Alhamdulillah after 4 years of efforts and planning, ALI successfully began offering online courses. After praising the Almighty without whose help nothing is possible, we would like to acknowledge the sincere and dedicated efforts of our IT team, particularly that of Br. Talib Jaffer.  Br. Talib has worked tirelessly to make this vision of the Academy possible. Besides him Br. Mahmood Rashid and Br. Muhammad Mahdi Kassamali have also served on the IT team.

Online courses are a great way to reach Mu’mineen around the world and have a lot of future potential. The live course requires a Windows-based computer with speakers/headphones and a high-speed internet (Cable/DSL or faster) connection to participate. Students can participate by speaking into the mike and/or typing their comments and questions.

Our experience in online courses so far has been very positive. Both children and adults have responded very well and have been able to participate actively in the discussions. A number of courses were repeated to facilitate live participation of students from different time zones.  The participants come from around the world, including students from:

• British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario in Canada,
• Florida, Minnesota, Georgia, California, and Texas in the US.
• Beyond North America student participation came from United Kingdom, Belgium, Dubai, Iran, Tanzania, and Congo, as well as other places. 

The participants come from various cultural and religious backgrounds, including a number of revert (or new) Muslims.

Online Courses in 2005/2006

1. ALI 100 - Importance of Reading and Reflecting on the Holy Qur'an
   Date:  Oct. 8th, 15th and 29th, 2005    Instructor: Hasnain Kassamali
   This was the first online course. It covered a number of Qur'anic verses, Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (s) and his Ahlul Bayt (a) on the benefit of reciting and studying the Holy Qur'an.
2. ALI 110 – Islamic Civilization
   Date: March 13th - 16th 2006   Instructor: Tahera Kassamali
   This course was for children ages 10 – 16 and was designed to help students understand the important contributions of Islamic civilization to society.
3. ALI 111 - Understanding Azaa of Imam Husayn (a)
   Date: March 13th – 16th  2006.  Instructor: Hasnain Kassamali
   The course covered discussions on mourning and weeping for Imam al-Husayn (a) and other martyrs of Karbala. It answered some of the frequently asked questions on Azaadari.
4. ALI 114 - Morality in Nahjul Balagha
   Date: May 29th and 31st 2006.  Instructor: Tahera Kassamali
   The course covered various sections of Nahjul Balagha where Imam Ali (a) discusses Zuhd and its various aspects.

5. ALI 117 - Hajj Seminar
   Date: November 25th/26th 2006 Instructor: Hasnain Kassamali
   An online seminar was held entitled Prepare for the Journey: Hajj (Hijjatul Islam) 1426. The seminar was repeated at two different timings.
6. ALI 118 – Belief in the Justice of God
   Date: Nov. 25th and 26th, 2006    Instructor:  Tahera Kassamali
   The course addressed some common questions regarding this belief, such as: why so much suffering in the world, relation between Action and Knowledge of God, and how much of life is determined by Divine Decree.
7. ALI 119 – Introduction to Irfan
   Date:  Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 2006      Instructor: Khalil Jaffer
   This course started with an introduction to Irfan and the history of its most prominent figures and introduced steps to understand and practice the science itself. Participants were given a deeper understanding of what Irfan is all about as well as further references to allow them to continue studying and practice Irfan on their own.

Online Courses in 2007

1. ALI 120 – Significance of the Events of Karbala
   Date: Feb. 5th and 6th 2007   Instructor: Hasnain Kassamali
   The course looked at some of the theological and ethical lessons which Muslims of this era can derive from studying the events of Karbala. Participants studied some of the sermons of Imam Husayn and his actions from Medina to Karbala in order to understand Islamic principles on the role of Imamah.
2. ALI 121 - Why a Special Form of Azaa for the martyrs of Karbala
   Date: Feb. 19th and 20th 2007   Instructor: Hasnain Kassamali
   The course looked at different forms of Azaa (Azadari) performed to mourn the martyrs of Karbala and discussed the reasons for holding these commemoration. The following forms of Azaa were discussed in detail: Marthiya, Alam, Shabih, weeping and wailing and Ma`tam (latmiyyah).
3. ALI 122 – Ibadah (i.e. worship) in Nahjul Balagha
   Date: March 12th and 14th  2007. Instructor: Tahera Kassamali
   This course covered the various levels of Ibadah as described in Nahjul Balagha, night vigils of the pious, spiritual experiences of the Abid and the idea of worship as a moral remedy  A total of 36 students attended.

