Empowering the Community through Education and Service

ABOUT RISALA

Risala, Inc.

The mission of Risala, Inc. is to provide either free or low cost high quality Islamic Education and community outreach services to underserved Muslim and non-Muslim communities of all ethnicities and age groups.

With this, Risala, Inc. consists of two major components which are education and service, and these have resulted in two branches; The Risala Institute and Risala Community Outreach (RCO). The Risala Institute is an institution of Islamic Education and formal Arabic training. Its mission is to serve, empower and uplift the underserved Muslim community by increasing Islamic knowledge and Arabic proficiency through education, leadership, and spiritual growth. Its goal is to be a central location for seeking Islamic knowledge and studying the Arabic language through bringing together some of the most highly qualified teachers in their respective disciplines. All classes are taught using traditional Islamic teaching methods combined with a university style format for adult courses. Adult courses are offered on a semesterly or quarterly basis in sequential order with the aim of awarding certificates of proficiency in certain areas. In addition to adult courses, special attention is given to youth education enrichment programs, which is considered one of the most vital areas of need. Various programs and courses are provided to children from as young as five years old up to seventeen years old.

The second component of Risala, Inc. is the Risala Community Outreach (RCO) program. Its aim is to prepare inner-city youth to be productive members of society, instill mental and physical health awareness amongst youth, and increase the odds of success for at-risk youth. Risala Community Outreach strives to counter all of the negative influences that many of our youth face which so often lead them to such outcomes as dropping out of school, selling drugs, going to jail, and even an early death. It provides a positive environment with positive role models, and a means in which to have a successful future. RCO will accomplish this by means of education, mentoring, and service. One of the things that make Risala unique is that it is an institution with the ambition of never relying upon tuition or fundraisers to function. The goal is to not take from the people, but to only give back and increase them spiritually and physically. The main funding source of Risala’s various programs is ongoing business ventures that feed all profits directly towards programming.