Join me in this journey to empower Muslim women to become leaders and raise leaders of the future who will go on to create egalitarian institutions, who will shun war and aggression, who will work towards a collaborative and nurturing economic model, and who will tend to the planet as its guardians. A journey to true vicegerency of God.

If you are a Muslim woman ready to take on the role of a worthy vicegerent of God, then my educational offer is for you. Titled as 'Farda Leadership', I offer an ethical and justice-oriented understanding of Islam that is concerned about the future. 'Farda' means 'tomorrow' and it encapsulates my vision to work with Muslim women to create a better world. 

Join me if you are:

• Wishing to become part of a community of courageous Muslim women reclaiming their agency and worthiness as faithful believers.
• Ready to rediscover the balance, wisdom, beauty and inspiration offered by a justice-oriented approach to the Qur’an.
• Ready to critique the rules-heavy, male-centric orientation of traditional Islamic law.
• Willing to commit time to self-reflection and personal engagement with the Qur’an and Sunnah through rigorous academic learning.
• Ready to play or are already playing a leadership role in your personal or professional life.
• Invested in creating a compassionate and just world where we care for people and the planet.

The Philosophy

If you are a Muslim woman who wants to learn from the great Islamic sciences of the past and is orientated towards creating a more compassionate world, then my educational philosophy will resonate with you.

My educational offer is titled ‘Farda Leadership’ which is also the business name I use. It means leadership for tomorrow. The inspiration for this comes from a beautiful verse by Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the great poet and philosopher of the Indian subcontinent. Iqbal uses the phrase fikr-e-farda in his poem Shikwa where he sends a lament to God about the sorry state of Muslims. Farda is a Farsi word literally meaning 'tomorrow'. Fikr-e-farda means thinking or worrying about the future.

Why must I forever lose, forever forego profit that is my due,

Sunk in the gloom of evenings past, no plans for the morrow pursue.

                                        Shikwa by M.Iqbal, translation of the first stanza by Khushwant Singh 1981, Oxford University Press

The Three Strands

My educational offer is categorised into three strands roughly following the educational journey. You can choose your own journey, of course, and I will support you along the way.

Explore

This content is free. The public videos on my YouTube channel, the blog posts on this website, and my Substack newsletter sit in this category. This content is available to all people interested in my work and my approach.

Embark

These are paid courses of a short length, usually requiring a few hours of commitment. These courses introduce you to an academic approach to engaging with the Qur’an, the Hadith and Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh). I will also hold webinars from time to time to talk to you about these topics in-depth.

These courses will be available for download at any point. Once purchased, the course materials and resources are yours forever.

Enact

If you are ready to change your approach to personal and professional leadership and decision-making, looking for that deeper alignment with the values of the Qur’an, then these courses are for you. I will support you in translating religious learning into personal practice and meaningful action plans.

This category includes paid courses of a longer length requiring your engagement and commitment over a few months. These will be delivered as a mix of online self-paced courses and live sessions where I will support you in engaging with your learning. Some of the longer courses will only be available at set points during the year so I can work alongside a group of students.

This category of courses is still under development.

Content and Curriculum

My courses will usually cover these topics:

• A justice-based understanding of Islamic teachings
• Interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadith
• Islamic law and Islamic finance
• Islam and modernity
• Islam and women
• Leadership aligned to Islamic values

My Approach to Teaching

My approach to teaching is based on a teaching approach called co-creation. It means that I value the experience and learning you bring to the classroom. Your lived experiences are a site of learning and knowledge creation. I create space for empowerment, critique and challenge so you can shape your own path. As such, this is an Islamic feminist ethic that values women's voices and sees them as fully human, autonomous beings who are the guardians and keepers of the lived practices of Islam and play a crucial role in transmitting religious knowledge to future generations of Muslims.  

When seen from the lens of farda - tomorrow - Muslim women are the nurtures of tomorrow's leaders.   

Testimonial from Grace Song 

Watch Grace's video testimonial where she talks about my work. 

(Grace Song - Executive Director of The Usuli Institute. Grace's YouTube channel). 

Testimonial from Dr Hina Khalid 

Sitara’s contributions to the landscape of Islamic learning are nothing short of an inspiration. Sitara speaks with a voice as anchored in love for the words of God, as it is sensitive to the exigencies of our contemporary moment. From her historically grounded and theologically robust analyses of women’s rights in Islam, to her spiritually vibrant reflections on the majesty of the Holy Qur’an, the many facets of Sitara’s scholarly project deserve serious and sustained attention by us all. In her consistent call to exercise our God-given faculties of compassion and reflection, Sitara generously re-acquaints us with the ethical and intellectual beauty that is the heartbeat of our faith.

(Dr Hina Khalid - Researcher at the University of Cambridge)