Safeguarding in Online Quran Classes

Murouj Academy safeguards students with live one-to-one lessons that are never recorded, parents who are welcome to sit in, selective teacher hiring and a clear route for concerns. We don't run official DBS checks, and we say so plainly below.

How does Murouj Academy keep students safe online?

Safeguarding here rests on a few simple, checkable rules rather than on promises:

• One student, one teacher. Murouj Academy never runs group classes, so no other student or family can see or hear your lesson.
• No recordings. Lessons are never recorded, and recording is not allowed.
• Open doors. Parents are welcome to sit in, and a female admin may join a lesson to observe.
• Clear rules on who teaches whom, set out below.
• Selective hiring, described step by step below.
• A route for concerns, answered by our admin team in your family's own WhatsApp group.

Murouj Academy is an online academy, so every lesson takes place on video, on Zoom, Google Meet or Halqora, Murouj's own online classroom software.

Can parents sit in on a lesson?

Yes. Parents are welcome to visit and stay, and we encourage it for a nervous beginner or a very young child.

• Mothers and sisters may sit in with a female teacher. With female teachers only women may be in the room, so a mother is exactly who we welcome.
• Fathers are welcome when a male teacher teaches a boy.
• Female admins may observe a lesson to check its quality. All of Murouj Academy's admins are women.

Read more in our guide to privacy and Islamic etiquette in lessons.

Are online Quran classes recorded?

No. Lessons are never recorded, and recording is not allowed. Our terms of service say the same for students and families, who agree not to record classes either.

How should a teacher behave with students?

Our terms ask everyone in a class to be respectful and courteous, students towards teachers and teachers towards students. In practice that means:

• Lessons happen live and in the open. Teaching happens live on Zoom, Google Meet or Halqora, in a one-to-one lesson that parents may join.
• Families deal with the admin team. All communication between our admin team and families happens on WhatsApp, in a group for each family. Updates, reports and concerns go there.
• Teachers are held to the same commitment as families, including turning up on time. If a teacher is away, the lesson is made up later or a temporary substitute teaches (a female substitute for a female student).
• Serious or repeated breaches have consequences. We may pause or end classes if someone seriously or repeatedly breaks the conduct rules.

Who teaches whom?

• Girls and women are taught only by female teachers, strictly, from age 4 with no upper age limit. Male teachers never teach girls or women.
• Boys can be taught by a male or a female teacher. A female teacher teaches boys from age 4 up to age 12.
• Men are taught by male teachers, who teach boys and men from age 4.
• Families: one female teacher can teach a mother, her daughters and her sons up to 12.
• Children: Murouj matches the teacher for the free trial, and most children learn with female teachers. If the fit is not right, we switch to another teacher.

See the female Quran teachers page and our teacher profiles.

Is privacy respected for teachers as well as students?

Yes. Women's privacy is respected on both sides of the screen. When a female teacher teaches a female student, a non-mahram man must not be present or watching on the student's side, and the same applies in the teacher's setting. Many of our female teachers normally wear the niqab but teach with their faces uncovered so a child can see how letters are pronounced, which is why the room is kept to women. It keeps a comfortable, private space for both sides.

How are teachers selected?

Every Murouj Academy teacher is a native Arabic speaker, and only the top 4% of applicants qualify. Selection has five steps, in this order:

1. Ijazah and recitation check. We ask about ijazah first, and holders still go through every step. The teacher must recite fluently with no mistakes.
2. Tajweed knowledge check. The teacher must apply every Tajweed rule while reciting and explain the rules clearly.
3. Teaching skills check. Teachers must be experienced, skilled teachers. We do not hire someone who has not taught.
4. English fluency check, plus German for teachers who teach in German.
5. Mock lesson. The teacher teaches a member of our team playing the student, for children and for adults separately, so we see how they teach each.

An ijazah is strongly encouraged but not required, and some teachers hold one. Meet them on our teachers page.

Are Murouj Academy teachers DBS-checked?

We don't run official DBS checks, and we do not claim to. Instead, every teacher passes our five-step selection, so we know their recitation, Tajweed, teaching skills and English before they teach anyone. A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) 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. US-style background checks work the same way, which is why we do not advertise them either.

What families get instead is the list on this page: the five-step selection, one-to-one lessons that a parent can join, no recordings, female admin observation and a quick route for concerns. If you want to ask us anything about how a lesson is kept safe, message us before your free trial. UK families can also read our UK page, and US families our US page.

What are parents responsible for?

Our terms set this out. A parent or guardian books and manages classes for anyone under 18 and supervises their child's use of the internet during and around lessons. Families do not share class links with anyone else.

How do I raise a concern?

Tell us straight away. Each family has its own WhatsApp group with our admin team, so that is the quickest route. You can also reach us here:

• WhatsApp (calls too): +1 (315) 541-8837
• Email: info@muroujacademy.com

We look into every concern. How we handle personal information is in our privacy policy.

Safeguarding for families in your country

Murouj Academy teaches families in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Parents of younger children can read online Quran classes for kids, and parents of daughters online Quran classes for girls. For a checklist to use with any academy, see how to choose a safe online Quran teacher for your daughter.