Our Institute

Our Methodology

Our academic program runs over two stages, with a 2-year Introductory course followed by a 4-year ʿĀlimiyyah course. The course is inaugurated by a rigorous 2-year study of Arabic together with introductory reading in all major disciplines – ʿAqīdah [Islamic Creed], Uṣūl al-Fiqh [Legal Theory], Fiqh [Islamic Law], Ḥadīth [Prophetic Narrations] and its critical sciences, ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān [Sciences of the Qurʾān], Tafsīr [Qurʾānic Exegesis], Tazkiyah [Islamic Spirituality] and Sīrah [Prophetic Biography] – to facilitate comfort and capability in the Arabic language.

Advanced studies begin in earnest from years three through six. A thorough groundwork in all major disciplines is cultivated through a demanding and stimulating curriculum of key classical and modern texts. Manāhil al-ʿIrfān by ʿAbd al-Aẓīm al-Zurqānī, for example, is a graduate, even post-graduate text in some quarters, and begins in third year. Readings of ḥadīth collections are pursued throughout years three to six alongside a progressively deepening study of its critical sciences, such as ḥadīth terminology [Muṣṭalaḥ] and the field of narrator critique [al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl]. The study of Fiqh is similarly studied concomitantly with an intensive exploration of Uṣūl al-Fiqh, culminating in al-Shaṭibī’s al-Muwāfaqāt, and the objectives of the Sharīʿah.

Our Library

One of the capstone experiences of any student of ʿilm is the hours spent in the library exploring the rich and bewildering legacy of Islamic scholarship. Our library is our prized possession; it is richly-stocked, always-increasing, and will satisfy the demands of the most discerning researcher. Most importantly: it is open day and night.

Our Pedagogy

Our pedagogy emphasizes small classes, intimate teacher-student interaction and a learning milieu that promotes a profound commitment to life-long study, continuous self-reformation and an ethic of community service. Students are actively encouraged to read extensively and build their own personal libraries. Indeed, many do and become incorrigible bibliophiles.

Our Teachers

Majority of our teachers in the Arabic and Islamic Studies Department are graduates of the institute. The institute continues, alḥamdulillāh, to produce top-notch, capable graduates to educate and inspire the next generation of scholars. Our teachers have benefited from education at other institutions, both domestic and abroad. Previous and current teachers have studied at Darul Uloom Deoband in India; Darul Ulooms Zakariyya, Azaadville, and Newcastle in South Africa; and abroad in Madinah, Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Our Research Interests

Our research interests are topical and attempt to critically engage with challenges of the here and now. Our portfolio is diverse and growing. It includes Orientalism; the challenges of post-modernity; deviant creeds; family psychology and dispute resolution; gender dynamics; inter-faith engagement and debate; Islamic economics and finance; Qurʾānic recitation and its history; Islamic spirituality; and the Fiqh of Muslim minorities to name a few.

Our Graduates

Our students are taught to be instruments of change and benefit for others. Our graduates pursue diverse ends across the world: further studies; research; writing; community leadership as Imāms; and community education. Many go on to establish their own institutions. To date, 191 students have graduated from the ʿālim program and 53 from the ḥifẓ program.

Our Affiliates

From our institute came the seeds that gave birth to the range of institutions that have revolutionized higher Islamic education in the Western Cape: Darun Na’im, Dar al-Turath al-Islami, Dar al-Mahamid, Dar al-Tafawwuq, Mizan Institute, Zahraa Institute, Qamar Institute, etc.

Internationally, our students have gone on to establish affiliated institutes in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Malawi, Australia, Philippines, and Canada. Students from affiliated institutions often come to us in South Africa for the final two years of study.

Institutional Cooperation

Due to our expertise in areas such the Shāfiʿī Madhhab and with certain heterodoxies, and with the adaption of traditional syllabi to 21st century needs, we are often consulted for advice and assistance to other institutes locally, nationally, and internationally.

The institute sees itself as one of many institutions committed to Islamic learning, individual reformation and community inspiration. We have close, co-operative ties with our sister institutions in the rest of the country.

Sports and Recreation

The institute tries to promote a holistically healthy lifestyle to our students; mind, body and soul. Recently the institute has purchased a full set of gym equipment, archery equipment and other sports equipment to keep our students healthy and occupied with beneficial past-times for when they are not submerged in their books.