Islamic University of Rotterdam

Infobox_University
name = Islamic University of Rotterdam
dutch_name = Islamitische Universiteit Rotterdam


motto = "A Lifelong Organization for Lifelong Learners, we receive enlightenment and precious knowledge"
established = 1997
staff = 26 (2005)
rector magnificus = Prof Dr Ahmed Akgunduz
city = Rotterdam
country = Netherlands
campus = Bergsingel 135, 3037 GC
students = 153 (2005)
type = Private
affiliations = TRES, FUIW, FUMI, KENNISCENTRUM
website = www.iur.nl or www.islamicuniversity.nl
email = [e-mail] ; [e-mail]
telephone = 0031-10-4854721
fax: [phone]The Islamic University of Rotterdam (Islamitische Universiteit Rotterdam) is the newest universityFact|date=March 2008 in the Netherlands. It is a member of the TRES, FUIW, FUMI and KENNISCENTRUM. The university, founded in 1997 by Muslim representatives of the Muslim community in the Netherlands, is a unique Islamic university. With its three faculties, over 5 departments and more than 10 (under)graduate programs, it enjoys an international reputationFact|date=March 2008.

History

In accordance with constitutional rights, Muslims have recently founded Islamic primary and secondary schools within a framework of financial support from the Dutch government and under laws organizing the educational system in the Netherlands. In 1997 the IUR was founded as a result of initiatives taken by Muslims living in the Netherlands.

Objectives

There are currently more than 900,000 Muslims living in the Netherlands. With a view to fulfilling the social and religious needs of Muslims, the University aims to make contributions with respect to imam and moral guide education for candidates whose starting point has been the Dutch school education.In the Netherlands most Muslims stem from an immigrant background. Consequently they are found in a disadvantageous situation in almost all the vital fields: education, labor, income, and health. Rather than acting simply as passive migrants, Dutch Muslims have expectations to act as responsible Dutch citizens of the Dutch community with their own rights and obligations. Through academic education and research the IUR aims to contribute to the realization of this maxim: "Live as a Muslim and as a responsible citizen of Dutch society."According to the 1997 prognosis of CBS, 10.8 % of the total population of the Netherlands will be Muslim in 2015. Additionally, there are around 430 Islamic foundations and organizations, the majority of which are mosques. Bearing such facts in mind, it is the mission of the IUR to make a contribution to Dutch multicultural society. Awareness of Islamic ideas regarding the relationship between human beings and the Creator must lead to a vision about the role of the human being in the universe and the community. As responsible citizens, Muslims will contribute constructively to Dutch society, respecting Dutch laws and the Dutch life style and social circumstances. The IUR aims to contribute to the diversity of academic education and research in the Netherlands, thereby having a positive effect on the development of multi-cultural and multi-religious Dutch community. It is considered that full integration will be one of the logical results of this synthesis.Taking account of the socio-economic and political situation of the mid-2000s, the IUR aims to make important contributions in Western countries. Significant among these is taking a lead role in bridging the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims. The IUR is a Dutch scientific institution attempting to deepen the knowledge of Islam in Muslim groups living in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, and to acquaint non-Muslims from Dutch and other origins with the religion and civilization of Islam. At a more global level the IUR is expected to play the role of a "civilization bridge" between the Islamic world and the West as a whole. Since Muslims and non-Muslims share concerns and interests, the IUR considers that, for more effective understanding and interaction, the majority society and non-Muslim minority communities need to know more about the Muslim community that exists and thrives in the heart of European societies - the reverse is also important. The raison d’être of the IUR lies particularly in developing and deepening European people’s understanding of the Islamic cultures and developing communication and knowledge, which will help feed co-operation between European countries and the Arab/ Muslim world.

Mission of the University

*To promote learning from the perspective of Islamic tradition within the Netherlands, a modern society with growing cultural diversity.
*To distinguish itself as a university with a diverse, socially responsible learning community of high quality scholarship and academic rigor sustained by a faith that brings justice.
*To work for the achievement of harmony, dialogue and balance in life, production and reproduction of knowledge within an Islamic paradigm.
*To act as a leading model of an Islamic Science Institution based on the principles of integration of knowledge coupled with a comprehensive excellence for the progress of the Dutch as well as the Muslim communities.
*To embark on a never-ending quest for truth which emanates when both conscience and mind are brought together. Religion sciences are the light of the conscience and modern sciences are the light of the mind. At the IUR, students’ endeavour will be assisted to take flight on the wings of conscience and intellect. In age of the third millennium the ruling power is the courage of belief, reason and science.

