The IslamicText Family Trivia game, created by Shaykh Allie Khalfe, is designed to educate, stimulate and empower Muslims as well as communities from various faiths with the rich legacy of the Islamic tradition.

A brief summary of how the game works

The game consists of 250 cards. These cards are spread amongst 8 categories, including Fiqh, Tawhīd, Arabic, History, General, Special, Egypt and Makkah.

Players aim to answer questions correctly, thereby engaging in the pursuit of traditional Islamic knowledge in the most enjoyable way possible. A correct answer yields 2 rewards [thawāb]. Once a player hits 20 thawāb, he or she unlocks the first gate of paradise [jannah].

As players accumulate thawāb, they quickly work their way through the various levels of paradise toward the highest level, al-Firdaws.

The first player to reach 140 thawāb unlocks al-Firdaws, and is the winner. Along the journey, a card may direct a player to Egypt, which is a separate deck of cards focussing on questions related to Egyptian history. One remains here until a card permits one to either continue the journey to paradise or to travel to Makkah, which is another set of cards focussing on Meccan history. If one reaches 140 thawāb in either Egypt or Makkah, then one dies a martyr [shahīd] and automatically enters al-Firdaws.

Trivia competition

The trivia game is part of a larger educational project, headed by Shaykh Allie Khalfe, and will be hosted at 15 institutes and schools across the Western Cape as a competition amongst the youth. Some of these institutes include Islamia Primary, Darul Arqam, IslamicText Institute, Habibia primary, and more.

Launch date

The game will be launched towards the end of February 2019, at the Islamia Auditorium in Lansdowne, Cape Town, where educators from various institutes will gather for a demonstration of the game.

The bigger picture

As mentioned, the game is part of a larger educational project, which will see separate games in the future, including History, Sīrah, Arabic, Fiqh, Theology, Spirituality, Ulum al-Quran, and more. These individual games will complement the new textbooks that Shaykh Allie is currently developing, which are based on traditional sources like the Ihya Ulum al-Din of Imam Ghazali, the Itqan of Imam Suyuti, the Hikam of Ibn Ata-illah, the Jawharah of Imam Laqani, commentaries on Fiqh by Imam Bajuri and more, all tailored for the youth and various levels of primary school learners.

These books will be in full colour with stunning anime art. The games will in turn complement these books, and in addition to playing them for fun and for broadening general knowledge, they may also be used as study aids, where families play these games with

their children in preparation for examinations. One can imagine the change we will be part of, where the child is excited to learn about Islam with the family - all through a trivia game.

The goal is to revive the love for learning in the hearts of our communities through reaching out to our children, as they are living in a new age and need a fresh approach. It is our responsibility as parents to respond to their understanding of what is appealing, as long as it is within the permitted framework of the Islamic tradition, one deeply rooted in love, mercy, compassion and tolerance.

Youth development

Upon playing the game with children from the age of 5 years old, we wasted no time in learning the potential the game has in assiting them with spelling and pronounciation of words. Their natural inquisitive nature drives them to stop at every word they cannot pronounce and ask: “what is this word?” This additional piece of information lead us to reality of them picking up at least 2000 useful words and at the same time strengthen their relationship with their parents and teachers.

Cost of the Game and Sponsorship

Each game will sell at R200. The Institute is currently in the proccess of producing 500 units for the mentioned launch date. We wish to donate 100’s of games to underpriveledged families so that they may enjoy and join in the benefits which the game has to offer.

This being said, we appeal for aid and support in seeing this project reach fruition.

The goal would be to raise in excess of R80, 000, 00, so that we are empowered to produce another 500 games, some of which may be donated to various households around the Western Cape.

Parties intersted in sponsoring this inititive may call Rehana on 0838813405 or via email: info@islamictextinstitue.co.za. Alternatively contact Shaykh Allie Khalfe via Facebook: Allie Khalfe or Instagram @allie_khalfe

Banking details

Bank: Standard BankBranch: RONDEBOSCH Branch code: 5009Account holder/name: IslamicText InstAcc number: 071405976Acc type: CURRENTSWIFT code: SBZAZAJJPaypal.me/IslamicText

Demo of the game

Institutes, schools, madrasa’s and companies wishing to have the game demonstrated may contact Rehana on 0838813405 / 0714138725 or email info@islamictextinstitute.co.za

A demo is also available via the following link: http://islamictextinstitute.co.za/2018/12/01/islamictext-family-trivia-game-2019/

Biography – Shaykh Allie Khalfe

Allie Khalfe spent a decade learning various traditional texts from Shaykh Seraj and Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks, who are the current Shaykhs of the Azzawia Institute in Walmer Estate, Cape Town. They in turn graduated from the Umm ul-Qura University in Mecca specializing in Usūl al-Fiqh, and spent about ten years at the feet of the ocean of knowledge, Al-Sayyid Muhammad bin ‘Alawī al-Mālikī, may Allah be pleased with him.

Allie received from them license [ijāza] to transmit various branches of knowledge, including Islamic Jurisprudence [Al-Fiqh], Theology [Al-Tawhīd] as well as the Spiritual Sciences [Al-Tasawwuf]. He also spent two years at the Grand Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, sitting at the feet of some of the foremost scholars alive today, including Shaykh Sa’īd Mamdūh, Shaykh ‘Alī Jumu’a, Shaykh Fat’hī ‘Abdurahmān Al-Hijāzī, Shaykh Hasan Al-Shāfi’ī and Shaykh Hishām Kāmil, may Allah be pleased with them, all of whom he read traditional texts to and received from them ijāza to transmit these texts. He is currently completing his Masters in Islamic Studies with a focus on Theology at UNISA, and is the founder of The IslamicText Institute in Surrey Estate, Cape Town. He also lectures on Theology at the International Peace College of South Africa (IPSA) and has been sanctioned as an ambassador of Dār al-Iftā al-Misriyyah in Egypt.

Rehana Toefy Jacobs

Execitive project administrator

IslamicText Institute

Jupiter Road, Surrey Estate

Cape Town, 7764