4. ALI 124 – Seminar on Sermon of Disparagement (Qasea)
   Date: April 18th/20th and May 16th/18th 2007. Instructor: Tahera Kassamali
   A discussion seminar on Khutba no.190 of Nahjul Balagha.
5. ALI 125 – Understanding the Occultation of the 12th Imam
   Date: May 12th and 13th 2007.  Instructor: Shaykh Mustafa Jaffer
   This course discussed the principles and philosophy of occultation, and the signs of re-appearance of the Imam after Ghaybate Kubra.
6. ALI 126 – A Book Discussion on The Divine Invitation
   Date: August 5th, 12th, 19th and Sept. 2nd, 2007   Instructor: Haji Murtaza Bachoo
   An online Halaqa –a group discussion – on the book The Short Treatise on the Divine Invitation by Shaykh Muhammad M Khalfan.
7. ALI 127 - Human being vs. the Devil: Lessons from the story Prophet Ayyub (a)
   Date:  Sept. 8th and 9th 2007   Instructor: Haji Salim Yusufali
   The course was based on the story of Nabi Ayyub and discussed the strategies used by Shaytan to dissuade believers from reaching their goals. This course attracted more than 35 participants from Toronto, Vancouver, Texas, Florida, England, Belgium, and Congo..

8. ALI 131 - Hajj Seminar
   Date: Nov. 18th 2007
   Instructors: Shaykh Mustafa Jaffer and Shaykh Abbas Jaffer
   This course explained the rituals of Hajj to those Mu’mineen going for pilgrimage to the holy house. The seminar was greatly successful with a total of 71 participants from Canada, United States, England, and East Africa.
9. ALI 132- Human Characteristics in Nahjul Balagha
   Date: November 27th and 28th  2007.   Instructor: Tahera Kassamali
   The session discussed what Imam Ali (a) says in Nahjul Balagha regarding human nature, and how to train the heart, the speech and the actions of the human being. Excerpts from different sermons, letters and sayings of Nahjul Balagha were discussed. The course attracted more than 55 ladies from Canada, United States, United Kingdom, East Africa, and Dubai.
10. ALI 133 – Tafseer of Surat al-Asr
    Date: Dec. 2nd and 9th  2007.      Instructor: Haji Usama al-Atar
    This course discussed the interaction between Allah and the human being, and how human beings could profit from that. It showed participants how to become successful investors in the Hereafter. A total of 29 students participated.
11. ALI 134 - Seeing Allah in the world around us
    Date: Dec. 8th and 15th 2007   Instructor: Haji Salim Yusufali
    This course discussed seeing the signs of Allah in the world around us with inspiration from the Qur’an, Hadith, and supplications of the Ahlul Bayt (a). 23 students participated.

Comments from students of online Courses: Thank you so much for the discussion on nahjul balagha, it was very informative. can I know if there are any more sessions on online courses on your course or if there are any other islamic shia websites that do this kind of stuff. would it be possible for you to inform me if there are any more of these sessions? thanks once again for the discussion. The lectures seemed very educative and interesting. Please inform me the next time you offer such lessons. Would really love to benefit from them. Or, do you have some recorded files which you could send to me or make available on the website? I'd be most grateful. I really enjoyed the ALI 101: Hajj presentation. The material presented (audio,slides) were of excellent quality and quite beneficial to me. I even started taking down notes, until you let us know that the slides were going to be posted. Even though I am not going for Hajj this year, I was happy to receive a reading list and be advised on what to expect during the pilgrimage. . .I was very impressed by ALI's efforts . . .in my opinion, this presentation is the type our community needs and Inshallah, I look forward to seeing more high-caliber presentations from you. Thank You! May Allah bless you all for undertaking this honorable endeavor. It would be good to have to do some homework to make the sessions even more productive A very productive and dynamic session. The course has been very inspiring. We should have a continuous discussion group going on online. This would be very good for everyone to keep up the reading and studying The sessions have been food for my soul