How do I check an ijazah is genuine?

Ask which riwayah it covers, who granted it, and in what year. A genuine ijazah names a specific teacher and reading; a vague answer to all three is the warning sign. Most tutors are glad to be asked.

Should my child have the same tutor every lesson?

Yes. Consistency matters more in this subject than in most — the tutor is tracking exactly which letters and rules your child struggles with, and a rotating teacher restarts that each time.

Is a bigger academy better?

Not inherently. Size affects availability and cover when a tutor is ill; it says nothing about the quality of the individual teaching your child, which is what determines the outcome.

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Choosing a tutor

How to choose an online Qur'an academy

By Talha Manzoor, founder of My Islam Tutor · 26 August 2026 · 2 min read

Choose an online Qur'an academy on four things: the tutor's actual qualification, whether lessons are one-to-one, how progress is reported to you, and what happens when something goes wrong. Almost every academy's website says the same words about quality and care, so the useful questions are the specific ones — who exactly is teaching my child, what did they qualify in, and how will I know what happened in the lesson.

Ask who is teaching, by name

"Qualified tutors" is a claim every academy makes and none of them can be judged on. What you want is the individual: her name, what she qualified in, where, and when.

The two qualifications you will hear most are worth telling apart:

An [ijazah](/learn/glossary#ijazah) certifies that she has recited the Qur'an accurately to a qualified teacher and may transmit it. It names the riwayah — usually Hafs 'an 'Asim.
A degree from a madrasah (such as Shahadatul Alamiyyah) is a scholarship qualification covering Arabic, fiqh and hadith.

They are different things, and a tutor may hold either or both. An academy that cannot tell you which one a specific tutor holds does not know its own teachers.

Insist on a real trial class

A trial should be an actual lesson with the tutor who would teach your child, not a sales call and not a demonstration by a senior teacher you will never see again. Watch the first ten minutes of it yourself. You are looking for:

Does she correct pronunciation immediately, or let it pass?
Does your child speak most of the lesson, or listen most of it?
Is she warm? A child who dreads the class will not last a year.

Ask how progress reaches you

This is where academies differ most, and it is the thing you will care about in six months. Ask exactly what you receive and how often. A message after each class saying what was covered is the minimum. Being able to see what your child has completed, and where the same mistake keeps recurring, is considerably better than being told "she is doing well".

If the answer is vague, assume you will be finding out how your child is doing by asking your child.

Ask what happens when something goes wrong

Every arrangement runs into trouble eventually — a missed class, a tutor who is not the right fit, a month you need to pause. The academies worth choosing have an answer ready:

What is the make-up policy for a missed class?
Can we change tutors, and does that reset anything?
Can we pause for Ramadan, or for exams?
Who do I contact if the tutor does not appear, and how quickly?

On female tutors

For many families this is not a preference but a requirement — particularly for daughters, and particularly for adult women learning to read. It is worth asking directly whether the academy can guarantee a female tutor for the whole programme, rather than for the first month. An academy that employs both will usually try; an academy built entirely around female teachers does not have to.

A short checklist

Name and specific qualification of the tutor who will teach.
One-to-one, not group.
A free trial that is a real lesson with that tutor.
Written progress you can actually read.
A stated policy on missed classes, tutor changes and pausing.
Published fees, with no registration fee hidden behind a form.

Any academy should be able to answer all six in a single conversation. Ours are answered on this site — you can read our tutors, our fees and our courses without speaking to anyone.

Common questions

How do I check an ijazah is genuine?: Ask which riwayah it covers, who granted it, and in what year. A genuine ijazah names a specific teacher and reading; a vague answer to all three is the warning sign. Most tutors are glad to be asked.
Should my child have the same tutor every lesson?: Yes. Consistency matters more in this subject than in most — the tutor is tracking exactly which letters and rules your child struggles with, and a rotating teacher restarts that each time.
Is a bigger academy better?: Not inherently. Size affects availability and cover when a tutor is ill; it says nothing about the quality of the individual teaching your child, which is what determines the outcome.