — it is to give them enough clarity that their faith is conscious, intelligent, and resilient.
Students learn how to practice Islam correctly and understand the purpose behind worship.
- Purification, wuḍūʾ, and ghusl
- Prayer, congregational prayer, and Jumuʿah
- Missed prayers and common mistakes in worship
- Fasting and the fundamentals of zakāh
- Ḥajj and ʿumrah awareness
- Halal and haram; food and consumption
- Duʿāʾ, dhikr, and repentance
- Personal responsibility after puberty
Sensitive topics related to puberty, menstruation, personal purity, and gender-specific rulings are taught through appropriate, separate sessions when necessary.
Students develop a meaningful relationship with revelation — not experiencing the Qur'an only as something recited without understanding.
- What the Qur'an is; how it was revealed and preserved
- How to approach translation and tafsīr
- Major Qur'anic themes and stories of the Prophets
- Selected short sūrahs
- Verses on identity, patience, temptation, friendship, family, and the Hereafter
- How the Sunnah explains the Qur'an
- Foundational Hadith and how they were preserved
- Applying Prophetic guidance to modern life
Students regularly encounter the actual Arabic text alongside accessible explanation.
The life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is studied as guidance for real life, not merely as a historical timeline.
- The Prophet's ﷺ youth and the beginning of revelation
- Standing firm under pressure; the early Muslims
- Migration, brotherhood, and community-building
- Leadership, conflict, and reconciliation
- Mercy and justice; family life; friendship and loyalty
- Courage and patience
- His ﷺ treatment of young people
- His humor, speech, humility, worship, and emotional balance
- The final years of his life — and what it means to love and follow him ﷺ
Central to the Thursday program — direct, age-appropriate, and grounded in Islamic guidance without becoming preachy or evasive.
- What it means to be a Muslim teenager; confidence without arrogance
- Fitting in without losing yourself; choosing friends
- Attraction and relationships; modesty and gender interaction
- Pornography and sexualized media
- Music, entertainment, and popular culture
- Vaping, drugs, alcohol, and gambling
- Online personalities, influencers, phones, and attention
- Gaming and discipline; bullying and social isolation
- Academic stress, body image, anger, and emotional regulation
- Anxiety, sadness, and seeking help
- Speaking to parents and navigating family conflict
- Preparing for college; career, wealth, and success
- Responding to Islamophobia; doubts and uncomfortable questions
The program aims to produce teenagers who contribute — not merely teenagers who consume religious content.
- Sincerity, responsibility, truthfulness, and discipline
- Respect, guarding the tongue, and keeping promises
- Serving parents and masjid adab
- Working in a team and handling disagreements
- Public speaking and planning an event
- Volunteering, community service, and mentoring younger students
- Financial responsibility and time management
- Leadership without ego
Service requirement: Students complete at least one meaningful service project each semester.
Outings & Experiences
Outings are an intentional part of the program — not merely occasional entertainment. A realistic rhythm is one outing or special activity every six to eight weeks.
Possible Outings
- Group dinner, bowling, or indoor sports
- Hiking, campfire, or outdoor reflection night
- Museum or historical visit
- Community service day, food distribution, or volunteer project
- College campus visit or career panel
- Visit to another Islamic institution
- Islamic art or calligraphy workshop
- End-of-year retreat or field day
Every outing serves a purpose: strengthening friendships, building trust with mentors, connecting Islamic learning to real life, serving the community, and letting students see healthy Muslim adulthood modeled.
Mentorship & Student Support
Shaykh Numaan leads the program, but a twice-weekly teen initiative is built on a team so that students always have someone appropriate to turn to.
- Shaykh Numaan — lead instructor and program director
- A qualified female mentor for girls
- Male and female youth mentors / assistants
- Administrative support for attendance and parent communication
- Approved chaperones for outings
Students have access to appropriate mentors for questions they may not be comfortable asking publicly.
Safeguarding: Mentors do not act as therapists and do not promise confidentiality in situations involving harm, abuse, self-harm, or safety concerns. Clear safeguarding and reporting policies are established before launch.
Classroom Culture
Deen for Teens should feel serious without feeling like school, and relaxed without becoming chaotic. Our culture is:
- Respectful, honest, and welcoming
- Question-friendly and free from mockery
- Rooted in adab and age-appropriate
- Spiritually serious — and socially enjoyable
Students are encouraged to ask difficult questions. Questions are never shamed — but students are also expected to engage respectfully and avoid turning discussions into argument or performance.
Tuition
Deen for Teens meets twice each week and includes classes, mentorship, outings, and materials.
| Enrollment | Tuition |
|---|---|
| Per child | $75 / month |
- Outing fees are included where possible.
- Monthly payment plans are offered; a semester or annual payment option is available.
Scholarships are available, and no student is turned away solely due to financial hardship. To enroll or to inquire about financial assistance, please email teens@zubaidafoundation.com.
Policies
Attendance & Commitment
- Because the program meets twice weekly, students are expected to attend at least 75% of scheduled sessions.
- Parents should notify the program in advance when a student will be absent.
- Students who attend consistently and complete the core requirements receive a certificate of completion at the end of the year.
Conduct
Repeated disruptive behavior, bullying, inappropriate interactions, or disregard for program expectations is addressed through a clear student and parent conduct policy. Students complete a brief student agreement, and parents complete a separate parent agreement, at registration.
Registration
Registration is for the full academic year rather than casual month-to-month enrollment (monthly payment plans are still available). Registration collects:
- Student name, grade, age, and school
- Parent/guardian and emergency contact information
- Medical or allergy information; relevant learning or accommodation needs
- Permission for outings; transportation permissions
- Photo and media consent
- Student interests and topics the student wants addressed
- Parent goals for enrollment
- Student commitment to program expectations
Safeguarding
Outings are supervised by approved chaperones. Mentors provide guidance but are not therapists and cannot promise confidentiality where a student's safety is at risk. Clear safeguarding and reporting procedures are in place, and serious concerns are escalated appropriately.