Making authentic Islamic knowledge readily available to the world through the Internet solely for God’s pleasure is a noble life-goal and a mission well worth sacrificing all of one’s energies and means for.

The International Open University (IOU) is the brainchild of Dr. Bilal Philips, who envisioned an institution that would offer online, intensive, undergraduate and graduate programs. IOU’s journey began in 2007 with the launch of free online Diploma courses in its Open Campus. In 2010, after just 3 years, the Bachelor of Arts (BA) program was launched. The University now has seven colleges offering accredited online degree programs: College of Education, College of Islamic Economics, College of Banking & Finance, College of Psychology, College of Islamic Studies, College of Business Administration, College of Information Technology, and the College of Arabic Language and Linguistics.

The University also offers offline courses in the Gambia, Somaliland, and Guinea Bissau. In addition, IOU’s Global Qur’an Memorization Center presents a unique opportunity for students across the globe to study the Qur’an online. IOU was launched with free Diploma courses, which are now available at the General Diploma in Islamic Studies section.

Open University (IOU) has grown and evolved over a decade into a center of excellence among the leading online educational institutions. Over the course of this journey, the university felt the need to change its name to reflect the fact that it is providing education in fields that are not identified as falling under Islamic Studies and it does not discriminate on the basis of religion.

However, the IOU teaches them with an Islamic ethos. IOU now offers Certificate, Diploma, and Degree programs in Psychology, Education, Business Administration, Information Technology, Arabic Language, and Islamic Economics.

Given this rich and diverse offering, the name of the University has been changed to the International Open University. We continue to have our headquarters in The Gambia.

Despite the change in the name, the vision, mission, and ethos of the university would remain firmly Islamic

Over the years, the IOU has concluded and signed various memorandums of understanding with international universities and higher education institutions, which can be viewed in detail on our Accreditation page.

The IOU has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the spread of beneficial knowledge by evolving from providing free certificate and diploma level courses to now offering accredited BA and MA degrees in various fields of study.

The university is making higher education easily affordable worldwide for the benefit of individuals, communities, and humanity in general. Equal access is provided for all students to an education that few could afford if they were to attend traditional institutions of higher learning around the world.

Website: https://iou.edu.gm/history/

Minor in Islamic Studies

The minor in Islamic Studies is open to all undergraduates regardless of major. It provides the intellectual and linguistic training to approach Islam — and the world — in a historically and culturally informed way, challenging stereotypes and misconceptions while exploring the diversity and complexity of the world’s second-largest religion.

Courses

– Concepts: How to Read Hindu and Islamic Texts
– Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Medieval World
– Independent Study
– Politics and Poetics of Mobility in Africa
– What Does it Mean to be Religious?
– Modern and Contemporary Art in South Asia
– Themes in Medieval Islamic Thought
– Introduction to the Art of Asia

Faculty

• Niloofar Haeri (PhD, University of Pennsylvania): Director, Program in Islamic Studies; Professor, Anthropology
• Ryan Calder (PhD, University of California, Berkeley): Director of Undergraduate Studies; Assistant Professor, Sociology
• Gabriele Ferrario: Visiting Assistant Professor
• Homayra Ziad (Phd, Yale University): Lecturer

Advisory Board

• Paul Delnero, Associate Professor
• Tamer el-Leithy, Assistant Professor of History
• M. Ali Khan, Abram Hutzler Professor of Political Economy
• Naveeda Khan, Associate Professor of Anthropology
• Glenn M. Schwartz, Whiting Professor of Archeology, Near Eastern Studies

Website: https://krieger.jhu.edu/islamic/