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Program Overview

This program intends to provide an intellectual foundation and the paradigmatic tools and frameworks to reading Islamic classical texts for students of sacred knowledge. It focuses on the three core sciences as mentioned in the seminal hadith of Jibril, namely iman, islam and ihsan. These dimensions correspond to the Islamic traditional disciplines of Usul al-Din, Fiqh and Tasawwuf. Additionally, the ancillary disciplines of Usul al-Fiqh, Mustalah al-Hadith, and the disciplines of the Arabic language, Nahw (grammar), Sarf (morphology), and Balagha (rhetoric), will be studied in support of the core disciplines.

Our pedagogy is decidedly traditional. This consists of close readings of texts in Arabic with teacher exposition and commentary. Students will be taught how to read and understand classical texts and contextualize them for our time. The expectation at the end of the program is that students will have a firm grounding in each of these disciplines to the degree that they may pursue more advanced studies and benefit others inshallah. 

The program will span across two years with approximately 30 weeks of instruction per year. Classes will be held three times a week on a live virtual platform. The program will also include a week-long, in-person intensive held during the summer session, with exact date and location to be determined at the outset of the program.

Prerequisites

At a minimum, applicants must demonstrate a basic reading level and understanding of Arabic to be considered eligible for the program. This will be evaluated as part of the written application. Additional requirements include a basic foundation in the Islamic Sciences and a commitment to a traditional approach of learning these subjects with a teacher/chain of transmission.

Fees

  • Annual tuition of $3000, split into three installments to be paid each term
  • Additional, nonrefundable deposit of $500 due prior to program start to confirm attendance

How to Apply

  1. Completion of online application by Friday, July  30th
  2. Decision of acceptance by Friday, August 25th
  3. Start of Term 1 Monday, September 4th
Apply Now

Instructors

Walead Mohammed Mosaad

Walead M. Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic Studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University and Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter in Arab and Islamic Studies, and was also classically trained at the Al-Azhar University. He has been blessed to study with such luminaries as Shaykh Ahmad Taha Rayyan, Shaykh Ali Gomaa, Shaykh Saeed al-Bouti, Shaykh Kurayyim Rajih, Shaykh Bakri al-Tarabishi, Shaykh Mahmoud al-Misri and Shaykh Muhamed Hydara al-Jilani. He has also worked for the Tabah Foundation, where he managed educational projects in Belgium, Denmark, and Kenya.

He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community, a community-oriented service organization focused on cultivating and nurturing Muslim communities worldwide. He has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world, as well as Europe and the Far East, delivering lectures on various topics, including spirituality, ethics and intercultural peace building.

Fouad Elgohari

Fouad Elgohari was born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in the U.S.A. As a student of fifteen years in the classical Islamic sciences with a specialization in systematic theology (kalam), Fouad serves as an instructor, academic consultant, and research fellow on various international councils, institutes, and educational programs. He received a Bachelor’s degree in the Liberal Arts, and went on to pursue Islamic Studies in Egypt from numerous institutes and under the supervision of senior-scholars of Al-Azhar where he received advanced traditional licenses (ijazat khassah) to teach credal theology, Sunni legal theory, Maliki Legal Rulings, Arabic language, tasawwuf, Ḥadith, and the Qur’anic sciences. He went on to further specialize in systematic theology (kalam) and legal theory (usul al-fiqh). In 2018 he graduated from Claremont School of Theology with an M.A. in Islamic Studies. His research is in post-classical (13-18th century) Islamic intellectual history, with a focus on the rational sciences (kalam, usul, logic, philosophy).

Fouad is a faculty member with Sabeel Community’s Dar al-Rayyan, a Traditional Global Seminary program. He is also currently a regular weekly instructor at The Majlis, a local initiative in Southern California founded on offering traditional learning in the American context, while developing an intentional community rooted in love and service.

Zakaria El Houbba

Zakaria El Houbba is a PhD candidate in Islamic Studies at Leuven University (BE), specializing in legal epistemology and Sufism. He earned his MA in Islamic Studies from Ibn Haldun University (TR) and his BA in Philosophy from KU Leuven. Alongside his academic pursuits, Zakaria has pursued study of the Islamic sciences in a traditional manner in Mauritania, Egypt, and Turkey, with a specific focus on Kalām and Māliki Maddhab-Law. He continues to study under private tutelage.

