Madrasah Islamiah is a well-known Islamic school and mosque in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1989 by Hafiz Mohammed Iqbal. Since then, the school has produced over 70 huffaz and has taught hundreds of kids how to read the Quran.
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History
Madrasah Islamiah was founded in 1989 by Hafiz Mohammed Iqbal, one of Houston's pioneering Muslim Scholars. He was originally appointed and brought here by the dawah jamat. He came to Houston in 1979 with a hope of bringing Islam to a city that had an almost transparent Muslim population. He was the first teacher at Madrasah Islamiah with a small class of only a handful of students. Since then, Madrasah Islamiah has produced over 70 huffaz. It is located next to the Crescent Oaks apartment complex. The complex consists of a diverse population consisting of Muslims from many backgrounds, such as Hyderabadis, Palestinian, Pakistani, Indian, Somalian, and Egyptian.
The school
Supporting the Deobandi School of thought, Madrasah Islamiah is known for being the largest Islamic school in Houston. It focuses mostly on Hifz, or the memorization of the Holy Quran, along with classes of Islamic studies and Arabic/Urdu linguistic studies. It has three hifz programs, a full-time boys program, which the teachers are Qari Hashim and Qari Awwal, a full-time girls program, and a part-time boys program. The full-time program operates six days a week, from Fajr (around 5 - 6 AM) to Isha (about 8-10 PM). The majority of the Madrasah Islamiah graduates are from the full-time program. The part-time program allows kids to continue their education at a public school and attend madrasah classes from Maghrib to Isha. However, these students tend to take longer in their hifz and tend to have to rely on themselves for their previous revision.