Online Quran Classes in the UK

Murouj Academy gives live, one-to-one Quran lessons online to families in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, booked in UK time. Our tutors are native Arabs and each holds an ijazah. Girls and women are taught by women, you pick the tutor yourself and may change whenever you like, and the first lesson is free.

Murouj Academy for UK families at a glance

• How lessons run: strictly one student and one tutor, with no group classes, and a programme planned around that one learner. Pick 30, 45 or 60 minutes per sitting, from two up to five sittings each week.
• Clock: bookings are made in UK time, so GMT through the winter and BST through the summer.
• Tutors: native Arabic speakers from the Arab world, each with an ijazah; many of them studied at, or hold certification from, Al-Azhar.
• Picking a tutor: the choice is yours, and so is any later change. Women and girls are taught by female teachers, and adult men by male teachers; for a child, mum or dad decides.
• School of thought: Sunni.
• Getting in touch: WhatsApp +1 (315) 541-8837. Murouj LLC, the company behind the academy, is registered in the US; there is no UK office, as all teaching happens online.

What lesson times are available in the UK?

For most of the year, our teachers' clock is 2 hours ahead of UK time, whether the UK is on GMT or BST. Such a small gap is good news for UK families: the hours that suit you are sociable hours for the teacher too. The table shows the windows UK families ask for most.

What this means in practice:

1. After school works well. A lesson between 16:00 and 19:00 in the UK is between 18:00 and 21:00 on the teacher's side, an ordinary evening.
2. Evenings for adults are possible. A 20:00 lesson in Manchester or Glasgow is 22:00 for the teacher, so later evening slots depend on the teacher you choose.
3. Weekends are flexible. A 10:00 Saturday lesson is 12:00 for the teacher, and weekend afternoons up to 17:00 UK time fall before 19:00 on the teacher's clock.

Slots aren't listed here because every tutor sets a personal diary. Send us the hours your household prefers when you enrol; exact slots are then fixed with your chosen tutor and confirmed at your free trial.

What happens when the clocks change?

UK clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October. On the tutors' side, clocks spring ahead on the final Friday of April and fall back once the final Thursday of October has ended. For a short time each spring and autumn, one side has changed and the other has not.

The gap weeks for the coming year:

• Autumn 2026: a 3-hour gap. UK clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026, and our teachers' clocks follow on Thursday 29 October. From 25 to 29 October the teacher is 3 hours ahead instead of 2.
• Spring 2027: a 1-hour gap. UK clocks go forward on 28 March 2027, and our teachers' clocks follow at the end of April. From 28 March to 29 April 2027 the teacher is only 1 hour ahead.
• Autumn 2027: a 1-hour gap. Our teachers' clocks go back first this time, late on 28 October 2027, and UK clocks follow on 31 October. From that evening until 30 October 2027 the gap is 1 hour.

Your UK time can stay the same. If your daughter's lesson is at 17:00 every Tuesday in Birmingham, it can stay at 17:00. It simply happens at a different hour on the teacher's clock during those weeks. Your teacher agrees with you beforehand which clock the lesson follows, so nobody misses a class.

How do lessons fit around UK school terms?

The school year in England and Wales runs from early September to late July, in Northern Ireland to the end of June, and in Scotland from mid-August to late June or early July, with half-terms and longer breaks at Christmas, Easter and summer. One-to-one lessons can follow that rhythm:

• During term, most families choose after-school lessons on weekdays, weekend mornings, or a mix of both. You can book from two to five lessons a week.
• Half-terms and holidays such as the Easter and summer holidays can be planned around. If you would like extra lessons while school is off, ask us on WhatsApp what your teacher can offer.
• Exam season. When GCSEs, A levels or Highers are close, talk to your teacher about any changes you would like to make, and agree them together.

Because every lesson is one-to-one, the programme follows the student, not a class timetable. A six-year-old can start with Arabic letters while their older brother revises the juz he memorised last term.

How do online lessons compare with the local madrasah?

Many UK children go to an evening madrasah or a class at the mosque, and that has real value: friends, community, a shared routine and the feeling of belonging to the masjid. We see one-to-one online lessons as a different tool, not a replacement for that.