Vision of the University

*The IUR is an organization of life long learners. It will be a centre of educational excellence providing academic education at graduate and undergraduate level, carrying out scientific research, disseminating knowledge to society, contributing to the improvement, and upgrading of qualities of human life and civilization in order to sustain leading and progressive science.
*While gradually opening up on the other Dutch universities and higher education institutes, the Islamic University expects that transfer issues in the foreseeable future will be on the higher education cooperation agenda. The IUR seeks for ongoing relations with both high schools and other institutions of higher education in the Netherlands.
*The University is open to new possibilities for cooperation and will react alertly to new developments in the higher educational field.

University Vision and the Students

*With the University vision in mind, the students can trust the University in fulfilling their rightful expectations. Likewise, teachers are expected to deal effectively with the students’ individual wishes and needs, introducing them to the Islamic sciences as well as the social science in general using the available means.
*Students are also expected to be properly advised and informed about the study programs available at the University. Demonstrable quality of service with respect to the study programs and methodologies should be strived for.
*Students of the IUR should be required to take some important courses to the Dutch context, like for example Islam and cultural diversity in the Netherlands, International perspectives on Islam, Islam and Citizenship, Islam and Public Ethics, and Islam and Environmental Education.

University Vision and the team

*The University’s team strives for the continuity and optimization of the educational possibilities available. The University’s team professional cooperation and brotherly spirits are of the highest calibre.
*The University’s team is characterized by transparent working structures coupled with a professional and mutual respect and attention for each other and for the students.
*The University’s team tasks and competences are directed towards optimum productivity, encouraging all the co-workers to participate in working for the quality of education within the University.

University Vision and external relations

*External relations are strengthened managing and coordinating teaching responsibilities, and exchanging expertise in the relevant fields of knowledge with institutions outside the University. The University recognizes the importance of covering courses in the Core Curriculum by (visiting) lecturers of Dutch universities and faculties as well. Exchange in terms of expertise, students, and library are some of the most cherished goals of the University.
*External relations consist in participating in the global world of scholarship, by being receptive and responsive to issues within the international environment, and the participation of international lectures and student bodies.
*External relations should account for public accountability by ensuring transparent decision-making and open review, especially with respect to financial issues and the full participation of students and academic staff in the development of the institution.

Cooperation

The IUR has started in 2005 with the Chair ‘Islam in the West’ and cooperates with other Dutch universities (eg the University of Utrecht and Free University of Amsterdam). At a more concrete level, the IUR has been more and more viewed as “a socio intellectual necessity for Muslims and non-Muslims in the Dutch society”. With a view to fulfilling the social and religious needs of Muslims and others, the IUR provides imam and moral guide education. This causes the expectation to act as a responsible Muslim as well as a responsible European citizens with concomitant rights and obligations.The IUR seeks broadening co-operation with European institutes in the broadest meaning of the word and take research up to a scientific altitude.

Education

The IUR consists of a number of different, but related faculties and institutes making up altogether the bulk of the main university:
*Faculty of Islamic Sciences,
*Faculty of Languages and Civilizations,
*Faculty of Islamic Arts,
*Institute of Islam,
*Research Institute,
*Institute of Qur’an Recitation,Faculties provide bachelor programs of 3 years and masters of 2 years. Instruction languages are Arabic for basic Islamic sciences and Dutch for social and cultural sciences. The (post)graduate program in the sciences of Islam at the IUR provides students with the opportunity to study the development of Islamic thought and Muslim societies from a broad multi-disciplinary perspective. Dedicated teaching staff (approximately 30) provides expertise in areas ranging from modern Islamic hermeneutics, political thought and gender issues to the study of economics and finance in Muslim societies. Students who specialize in the sciences of Islam develop transferable skills that will enhance their educational and professional career options. Alternatively, they are able to expand on their interest and knowledge through an articulated structure of higher degree study at the IUR.

