Extra Credit

Extra Credit will follow three students at an Islamic school outside of Dallas as they attempt to memorize the entire Qur'an in order to compete at the International Qur'an contest in Dubai. It's a sort of "annual Islamic spelling bee," and the three Texans are hoping to be the first young Muslim Americans to participate in the contest. The students are judged in Dubai on the accuracy of their memory, their pronunciation, and the beauty of their cadence and the three Texas children will compete against children who speak Arabic as a native language.

Along the way, these students will struggle to stay on top of their studies as they try to balance Muslim religious devotion with the obsessions of American youth.

The Quranic Academy of Richardson, Texas, is a full-time Qur'an study program that includes classes in secular subjects to keep the children up to speed with their public-school counterparts. The curriculum is at the forefront of a new surge in Islamic school study focus. Students who memorize the Qur'an earn the title Hafiz, a rare accomplishment in the U.S. Becoming a hafiz is believed to bring awards in the hereafter.

Extra Credit will introduce viewers to the students' families and interview their non-Muslim friends and neighbors about the existence of a conservative Islamic school in a community that is mainly Christian. Viewers will also meet Muslims in the local community with very different points of view. Some applaud efforts to earn the title Hafiz while others consider memorizing the Qur'an a waste of time.