Hawzah Studies

The thirteen-year Hawzah Program in three phases — foundational, intermediate and advanced — for students who complete the ILM Program.

Students who successfully complete the ILM Program, exhibiting both academic excellence and integrity of character, have the option to proceed to the Hawzah Program — a comprehensive thirteen-year program divided into three phases.

Phase One

Phase One is an exhaustive foundational course in basic hawzah studies, where you build upon the introductory material from the ILM Program and establish firm bases in the traditional (naqli) and intellectual (aqli) sciences of Islam. Starting with instrumental sciences such as classical Arabic and logic, you proceed to cover the tripartite areas of law (ahkam), ethics (akhlaq) and theology (aqaid) on multiple levels. Qurʾanic studies are present at every stage and are the constant refrain that enriches and substantiates all the other subjects. A guided reading component runs throughout, in which contemporary books in English are read and discussed, helping you see how your hawzah studies relate to the critical situation of Islam in the modern world.

Phase Two

Phase Two is an extensive integral course in intermediate hawzah studies, where you build upon the foundational material from Phase One and develop a good command of the naqli and aqli sciences. By focusing on the level of principles, and by acquiring the tools necessary to understand and respond to the challenges of the modern world, you become better prepared to defend and propagate Islam in our times. There is a particular emphasis on the extension (imtidad) of principles to newly appearing situations. Some modules are taught in English, and many research projects — including a thesis — are done in English, to increase your proficiency and preparedness. The Qurʾan, through regular study of Qurʾanic exegesis (tafsir), provides the mainstay and ultimate point of reference for all other intermediate studies in this phase.

Phase Three

Phase Three is a consolidative final course in advanced hawzah studies, where you build upon the integral material of Phase Two and acquire expertise in one or more facets of the naqli and aqli sciences. By delving deep into your area of specialisation, you — now a scholar in your own right — aim to realise your profound knowledge of Islam by making it applicable in our time. These efforts are informed by the balanced fusion of all the sciences you have learnt under the supremacy of the Qurʾan.

Having been mentored for many years by those who were themselves mentored in a contiguous and continuous manner reaching back to the Holy Prophet (s), you receive an authentic education in the Book of Allah and Wisdom at the hands of such inspired mentors. All of this allows participants to tread the path of the Holy Prophet (s) and his Purified Progeny (a), and thereby to become authorities and leaders who, if Allah should desire, can help others find the luminous way of Islam in the darkness of the latter days.