[2] Like other madrasahs in Singapore, Al-Ma'arif has a Management Committee whose members are appointed every two years by the Ministry of Education in consultation with the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS).

[1] Al-Maarif was established in 1936 by Syeikh Muhammad Fadhlullah Suhaimi, a strong and progressive advocate of education for girls.

[3][4] Al-Maarif's reformist ideals were immediately apparent by its inclusion of non-religious subjects into its curricula.

It was later noted that founder Fadhlullah Suhaimi's son Kamil himself exemplified his father's reformist ideals—by studying jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University and then law at Lincoln's Inn in London—before returning to contribute as a lawyer and religious leader.

[5][6] This shift, whilst revolutionary, was made in the belief that madrasah students must master both religious and secular subjects.