Part of: Madrasah life and learning

What is a Qaidah?

By the Madrasah Bag team · Updated 2026-09-24

What's inside a Qaidah

A Qaidah is arranged in short lessons that build on each other:

1. The individual Arabic letters and how to pronounce them
2. Letters joined together in words
3. Short vowels (fathah, kasrah, dammah)
4. Tanween, long vowels and sukoon
5. Shaddah (doubled letters)
6. Practice lines taken from the Quran

The Noorani Qaidah

The Noorani Qaidah is named after the scholar it is commonly attributed to, Noor Muhammad Ludhianvi, from the Indian subcontinent. It's the standard starting book in most South Asian-heritage madrasahs in the UK. Other versions are used in Arab-heritage and online classes, but they follow a similar order.

How long it takes

With four or five short lessons a week, most children finish the Qaidah in six months to two years. Age, practice at home and the teacher's approach all make a big difference.

What comes next

Once a child can read fluently from the Qaidah, they usually move onto the last part of the Quran (Juz 'Amma), and then the full mushaf. That switch is the point where a bag with room for a full-size Quran starts to matter. See what size bag fits a Quran.

Questions people also ask