Omar Amir

Omar Amir was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. He began memorizing the Qur’an in 2016 with Shaykh Haggag Saber from Al-Azhar University. In 2018, Omar completed an Advanced Arabic program at Al-Maqasid Seminary. He has studied Fiqh, Tasawwuf, and Aqidah with Shyakh Walead Mosaad and Hadith, Usul al-Hadith, Aqidah with Shaykh Umer Mien and Aqidah, Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, and Logic with Shaykh Zuhayr Qazzan. Omar received an Ijaza in teaching al-Ājurrūmiyyah with Shaykh Mohamed Hasan Othman. He is currently pursuing study of the sacred sciences at Al-Azhar University. Since 2019, Omar has served as a faculty member at Al-Maqasid Seminary. He is also the co-founder and teacher at Revival Ihya School. 

Calendar

Year 1 ~ Fall 2023 – Summer 2024


Term 1 ~ Fall 2023

Introduction to the Islamic Sciences

Arabic Grammar

Arabic Morphology

Term 2 ~ Winter 2024

Tawhid/Theology

Arabic Grammar 

Arabic Morphology

Fiqh of Worship

Term 3 ~ Spring 2024

Tawhid/Theology

Arabic Grammar

Arabic Morphology

Fiqh of Worship

Summer Intensive 2024

Introduction to Tasawwuf

Year 2 ~ Fall 2024 – Summer 2025


Term 4 ~ Fall 2024

Arabic Rhetoric

Usul al-Fiqh / Methodology of Jurisprudence

Fiqh of Worship

Term 5 ~ Winter 2025

Tawhid/Theology

Hadith

Term 6 ~ Spring 2025

Tawhid/Theology

Sharh al-Hikam

Quran and Hadith

Tasawwuf/Human Development and Perfection

Summer Intensive 2025

Selected Topics

Conclusion of program



Subject Area & Text List



Tawhid / Creedal Theology

  • al-Kharida al-Bahiyya
  • Sharḥ al-Muqaddimāt
  • Tahrir al-Matalib

Fiqh of Worship

  • Matn al-‘Ashmawiyyah

Tasawwuf / Human development and perfection

  • Sharh al-Hikam li’bn ‘Abbad

Mustalah al-hadith / Hadith methodology

  • Sharh al-Bayquniyya

Usul al-Fiqh / Methodology of Jurisprudence

  • Sharh al-Warraqat li’al-Hattab

Nahw / Arabic grammar

  • al-Tuḥfa al-Saniya bi Sharḥ al-Muqadimmat al-Ājrūmīya (Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd)

Balagha / Arabic rhetoric

  • Jawahir al-Balagha li’al-Hashimi

Sarf / Arabic Morphology

  • Matn al-‘Izziyya

FAQ

Does the program grant a formal degree? 

A formal degree will not be conferred from this program. However, at the conclusion of the two year program students may select to undergo a more rigorous verification process that culminates in a traditional ijaza to share what they have learned with others.

Is attendance to the in-person summer intensive required? 

Yes, attendance to the summer intensive is expected for all students.

Are scholarships available?

Efforts will be made to make scholarships (including partial support) available for accepted students. Note that financial need will not be assessed as part of the application process.

Will there be scheduled breaks throughout the year? 

Yes, breaks will be scheduled during the winter, spring and summer season, with a focus on a full break during Ramadan and the Eid Holidays.

Student Testimonials

“Joining Dar al-Rayyan’s “Traditional Studies Program” has been one of the most impactful decisions in my lifelong learning journey. Classes are conducted in a manner that beautifully promotes literacy of the Tradition via text-based study while ensuring convenient, global access in digestible increments that empowers learners from many diverse backgrounds. Our instructors have been endlessly supportive and receptive to feedback, patiently answering questions, facilitating lively discussions, and adapting to classroom needs. The depth and breadth of their mastery becomes evident during each session.”

– Yasir A.

“Thanks to initiatives like the Traditional Studies Program, we are able to reconnect to our inheritance and come home to our tradition, where our souls – so often scattered and shattered by modernity – are made whole.”

– Nour M.

“The Traditional Studies Program is well organized and the respected instructors are very well rooted in the Islamic Tradition in terms of both knowledge and practice. They’re very patient and answer all questions diligently. I strongly recommend this course to anyone interested in deepening their knowledge and love for this tradition.”

– Omar G.

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