Alimaan Online: Combining accredited Islamic education with digital recognition for learners around the world

Alimaan is an online higher education provider dedicated to making high-quality, accessible, and structured Islamic education available to learners in the UK and internationally. 

Their vision is to combine the rich tradition of Islamic scholarship with modern education and technology, enabling learners to study flexibly alongside work, university, and family commitments. 

Turning specialist expertise into recognised qualifications 

Alimaan's NCFE accredited Level 6 Alimiyyah qualification covers a comprehensive range of traditional Islamic sciences, including Fiqh, Aqeedah, Hadith, Tafseer, Seerah, Arabic, Tajweed, and Tazkiyah. 

Sarah Tarek, Founder at Alimaan Online, said: "We use NCFE Customised Qualifications to develop and deliver structured, quality-assured programmes that reflect the specialist nature of Islamic higher education and the needs of our learners." 

"The flexibility of NCFE’s model has been particularly valuable to Alimaan. It has enabled us to develop a qualification around our specialist curriculum and learning outcomes, rather than having to adapt our programme to fit an existing qualification." 

Choosing the right accreditation option 

While many organisations offer Islamic education programmes, Alimaan wanted to take a different approach by building a robust academic framework with qualifications that are recognised by an awarding organisation.  

Sarah explained: "For us, accreditation is not simply about adding a certificate to our programmes. It is about establishing academic credibility, quality assurance, consistency and learner confidence.  

"Working with an awarding organisation enables us to strengthen our curriculum, assessment processes, internal quality assurance and overall academic governance." 

After considering a range of accreditation options, NCFE stood out as an organisation that could work collaboratively and understand the specific needs of Alimaan as a specialist Islamic higher education provider.  

Sarah said: "The team’s professionalism, responsiveness and supportive approach gave us confidence that we had chosen an awarding organisation that was genuinely interested in helping us develop high-quality qualifications. The team did not simply tell us what was required; they took the time to explain the process and help us understand how we could meet the required standards." 

Bringing achievements to life through digital badges 

Alimaan uses NCFE's digital badges service to demonstrate their commitment to quality-assured education. These secure, verifiable assets provide a clear indication of the skills learners have gained from completing the qualification. 

Sarah said: "Displaying the digital badges publicly has helped strengthen Alimaan’s credibility and professional profile, particularly when introducing our organisation and programmes to prospective learners, partners and other education stakeholders." 

Learners are able to manage their badges through digital wallets and share them publicly on social media platforms such as LinkedIn to highlight achievements to their professional networks and wider education community. 

"For us, the badges are more than a digital symbol; they provide a simple and accessible way to communicate the value of our relationship with NCFE and the quality standards behind our programmes." 

Creating lasting value for learners and staff 

Delivering an NCFE Customised Qualification has given learners an additional level of confidence in the quality and credibility of their studies. Rather than simply completing an Islamic Studies programme, learners are following a structured Level 6 qualification with clearly defined learning outcomes, and assessment requirements. 

Teachers and academic staff have also developed a greater understanding of working within a formal qualification framework to deliver at scale, including the importance of consistent assessment, documentation, and learner support.  

This has provided a strong foundation for Alimaan's long-term academic strategy. Since becoming an NCFE Approved Centre, Alimaan are continuing to develop their portfolio of Customised Qualifications to cover specialist Islamic Studies topics such as Tajweed, Tafseer and Qur’anic Sciences, Seerah, and Islamic Finance. 

Sarah concluded: "For Alimaan, NCFE has been more than an awarding organisation. The team has supported us in turning our vision for accredited Islamic higher education into a structured and quality-assured reality, and we look forward to continuing to develop our partnership and future qualifications together." 

Learn more about how your organisation can recognise learning with digital badges and Customised Qualifications.