Research

The Research Institute has a number of tasks:
*Conducting scientific research.
*Supplying the necessary logistic support as well as the facilities for promoting research.
*Preserving contacts with the national and international scientific institutions.The principles are as follows:
*Stressing the Islamic perspective on the facts in a non-Muslim country.
*Highlighting the meaning of life in the light of the meanings of the Qur’an.
*Stressing critical and responsible citizenship.
*Serving the community in practical and concrete ways.
*Stressing objectivity; and the independence of States and Schools.
*Enhancing multidisciplinary research in all the branches of Islamic and social sciences.From the perspective of the Research Institute, the concept of research and research frameworks is twofold: Theoretical and empirical (i.e., fieldwork). Table shows the IUR research projects fall in three categories:

Research type Research actor/partnerResearch projects The Research InstitutesBA/MA and/or Ph.D. research projects Faculties and DepartmentsResearch projects External institutions (companies)

The table makes clear that there are research projects conducted by the Research Institute, by the faculties and departments (MA and PhD), and finally in joint coordination with external institutions and/or companies. MA and/or Ph.D. research projects can possibly be conducted by the students and researchers under the supervision of promoters from the University and these can be handled in the light of principles other than those just outlined above. After all, the IUR is a platform of freedom, which results in different trends of research philosophies.

Priority Research Projects

The next five years constitute a test and trial period for the IUR with respect to the development of research frameworks and research methodologies. First, Islam and Islamic issues are still under-researched given the myriads of developments in relation to Muslims and Islam. Second, such issues are seldom researched from the perspective of European methodological perspectives. It is high time researchers within the field of Islamic Studies at the IUR developed their own research methodologies inspired by the burgeoning European empirical and statistical methodologies.Very recently, the Research Institute has developed research frameworks and methodologies with respect to a number of themes of crucial importance to Dutch society and with far-reaching implication for the European context. The following table gives information about the typology of research projects currently undertaken by the Research Institute of the University, including policy research, law research, institutional/organizational research, and historical/artistic research. The typology of research projects undertaken by the Research Institute is as follows:

Policy research

*Islam in a minority setting
*The status and function of Imams in a non-Muslim country
*Integration from an Islamic perspective

Law research

*Islam and human rights
*Democracy and Islam
*The rules of living according to Islam in the "Land of Peace"
*Guidelines for Muslims about Halal food
*Sacrifice festivities between Islamic and European law regulations
*Interpretation of Islamic rules in a non-Muslim country such as the Netherlands)
*Gender and Islam

Institutional/organizational research

*The school success of children from an Islamic background
*The function of mosques in the Netherlands
*Islamic organization in the Netherlands
*The outlook of Islam on Islamic banking

History/Art research

*The artistic uses of Islamic calligraphy in Europe
*The relationships between the Netherlands and the Ottoman state

Research Programs with other (Dutch) Institutions

The public relation activities of the Research Institute are being intensely developed to broaden the scope of its activities without losing sight of the ever developing market. There are many research fields whereby cooperation with (Dutch) institutions is necessary, especially governmental, semi-governmental, and non-governmental institutions. Subjects like Islamic holidays, slaughtering methods, prayer times, and education material for the Islamic schools are the issues the Dutch government must solve urgently, especially now that there are no relevant references. For this purpose, the IUR is doing its best to establish intensive contacts with the relevant ministries, municipalities, governmental and semi-governmental institutions.Mutual research programs with institutions like Halal Food must be a research priority for the coming years. Such institutions are willing to base their product processing on the results of scientific research and on the interpretation of Islamic regulations in Western Europe. Islamic Banking is an important research project for Muslims living in Europe. It is perhaps more important for European financial and banking institutions. Banks, for instance, can develop or adapt their systems according to the results and the implications of such a research. Meanwhile, the IUR will receive money for the diverse services delivered. Again, the new Dutch laws, which are being and/or will be made in the future, need a more focused attention. The list must be tuned and up-dated every year if possible, according to the programs of the lawmakers. The perspective of the Muslims, as citizens of the Netherlands, must also be taken into consideration.

External links

* http://www.iur.nl