In a one-to-one lesson the whole lesson goes to one student. The teacher hears every letter your child recites, corrects each mistake as it happens, and moves at your child's pace, whether that means more time on makharij or a faster memorisation plan. There is no travel on a dark winter evening, and the lesson can be booked at a time that fits around school, clubs and homework.

Families can use both: community at the mosque, and focused recitation or memorisation with a teacher at home.

Who are the tutors?

Arabic is the mother tongue of every tutor at Murouj Academy, and all of them come from the Arab world. Holding an ijazah is a condition of joining: nobody is taken on without one.

What is an ijazah? An ijazah is a formal, chain-based authorisation from a qualified teacher. It certifies that the holder has mastered a body of knowledge, such as reciting the Quran, and is allowed to teach it and to certify others. By contrast, a mum, dad or family friend who knows the Quran well can support a learner informally, without being a qualified, certified tutor. Our guide to the meaning and types of ijazah goes into more depth.

Alongside Arabic, the tutors speak English, which helps British-born children follow each explanation. A good number trained at or were certified by Al-Azhar, and every profile sets out that tutor's own studies and ijazah.

Browse the tutor profiles and pick the person you want. Changing later is always allowed, and we never assign someone at random.

Female teachers for women and girls

At Murouj Academy, women and girls are always taught by female teachers. Adult men are taught by male teachers. For children, the parent chooses the teacher, and most of the children we teach learn with female teachers.

We treat this as a firm rule rather than a preference we try to honour, so a mum, her daughters or a sister new to the Quran can begin with a woman tutor from lesson one.

Safeguarding, stated honestly

UK parents often ask whether our teachers are DBS-checked. The honest answer is no. A Disclosure and Barring Service check searches UK records and is designed for people working in the UK. Our teachers live and teach outside the UK, so a DBS check cannot be carried out on them in the usual way, and we won't claim one.

Our written safeguarding policy, including what we do instead, is being finalised. Once complete, it will appear on the safeguarding page. Already confirmed today:

• Each lesson has one student and one tutor, held in Murouj Academy's own online classroom, which you open from a link.
• Only women teach girls and women.
• With children, parents pick the tutor and may change them whenever they wish.

Hifz and ijazah for UK students

Some UK students come to us with a clear goal: to memorise the whole Quran, or to earn an ijazah of their own. One-to-one lessons suit both, because memorisation and ijazah depend on a teacher hearing every verse you recite.

• The Quran memorisation course builds a steady hifz plan with new memorisation and regular revision. Our guide to how to memorise the Quran explains the habits that help.
• The Quran recitation and ijazah course is for confident readers who want to perfect their recitation and work towards an ijazah with a teacher who holds one.

Which of the six courses suits us?

All six programmes are one-to-one, and none ranks above another:

• Primary-age beginners tend to start on letters and reading with the Qaidah for beginners course, often paired with Islamic studies covering manners, worship and the prophets' stories.
• Secondary-school pupils and adults who can already read generally polish their recitation on the Quran tajweed course or take on hifz with the Quran memorisation course.
• Fluent reciters aiming for certification follow the Quran recitation and ijazah course.
• Reverts begin at the very first step, gently, on the New Muslim course.
• Learners curious about the language of revelation may add the Standard Arabic course.

Still undecided? The trial lesson includes a level check, after which the tutor recommends a starting point.

How does the free trial work?

1. Enrol. Fill in the free trial form or send a WhatsApp message with the learner's age, aims, preferred UK times and whether a male or female tutor is needed.
2. Pick a tutor. Read through the profiles, make your choice, and we agree a time with that person.
3. Have the lesson. It's a proper one-to-one session: the tutor gauges the learner's level and proposes a plan. Carrying on means selecting a package, anywhere from two to five sittings weekly at 30, 45 or 60 minutes.

How does pricing work?

No prices appear anywhere on this site. Cost depends on how many sittings you book each week and how long each one lasts, so message us on WhatsApp with the package you have in mind and we'll quote it. The packages page sets out the options side by side and names the accepted payment routes: Wise, PayPal or bank transfer. Although our WhatsApp line carries a US number, chatting or calling through the app from Britain works just as normal.

Do learners stick with it?

Most of our students stay with us for more than a year. The Quran is a long-term undertaking, and staying with a tutor you picked yourself helps households keep going. Students describe their experience first-hand on the reviews page.