Islamic Boarding Schools for Girls

Islamic boarding schools aim to marry the ideals of Western education with the traditional spiritual edification of the Muslim tradition. Outside of the predominantly Islamic nations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, these schools typically exist in areas with large Muslim populations, such as the United Kingdom or the northeastern United States. Islamic boarding schools often house academies for both boys and girls, though some maintain separate campuses for each sex.

Among the Islamic boarding schools for girls in the English-speaking world are the Darul Uloom Al Madania Girls campus, Eaton Girls Boarding School, Jamea Al Kauthar and Jamia Al Hudaa. The Darul Uloom Al Madania School is located in Buffalo, New York. Jamea Al Kauthar can be found in Lancaster, England. Jamia Al Hudaa is located in Nottingham, East Midlands in the United Kingdom. According to the school's website, it is easily accessible from both London and continental Europe. The Eaton Girls Boarding School is under construction as of August 2010 and will open to the public in Eaton, United Kingdom at an unspecified date.

According to its official website, the Jamia Al Hudaa girls boarding school was opened in 1996 in an effort to meet rising demands for Islamic education amongst the Muslim population of Europe. The school aims to educate young women in Islam, the Qu'ran and the Sunnah and typical European educational standards and subjects, so that as adults they are able to function in both Islamic and European society. Jamea Al Kauthar aims to create a safe and happy environment for Muslim girls in which they can learn of Allah and the Prophet Mohammed, develop an understanding of and tolerance for other religions and races and gain self knowledge and moral certitude. All Islamic girls' boarding schools stress a deep knowledge and respect for the Deen, or traditional Islamic way of life.

Girls at the Darul Uloom Al Madania School take two simultaneous courses. One is a standard American education that runs through the 10th grade. The other is the Aalima, a five-year course of study that teaches Arabic language and grammar, the biographies of Mohammed and other Prophets, Islamic history, Arabic literature, theology, public speaking, textual analysis of the Qu'ran, the genesis of Islamic law, logic, expository writing and the principles of Islamic worship among other things. Students at Britain's Islamic girls' boarding schools will take similar Aalima courses, as well as math, science, English literature and Urdu, the official language of Pakistan.

Jamea Al-Kauthar is a network of buildings similar in layout to Oxford University. Student facilities at the school include classrooms, prayer halls, computer suites, a science lab, dormitories, fully equipped washrooms and a medical facility. The school also has a number of gardens. Darul Uloom Al Madania School has a library that is shared by the boys' and girls' campuses and a large central worship hall where students, faculty and staff gather for prayer. The Eaton School construction site is a seven-acre plot. The school itself will be a large building housing dormitories and classrooms with a central courtyard.

In addition to boys' and girls' standard boarding schools, Darul Uloom Al Madania provides continuing education for Islamic men and women who have finished their initial studies. The two continuing education courses offered by the school are a two-year Ifta program, a comprehensive study of Fiqh, or Islamic law, and Hifz, or the complete memorisation of the Holy Qu'ran aimed to prepare students for advanced Islamic studies and teaching opportunities. The Eaton School is an initiative of UK non-profit Muslim Charity, which does extensive charity work in predominantly Muslim nations and regions.