Islamic Online University, Kashmir, press release.

Islamic Online University

EDUCATION

AT IOU YOU CAN AVAIL THE SERVICES OF SOME NOTED SCHOLARS, WRITES ABDUL SAMIEH DEVA ‪

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Classical Muslim works remain mostly inaccessible as most of them are in Arabic. In this backdrop, launching of Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies (BAIS) by Islamic Online University is an essential step. It fulfills the need for a scholar and for the man in the street as well. On its website IOU introduces itself as, “The Islamic Online University (IOU). It is the brainchild of Dr. Bilal Philips. He envisioned an institution that would offer online intensive, undergraduate, and graduate courses in Islamic Studies completely tuition-free.

The IOU was launched in 2007 from Qatar with an offering of completely free diploma courses. Alhamdulillah, although it began with 1,500 students in 2007, by the end of 2008, the number of registered students reached 4,500. And now, as 2010 draws to a close, Allah has blessed the IOU with a student body of over 30,000 students from over 177 different countries.

In 2010 the IOU launched the world’s first tuition-free, online Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies. This path-breaking initiative utilizes the worldwide presence of the Internet and advanced open source online learning technology to bring low-cost, university level Islamic education within anyone's reach who has access to the Internet.

Thus the IOU now has two separate virtual campuses: the degree campus and the diploma campus. Each campus is hosted on its own dedicated server.

The subjects that are to be taught to students in 3 years  divided into 5 monthly semesters include Tajweed, Aqeedah, Fiqh, Arabic, Computer Studies, Seerah, English, Tafseer, Hadeeth, Islamic Psychology, Islamic Management, Dawah and Duat, Research Methodology, Islamic History, Islamic Economics, Contemporary Dawah Movements, Islamic Civilization and Teaching Methadology. Candidates can opt for minors in Islamic Psychology, Economics,etc and thus be useful to the community in newer ways. The candidate has also to choose six electives during the course from Aqeedah, Tafseer, Human rights, International Relations, Shareeah Governance, Dawah , Business Administration, History or Education.

The program has recorded audio and video lectures and weekly live tutorial classes in a virtual classroom setting on the net and its syllabi are based on the BA in Usool ud-Deen (Religious Foundations) curriculums of Madeenah University, Saudi Arabia, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, Al-Azhar in Egypt and other similar reputable Islamic institutions. Six subjects are offered each semester. Each semester is 5 months, having an online mid-term exam after two and a half months and a supervised final online at the end of the fifth month. Students are free to access their classes whenever it is convenient for them, however assignments have to be turned in and exams (mid-term and finals) have to be taken at fixed times.

There are no fees for the courses. However, there is a fixed modest registration and examination fee each semester which is calculated on a sliding scale (from $10 to $50) depending on the student's country of residence.Those desirous of registering themselves on IOU can access it at www.islamiconlineuniversity.com

        The university has many respectable figures on its advisory council. These include Dr Jafar Shaikh Idrees, Dr Abdul Hakim Quick, Dr James Jones, Dr Khalfah al-Tamimi, Dr Saad al-Shitri and Dr Ibrahim al-Nuaimi. This is besides the teaching faculty which includes the founder of IOU, Dr Bilal Philips. IOU has already achieved an enrollment of about 30,000 students enrolled for its various diploma courses and BAIS. It has also provided a platform for Muslim woman to study religion, who have been currently relegated to oblivion.

(Feedback at ibnibari@gmail.com)

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2011/Feb/1/islamic-online-university-12.asp