Shaykha Ruquyya bint Muhammed , born and raised in London, also known by students and many in East London as "Apa Ruquyya". Currently she is the Deputy Head of Madrasah  Al Zahra (but  prefers the title “facilitator”). Her Role involves devising and creating  a syllabus, appointing all staff & teachers and supervising and overseeing the whole school. Within her  Role she  is also  responsible for Student Welfare. Two years ago, she  was approached to be the head teacher for an Islamic school in Chingford (East London) that needed a complete restructure within the organisation with regards to teachers and syllabus and Alhamdalilah that has been successfully completed.

 

She is a  qualified IT Teacher with extensive teaching experience in college settings. Previously she has worked as an Assessor for National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) this lead to her gaining experience in  placing students in work places and conducting risk assessments. She has also  worked with the under privileged youth ,who had been excluded from schools. This was  known as “the diamond project”, a government initiative set up to facilitate the excluded, back into society. 

 

Shaykha Ruquyya has obtained ijaaza in the sciences of Tajweed & Qira’ah  in the narration of Hafs and Assim. She has also completed her Alimiyah studies and graduated in March 2020.

 

Shaykha Ruquyya has utilised her teaching qualification to teach ladies Tajweed for the past 6 years in her local community and was honoured to be a judge for the female section in the National Hufadh Association’s Quran Competition. 

 

She has recently set up a course aimed at tackling teenage girls identity in Islam and holds weekly sessions and surgeries to discuss any relevant current issues. She also hold weekly Quran Tafseer and Tarbiah sessions for the community as a whole. 

 

During the past year she was the Lead within East london for organising and shrouding the deceased during Covid and has trained numerous volunteers to fulfil this service. This lead her towards exploring  Chaplaincy as she was the bridge between families and the deceased due to Covid regulations. 

 

She is known for her ability to engage and talk with people of any age and is always striving to deliver lectures  combining her abilities as a mother , a teacher , an alimah and a member of the community.