Faculty of Islamic Studies, University of Sarajevo

The Master’s program in Islamic Studies is conceived as a response to the need for training in Islamic Theology in the European educational area. The question of how to educate the different profiles of religious leaders in the Muslim communities (imams, chaplains, basic religious education teachers, etc.) has become increasingly urgent over the past two decades in Europe. Various options have been explored to date.

The Master’s program was approved by the Council of Muftis and Riyasat of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also fully in line with the Law on Higher Education of Sarajevo Canton and the Statutes of the University of Sarajevo. The program is comparable to the study program in Islamic theology at a number of Turkish, German, and UK universities.

Candidates who complete this program will be in a position to look for employment as imams, religious instructors (muallims), teachers of theological disciplines at Islamic schools, Islamic spiritual counselors, researchers into Islamic and Muslim themes, and in the business and tourism sectors, or pursue further studies.

Program Objectives

Themes to be considered from the perspective of core Islamic disciplines include: loyalty to faith and state, belonging simultaneously to a global Muslim community and to one’s local society, civic and political participation in secular democratic states, relating to the “other” within the Islamic interpretive tradition and contemporary thought, religious and cultural pluralism in European societies, atheism and agnosticism, the relationship between the state and the religious communities, the institutionalization of Islam, human rights, gender identity, the radicalization of the young, the abuse and instrumentalization of religion for political and ideological purposes, the absence of faith, spirituality and its manifestations from the public sphere in secular societies, the culture of recreation and entertainment, etc.

Program Structure

The Master’s program lasts two academic years, organized over four semesters, one preferably to be taken at a partner institution. Completion carries a total of 120 ECTS points. The program will be offered in both full-time and part-time formats. An option for distance learning is also envisaged once the necessary technical infrastructure is in place.

The first two semesters are flexible in structure to allow students coming from different educational backgrounds to fill any gaps with regard to the core Islamic disciplines in their respective educations.

It is planned that students will spend their second semester at a partner institution, with the option of auditing a second set of elective subjects at the Faculty instead.

The third semester is focused on contextualized Islamic studies in five subject areas (Qur’an and Sunnah Studies, Islamic Jurisprudence, Islamic Philosophy, Studies in Islamic Civilization), while students will focus during the fourth semester on their master’s theses, taking in addition one subject from their academic area of specialization.

More information at: Faculty of Islamic Studies, University of Sarajevo