Principal’s Message

Salaam Alaykum,

I warmly welcome you all to the 2025/26 academic year.

We are a few weeks into the term, and many of you will be aware that I have recently taken on the responsibility of leading S I Madressa as principal, along with Br Muhammad Damji, and Sr Farzanabai Kirmani as co-vice principals. We are all honoured to be given this opportunity to support you in the journey that your children will take to learn, love, and live Islam.

Taʿlīm (education) is the systematic transfer of information, facts, and concepts through instruction from a teacher to a student. Tarbiyah (nurturing), however, is a holistic process of creating an environment that facilitates natural growth to reveal the inner abilities and potential of each individual. This approach recognises and cultivates the Divine nature already present within each of us, and is something towards which we want to dedicate our Madressa resources.

There are many things to look forward to in the upcoming year, including a plethora of new initiatives to enhance the student experience at Madressa, and a new strategy that has been developed following consultation with our Heads of Department. The strategy has three key pillars and builds on the hard work and foundations of our outgoing leadership team:

1.⁠ ⁠Enhance the student experience within Madressa
2.⁠ ⁠Engage the parents of our students
3.⁠ ⁠Foster collaboration

Each of these pillars is intended to achieve a specific purpose. The student experience is a holistic approach to nurturing the Divine nature found in each and everyone of us. Through careful nurturing and education, this Divine nature is activated and shines through in all aspects of life, so that students learn Islam, love Islam, and are comfortable and confident in their identity as Muslims, to live Islam in their daily lives.

A fundamental challenge that we face in Madressa is the amount of contact we can have with our students, and this is where the parents will come in. The success of the goal to nurture our students, requires parents to be invested in the process. We hope that we can engage you as parents through communicating events and activities that are taking place at Madressa, as well as informing you of what your children are learning and where you can support them to ensure that their Tarbiyah continues throughout the week.

We will ensure we have clear channels of communication, provide forums to share challenges, ideas, and best practices with each other, as well as offer workshops to increase your knowledge and develop important skills needed to connect with your children. Finally, fostering collaboration both within the Madressa teams and within the wider Hujjat KSIMC community, will enable us to build a micro community of Muslims (both students and parents), who together, embark on a journey of learning and personal growth, to ultimately develop a deep and meaningful relationship with Allah (SWT), that is based on the teachings of the Qur’an and Ahlulbayt (a.s.)

I pray that during the course of this year, each and every family will see an increase in knowledge and understanding of our wonderful religion. May this year be both spiritually fulfilling and intellectually fruitful for all.

Please keep us in your prayers as you will be in ours.

Shaykh Mehdi Abdullah
Principal, Shi’a Ithna ’Asheri Madressa,
London, United Kingdom – September 2025